Incremental development & revolutions of E-learning software systems in education sector: a case study approach

Abstract

Advancement in the area of software engineering, mobile computing together with web technologies have paved way for myriad range of applications, including good quality E-learning software’s, delivering online classes in real time to unlimited number of students across the world, on a personalized E-learning space for every student. These E-learning software systems have virtually made the whole world as a single campus education hub. However, development of these software’s has been a challenge for industry, as the requirement of various stakeholders–learner, educator, institutional management, accreditation bodies, has to be handled in the software effectively. Software systems developed for E-learning applications should implement all the requirements of its diverse stakeholders and must be delivered well in time. Delays, incomplete software and faulty modules could be a big failure for educational institute. To be able to deliver the software within deadline, software’s are delivered in increments. In order to support incremental delivery, paper proposes a new requirement prioritization method that selects those requirements for implementation that are essentially required by stakeholders and has a lower regression count associated with them, thereby reducing regression testing effort. This paper reports the advantages reaped from E-learning software project of “Virtual Classroom” employed in teaching “Multimedia Technologies” course to undergraduate students of sixth semester. Total 50 students, enrolled under both distance education and full time education (25 in each category), were asked a set of questions. Results indicate that E-learning system would bring revolution in the field of education, whether study program is full time, part time or a distance education program. Students found augmenting classroom teaching with the use of E-learning software systems as an enriching experience.