LPS Schools requirements for a Virtual Learning Environment

Core System Functionality Requirements

Technical staff and teachers were asked during interview what functionality they would like to see present within the system. The following list contains the core requirements captured.

Technical

• Login instructions should be given on the homepage.
• The system should use existing usernames and passwords.
• The system should be reliable.
• The system should be secure due to the sensitive nature of the stored information.
• The system should be accessible via the existing school website.
• The existing school website should be accessible via the system.
• The system should be simple to patch when required.
• The system should allow students to create and maintain a profile.
• The system should record usage statistics.

Teaching

• The system should allow resources to be presented in a structured manner.
• The system should allow learning to continue outside of regular classroom hours.
• The system should allow display or download of existing PDF documents.
• The system should allow display or download of existing Microsoft Office documents.
• The system should allow display or download of graphical images.
• The system should allow communication outside of regular classroom hours.
• The system should allow resources to be hidden from users.
• The system should allow working web links to be used.
• The system should allow individual courses to be presented differently.
• The system should allow descriptive text to be included with resources.

Students were asked to complete a questionnaire to ascertain their requirements, the following are the requirements derived from the 25 returned questionnaires and the thinking behind them.

• The system should be largely text based with minimal use of images to keep download times to a minimum. (Only 23% of the students surveyed had broadband connectivity at home, with the remaining 77% all having standard dial-up connections.)
• Instructional material should be provided for forum usage. (Only 38% of the students surveyed had any experience of message boards or forum usage.)
• The system should be easy to navigate and avoid the need to use the back button.
• The system should contain in-built help. (When asked how they preferred to learn a new computer program, 69% of the students stated that they prefer to explore using trial and error, while 24% stated exploration and the use of in system help as there preferred method.)

Other Highlighted Requirements

The following functionality was highlighted during the requirements capture but was deemed outside of the core functionality. These requirements would be addressed if time permitted after the core functionality had been implemented.

• Chat sessions should be run between specified times.
• Chat sessions should be recorded for review.
• During chat sessions students should be identified by their names.
• Only valid students and teachers should be allowed to participate in chat sessions.
• Instructional material should be provided for chat usage. (Somewhat surprisingly, only 61% of the students surveyed had any prior experience with chat software.)
• Revision quizzes should be graded upon completion by the system.
• Final grades should be reported back to the participant.
• Course teachers should be able to review all quiz attempts.
• The system should include the ability to provide post quiz feedback.