Software engineering infrastructure in a large virtual campus

Abstract

Purpose -The design, construction and deployment of a large virtual campus are a complex issue. Present virtual campuses are made of several software applications that complement e-learning platforms. In order to develop and maintain such virtual campuses, a complex software engineering infrastructure is needed. This paper aims to analyse the software engineering infrastructure in the virtual campus deployed at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Design/methodology/approach -The software engineering infrastructure is analysed from three perspectives: process model; programming language and computer-aided software engineering tools and design patterns and architecture. Findings -Software engineering infrastructure is a key issue in virtual campuses. Originality/value -The value of the paper is to make our experience available to a wider audience so that organisations interested in the deployment of a large virtual campus can take advantage of our work.

Architecture of a multiplatform virtual campus

“…We did not use all the design patterns provided in the Core J2EE Design Patterns catalog . Detailed reasons can be found in , but time restrictions and staff skills are the most significant of these.…”

“…The presence of different platforms allows better services to be provided for teachers, who can select the most appropriate e‐learning platform for their teaching and research activities. However, the presence of three platforms forces the need for a more advanced architecture for virtual campuses .…”

“…There are also important conclusions regarding software engineering infrastructure in a large virtual campus that have been analyzed in , but this paper focuses only on software and hardware architecture.…”

SOA support to virtual campus advanced architectures: The VCAA canonical interfaces

“…In order to support users' demands, modern virtual campuses need maintainable software architectures that are able to deal with the integration of several e-learning platforms [7]. For example, the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) VC architecture relies on a multitier architecture that integrates several e-learning platforms: Moodle 1.9…”