1 | P a g e School of Art and Sciences Department of Computer Science B.Sc. in Computer Science COMP 4811 : F inal Y ear P roject - 1 Proposal Form Title: Development of an interactive Online educational platform and Learning Management System for remote online students and for institutions of Kyrgyzstan Project author: Meerbek Akimzhanov signature Supervisor: Ayman Aljarbouh Co - supervisor (if applicable): Nurlan Shaidullaev signature Main subject Area(s): Online educational platform and Learning Management System for organizations of Kyrgyzstan Keywords: Ed - tech, Learning education system, LMS , Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC), Online video conferencing, Game - based learning. Teachers’ studio, Project type: Software based Short project description: The project is about online educational platform for students that provides interactive, pract ical way of education and training that promotes independent, continuous and sustainable learning environment. Training modules take i nto account video contents, quizes, discussions, assignments, etc... The platform will help increase the motivation of stud ents for professional development and the introduction of modern scientific discoveries and principles, advanced technologies and solutions to in crease the effectiveness of their daily work 2 | P a g e Project Aim and Objective(s): Aim: The goal of the entire project is to create an adaptive educational online platform for Kyrgyzstan where people can remotely get education of any type and any category. In this platform people can find the courses of the famous companies, organizations, an d institutions and get a certificate in the end of courses. Objectives: 1. Making education system more efficiently and more fun. 2. Create a LMS platform for organization and institutions for their best interactivness and gamifications 3. Use free open - source video conference on the platform 4. Grading system for the institutions 5. Tracking and reporting user data 6. Analyzing the students and teacher’s progress 7. Certificate of finishing the course Equipment and critical resources required: • Ubuntu 18.04 64 - bit OS running Linux kernel 4.x • Latest version of docker installed • 16 GB of memory with swap enabled • 8 CPU cores, with high single - thread performance • 500 GB of free disk space (or more) for recordings, or 50GB if session recording is disabled on t he server. • TCP ports 80 and 443 are accessible • UDP ports 16384 - 32768 are accessible • 250 Mbits/sec bandwidth (symmetrical) or more • TCP port 80 and 443 are not in use by another web server or reverse proxy • A hostname (such as bbb.example.com) for setup of a SSL certificate • IPV4 and IPV6 addres Recommended pre - requisites / Knowledge required and Supporting 3 rd Year Study units: Familiarity and comfort with Devstack and Docker , Django, Python, Object - Oriented Programming, React, JavaScript, Linux OC, HTML/ CSS, Tailwind/Bootstrap, GitHub Foreseeable Ethical issues and how these will be tackled (if applicable): If the teachers or students posts inappropriate content, we need to have a moderator who will regularly check the content of the platform. 3 | P a g e Copyright note: Note : in case you implement commercial project for company you must provide company’s consent to publish project report by UCA. As you can see project proposal includes lots of sensitive information, that’s why it is important to get client’s consent before project kicks off. Expected outcomes: Web platform with function that can provide online education for the organizations within the it’s scope as well as in terms of Massive Open Online Courses like Udemy or Coursera for the commercial purposes Expected deliverables: 1. Project report: (original + pdf) soft copy + hard copy 2. Presentation (original + pdf) 3. GitHub repository downloaded zip file 4. Installation file or link to front - end and back - end 5. Supervisor review 6. External expert review Methods: The Waterfall Method • Requirements • Design • Implementation • Testing and verification • Deployment and Maintenance GitHub repository link: https://github.com/meerbex/FinalProject Programming language(s): Python, Javascript Framework (if applicable): OpenEdx, Django, React, Node js, Express External libraries: BigBlueButton , H5P, Zoom APi, Codegrade, Flex grader, AI proctoring, Accredible Chair department Dr. Ayman Aljarbouh signature: Approved Dr. Ayman Aljarbouh Department committee decision: Approve / Reject NOTE : This document is evolving. It will be subjected to revisions with a view to help the current and future students learn and enjoy more from their FYP experience. If you think of relevant points, welcome to let me know and I'll add in your observations. A completed project proposal can simply be cut and pasted into your report later. 4 | P a g e Contents Project Description including References and keywords (~300 words): ................................ ................................ 5 Literature Survey: ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................... 6 Similar ap plications comparison table: ................................ ................................ ................................ ................... 8 Technical specification of the project: ................................ ................................ ................................ .................... 9 The Open edX Learning Management System (LMS) ................................ ................................ ..................... 9 Risk management plan: ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......... 11 Biblio graphy: ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................ 12 5 | P a g e Project Description including References and keywords (~300 words): Note : Explain your problem in detail by providing several scenarios. Try to provide as must information as possible to provide justification for your final year project. The manner of life has changed significantly since the COVID - 19 pandemic began in December 2019. Another indust ry that has seen significant change is education. Despite unthinkable changes in technology, classroom instruction has been practiced for decades all around the world. However, the circumstances created by Covid - 19 changed this, and classroom education no longer remained the norm. After that a Learning Management System s came to the businesses. A Learning Management System (LMS) is an online system or software which is used to plan, execute, and assess a specific learning process. In simple words, software used in eLearning programs and which helps in administration, documentation, tracking, and recording (Sharma, 2021) Learning Management Systems are used to maintain online collaboration over the online students as well as organization’s employees in the Kyrgyzstan. Institutions and companies use them to deliver online training; corporates use them for training purposes, as well as for maintaining employee records. Some use them to offer courses that provide students access to education, and some o thers as an online system which is used to support course delivery and provide online learning opportunities for students and employees. The project is for learners that provides interactive, practical way of education and competencies training that promotes independent, continuous, and sustainable learning environment. Training modules take i nto account video contents, quizes, discussions, assignments, etc... The platform will help increase the motivation of students for professional development and the introduction of modern scientific discoveries and principles, advanced technologies, and solutions to in crease the effectiveness of their daily work Developmen t of a platform that will help students to assess their own competencies on anytime and anywhere. Students can qualitatively update their knowledge and skills to improve the effectiveness of learning. Moreover, the platform get help on creating a career pa th from zero to advanced, and easily enroll to master - degrees remotely with the option to find an internship or dream job without leaving the platform. The platform will be available to anyone wishing to change jobs and advance in their career, including w orking professionals, graduate students, and those completing their studies in different aspects Companies and universities can have their own courses after completing them, they can hire the best students for the job in that organizations It is also a go od possibility for teachers to have a chance to teach in the platform and get paid for their courses. That is why the platform itself will have online payments for Kyrgyzstan. 6 | P a g e Literature Survey: Note : Literature survey must be used as introduction to t he subject area and provide current research status in the field. Explain the context of the problem - solution to be implemented and how it going to be used. The depth and quality of your literature survey is going to affect your grade for Midterm exam. Online learning has demonstrated significant changes in the last 10 years by allowing eLearning platforms be like never before. The eLearning sector is rapidly expanding and producing significant profits for businesses. According to Forbes, the eLearning market is expected to reach $325 billion by 2025, showing the huge potential of the ed - tech market. (McCue, 2019) With the help of technology, eLearning platforms and MOOCs like Coursera and Udemy have quickly revolutionized the ed - tech environment. Since educational institutions have begun to provide online degree programs, online courses provided through eLearning platforms have become a regular part of students' life. Most LMSs are web based and are used in various educational institutes and companies to improve classroom teaching, learning methodology, and company records. They are used in various industries and scenarios like in financial services, compliance training, computer based training, online assessment, collaborative learning, application sharing, and so on. Some LMSs also include a performance management system which encompasses employee review , competency management, and skill gap analysis. (Diaz - Infante et al., 2022) Since creating new LMS is one of the most diff icult things for developers I was advised to use Open - S ource LMS , because this kind of solutions should be the ideal choice if you want to make sure that you have a transparent and safe platform with documentation and that have community where I can ask them a questions. After making a lot of research I have come up with the decision where I must choose from the following the most popular open - source LMS platforms: 1. Moodle It features one of the most extensive set of options among any other learning management system out there. It may not offer the most modern and intuitive learning user experience, but it is a simple and feature - rich option as a learning platform. (Brown, 2022) 2. Forma LMS You can add courses, manage them, and also create webinar sessions to enhance your training process remotely. It lets you organize the courses in the form of catalogs while also being able to create multiple editions of courses for different classrooms E - Commerce integration is available with it as well that will let you monetize your training courses in return for certifications (Brown, 2022) 3. Open edX And, Open edX lets you utilize the same technology behind edX platform to offer instructor - led courses, degree programs, and self - paced learning courses. Of course, considering that it is already something successful as a platform used by many companies, you can utilize it for any scale of operation (Brown, 2022) 7 | P a g e 4. ELMS Learning Network Unlike others, ELMS Learning Network offers a set of tools that you can utilize to set up your learning platform as per your requirements. (Brown, 2022) 5. Canvas LMS Canvas LMS is also a quite popular open - source LMS. Similar to Open edX, Canvas LMS is also suitable for a range of applications, be it school education programs or university degrees. (Brown, 2022) 6. Sakai LMS Sakai LMS may not be a popular option, but it offers most of the essential features that include course m anagement, grade assessment, app integration, and collaboration tools. (Brown, 2022) According to my needs and which is not too light and which is not too heavy open - source was Open - Edx. Not like as it’s competitors in ed - tech, It is the leading not - for - profit LMS platform. Moreover , I found out that it is written in programming languages that I know which are JavaScript and Python , which means it is easy to change and integrate with other platforms. Open edX® was created by the joint efforts of Harvard University and MIT for the well - known learning platform edX. It is an open - source, learning management system (LMS) that empowers organizations worldwide to design customized and engaging online learning platforms. Open edX® enables companies to host MOOC s with useful features such as virtual classes and training programs. ( https://openedx.org/ ) 8 | P a g e Similar applications comparison tabl e : Note : Provide comparison table of similar applications /projects by comparing the features of applications /project Indicate all features to be implemented within your project by providing the complete list. The depth and quality of your comparison is going to affect your grade for Midterm exam. A comparison table of similar applications/projects that are provides Massive Open Online Courses: Features/Plat forms Coursera Udemy Khan Academy Okuuker emet Ilimbox Devx Our platform Community Worldwide Worldwide Worldwide Kyrgyzst an Kyrgyz stan Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzsta n Interactive exercises - - + - - - + Analytics + - - + + - + Certificates in the end + + - - - + + Configuratio n for companies only + + - - - - + Site Langugaes many many many r ussian ilimbox Russian/en gslish Kyrgyz/rus sian / english Offline learning - - - + - + - Video conferencing - - - + - - + E - commerce + + + - - + Not yet Platform Web/Androi d/IOS Web/Androi d/IOS Web/Androi d/IOS Web/And roid web Web Web/Andr oid Pricing Model Paid Paid Free Free Free Paid Paid Synchronous learning - - - + - + + Asynchrono us learning + + + + + - + Student portfolio - - - - - - + Stack used Python/Djan go PHP and Python MVC JavaScript and Processing.js Moodle (PHP) Moodle (PHP) Only frontend with googleform Opend Edx (Django) 9 | P a g e Technical specification of the project: Note : Write a clear technical specification. Specify all functional and non - functional requirements of your project . For all requirements indicate acceptance criteria The Open edX Learning Management System (LMS) Learners, course teams, and instructors use the LMS throughout the duration of a course. Instructor View : Instructors can publish courses, post discussion boards, manage teams and cohorts, edit grades, and communicate with learners. Learner View : Learners can access their profile, check their enrollment status, and browse courses via their learner dashboard. Features • Available for desktop, iOS and Android versions, the LMS provides access to course content and supporting infrastructure (schedules, discussion boards, collaboration tools, student administration, certificate generation, messaging, and more). • Equally supports online courses, online cam puses, and online degree programs. • Customizable learner experience reflects your unique brand identity and preferences. T he LMS provides access to course content and supporting infrastructure (schedules, discussion boards, collaboration tools, student administration, certificate generation, messaging, and more). Equally supports online courses, online campuses, and online degree programs. Customizable learner experience reflects your unique brand identity and preferences. Open edX Studio empowers learning and development through custom experiences powered by the latest in instructional design. • Author courses and evolve your content while live with learners • Manage your course schedule, course team, and grading policy • Utilize documented and open XML standards (OLX) for import/export of courses. • Easily import content and manage content across platforms. • Access rich 3rd - party tools or add additional building blocks 10 | P a g e Open edX Insights provides intelligent, learner - centric analytics to help in structors understand how learners engage with course material. • Designed to support millions of users, Open edX Insights scales along with your learning program. • Built - in reports help instructors and course teams manage online content for cohorts of any si ze. • Learning teams can leverage existing data to build custom adaptive content and store data in a warehouse or learning record store (LRS). Open edX eCommerce capabilities support a large set of catalog items, products, and bundles, including multi - payment options such as PayPal. Built to showcase the latest in learning sciences and instructional design, the Open edX learner platform is driven by our community of developers, technology providers, research teams, and users. Most current brows ers will work on edX.org . For best performance, we recommend the latest versions of: • Chrome • Firefox • Microsoft Edge • Safari Note : Provide the project schedule using the Gannt Chart and comment where applicable Identify milestones. A milestone is a concrete event that one can use to demonstrate progress. Milestones should be clear, concrete, demonstrable achievements (“SMART”). 11 | P a g e Risk management plan: Note : Identify you r risks and solutions to them. The quality of the plan will impact your midterm exam grade. Technical Risks: • The server may crash. We need to configure backup and restore solutions from the providers. • Code issues that may crash the website. To prevent that we need to test code frequently. Resolving bugs and logical errors when they're found. Following pure code standards for the best practices. • Package updates. We need to regularly check if the packages are updated or not updated enough to find the capability with our platform. • Storage and CPU shortage. We need to consider to have a powerful server to maintain our platform with cool features like online conference with BigBlueButton Non - T echnical Risks: • Misunderstandings with the stakeholders and the student. To clarify functionalities in written way. It is better to make a SRS document in order to not allow this happen. • Budget issues. Software development budgets can change as project scopes change, but it's important to monitor projects so that they don't go over budget. Be sure to adjust your project plan and budget whenever changes are made to avoid raising project costs. • Deadlines. Sometimes, development project ’ s milestones not finished on deadlines. You can mitigate this risk by creating a thorough project plan that allows you to set realistic deadlines. 12 | P a g e Bibliography: Note : The quantity of your references, quality and relevance of sources will impact your midterm exam grade. Brown, A. D. (2022, October 10). 17 learning management system examples . EdApp Microlearning Blog. Retrieved November 4, 2022, from https://www.edapp. com/blog/10 - learning - management - system - examples/ Diaz - Infante, N., Lazar, M., Ram, S., & Ray, A. (2022, August 25). Demand for online education is growing. are providers ready? McKinsey & Company. Retrieved November 4, 2022, from https://www.mckinsey.com/ industries/education/our - insights/demand - for - online - education - is - growing - are - providers - ready Fordham. (2015, November 8). Types of online learning . Fordham University: The Jesuit University of New York. Retrieved November 4, 2022, from https://www.fordham .edu/info/24884/online_learning/7897/types_of_online_learning Khan, W. by F. H. (2021, August 26). What is open edx and why is it used worldwide? Edly. Retrieved November 4, 2022, from https://edly.io/blog/what - is - open - edx - and - why - is - it - used - worldwide/ M cCue, T. J. (2019, May 14). E learning climbing to $325 billion by 2025 UF canvas absorb Schoology Moodle . Forbes. Retrieved November 4, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/tjmccue/2018/07/31/e - learning - climbing - to - 325 - billion - by - 2025 - uf - canvas - absorb - schoology - moodle/ Sharma, A. (2021, May 12). Discovering Learning Management Systems: Basic functions and benefits eLearning Industry. Retrieved November 4, 2022, from https://elearningindustry.com/discovering - learning - management - systems - basic - functions - benefits