eLUP: a tool to model quality within e-learning processes

Software description

eLUP is a software to be used to model quality within e-learning processes. eLUP is bi-lingual (English and French). eLUP was designed and implemented by the University of Montpellier 2.  It is written in Java and uses MySQL. In order to model quality into ODL processes in every institution, the “eLup Editor” (eLUP as e-Learning Unified Process) was  designed. It is named by analogy with the Software Unified Process) [Jacobson, I., Booch, G., Rumbaugh, J., The Unified Software Development Process, Addison-Wesley, 1999]. eLUP is based on the Unified Modelling Language (UML) [Rumbaugh, J., Jacobson, I., Booch, G., Unified Modeling Language Reference Manual 2nd edition. 2004]. The eLUP Editor is devoted to structure, to document and to share ODL concepts to be linked with quality features.

Each user provides activities, roles, artefacts, and workflows to communicate information about ODL quality in his/her institution. The user indicates who (a role) is performing an activity (including intermediate steps, quality indicators and criteria). He/she also lists which artefacts are needed (input artefact) or produced (output artefact) by the activity. He/she organizes the activities into workflow through UML activity diagrams. Each complex concept (activity or workflow) can be related to quality features (indicators and criteria), or linked to the relevant resources (best practices). Quality is modelled from an internal view of each activity or process involved in the whole e-learning processes. As a complementary approach, one can use eLUP to model specialized activities devoted to a role called “Quality Manager”. So, the eLUP Editor is able to provide an external view of quality.

The user may browse the quality features (quality criteria and best practices) from an activity or a workflow. In addition, he/she can add his/her own quality features to his/her own model of an e-learning organization. The user can generate PDF or HTML files to display or print the data entered in eLUP. He/she can also import and export XML files for further data exchanges.

The eLUP software can be downloaded from below. It is also available on the e-Quality DVD.

 

Downloads

 

Screenshots

Workflow detail diagram editor (click to enlarge)

 

Activity editing (click to enlarge)

European Universitary Pole of Montpellier and Languedoc-Roussillon (F) University of Montpellier 2 (F) Open University of Catalonia (ES) University of Tampere (FI) Szczecin University of Technology (PL) University of Applied Sciences Valais (CH) University of Lausanne (CH)