A Practical Example for Model-Driven Web Requirements

The number of approaches for Web environments has grown very fast in the last years: HDM, OOHDM, and WSDM were among the first, and now a large number can be found in the literature. With the definition of MDA (Model- Driven Architecture) and the acceptance of MDE (Model-Driven Engineering) techniques in this environment, some groups are working in the use of metamodels and transformations to make their approaches more powerful. UWE (UMLBased Web Engineering) or OOWS (Object-Oriented Web Solutions) are only some examples. However, there are few real experiences with Web Engineering in the enterprise environment, and very few real applications of metamodels and MDE techniques. In this chapter the practical experience of a Web Engineering approach, NDT, in a big project developed in Andalusia is presented. Besides, it shows the usability of metamodels in real environments

The design and implementation of an adaptive e-learning system

This paper describes the design and implementation of an adaptive e-learning system that provides a template for different learning materials as well as a student model that incorporates five distinct student characteristics as an aid to learning: primary characteristics are prior knowledge, learning style and the presence or absence of animated multimedia aids (multimedia mode); secondary characteristics include page background preference and link colour preference. The use of multimedia artefacts as a student characteristic has not previously been implemented or evaluated. The system development consists of a requirements analysis, design and implementation. The design models including use case diagrams, conceptual design, sequence diagrams, navigation design and presentation design are expressed using Unified Modelling Language (UML). The adaptive e-learning system was developed in a template implemented using Java Servlets, XHTML, XML, JavaScript and HTML. The template is a domain-independent adaptive e-learning system that has functions of both adaptivity and adaptability

A Practical Environment to Apply Model-Driven Web Engineering

The application of a model-driven paradigm in the development of Web Systems has yielded very good research results. Several research groups are defining metamodels, transformations, and tools which offer a suitable environment, known as model-driven Web engineering (MDWE). However, there are very few practical experiences in real Web system developments using real development teams. This chapter presents a practical environment of MDWE based on the use of NDT (navigational development techniques) and Java Web systems, and it provides a practical evaluation of its application within a real project: specialized Diraya.Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia TIN2007-67843-C06-03Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia TIN2007-30391-

Exploring participatory design for SNS-based AEH systems

The rapidly emerging and growing social networking sites (SNS) offer an opportunity to improve adaptive e-learning experience by introducing a social dimension, connecting users within the system. Making connections and providing communication tools can engage students in creating effective learning environment and enriching learning experiences. Researchers have been working on introducing SNS features into adaptive educational hypermedia systems. The next stage research is centered on how to enhance SNS facilities of AEH systems, in order to engage students’ participation in collaborative learning and generating and enriching learning materials. Students are the core participants in the adaptive e-learning process, so it is essential for the system designers to consider students’ opinions. This paper aims at exploring how to apply participatory design methodology in the early stage of the SNS-based AEH system design process

Methodologies to develop Web Information Systems and Comparative Analysis

New systems are currently being developed which have different aims from the systems developed some years ago. Current systems tend to be distributed, with huge storage needs and complex functional requirements. But these systems are also distributed via Internet so interface, information recovery, navigation and multimedia are all fundamental aspects. These new systems are known as Web Information Systems (WIS). The complexity of these systems and the fact that they are systems requiring constant maintenance due to the fact that they continually change to adapt to users’ new requirements means that they have to be developed using a standardized process. There is currently no standard methodology accepted by all the software engineering community. This paper presents the result of a comparative study analysing the different methodologies which are currently applicable to the development of a Web Information System

Model-driven transformation and validation of adaptive educational hypermedia using CAVIAr

Authoring of Adaptive Educational Hypermedia is a complex activity requiring the combination of a range of design and validation techniques.We demonstrate how Adaptive Educational Hypermedia can be transformed into CAVIAr courseware validation models allowing for its validation. The model-based representation and analysis of different concerns and model-based mappings and transformations are key contributors to this integrated solution. We illustrate the benefits of Model Driven Engineering methodologies that allow for interoperability between CAVIAr and a well known Adaptive Educational Hypermedia framework. By allowing for the validation of Adaptive Educational Hypermedia, the course creator limits the risk of pedagogical problems in migrating to Adaptive Educational Hypermedia from static courseware

Developing Systems with NDT and NDT-Tool

The rising interest for developing systems in web environments has produced that the research community poses the necessity of offering methodological proposals in order to give a suitable reference when a web system is produced. In the last years, several methodological proposals have appeared: OOHDM (Object Oriented Hypermedia Design Method, UWE (UML Based Web Engineering), OOH (Object-Oriented Hypermedia Method), WSDM (Web Site Design Method) or WebML (Web Modelling Language) are only some examples. However, there is not a standard and world wide accepted methodology. Each methodology proposes its own techniques and models. This fact has produced that some studies have been made in order to compare them. These comparatives studies show that there are some gaps in web engineering. This paper presents these gaps and introduces NDT (Navigational Development Techniques). NDT is an approach which offers a different development process that starts with requirements treatment and allows to get design models using a systematic process. It tries to solve some of these gaps detected in web engineering. In order to introduce how NDT confronts these gaps, the paper presents NDT development process, a global vision of its objectives and its tool case, NDT-Tool. Also, this paper enumerated some real projects developed by NDT and NDT-Tool in real companies

Building dynamic WAP applications using UWE

The great advance of the communications and the importance gained by the mobile systems have increased the development of WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) applications, nevertheless at the present time do not exist methodologies specifically designed for the WAP applications development process. However, in the last years, several methodologies for the web applications development process have been proposed. One of them is UWE (UML-based Web Engineering) [1]. Although this methodology has specifically been developed for web applications, the similarity between web and WAP systems allows us to propose the use of it, to generate a design stage approach for WAP applications and then to create a specific extension of UWE to build WAP applications. In order to obtain this, we present a new UWE based model called WAP navigational model for the navigational design and presentational design steps, which we can use to design WAP systems improving the WAP applications development process.Eje: I - Workshop de Ingeniería de Software y Base de DatosRed de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Conceptual Modeling in Web-based Hypermedia Engineering with Com HDM

The coexistence of different complex features in web hypermedia applications such as information structures, navigation access mechanisms. and user interface interaction, raises new issues on the user-centered modeling approach paradigm. Thus, to provide a clear structured view of application domain, web designers must identify and clearly define complex processes existed in such applications

Building dynamic WAP applications using UWE

The great advance of the communications and the importance gained by the mobile systems have increased the development of WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) applications, nevertheless at the present time do not exist methodologies specifically designed for the WAP applications development process. However, in the last years, several methodologies for the web applications development process have been proposed. One of them is UWE (UML-based Web Engineering) [1]. Although this methodology has specifically been developed for web applications, the similarity between web and WAP systems allows us to propose the use of it, to generate a design stage approach for WAP applications and then to create a specific extension of UWE to build WAP applications. In order to obtain this, we present a new UWE based model called WAP navigational model for the navigational design and presentational design steps, which we can use to design WAP systems improving the WAP applications development process.Eje: I - Workshop de Ingeniería de Software y Base de DatosRed de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI