AN APPROACH TO IMPROVE eLEARNING PLATFORMS ACCESSIBILITY
AN APPROACH TO IMPROVE eLEARNING PLATFORMS ACCESSIBILITY

Summary/Abstract: Nowadays eLearning has made an extraordinary progress, especially through online open courseware platforms such as edx.org, coursera.org, khanacademy.org, udacity.com, ocw.mit.edu, class.stanford.edu, etc. In order to engage students for the learning process, these platforms use multimedia rich content, like videos, pictures, interactive exercises, etc. However, accessing these learning resources requires a constant high-speed internet connection, making them unavailable to students in developing countries. Also, a broadband internet connection, such as the one required by these platforms is often prohibitive for students coming from financially challenged families. In this paper we present the concept and experimental features of an innovative solution which allows recording and rendering of low file size educational content. Our idea is based on providing a virtual blackboard on which the presenter is allowed to write and draw. By tracking mouse movements, clicks and repeated actions we can establish scenarios and then save the data for later playback. The audio is kept and embedded in the presentation. The output file is then compressed and stored on a server from where it can be retrieved later. The educational content can be quickly downloaded even on slow connections. Since recording and playback are performed entirely client-side, using web services, the educational content can be viewed on any device that supports modern technologies. Furthermore, unlike the existing platforms which require the user to be online in order to access the educational material, our solution will allow the user to download the lessons once, and use it many times for the entire learning process even if he is offline. By extending the accessibility of eLearning platforms, we bring a significant improvement to the education especially for those who need it most.

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