Developing an M-Learning Application for iOS

Abstract

The mobile market development has a high impact on all domains including education. Smart mobile devices started to be affordable and the massive use on educational processes does not seem to be too far. Mobile learning applications are be targeted for all major mobile operating systems as native applications or Web-based. The objective of this paper is to present the implementation of the evaluation module for an m-learning application developed for iOS devices. The m-learning application is targeted to a higher education institution. The application uses Web services in order to obtain the content and to authenticate the users.Keywords: Mobile Learning, Mobile Application Development, iOS, Model View Controller, Web Service, AssessmentI IntroductionMobile learning represents a research topic for many academics and practitioners. Around the world there are several projects ongoing or finalized that aim the development of mobile learning applications for different mobile platforms or Web based applications optimized for mobile devices, like [1], [2], [3] and [4]Mobile learning applications could include modules for:* Content presentation (lessons); content include text, video, audio, graphics; it could as simple as displaying only text or loading PDF or other files or very complex, using multimedia components [5];* Short assessments (quizzes); these are available to students in order to test their knowledge; the user can take these tests whenever they want and they are not time-restricted;* Final assessments (tests); these tests are given at a specific date and time and they have a limited duration;* Trainer-student communication; this involves the use of well known components (e-mail or social networks) or by using a dedicated component based on a specific protocol.* Content sharing (e-mail, social networks, cloud etc.); this will allow users to share the content or results with other registered users or anyone (if the application allows it);* Homework and assignments; the students could load a file or fill some data fields according to requirements.Each developer chooses to include one or more modules in their applications. The applications could be developed as standalone applications (all content is stored on the device), distributed applications (a native client and the server that provides learning contents) and Web-based applications (the client is a simple mobile Web browser [6]). It is important to design the application taking into account several quality characteristics based on the users requirements and behavior [8].For connected mobile learning applications the client communicates with the server using standardized protocols (like HTTP) or dedicated protocols. Also, the connected applications can synchronize the mobile device with the server.In this field, were developed several prototypes of mobile learning applications in a framework of a research project. In this respect, it was developed a SOAP-based Web service that provides methods for students' assessment. The most recent work includes the implementation of a mobile learning application for Android devices. The results were presented in [4].As for the previous project, the main purpose is to keep the user interface as simple as possible and to focus on the basic functionalities. Further versions need more focus on the graphical interface and the user interaction (like using gestures etc.). The use of Web services has the advantage that:* client applications could be of any type (mobile, desktop);* the client application could be developed using almost any existing language or technology;* the client application can be targeted on almost any existing platform or operating system;The Web service includes methods for students' assessment. Each student could login and select a test for one topic. The topic is related mobile applications development. …