An Interactive E-Learning System For Smart Cities Based On Iot
An Interactive E-Learning System For Smart Cities Based On Iot
Abstract—This research paper presents an advanced solution policies and practices (1). Presently, the researcher would like
for interactive education systems based on new technologies for to find the difference of opinion among the teaching fraternity
smart cities. Background/Objectives: The new coronavirus regarding Online teaching mode to overcome the
COVID 19 made an impact on most of the daily activities in the shortcomings in the future. The purpose of the study was to
whole world. Normal daily activities such as going to school or assess the faculty’s perception of Alternative teaching
university became a challenge for many pupils and students. practices (E-Learning – Blackboard) during COVID 19.
Many companies and education stakeholders started to find
suitable solutions to attend meetings remotely, study remotely, In the years, universities have tried to incorporate in their
or use online connections instead of physical presence. Methods: environment, learning environments, and eLearning solutions
The paper presents the development of an interactive E - in its educational process, which combine characteristics of
Learning system based on Internet of Things (IoT) connections technological and instructional type; however, to achieve a
and Virtual Reality (VR). The proposed system provides a modern, customizable and evolutionary environment,
solution for practical classes to attend classes wearing VR encouraging learning communities with social and interactive
glasses to feel the interactions between devices and tools as presence, either in the eLearning environment (2). In this
practical as in practice. Findings: The paper presented the main work, the study is based on the review of the literature
challenges in the eLearning solutions from surveys from regarding the use of technological tools in the educational
different researchers. The papers proposed an interactive
process, both formal and informal, for which the following
solution for learners to use an interactive platform based on IoT
objective of the research is presented by studying whether the
and VR to provide a solution that makes practical learning
possible. Classroom teaching could be completely replaced by
eLearning tools will achieve the active and participatory
online teaching mode. Novelty: The proposed system might be participation with students with a cognitive social presence
an attractive solution for many purposes using IoT environment promoting the interaction, communication, and collaboration
and Virtual Reality (VR) to decrease the feeling of disconnection among the educational actors, to break the closed walls of the
between co-learners and to make practical learning is possible traditional LMS, interrupting the formal imbalances of power
between the student, teacher and the university (3).
Keywords— e-Learning; Smart cities, Internet of Things
(IoT); Virtual learning; Service Oriented Architecture (SOA);
A. Teaching and learning approaches with technology
Mobile learning; COVID 19 The concept of teaching includes teacher-focused and
learner-focused methods. In the teacher-focused method,
I. INTRODUCTION knowledge is transmitted by the teacher to learners with
the use of technology. In such a case, the teacher needs to
Globally, the outbreak of COVID 19 makes drastic
have a better orientation towards the use of technology
changes in society. The Government of many countries has for effective teaching. In learner-focused teaching, the
taken numerous initiatives to normalize the situation to
teacher instills knowledge in the learner actively using
promote the health and well-being of society. The Higher technology to achieve learning goals.
Educational Institutions maintain the continuity of
Educational activity through E-learning platforms. However, The learning pyramid, which was developed by the
it needs much collaborative effort among faculty, National Training Laboratories Institute (2), Bethel,
administrative staff, and students for successful completion. Maine in the early 1960s proposes that the average
Though Online teaching is one of the innovations in the retention rate is more in participatory methods than in
teaching and learning process, a complete switch over from passive methods including lecturing, demonstrations used
traditional teaching practices affects the students and teacher in classroom teaching(3). Also, discussions, practice by
as well. There are many differences between Traditional doing methods have a high retention rate but in an E-
teaching and online teaching methods. There are similar learning platform, it is highly unusual to adopt all
studies carried out in earlier days to assess the educational participatory methods of teaching and learning.
In this work, the study is based on the review of the education (8). Amit Kumar Arora mentioned in his article
literature regarding the use of technological tools in the that for those who have adopted virtual mode, the mean
educational process, both formal and informal, for which of actual benefits is significantly less than the mean of
the following objective of the research is presented: expected benefits (9).
knowing whether the synergy of these two technology
Abdullah Aljaber conducted a study titled on E-
Social Network Sites (SNS) and Learning Management
Learning policy in Saudi Arabia: Challenges and
Systems (LMS) (2) tools will achieve the active and
participatory participation with students with a cognitive successes, Research in Comparative and International
social presence promoting the interaction, Education (10). R. Raja et al. in 2018 published an article
titled Impact of modern technology in education.
communication, and collaboration among the educational
Emphasized that technology is a gift of God. Technology
actors, to break the closed walls of the traditional LMS,
interrupting the formal imbalances of power between the has certainly changed the way we live. Further, stated that
technology eases the task of teachers in the learning
student, teacher, and the university.
process (11). Paul et al. in the study of “The myths of the
B. Background of study digital native and the multitasker” pointed out the present-
day students belong to the digital media world and
There has been a big need to develop new effective fundamentally different from previous generations of
solutions for the eLearning system to cope with the new
students. They have been labeled as digital natives and
COVID 19 pandemics (1). Recently, many solutions
can multitask (12). Christine Frazer et al studied-on
have been provided for online learning. Many Faculty Perception of Online Teaching Effectiveness and
organizations require needs for the learning process when
Indicators of Quality in 2017. They mentioned that
they need to present the content of the courses for
effective online teachers facilitate, connect, lead, and
students to get the concept of the course. In general, the work in synchrony with students to obtain indicators of
aim of any E-Learning system is integrating or reusing quality in teaching and learning (13). Theresa Capra
the available resources.
quoted in her article that online education has experienced
Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) provides great dramatic expansion and growth. Although this growth is
solutions for eLearning, where each service has a impressive, it does not occur without consequences. It
particular task to do. The web service contains an was evident that there are many withdrawals and failures
interface which is responsible for the functionality or the in online courses (14). Heather et al highlighted that
service provided by the provider. It contains a contract as online learning is increasing these days, hence the
well where the service user can find out how to interact teachers need to have good learning experiences to enable
with the service. The interface defines how a service them to equip the students with high-quality education
provider will perform requests from a service consumer, thereby overcome the challenges faced by the online
the contract defines how the service provider and the teaching process(15).
service consumer should interact, and the implementation The COVID-19 pandemic forced most universities
is the actual service code itself (7). The proposed system and colleges everywhere in the globe to prohibit the
is an intelligent learning system based on IoT and cloud
physical presence classes to stop the spread of the
computing to provide a solution for organizations with an pandemic (3). The coronavirus COVID-19 made big
interactive solution that allows students to communicate changes in all sectors including the education sector has
with the course tutor with the other course attendees.
not been immune. The e-learning systems became a
There were many published works on eLearning demand based on the logic of the exception that
during and after COVID 19 crisis, refocusing teacher extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures—one
presence and learning activity (1). Chatziralli presented common trend in education systems around the world has
the global perspective on transforming ophthalmic been to respond to the pandemic with “emergency
education into virtual learning during COVID 19 eLearning” protocols, marking the rapid transition of
pandemic (2). Almaiah et al. explored the critical face-to-face classes to online learning systems.
challenges and factors influencing the E-learning system
Many researchers worked on eLearning systems to
usage during COVID 19 pandemic (3). Elsamanoundy et
provide the learners with solutions to learn from
al. published an article on enhancing students’ anywhere where there is internet from multiple
engagement in using blackboard as an online learning
possibilities such as laptops, PCs, tablets, mobile phones,
community tool in clinical Biochemistry (4). Ali et al.
etc.) (4). The learners nowadays can attend lectures from
presented online and remote learning in Higher Education home, garden, coffee, restaurants (5). Internet and new
Institutes, a necessity in light of the COVID 19 pandemic technologies offered many solutions for eLearning. Many
(5).
universities and education facilities provided different
Alsadoon et al. published an article on the impact of solutions for online learning tools that can be eligible and
an adaptive e-course on students’ achievements based on tangible by the learners.
the students’ prior knowledge, Education, and In (6), the authors proposed a recommendation system
Information Technologies (6). Walabe et al. submitted a
based on collaborative filtering. The user-based
Postdoctoral thesis to the University of Ottawa regarding
collaborative filtering algorithm is chosen as the main
E-Learning Delivery in Saudi Arabian Universities (7).
recommendation method (7). Historical data is gathered
Wei Bao studied COVID 19 and online teaching in higher from the learners to be recorded on the Database of the
education: A case study of Peking University. The study learner in a collaborative method. There are common
concludes with five high impact principles for online
The traditional approach of teachers to evaluate learners and supervision from high-ranked universities such as the
by the number of tasks. The type of question bank influences “edx” website, As shown in figure 4 the system is based on
the importance of evaluation in education. Varying of these the identity of the learner and they provide customer support
questions helps in evaluating students efficiently (14). There to help learners during the courses. Some courses are limited
are many websites providing E-learning solutions with content with a timeline and others are open with fees.
Figure 5: The E learners’ feedback about the available eLearning system (6).
Last ten years, the reasons for an exponentially growing compatibility between technology and users, and the attitude
number of people who use Facebook have been identified, two towards technology. One of the main factors that could
main factors that undergo their use, such as external distract the learners using eLearning methodology is the
stimulation that encourages users to participate in behaviors distraction because of social media websites (20).
that deal with Facebook (for example; birthday reminders,
C. AN AUTHENTICATION SYSTEM FOR E-LEARNERS.
automatic emails sent by the social network), and the internal
motivations that deal with the gratifications provided by the One of the most challenges in e-learning systems on how
content and use of the media. That is, the social connection, to authenticate the users for efficiently attending offline
join groups, and organize events, publish, and view classes. The proposed system as shown in figure 6 gives the
photographs, among others (19). In the relevant literature they users the possibility to attend the courses online by looking for
state that by engaging in social interaction through SNS, there the databases authorized users to allow the user to access the
is the potential to increase subjective well-being, the content with their identified accounts.
D. The proposed interactive eLearning solution access the contents and the training online using web services
as shown in figure 7. The proposed system is based on a web
Many organizations provide handy solutions for the
service that shows the content from the storage database.
eLearning environment and give the learners the possibility to
Learner 3
Learner 1
WEB
SERVICE
Internet
Connect the DB
Learner 2
Learner 1
Get the content
Learner 1
Learner 1
Learner 1
Content storage
recording, uploading files, assignment, test, attendance than opportunities for both teachers and learners (2). Also,
the traditional classroom teaching. Some research studies were Elsamanoudy has written in his article about the perception
conducted by researchers mentioned that the COVID-19 and satisfaction of second-year medical students concerning
pandemic enacted great challenges in the field of the Blackboard online platform. The student found it effective
Ophthalmology Education as well (3). The experience gained along with face-to-face classroom-based learning methods for
through virtual training platform, may change the traditional better learning achievement (4).
teaching practices in the world and provide new educational
Algorithm 1: The proposed recommendation eLearning algorithm:
Another category is the faculties’ perception of E-learning usage during the COVID-19 pandemic in Education and
course delivery. Accordingly, many faculties used shared information technologies. They enlisted technological
video/notes at the time of the lecture, some before the lecture, challenges, individual challenges, cultural challenges, and
and few more performed spots lectures. They further course challenges. It may be a major suggestion for the
mentioned sharing video/notes at the time of the lecture is policymakers, designers, developers, and researchers which
more effective, than in other ways. It showed further evidence enables them to get acquainted with the key aspects of
that most of them recorded the lecture and upload it before the Elearning for successful usage during the COVID 19
online class. Also, many of them were comfortable in pandemic (3). Another study by Chrysi Sapanta states that
recording the lecture. Though there are some difficulties in online teaching and learning becomes a particular challenge
recording lectures including disconnection issues, disturbance and has been an urgent and unexpected request than face to
in-network, lack of voice clarity, and problems in uploading. face teaching. It implies certain pedagogical content
The student’s response was found less in the online class knowledge especially to technological designing, organizing,
rather than in classroom teaching. Many of them noted that the and delivering course material for a better learning
discipline is less towards online class rather than classroom environment (1).
teaching. The quality of teaching and learning is not improved
The fourth category was the faculties’ perception of the
in Online teaching. The faculties stated the reason as there was
effective teaching model. The majority of them disagreed with
a lack of classroom culture, difficulties in grading &
the statement “Classroom teaching be completely replaced by
maintaining attendance. The online assessment methods
adopted by the faculties include Quiz, assignment, discussion, online teaching mode” According to the study findings,
oral examination, Homework, and presentation. It was further faculties mentioned that traditional classroom teaching
practices as effective in improving academic performance and
evident that online teaching was suitable for Theory-based
courses and then for numerically based courses whereas, for preferred mode of teaching. However, some researchers
proved the effectiveness of online teaching in terms of
practical classes, it is a bit more complex and not that effects
such as for clinical and laboratory-based classes. On contrary, students’ achievement. Elham AL Sadoon mentioned in the
article that the impact of an adaptive e-course on students’
Chatziralli et al stated in the article that online learning
becomes a useful platform to provide education of adult achievement is not correlated with prior knowledge (6).
learners in terms of its cost, effectiveness, accessibility, and In the field of education, the latest approaches have been
flexibility of time of place in delivering the course(2). in use including the application of technology, the use of
The third category emphasized E-learning difficulties modern aids, strategies in teaching, construction of need-based
experienced by faculties. Those include difficulties in the curriculum, independent evaluation strategies for the
attainment of diversified competencies for past decades.
Online assessment Process. Also, monitoring performance
assessment is more challenging, students’ expectations of Technology can only be used as a supplement. If online
teaching continues, it will alter the educational landscape and
interacting materials, time consumption, maintenance of
attendance become additional difficulties. There was a greater new issues emerge among instructors and students.
Preparation for teaching online is time-consuming and it
physical or emotional disturbance in online teaching than
classroom teaching. Almaiah et al. explored the critical extracts an additional 10 hours which eventually becomes a
challenges and factors influencing the E-learning system teaching load. Similarly, students must face many struggles
due to lack of social interaction, low grades than traditional
classroom teaching which may result in sudden withdrawal To enhance learning, eLearning can be used efficiently.
from learning. To combat the limitations, it is necessary to The eLearning recommender system improves the process of
follow certain principles including improvement in student- reaching proper decisions regarding the course content and
faculty contact, an adaptation of the active learning process, style implicit and by conserving the explicit feedbacks from
giving prompt feedback, and effective communication among the user. To avoid some of the shortcomings as shown in
teachers and students. Table 1[1] are used like browsing/activity and the user
interactions using the eLearning system.
Table 1: The comparison between the recommendation algorithms.
Method Strengths Weaknesses
Hybrid collaborative 1. Improve prediction performance The high cost of the implementation
filtering
2. Overcome limitations of sparsity