E-sgh e-learning platform
A. The general description of the system
Warsaw School of Economics assists the traditional forms of education by introducing the e-learning system. The system enables:
- Presentation of the supplementary materials to the lectures and the classes for the full-time studies, extramural studies and postgraduate studies – thereby the teacher expand the traditional lectures with additional content, tasks, tests and exercises as well as enlarge the syllabus of the lecture (or the classes) by brand new issues. The teacher may also introduce to the system the materials presented during a lecture – which certainly will help students to cope with the material.
- Conducting full-standard lectures for the full-time studies, extramural studies and post-graduate studies, which extend the education offer of the School.
- Organization and conducting courses and trainings for the people from outside the School.
All the lectures available in the system are divide into one-screen slides, which allows to order subsequent pieces of information presented in different part of the lecture. They also facilitate acquiring the content by displaying the optimal volume of the text. It is therefore easier to scan without searching between the following lines of the text. The materials presented on the Platform are fully multimedial. The text is accompanied by photographs, drawings, animations. The system allows to combine the materials with the audio files and the visual ones. Access to the consecutive slides may be limited, e.g. in case of wrong answer in a test. The tests may also include auxiliary part, suggesting the right answer to the user. Furthermore, the system remembers the history of the resolved tests and enables another approach e.g. to the most difficult questions for the user. Despite the fact that the lectures run via the internet are accessible at any chosen moment, the student is not left to himself. We prepared four independent ways of contact for the students and the teachers:
- chat – the chat room, where the virtual meetings of the students and the teachers are held at a previously arranged time,
- forum – the information exchange area, available to all the participants of a lecture; Everyone may write a message, which is accessible to all other students,
- text messages – our system was equipped with a module, which enables sending short information to a single student, to a few students or to all of the participants of the given group. The module was also equipped with an option allowing to let know other receivers (via SMS) about the new messages,
- e-mail – the most basic and therefore the most effective form of contact; this is the only one (among the listed above) allowing files transmission.
The Platform elaborated by the SGH’s Centre for Development of Distance and Continuing Education was designed in such a way as to allow full usage of its possibilities without regard to the configuration of the end user’s computer. It is compatible with most internet browsers. Also, the screen resolution (of a particular computer) is not an obstacle for the system – it adjusts to the current configuration of the computer. Thanks to this function the whole surface of the screen might be used. What is more, the user is able to choose the size of the font so that studying is more comfortable and effective. There is a register prepared exclusively for the teacher. Therewith, he is able to evaluate continuously the engagement of the participants and their progress. Within the register’s functions there are browsing options available (of student’s activity statistics, test results, marks and record of the communication with a student).Access to the system
The user of the system is under the stringent verification (each user has his/her own, unique login and an identifying password). The path which the user follows is continuously monitored and might be subject to further analysis. It allows to generate statistics showing which lectures have the highest attendance, are the most time consuming (to acquire) and to improve the ergonomics of the system. The user’s access to the given materials and options is defined at the level of the administrator of the system.Technology
The Platform was created on the basis of XML technology, accomplished with the support of the PHP language and the MySQL data base. The lectures are created and kept in the XLM format. They are available through the http protocol, online – at the www. The open architecture of the lectures enables other forms of publications, too; e.g. as a guide on a CD-Rom, browsed off-line (without the necessity of the internet connection). The PHP language is used to publish the lectures. It allows the automatic data transformation, dynamic graphics creation and Flash animations. This technology also enables (at the request of the author) to make the lectures accessible in a ready-to-print form (as pdf documents). The MySQL data base server supports the full-text information searching.
Summary
The entire system is continuously developing. It is enriched with the new technological solutions and new lectures. It is sufficiently advanced as far as the technical side is concerned. As to the service, it is very intuitive so that it allows to conduct the lectures and the internet trainings in many subjects at a large scale.
B. Access to the system
We invite you to get acquainted with the functions of the system – www.e-sgh.pl. It is necessary to fill in the application form (setting the “guest” status account) in order to gain the access to the system and to the widely available materials. Then you should activate the account using the link, which you will be sent in an e-mail (confirming the registration). Having logged in to the system, we advise you to look through all modules included in the “Presentation of the system” catalogue. Should you require the access to other materials (for given groups, or unavailable to the “guest” status users), please contact the Centre for Development of Distance and Continuing Education – cren@sgh.waw.pl
C.Contact with the Centre for Development of Distance and Continuing Education at SGH
We cordially invite you to cooperate with us as far as the preparation of materials necessary for the SGH e-learning system is concerned. You may obtain all the information referring to the system, its possibilities and technical preparation of the materials at the office:
| Contact with the Centre for Development of Distance and Continuing Education at SGH | ||||
| Warsaw School of Economics The Centre for Development of Distance and Continuing Education Al. Niepodleg³o¶ci 162 / 150 02-554 Warsaw, Poland
http://www.cren.pl/eng/ http://www.e-sgh.pl/ e-mail: cren@sgh.waw.pl | ||||