WebELS: A Content-Centered E-Learning Platform for Postgraduate Education in Engineering

摘要

This paper proposes a general purpose e-Learning platform WebELS to support higher education in engineering and science especially for PhD education. WebELS consists of three major modules, i.e., Learning for self-learning, Meeting for Internet-based on-line meeting, and Lecture for Internet-based distance lecture, as an "all-in-one" system. Using an easy-to-use authentication interface non-IT users can edit their own e-Learning contents on their personal computer as a series of slides from PPT, pdf, image and video data and upload to the WebELS server for e-Learning. Audio and cursor can be recorded onto each slide and be play-backed in a synchronized manner for helping understanding. WebELS is a Java-based server system and functioning in a low-speed Internet environment. The WebELS software is available as an open source system and is used in universities and industry in Japan and Asian countries.