Cloud-Enabled Hybrid Architecture for In-Class Interactive Learning Using Mobile Device

Abstract

Mobile learning environments have the benefit of facilitating real time student learning and assessment. However, most of such learning environments only support static or traditional learning activities. In STEM disciplines, we need more active and engaging activities and mobile learning environments should be able to support such dynamic activities. By designing such learning environments to run completely on the cloud will limit its extensibility and will not accommodate interactive activities developed by anyone other than the developer of such learning environment. Instead, we argue that by incorporating cloud services in a traditional software architecture will allow the flexibility to develop and deploy interactive problem solving activities along with versatility that cloud computing brings. This paper presents Mobile Response System (MRS) that facilitates in-class interactive problem solving using mobile devices. MRS uses cloud services in the infrastructure to minimize instructor's workload, gives students transparent access, and makes the system failsafe alongside providing extensibility to any discipline.