Abstract:

In this paper we present a framework for self-learning web application technologies, such as Javascript and NodeJS, by delivering theory and exercises with automatic feedback. The platform can also be used in more traditional educational contexts, by facilitating the student-teacher interaction, allowing the teacher to follow the student`s progress and seamlessly add new educational content. The paper describes the platform design and implementation and validation.

Web application development is a field that is continuously growing, with many new technologies that are innovating the environment of programming. It is important that education is keeping track with the newest technologies that appear and the functionality they provide to the software engineering domain. Moreover, web application development is a complex field, knowing one backend language cannot provide you all the necessary tools in creating a complete application. Technologies as HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, they all are necessary in creating a complete web application. These technologies are crucial frontend technology that a developer must know.

First, the theory is split and problems in small modules. The theory will focus on learning the field view and give the student the necessary knowledge on that module, then immediately after doing exercises that would further advance the knowledge. The exercises should be short and carefully planned to contain the entire module, and in some cases, exercises and knowledge from previous modules could also be implemented in such way that in the end the student will gain full knowledge about that particular subject.

Teachers can add as many questions as they wish per module and students can go and solve them. This can be easy to follow by both the teachers and the students, as they will have a clear progress recorded by the application.

Second objective with this paper is to provide an easy platform for the teachers to impose questions that the students already solved in the previous models. It is an easy way to evaluate constantly students without much effort.

Thirdly, while not the original purpose, the platform can be also used for distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The platform was implemented and tested in a workshop by faculty students, the feedback being also presented in the paper.

Keywords:

Self-learning, web, e-learning.