CUELCAL: A Live Session for Moodle

Last month, July 2006, the completion of an important Add-On to Moodle that provides high level collaborative learning, an integrated "Live Session" platform,: CUELCAL has been announced. The system has been developed by graduating students (SAFA group) at Cairo University, Faculty of Engineering, Computer Engineering Department, within the framework of CUELC (Cairo University E-Learning Center). CUELCAL includes several collaborative features that can be used by instructor and students attending a live session. Those features include audio/video conferencing, for the instructor holding the session with the ability for granting control for video/audio transmission to one of the participants and the facility of recording the live session. A chatting area controlled by the instructor and instant messaging (public or private) are provided. A whiteboard and slide show, with saving facilities and control granting are available. The tutor may give poll/online and quizzes with autocorrecting facility. In addition to the availability of reports on session activities (e.g. students attendance and duration) questions asked during sessions are saved and may be searched using keywords for queries and/or development of exams. The platform should be available online in the spring 2007 semester.