Towards a Decentralized and Self-Adaptive System for M-Learning Applications

Through the analysis of the different iterations of the Geometry Mobile (GEM) project, a mobile learning effort in the field of mathematics, we have identified a major architectural issue to be addressed in the design and implementation of m-learning applications. Due to the dynamic nature of the field many challenging requirements are continuously emerging. One of them relates to the possibility to support collaborative activities that demand sharing resources between students and their mobile devices in constantly changing conditions. These situations generate the need of using decentralized distributed architectures in which mobile devices can share resources to carry out the activity covering the concerns defined by the different stakeholders. This paper describes our current efforts connected to identifying a set of requirements for M-Learning activities. Thereafter, we elaborate on why a decentralized distributed system (DDS) can be used to provide a novel solution to tackle the mentioned above problems. Moreover, initial aspects related to the design of a DDS, including a self-adaptation mechanism are presented.