Integrated study programs through e-Learning

In the unstoppable process of globalization and educational convergence, the use of e-Learning as a support tool in educational programs is becoming a growing trend. A wide diversity of proprietary and open-source e-Learning platforms are available. However, these platforms are generally developed independently by different organizations, and different technologies are used in them. As a result, the implementation of integrated study programs by means of e-Learning systems requires the solution of several technical difficulties generated by the heterogeneity of systems. In order to identify the variables, rules and components that should be taken into account in our proposal, we have analyzed several collaboration agreements between universities at national, European and international levels as well as e-Learning frameworks. This paper introduces the design of a federated service-oriented architecture, whose implementation will be based on Web Services. We have developed a prototype that allows the implementation of this architecture. To achieve this goal, we have used an open source platform, such as Moodle and a proprietary platform like Blackboard.