Evaluation of Usability and Assessment Capabilities of an e-Learning System for Nursing Radiation Protection

In this paper, we present the initial evaluation of EX-COFALE, an extension to an existing open-source, web-based adaptive e-learning system, namely COFALE developed and used for web-based education on radiation protection in our nursing department. COFALE, although offers facilities for adaptive content presentation, adaptive use of pedagogical devices and adaptive communication, it lacks facilities for adaptive student assessment. EX-COFALE remedies this deficiency of COFALE by allowing for automated test creation and assessment based on the students´ knowledge information. To technically achieve the above, expert systems technology is used. The system is currently used by the students of our nursing department and has been initially evaluated for usability of the e-learning environment and effectiveness the educational content management including assessment capabilities.