Online Search Application
London Learning Village
Brief
Design, develop and implement a web application which allows students to search for further education courses offered by colleges of further education in London.
Business Case
London colleges offer students a vast array of courses. To identify the right course a student faces an extended search and then a complex decision making process.
This situation means that colleges experience heavy marketing costs and most enquiries do not lead to student take-up.
The process can be rationalised by coordinating course information from several colleges. Consolidated information can be published online as a single-source course-availability reference. Choice for the student becomes simple and precise,and marketing costs drop.
The facility will become a key component of the Government’s Lifelong Learning initiative.
Implementation
London Learning Village (LLV) is set up as a data warehouse that imports course data from the twelve participant colleges. This data is then accessed through www.londoncolleges.com and through any of the colleges’ websites.
A user interface offers students a search engine that selects courses matching the criteria they input. Registration can then be made online, through the selected college’s website.
Finding a course becomes as simple as that. The process is a classic example of how effective e-government can be.
The application employs Microsoft Transaction Server for COM objects and Internet Information Server for publishing. It backs onto an SQL Server 7 database.
Further colleges will be joining LLV, so the system is designed with growth potential. Course information from the LLV system can be exported to LearnDirect.
Benefits
- the course selection process is transformed from complex hassle to a simple precise exercise
- each college’s course inventory impacts a wider audience
- students are presented with a complete set of courses from one single source
- students can compare and select courses rationally
- applications are boosted by the online registration process provided by the colleges
- a better fit of student to course is achieved, increasing satisfaction and results
- duplication of effort is eliminated by exporting data to LearnDirect
- administration costs are reduced
- scalability allows future growth of LLV
- the Government’s Lifelong Learning initiative is strongly supported
- LLV becomes an outstanding example of e-government in action
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