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CCAMS: A Tool for Co-Curricular Activities Management

Muhammad Farhan, Kaleem Razzaq Malik, Dr. Amjad Farooq
Abstract Learning management systems are widely used and also available in open source repositories for the curricular activities management. In this paper we will explore some learning management systems to check the support of co-curricular activities management. Students learn with the co-curricular activities along with curricular activities. We have implemented a web based system for this purpose and will present its 3-tier structure and some code snippets explaining the basic features of the system. In this paper we will try to show its importance with respect to current trend of learning and management through World Wide Web. Index TermsCo-curricular activities, learning management system, Tool

1 INTRODUCTION
orking in the era where almost every key information about human daily life work is found or being placed at central location with the help of World Wide Web. Human being is now equipped with such technological advance tools which can control, retrieve information and locate utilities from any remote location by mean of different web based software and internet. Now we are taking advantage of the knowledge gained from all around the world for the betterment of human kind [9]. Studies are important for human to boost his mental power in understanding nature by cause and also never the less co-curricular activities keep the mind and body active and fresh[8]. When there is a need to get information about ones performance in his studies and as well in other activities updated momentary; a system is required which have capability of maintaining information related. There has been less research on related topic of co-curricular activities as for people to gain access to the knowledge related to activities performed which is not possible for many to do in regular environment. There is also big amount of research on how a mind can grow by the activities like sports, competitions and being encouraged by means of prizes and different rewards after checking the records of the intellectuals which are skillful and have state of art mind. Our main concern is to develop such a system which can maintain the data and provide a broader picture of peoples progress and giving them a way to improve by comparing themselves with their friends progress update any where they go because these activities are not limited to a specific place. Our work involves different research imposing distri

buted information maintenance along with communication and development of database containing useful information regarding a person co-curriculum activities status bar. Universities are managing students curricular activities and learning process with the help of some learning management systems but for the co-curricular activities there are no such platforms available because this area has not been researched more. Co-curricular activities are much important for the students for their mental as well as physical growth. Co-curricular activities are being carried out but there is no record keeping in a good way so here we put effort to take the account of these activities and also the implementation of this project in the form a web application with the help of PHP and MySQL because both of them are free and Open-source. Co-curricular Activities Management System (CCAMS) is a web application developed in PHP and MySQL because both of them are open source and available freely.

2 COMPARATIVE STUDY
Through the study of different universities and popular learning management systems we found that students have no such platform for their extra or co-curricular activities. We proposed and implemented this system so that this gap can be filled out. Teachers and students can use this system for sharing and collaboration of such type of activities. MOODLE is one of the open-source learning management systems. It is very popular platform developed in PHP and MySQL [1].

Muhammad Farhan is with the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan Kaleem Razzaq Malik is with the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan Dr. Amjad Farooq is with the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan

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Table 1 Comparison of Learning Management Systems and CCAMS

Fig.1. MVC working model

MOODLE is an open-source community-developed web-based learning management system (LMS) [11]. Code and documentation is available for download. Books are as well available but those are not free. Blackboard Inc. is a software company. Blackboard is providing platforms for learning including, Blackboard Collaborate, Blackboard Connect, Blackboard Transact, Blackboard Analytics and Blackboard Mobile. These platforms are for the assistance of online learning. These platforms are not free to use but you have to purchase licenses for them. Virtual University of Pakistan is also maintaining a learning management system (VULMS). This learning management system is good for students activities related to studies but does not support co-curricular activities management. This is closed source LMS developed by the IT department of the university [4]. Open-source repositories as well do not have any good management systems related to extra or co-curricular activities management. By looking at the table 1 containing comparison among different LMSs shows how other systems are lacking in event management and co-curricular activities majorly. But by combining both curricular and co-curricular activities a user can easily manage and view his active participation in the society of education. So, by doing so we can say it is important for a system on Learning Management to embed a component which deals co-curricular activities.

Fig.2. Three-tier Structure of CCAMS

IMPLEMENTATION AND VALIDATION

Following are some of the test cases used to cover testing functional and non-functional requirements by using black box testing [5]. We have also used V model for testing this project when passing through all phases of software development.

Our methodology is to gain benefits of currently available business and development strategies and methodologies for the development of CCAMS. Our application is divided into three tiers. Model View Control (MVC) is being for the presentation, business process and data base handling and to separate the updating and maintenance easy [2]. In our project we have translated MVC like as presentation, control and data part separately. In Fig.2 curly bracket shows complete portion of project related to specific stuff of MVC.

METHODOLOGY

4.1 SOME IMPORTANT PIECE OF CODE FROM CCAMS In this section we presented some code snippets to explain the key features of the application e.g. validating user input data at the client side with the help of JavaScript. Session management, database connection and navigation in web pages are handled with PHP at server side.
4.1.1 VALIDATION CLIENT SIDE
OF USER INPUT

DATA

WITH

JAVASCRIPT

AT

Input from the user is expected in the form of strings and numbers which can be a name, zip code, email ad-

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dress, or any other number or string values etc [7]. Most of the validation is done on web pages involved in presentation layer shown in Fig. 2 addition and updating process for the record of student, club, tutor and tutorial records. The code segment in Fig. 3 is taken from the page of addstudent.php

When the any filed is left blank the alert message is displayed and rest of the screen is set to transparent gray color e.g. the text field for first name is left blank and a validation alert in addstudent.php is displayed.
4.1.2
TION

SESSION MANAGEMENT FOR PROPER USER AUTHENTICA-

Users table in db using MySQL database is being used to keep records of available users along with their proper authentication in the system. After mapping username and password given by user at login.php page with the users available in database if matched then user is given access to the system according to the type of the user. The code segment in Fig.7 is being taken from index.php as being mother page for all other web pages in this application.

Fig.4. Client side Script to validate numeric input

5.

NAVIGATION BETWEEN WEB PAGES

Now we would look at how index.php became container for all other web pages with the help of dynamic calculation for which page should arrive and also using hyperlinks to forward up to the required page to perform what operation is required passing through action.php. At the end collection of all results back to index.php web page to display.

Fig.5. Client side Script to validate email

6.
Fig.3. Client side Script to validate first and last name

4.1.3

CONNECTING TO THE DATABASE

Code is never complete without connecting to its database. In above code given in 2nd section there is inclusion of a web page connection.php which is responsible for database accessibility. mysql_connect() function is used to connect with MySQL database using PHP. PHP manual is a good resource for learning PHP language and related technologies [6].

With the help of such system the knowledge-base and activities management could become handy as is in distributed environment. So by implementing it we have achieved the core functionality of co-curricular activities management system with a web application benefiting universities for the purpose of analysis and supportive tool to curricular actions.

CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK

The application needs installation script to be written so that necessary configurations can be automated. Search Engine Optimization techniques can also be used to make it more search engine friendly.

The code in Fig.8 shows how to make the connection with MySQL database with the name of CCAMS (the actual code used in the application).

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REFERENCES
[1] Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment (MOODLE) Project, http://sourceforge.net/projects/moodle/ (July, 20, 2011) [2] http://book.cakephp.org/view/10/Understanding-Model-ViewController [3] Takeru Inoue1, Hiroshi Asakura2, Yukio Uematsu2, Hiroshi Sato1, and Noriyuki Takahashi1, Rapid Development of Web Applications by Introducing Database Systems with Web APIs 2010 [4] http://vulms.vu.edu.pk Virtual University Learning Management System (VU-LMS) [5] A Framework for Practical, Automated Black-Box Testing of Component-Based Software, SH Edwards - Software Testing, Verification and Reliability, 2001 - Wiley Online Library [6] http://www.php.net/manual/en/index.php [7] PowerForms: Declarative Client-Side Form Field Validation, C Brabrand, A Mller, M Ricky - World Wide Web, 2000 Springer [8] J. Bundick, Extracurricular activities, positive youth development, and the role of meaningfulness of engagement, The Journal of Positive Psychology, Volume 6, Issue 1, (2011) [9] RYAN, S., SCOTT, B., FREEMAN, H. & PATEL, D. The Virtual University: The Internet and Resource-based Learning. London: Kogan Page. (2000) [10] Momani, Alaa M., Comparison between Two Learning Management Systems: Moodle and Blackboard (May 13, 2010). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1608311 [11] Yuhui Li, A Comparison of Learning Management Systems, Poster paper in the 22nd Annual NACCQ, Mann, S. & Verhaart, M. (eds) Napier, NZ, July 10-13 2008 www.naccq.ac.nz Muhammad Farhan has received his BSCS from Virtual University of Pakistan. He obtained his MSCS from University of Management and Technology, Pakistan.Now he is the student of PhD in University of Engineering and Technology, Pakistan and also working as instructor of computer science in Virtual University of Pakistan. His interests include, computer programming, Semantic Web and Databases. Kaleem Razzaq Malik is the student of PhD in University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan and also working as instructor of computer science in Virtual University of Pakistan. His interests include, computer programming, Semantic Web and Databases.

Fig.6. First name text field validation response

Fig.7. Server side Script for session management

Fig.8. Server side Script for database connection

Dr. Amjad Farooq is currently working as Professor in the University of Engineering and Technology Lahore. His interests include Computer Programming, Semantic Web and Databases

Fig.9. Server side Script for navigation resolution

2011 Journal of Computing Press, NY, USA, ISSN 2151-9617