[CAnet - news] Web services and workflows within an eLearning context

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[An excellent overview paper of web services and workflow particularly with
respect to e-Learning environment.  JISC in the UK has to be congratulated
for the global leadership they are providing in this area - BSA]



http://www.e-framework.org/SOAandWorkflow2.pdf


This paper examines the topic of coordinating workflows of web services
within an elearning context, and identifies the requirements, challenges,
and technology choices involved.

Various approaches to web services are considered, from aggregating simple
RSS feeds,to orchestrating multiple parallel and branching processes using
languages such as BPEL4WS. The aim is to assess the requirements for
workflows in education, and identify the state of the art in workflow
standards and techniques.

It will be argued that, in the short term, the most feasible approache
involves the deployment of simple chains of public, stateless, ReST style
services . Such an approach can be achieved in a production environment
today using current technologies.

More complex workflows, though important for supporting collaborative
learning activities, have considerable implications for security and
privacy. Also, due to the relative immaturity of current technologies, such
workflows can only be deployed within very controlled environments, such as
within a single system, or within a single security domain.

The paper will conclude with a description of some of the gaps in currently
available workflow specifications that would need to be filled for
collaborative learning activities to be truly service enabled.

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