LauLima Overview
This overview of LauLima gives an outline of wiki technology,explains how the requirements for Design Engineering education led to the development of LauLima and gives information on the LauLima system itself.
Wiki Technology
' wiki' is a Hawaiian term meaning 'fast' or 'quick'. Wiki technology refers to a website that allows users to add and/or edit content quickly and easily, it is therefore good for collaborative working processes, such as global design. One of the best known wikis is Wikipedia, which is an open content encyclopaedia with pages in many languages which can edited by anyone, however, wikis can be set up to be restricted to registered users if required and read/write/delete permissions applied on a page by page basis.
Wiki technology was especially suited for DIDET's purpose of tranforming the teaching and learning process for Design Engineering education as it is generally a very flexible learning environment that is easily adapted according to specific purposes. Most wikis offer standard learning environment features such as controlled access, content storage, communication mechanisms such as discussions forums and chat, but also offer opportunities for collaborative group work and sharing of resources and information.
The LauLima System
The DIDET project used the open source wiki product 'Tikiwiki' to create LauLima. Tikiwiki was extensively customised and enhanced to produce LauLima which incorporates a learning environment and digital library, both with a powerful permissions system. The two discrete elements of LauLima are shown below.
