Proposed Architecture For Distributed E-School Management System Based on SOA, ESB & Web Services

Abstract

SriLanka has succeeded in its endeavour to increase the awareness of IT within youth as well as school students via many projects. In spite of the efforts carried out, there are many overlooked areas where we can still utilize IT and get the maximum benefit. One such domain has been focused within the research. The main problems addressed during the research are the minimal usage of IT systems for school management and the lack of ability within Sri Lanka’s education system to integrate all schools via a distributed schools management system. The research also focuses on two main advantages of an architecture for a distributed school management system which are the better usage of data for more correct statistical conclusions and sharing of important notifications among schools within the domain. With the motivation to find a solution for above mentioned deficiencies, research focuses on several objectives such as proposing a distributed architecture to integrate many applications within schools while utilizing new technologies such as SOA, ESB and Web services to provide an integrated application environment to share beneficial data for useful purposes. One major advantage provided via the architecture has been finding of overall rank for a particular subject of a student within a network of schools. Architecture allows other information such as important notifications among schools to be shared as well via web services. Objectives also include the implementation of prototype school management system which would help demonstrate the final distributed architecture. Siri Seevalie Maha Vidyalaya & Bauddaloka Maha Vidyalaya are two schools within Panadura area which have been selected for implementing the prototype system. Analysis of the manual processes within schools has been carried out limited to primary grades in order to gain a better idea on the system requirements. Depending on those a generic prototype system has been implemented for the two schools to handle major manual tasks via better e-school management systems. Thus the research outcome has successfully provided the prototype system of school management as well as the proposed distributed architecture based on SOA, ESB & Web services. Architecture has been such that even though the research started with two schools initially, any number of schools can be connected even though they may use heterogeneous systems and has the ability to share the services and get the maximum benefits.