Web Based Learning Framework: a Python Case Study

During the last decade, the members of the research group produced educational contents like, e.g, MOOCs and books, focused on the Python programming language. The contents have been extensively adopted but the majority of users had issues with the setup and usage of the programming environments recommended by the authors. In fact, the standard tools are a) hard to setup, b) do not provide user friendly interfaces, c) are not mobile-ready and d) they are offline and platform specific. This panorama is alarming for a novice programmer who most of the times gets discouraged. In order to face this situation and decrease the retention rate, this paper introduces a novel web based framework designed to ease both teachers’ and learners’ experiences. Featuring a connection with a remote robotic laboratory, the system offers several advanced possibilities to learn the basics of the Python programming language exploiting the benefits of a practical approach. The architecture of the system together with all the relevant novel features are explained in detail. Furthermore, a case study is shown together with the findings collected from the first test group.