The goal of the project "Exploratory Learning Analytics toolkit for Students" is to develop a platform for students of the University of Duisburg-Essen to support learners in learning activities. The platform provides a collection of Learning Analytics applications developed by students for students. The first version of ELAS includes the best projects from the previous iterations of the Learning Analytic (LA), Advanced Web Technologies (AWT), and Learning Analytics and Visual Analytics (LAVA) courses offered at the Social Computing Group, where different Learning Analytics applications were developed as part of student projects.

🚀 Get Started

• TODO

Live Instances

• Production: elas-official.soco.ude.systems (latest release)
• Preview: edge.elas-official.soco.ude.systems (branch main)

Build and Run

• docker compose up

🏗️ Technical Architecture

🔨 Development Setup Guide

Download and install the following software

• OpenJDK 21 on Ubuntu or Windows
• Maven (latest) on Ubuntu or Windows
• Python (v3.10.10) on Ubuntu using source or on Windows
• Node.js (v18.12.1) on Ubuntu or Windows
• MongoDB Community Server (latest) on Ubuntu or Windows. Additionally, install MongoDB Compass on Ubuntu or Windows
• Neo4j Desktop (Neo4j v5.12.0) on Ubuntu or on Windows
• Git on Ubuntu or Windows
• Github Desktop on Ubuntu or Windows
• Code Editor
  • IntelliJ Ultimate on Ubuntu or Windows
  • Visual Studio Code on Ubuntu or Windows
• Postman on Ubuntu or Windows
• Redis (latest) on Ubuntu or Windows

Installation Guide for Backend Services

Step 1: Run Service Register (Spring Boot)

• Using your file explorer, go inside the directory backend/1-service-registry.

• Open a command prompt/terminal in the service-registry directory with administration rights

• Run the following command to package the application into a jar file.

  mvn clean package

• Run the following command to start the application (every time when you want to start the server).

  set HOST=localhost

  java -jar target/ServiceRegistry.jar

Step 2: Run API Gateway (Spring Boot)

• Navigate to the backend/2-api-gateway directory using your file explorer.

• Open a command prompt/terminal in the service-registry directory (with administration rights for Windows users)

• Run the following command to package the application into a jar file (only once).

  mvn clean package

• Run the following command to start the application (every time when you want to start the server).

  set SERVICE_REGISTRY_URL=http://localhost:8761/eureka/

  set HOST=localhost

  java -jar target/ApiGateway.jar

Step 3: Run Auth Service (Django)

• Navigate to the backend/3-auth directory using your file explorer.

  • Create a new file named .env within this directory.
  • Locate the example.env file in the same backend/3-auth directory and open it.
  • Copy the entire content of the example.env file.
  • Now, open the newly created .env file and paste the copied content inside.
  • (Optional) Feel free to modify the values of the variables in the .env file according to your requirements.

• Open a command prompt/terminal in the backend/3-auth directory (with administration rights for Windows users)

• Set up a Python virtual environment on Windows, follow these steps:

  1. Install pipenv (only once)

     pip install pipenv

  2. Install required packages (only once)

     pipenv install

  3. Activate the virtual environment (every time when you want to start the server)

     pipenv shell

  (Optional) To check the location of your Python virtual environment, type the following command in your command prompt

  pipenv --venv

• Before running the Django server, ensure that your database is up to date. Run the following commands to perform migrations

  1. Create migrations (only once)

     python manage.py makemigrations

  2. Apply migrations

     python manage.py migrate

  Note: Delete the db.sqlite3 file if it exists; it will be recreated after successful migrations. Run migrations only when you've made changes to the relational database models.

• Run the Django server

    python manage.py runserver

  By following these steps, your Python virtual environment will be set up, the database will be migrated, and the Django server will be running and ready for development.

Step 4: Run E3Selector Service (Django)

• Navigate to the backend/4-e3selector directory using your file explorer.

  • Create a new file named .env within this directory.
  • Locate the example.env file in the same backend/4-e3selector directory and open it.
  • Copy the entire content of the example.env file.
  • Now, open the newly created .env file and paste the copied content inside.
  • (Optional) Feel free to modify the values of the variables in the .env file according to your requirements.

• Open a command prompt/terminal in the backend/4-e3selector directory (with administration rights for Windows users)

• Set up a Python virtual environment on Windows, follow these steps:

  1. Install pipenv (only once)

     pip install pipenv

  2. Install required packages (only once)

     pipenv install

  3. Activate the virtual environment (every time when you want to start the server)

     pipenv shell

  (Optional) To check the location of your Python virtual environment, type the following command in your command prompt

  pipenv --venv

• Before running the Django server, ensure that your database is up to date. Run the following commands to perform migrations

  1. Create migrations (only once)

     python manage.py makemigrations

  2. Apply migrations

     python manage.py migrate

  Note: Delete the db.sqlite3 file if it exists; it will be recreated after successful migrations. Run migrations only when you've made changes to the relational database models.

• Run the Django server

    python manage.py runserver

  By following these steps, your Python virtual environment will be set up, the database will be migrated, and the Django server will be running and ready for development.

• Run the celery worker command in a separate terminal if you are using Linux or Windows with at least more than 4 cores

  celery -A server worker --concurrency=4 -l info -P eventlet

  Use the following command to run the celery worker if you are using Windows with less than 4 cores:

  celery -A server worker -l info -P eventlet

• (Optional) Run flower to monitor the celery worker

    flower -A server --port=5555

Step 5: Run StudyCompass & CourseRecommender Service (Django)

• Navigate to the backend/5-studycompass directory using your file explorer.

  • Create a new file named .env within this directory.
  • Locate the example.env file in the same backend/5-studycompass directory and open it.
  • Copy the entire content of the example.env file.
  • Now, open the newly created .env file and paste the copied content inside.
  • (Optional) Feel free to modify the values of the variables in the .env file according to your requirements.

• Open a command prompt/terminal in the backend/5-studycompass directory (with administration rights for Windows users)

• Set up a Python virtual environment on Windows, follow these steps:

  1. Install pipenv (only once)

     pip install pipenv

  2. Install required packages (only once)

     pipenv install

  3. Activate the virtual environment (every time when you want to start the server)

     pipenv shell

  (Optional) To check the location of your Python virtual environment, type the following command in your command prompt

  pipenv --venv

• Before running the Django server, ensure that your database is up to date. Run the following commands to perform migrations

  1. Create migrations (only once)

     python manage.py makemigrations

  2. Apply migrations

     python manage.py migrate

  Note: Delete the db.sqlite3 file if it exists; it will be recreated after successful migrations. Run migrations only when you've made changes to the relational database models.

• Run the Django server

    python manage.py runserver

  By following these steps, your Python virtual environment will be set up, the database will be migrated, and the Django server will be running and ready for development.

• Run the celery worker command in a separate command prompt/terminal if you are using Linux with at least more than 4 cores

  celery -A server worker --concurrency=4 -l info -P eventlet

  Use the following command to run the celery worker if you are using Windows:

  celery -A server worker -l info -P eventlet

• (Optional) Run flower to monitor the celery worker

  flower -A server --port=5555

Step 6: Run ProjectFinder (TBA)

• TODO

Step 7: Run NoteBot (Node.JS)

• Navigate to the backend/7-notebot directory using your file explorer.

  • Create a new file named .env within this directory.
  • Locate the example.env file in the same backend/7-notebot directory and open it.
  • Copy the entire content of the example.env file.
  • Now, open the newly created .env file and paste the copied content inside.
  • (Optional) Feel free to modify the values of the variables in the .env file according to your requirements.

• Open a command prompt/terminal in the backend/7-notebot directory (with administration rights for Windows users)

• To install Node packages, enter the following command in your command prompt or terminal:

  npm ci

  In case you encounter issues with the npm ci command, you can try either of the following commands:

  npm install

  OR

  npm install --force

  Please exercise caution with npm install and npm install --force as they will delete existing node packages, install new ones, and update the package-lock.json file. Be careful not to push changes to the package-lock.json file.

• After successfully installing the packages, use the following command to start the server:

  npm run watch:dev

• To stop the server, simply press Ctrl + C inside the command prompt/terminal.

Installation Guide for Frontend Service

• Navigate to the frontend directory using your file explorer.

  • Create a new file named .env within this directory.
  • Locate the example.env file in the same frontend directory and open it.
  • Copy the entire content of the example.env file.
  • Now, open the newly created .env file and paste the copied content inside.
  • (Optional) Feel free to modify the values of the variables in the .env file according to your requirements.

• Open a command prompt/terminal in the frontend directory (with administration rights for Windows users)

• To install Node packages, enter the following command in your command prompt or terminal:

  npm ci

  In case you encounter issues with the npm ci command, you can try either of the following commands:

  npm install

  OR

  npm install --force

  Please exercise caution with npm install and npm install --force as they will delete existing node packages, install new ones, and update the package-lock.json file. Be careful not to push changes to the package-lock.json file.

• After successfully installing the packages, use the following command to start the server:

  npm start

• The server will run at http://localhost:8080

• To stop the server, simply press Ctrl + C inside the command prompt/terminal.