virtuaGrades A Web-Based Gradebook Application Don Tinsley CS 470 Project

System Overview Goal Goal Develop a system for sharing grade information between faculty and staff Develop a system for sharing grade information between faculty and staff Client is any institution needing this type of application Client is any institution needing this type of application Why Why Provide an alternative, stand-alone system to store and view grade data Provide an alternative, stand-alone system to store and view grade data Current alternatives Current alternatives Blackboard—Not very user-friendly Blackboard—Not very user-friendly Instructor-created spreadsheets—time consuming Instructor-created spreadsheets—time consuming

Functionality Faculty side Faculty side Setup courses and grading schema Setup courses and grading schema Add students to courses, add assignments and grades Add students to courses, add assignments and grades Student side Student side View grades for multiple courses and multiple semesters View grades for multiple courses and multiple semesters View graphs/charts for grade data View graphs/charts for grade data Compute what-if grading scenarios Compute what-if grading scenarios Administrator functions Administrator functions Account / Database maintenance Account / Database maintenance Secure and Fast! Secure and Fast!

System Specifications Server Server PHP 4.3+ configured with LDAP support PHP 4.3+ configured with LDAP support JpGraph OO graphics extension JpGraph OO graphics extension MySQL 4.0+ MySQL 4.0+ User web browsers User web browsers IE Explorer, Netscape, etc. IE Explorer, Netscape, etc. Cookies must be enabled Cookies must be enabled

System Design All data stored in database All data stored in database Referential integrity enforced in most cases Referential integrity enforced in most cases Lightweight Directory Access Protocol Lightweight Directory Access Protocol Interface to Active Directory Interface to Active Directory Used to determine user ‘status’ Used to determine user ‘status’ Application Functionality determined by status Application Functionality determined by status 3 modes of operation: Off, On, On-No-Lookup 3 modes of operation: Off, On, On-No-Lookup

System Design Security Security SSL encryption for transmission security SSL encryption for transmission security Sessions/Cookies used to validate browsing Sessions/Cookies used to validate browsing Sensitive data encrypted in DB Sensitive data encrypted in DB Salted passwords Salted passwords

System Architecture

Conclusion Successfully created a robust, flexible grade management system Successfully created a robust, flexible grade management system Lessons learned Lessons learned Learned how to use PHP Learned how to use PHP Learned how to integrate different interfaces Learned how to integrate different interfaces Detailed visual design essential for building web page Detailed visual design essential for building web page Feature creep from a programmer standpoint Feature creep from a programmer standpoint Just because it looks cool and seems simple means nothing—the client is the one who has to live with it Just because it looks cool and seems simple means nothing—the client is the one who has to live with it