# Moodle LMS Integration with Amazon Alexa: A Practical Experience
## 2 Related Work
### Studies Using Smart Speakers  
In a more recent study, [PERSON] et al. [32] continue their work related to the use of VUIs for educational purposes. In their latest work, the authors develop a voice app which allows searching for documentation regarding Moodle functions, with the use of voice commands, and has availability for both Google Home and Amazon Alexa devices (see Figure 1). The authors argue that such app would be helpful due to the rather common need to browse for documentation about operations methods and functions from Moodle when creating teaching material. The conclusions of the study denote as highly valuable the exploration of using VUIs as a channel to consolidate the interactions between LMSs and users. Moreover, the study emphasizes the need for the consideration of the advantages of choosing and implementing VUIs as user interfaces, while being aware of the existing limitations and drawbacks. Furthermore, the conclusions tease the future plan to extend the voice app with the capability to notify users about important activities, such as overdue assignments or short-coming events.  
In their study, [PERSON] and [PERSON] [33] define the usability of LMS systems as one of the key features that determine the success or failure of those systems, and relates to previous studies concluding that e-learning environments are not evolving according to the needs of learners, with poor usability as the core difficulty, produced by multiple design, navigation, and user interface issues found in existing LMS systems. [PERSON] and [PERSON] [33] reasons that navigations and search are two key modules of any LMS which impact system usability directly, and so a user-friendly navigational system within an LMS system can aid users to accomplish their goals, keeping them engaged until they have achieved their purpose. The conclusions from the works of [PERSON] and [PERSON] [33] indicate that the students who did interact with Moodle using the prototype built for the study show \"greater motivation and a high rate of task completion in a shorter time period\", which presumes that integrating a voice-activated virtual assistant with an existing LMS has a distinguished and notable impact on students' performance.  
Figure 1: Graphical representation of [PERSON] et al. [32] prototype architecture (Source: own authors’ elaboration).  
The authors' suggestion is to generalize the system in order to gather further data, as the usability of the prototype was tested within just a pre-selected group of students.  
The work by [PERSON] [35] describes the development of an Alexa skill that aims to enhance the speed and convenience of accessing information in Moodle. The author proposes the idea that an Alexa Skill would allow users to access information from LMS systems more quickly and conveniently, with immediate benefits for the users through site announcements to all users, course announcements to students and teachers, and overall course grades and upcoming due dates to students (see Figure 2). Besides improvements on the capabilities and features of the prototype itself, the conclusions of this work reveal areas for improvement regarding VUI design of the skill, mentioning that usability tests show a possible improvement in user experience by reducing responses to only provide information about the most recent events, shorting out the spoken response from [PERSON], as opposed to provide with all available event information at once. Moreover, the interest of adding visual content to support spoken responses on newer Alexa devices which might incorporate graphic displays is noted, besides the already existing voice interface.