# Learn-CIAM: A Model-Driven Approach for the Development of Collaborative Learning Tools
## 3 The Learn-CIAM Proposal: Supporting Model-Driven Development of Collaborative Learning Tools
### Conceptual Framework and Specification Language
#### 3.1.1 Learn-CIAN Conceptual Framework and Notation  
One of the most important components during a MDD process is the graphical notation that will serve as the basis of the automatic generation process. In the literature there are many notations that support the design of flows of activities and/or learning activities. For example, among the most widely used generic notations we could highlight BPMN, a standard set of diagramming conventions for describing business processes, whilst in the learning domain there also exist several notations, such as PoEML, mentioned in the previous section. However, after performing an analysis, several drawbacks have been found. Notations such as BPMN facilitate the modeling of business activity flows, but from a more generic and technical point of view, so we consider that it does not favor the work of users with a non-technical background, as can be the case of teachers/professors. Moreover, PoEML is a specific notation to design learning scenarios. This notation approaches modeling from 13 different perspectives in which the concerns involved in learning units have been separated (such as roles, tools, environment, organization, goal... ) [41]. Furthermore, it includes a large number of elements, as diagrams or icons. The main inconvenient is that the inclusion of such a great number of elements adds cognitive load to the notation, making it difficult to understand and increase the learning curve of the users. In addition, regarding [44], many of these symbols are quite similar, e.g., many rectangles are used for different concepts, which can only be discriminated by colors and the icons inside. Consequently, it is also difficult to use for users with a non-technical background. Furthermore, the visual components that both notations incorporate are insufficient for the purpose of this work. For example, they do not include the possibility of specifying the distinction between different types of learning tasks (either group or individual), nor configure the workspace of the collaborative tools or describe pedagogical aspects, being a prominent and necessary aspect for the aim of this work. Therefore, first, we decided to create a new graphical notation that would allow the modeling of flows of learning activities which would be easy to use (incorporating an appropriate and manageable set of graphical elements) and which would be understood by more/less technical profiles (i.e., both Educators and Computer Scientists). This notation was called Learn-CIAN [45], and incorporates three types of learning activities depending on the number of users involved: individual, group and abstract (those which contain a new learning flow inside). In addition, the specification of each of these learning activities has been enriched by distinguishing up to three modalities of attendance: face-to-face, online or computer-supported (mixed); and up to eight subtypes of activity: assimilative, information handling, adaptive, communicative, productive, experiential, evaluative or support. These classifications (Table 1) were established according to works previously validated such as the taxonomy proposed by Conole [46] and a revised version of it [47]. In this work, we decided to also include the \"support\" learning activity subtype, which includes extra tasks that the teacher will organize as support for the students. When designing a graphical notation like Learn-CIAN, we must identify what this language should express. To this end, the use of a meta-model (the conceptualization of a specific domain) to obtain the final notation would be recommendable. Figure 1 shows the meta-model (conceptual framework or _abstract syntax_) that serves as the basis for specifying the Learn-CIAN modeling language, whilst Figure 2 shows its concrete syntax, which represents the elements of the notation that will appear on the graphical editor (which we have called Learn-CIAT, and which we will describe in later sections), and that will be manipulated by the professors.