# Learn-CIAM: A Model-Driven Approach for the Development of Collaborative Learning Tools
## 2 Related Works  
This work aims to apply the principles of the Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) to address a problem that, until now, had not been addressed comprehensively in the literature: the design of flows of learning activities and the development of collaborative learning tools following a model-based approach. There are many different proposals in the literature for the modeling of collaborative tools, coming from different areas such as the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), the Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) or the Software Engineering (SE) communities. Hence, for instance, among the most relevant contributions we can highlight the ConcurTaskTrees (CTT) notation [19], which facilitates the specification of the most interactive aspects of cooperative tasks; the Groupware Task Analysis (GTA) approach [20], whose conceptual framework proposes a set of representations for the specification of the different groupwork aspects and the environment in which it is carried out; or the Collaborative Usability Analysis (CUA) approach [21], a task analysis technique designed to represent groupwork tasks and carry out the usability evaluations of groupware system. Regarding more recent works, we can also find in the literature other works such as the Model of Coordinated Action (MoCA) method [22], focused on the description of complex collaborative scenarios and environments such as those which have diverse, high-turnover memberships or emerging practices; Domino [23], a framework for hybrid collaboration that involves simultaneous co-located and remote collaboration with phases of both synchronous and asynchronous work that spans multiple groupware applications and devices; Collab4 all [24], which addresses accessibility issues when designing accessible and inclusive groupware; the Groupware for Collaborative Virtual Environments (G4 CVE) method [25], focused on the development of collaborative virtual environments; Tesperanto [26; 27], a model-based methodology for authoring technical documents; the Designing for Awareness in Shared Systems (DASS) framework [28], which gives a structured and comprehensive overview of design considerations for awareness, thus introducing interaction designers to awareness into a more generalizable and operational design knowledge; Unified Modeling Languages (UML) extensions such as the TOUCHE proposal [29; 30; 31], whose conceptual framework incorporates a series of requirement templates that include new information to record specific characteristics of groupware systems; and the Collaborative System Requirement Modeling Framework (CSRMF), inspired by the i* notation [32], which proposes the CSRML notation [9; 33]. Nevertheless, most of these works deal with other domains or are focused on the technological aspects of the systems, without addressing the development of collaborative learning scenarios, neither incorporating an adequate and complete awareness support (only the CSRMF and the DASS frameworks do), nor pedagogical usability support (the CUA method only incorporates usability patterns, but not the pedagogical one). One of the main barriers in the conceptual modeling of learning scenarios rises between Education and Computer Engineering areas. The main inconvenient is that teachers or educators do not usually describe the learning scenarios in as clear and concise a manner as software engineers do, who are forced to transform ideas and projects into the precise and logical word of machines [34]. As solution to this problem, the Visual Instructional Design Languages (VIDLs), the Educational Modeling Languages (EML) and some authoring tools (those built to help users in specifying learning scenarios with some specific terminology and graphic formalism) appeared in the e-learning domain as a tool for both teachers and software and educational multimedia developers. These languages can, therefore, be seen as Domain Specific Modeling (DSM) languages for specifying formal models about instructional designs such as learning scenarios.