# Web-Based Ideological and Political Education System Design and Application

Authors: He Huang
Journal: Mobile Information Systems
 (2022)

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## Abstract

Ideological and political education in colleges and universities is an important way to enhance students’ ideological and political quality and promote their all-around education. It plays an important and positive role in personnel training. To improve the effectiveness of online ideological and political education, this study builds a web-based ideological and political education system and adopts a three-layer system architecture including a data layer, an interface layer, and an application layer. In addition, the system is designed with multiple modules to guarantee the active operation of the complete system and combines algorithms to implement system resource recommendation and practical student-teaching functions. Finally, a control experiment is designed to examine the performance of the proposed web-based ideological and political education system. Results show that the system constructed in this study has certain practical effects. The proposed system can be used to strengthen the work of ideological and political education, truly achieve the correct guidance of ideological, political, and moral aspects, and improve the teaching quality of ideological and political education as much as possible.


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## Body

## 1. Introduction

With the ongoing growth of computers and the Internet, the information management of educational institutions has gradually moved from conventional paper-based management to automated management. The introduction of web-based educational resources will significantly improve educational resource management and service capabilities [1]. Many educational materials will be unified into a single education cloud platform, and educational institutions will be able to properly manage information and eliminate paper-based management. With the rapid growth of information and communication technology, learning and teaching are regularly changing, which makes student-teacher interaction and distance education more and more prominent [2].Ideological politics is crucial in directing pupils toward the development of accurate notions. Using an online platform, teachers can release teaching resources, hot issues on the Internet, news, and examples on the platform from time to time and focus on the topics that people are more concerned about to start discussions and express their views, and teachers can evaluate the representative and correct views and explain some wrong views by telling facts and reasoning. To enhance the effect of ideological and political education (IPE) under the context of distance education is a hard problem faced by colleges and universities [3]. Developing an online IPE system is a proactive strategy to boost the impact of ideological and political teaching. Thus, it is critical to conduct research into related technologies and establish a system that has practical applications to improve the impact of IPE [4].Currently, web application research is divided into two categories: technique research and test model and framework research [5]. The testing tool research, use case creation, and specialized verification technique research are all part of the method research. The creation of abstract test models and the design of specific test frameworks are both parts of the research on test models and frameworks [6]. Rong developed [7] a system in which the characteristics of the design and the teaching resource management assessment of current technologies were presented for a resource integration system for IPE and teaching using a wireless network. Cheng et al. [8] analyzed the architecture of multimedia techniques, cloud computing, Google App Engine, and its various interface services. A cloud learning platform is designed, and solutions are presented for system function interface, business logic, data persistence, system security, and other problems, and an online platform is presented for IPE education on Java engine technology. Li [9] proposed an agent-based online system for IPE and adopted a three-layer architecture in system design. A multiagent system-based structure is proposed to ensure the proficient operation of the system and combine resource recommendation units and practical teaching functions. The author in [10] developed an application for the ideological and political course using Android. Junmin [11] proposed a J2EE-based ideological work management system for college students to increase contact and communication channels, give service to students, and govern the carrier’s openness. To improve the effectiveness of existing online IPE, this study developed a web-based IPE system. The system is comprised of a three-layer architecture including a data layer, interface layer, and application layer. The experiment is performed to evaluate the performance of the proposed education system. The system can be employed to improve IPE and improve the teaching quality of education.The remainder of the paper is organized as follows: Section2 deals with requirement analysis, whereas Section 3 depicts the suggested system. The many modules of the proposed system are explained in Section 4. The database is discussed in detail in Section 5, and the conclusion is discussed in Section 6.


## 2. Requirement Analysis

The goal of the information platform is to make maximum use of the campus network’s current resources and to combine the benefits of hardware, software, and the Internet to provide students with interactive ideological and political education. Teachers and students are expected to use this online information platform to carry out ideological promotion, online consultation and Q&A, ideological dynamics monitoring, and teaching management. In general, it is hoped that the present information platform will advance the traditional IPE so that there will be a positive interaction between teachers and students. This is an effective method for achieving the purpose of humanistic education and strengthening students’ ideological, political, and moral guidance. The goal is to figure out how to reform civic education effectively.Civic education will greatly enrich the teaching content and unite more departments and personnel to participate in the joint construction [11]. To effectively complete the civic education course process and achieve the desired performance, it is also necessary to reasonably arrange and allocate the management and teaching work of personnel from various departments in the information platform and set up more functions for students to learn, consult, communicate, and test. Based on an analysis of the process of civics education [12, 13], the personnel and departments involved were teachers, student affairs, student unions, league committees, community organizations, academic affairs, and computer professionals. This study systematically divides these personnel into four categories: civics teachers, students, support staff, and system administrators. The structure of the system functional requirements module is shown in Figure 1.Figure 1
Information platform functional requirements structure diagram.The information platform must store a large number of high-quality teaching resources and organize teachers to create PowerPoint presentations, flash, pictures, text, video, and other types of courseware and teaching materials that fully consider students’ psychological acceptance expectations, attract students’ attention to the maximum extent possible, encourage students to participate in civics education information platform teaching, and change the prevailing paradigm [14]. The platform provides uploading, editing, and classification functions for civic studies and teacher. Students can freely browse and download these digital resources after logging onto the platform, encouraging students to study independently and also to complete the prescribed teaching courses and assignments in groups.The interactive management function of the system will provide two main features: online consultation and hotspot comments. The establishment of the interactive management function can effectively bring teachers and students closer together so that students are no longer distant from ideological and political education. The effective development of the interactive function can also tap into the students’ ideological dynamics, providing new ideas for teachers’ ideological education and expanding the space for ideological education.The supervisory and management function of the information platform is an effective supervision and promotion mechanism for the users of the platform. The supervision can be categorized into teaching supervision, speech supervision, and statistical analysis.


## 3. System Design

The technical architecture of a system is very essential as it defines the efficiency and operational stability of a system. The IPE information platform is designed and developed in this study to renovate the traditional classroom teaching mode, develop students’ awareness of independent learning, and provide active interaction between teachers and students, as well as ensure network teaching management, propaganda management, interactive management, and supervision. The structure of the proposed system is a browser server (B/S) architecture model, built using the Internet and campus local area network. The architecture is comprised of three layers including an interface layer, application layer, and data layer. The system architecture is shown in Figure2. The following section provides detail of each layer.Figure 2
System hierarchy diagram.


### 3.1. Interface Layer

The interface layer is provided to the users of the information platform for operation. The platform users are divided into four categories: civics teachers, students, support staff, and system administrators. Because of the B/S model architecture, all users only need to install a web browser on the client-side [15]. The three types of users, namely, civics teachers, students, and support staff, are the users of the information platform services. After logging into the system platform, they have to browse and operate the platform services. The browser sends an HTTP request to the application server via the HTTP protocol, and the application server processes the user requests and gives responses, and the results are returned to the users through a web browser. The function of system administrators is to edit the properties of the system platform, which can also be accomplished through a web browser [16–18]. Considering the security aspect of the system, each user has different permissions to use the system platform, and the system provides different interfaces to each user, for example, student users can log in to the information platform to browse teaching resources and interactive forum platform and complete assignments and submit assignments, online examinations, and results in queries. The teacher users can access the forum article editing and provide assignments, examination grading, teaching resources editing, and online question and answer interface.


### 3.2. Application Layer

The application layer provides all the functional modules of the information platform, teaching management, publicity management, interaction management, and supervision. The application layer can also handle the business requests made by the users of the application layer and can provide timely feedback. When faced with data access and editing requests, the interaction between the application layer and the data layer will respond immediately. When in the interface layer, the user edits data to send a submission request, and the application layer also needs to access the data layer to update the data in a timely manner. For example, teachers can post new assignments and add teaching resources, or students can submit assignments and post articles. The application layer also needs to return the updated interface to the user interface layer in real time after the data layer has been updated.


### 3.3. Data Layer

The data layer is the storage layer of the system, storing all the information of the system platform, such as teaching contents, information about students, teachers, course, and forum article information. In addition, it also includes all kinds of statistical information of the system [19, 20]. The B/S architecture of the proposed system is ideally suited to the functional realization of the civic education information platform, through which all types of users can easily accomplish the intended goals of the system. Teachers log in to the system to publish, delete, and modify teaching resources. Supporting staff can upload propaganda materials and update hot news and release major national policies and resolutions. Similarly, system administrators can modify the basic parameters of the information platform, such as modifying the interface settings to update data and can view the results instantly. Under the B/S architecture, each user is a publisher of information and can also be an editor of information and an accessor of information. On the information platform, a strong interactive communication channel is established between teachers and students, between students, and between supporting staff and teachers and students, which allows for efficient completion of the civic education course work and also saves a lot of manpower and material resources, achieving results that cannot be achieved by traditional education method.


## 3.1. Interface Layer

The interface layer is provided to the users of the information platform for operation. The platform users are divided into four categories: civics teachers, students, support staff, and system administrators. Because of the B/S model architecture, all users only need to install a web browser on the client-side [15]. The three types of users, namely, civics teachers, students, and support staff, are the users of the information platform services. After logging into the system platform, they have to browse and operate the platform services. The browser sends an HTTP request to the application server via the HTTP protocol, and the application server processes the user requests and gives responses, and the results are returned to the users through a web browser. The function of system administrators is to edit the properties of the system platform, which can also be accomplished through a web browser [16–18]. Considering the security aspect of the system, each user has different permissions to use the system platform, and the system provides different interfaces to each user, for example, student users can log in to the information platform to browse teaching resources and interactive forum platform and complete assignments and submit assignments, online examinations, and results in queries. The teacher users can access the forum article editing and provide assignments, examination grading, teaching resources editing, and online question and answer interface.


## 3.2. Application Layer

The application layer provides all the functional modules of the information platform, teaching management, publicity management, interaction management, and supervision. The application layer can also handle the business requests made by the users of the application layer and can provide timely feedback. When faced with data access and editing requests, the interaction between the application layer and the data layer will respond immediately. When in the interface layer, the user edits data to send a submission request, and the application layer also needs to access the data layer to update the data in a timely manner. For example, teachers can post new assignments and add teaching resources, or students can submit assignments and post articles. The application layer also needs to return the updated interface to the user interface layer in real time after the data layer has been updated.


## 3.3. Data Layer

The data layer is the storage layer of the system, storing all the information of the system platform, such as teaching contents, information about students, teachers, course, and forum article information. In addition, it also includes all kinds of statistical information of the system [19, 20]. The B/S architecture of the proposed system is ideally suited to the functional realization of the civic education information platform, through which all types of users can easily accomplish the intended goals of the system. Teachers log in to the system to publish, delete, and modify teaching resources. Supporting staff can upload propaganda materials and update hot news and release major national policies and resolutions. Similarly, system administrators can modify the basic parameters of the information platform, such as modifying the interface settings to update data and can view the results instantly. Under the B/S architecture, each user is a publisher of information and can also be an editor of information and an accessor of information. On the information platform, a strong interactive communication channel is established between teachers and students, between students, and between supporting staff and teachers and students, which allows for efficient completion of the civic education course work and also saves a lot of manpower and material resources, achieving results that cannot be achieved by traditional education method.


## 4. Functional Module Design

The information management system includes functions for two users, teachers and students. For example, the teaching materials in teachers’ lectures correspond to downloaded materials in students’ independent learning. Teaching and learning control process of the information platform is shown in Figure3.Figure 3
Teaching and learning control process of the information platform.Teachers’ publishing corresponds to students’ submission of homework, and students’ online questions correspond to teachers’ online answers, so the designed system integrates these corresponding parts. The teaching control process of the information platform is shown in Figure3. The main contents of the publicity management module are red thematic columns, organizational activities, and links to collaborative websites.
(i)
Red thematic columnsWhen browsing the user, we can easily find the location of the red theme bar, thus locking in the target. Columns are managed by a dedicated administrator, usually a civic study teacher, who can also choose the best students in the school to help. The administrator is responsible for organizing material to write column articles, searching and editing links to thematic websites, and reproducing web articles that match the characteristics of the column. When publishing articles or uploading articles, the administrator selects the column that needs to be published. The administrator determines the hierarchy of the column and edits the article text, pictures, and flash videos, and the platform provides search by article title, keywords, uploader, and release time conditions. Administrators can modify, delete, and add thematic columns. The platform automatically records the number of times each column article has been viewed and provides statistical reports.(ii)
Organizational activitiesBased on the information platform, the Youth League Committee, clubs, and the Civic Studies Department can organize various kinds of practical activities. Students register through the information platform in real names, and the activities are comprehensively evaluated by teachers from multiple departments.(iii)
Links to collaborative websitesThe links to collaborative websites give full play to the network interconnection role of the information platform and joint multidepartmental websites and provide key content links. In addition, links to other universities in the vicinity or national websites on the propaganda and education of students can also be embedded. Propaganda management operation steps are shown in Figure4.Figure 4
Propaganda management operation steps.Interaction management consists of two parts: online consultation and community communication which are explained in the following section.(i)
Online Consultation. The information platform sets up a special online consultation module to facilitate students to consult teachers on personal psychological problems or other ideological developments. In this module, the names and basic introductions of ideological and political teachers and teachers in the school’s psychological consultation room who participate in this function are listed, and students choose to consult teachers according to their understanding. After receiving the student’s consultation request, the teacher provides an answer to the questions provides help in a timely manner, and records the consultation process. Moreover, facilitate the establishment of students’ thought dynamic files, and complete supervision and management. Teachers have the right to access basic information for consulting students and further analyze the underlying reasons for students’ questions. If the teacher is not online at the time, he can reply later to the student’s message. The online consultation process is shown in Figure 5.(ii)
Community Exchange. In addition to the online consultation methods provided by the forums, there are also a variety of interactive methods that are included in the current network, such as WeChat, blogs, and text messages on the site. The interactive management module of the proposed information platform provides teachers with community communication WeChat accounts, blog addresses, etc.Figure 5
Online consultation process design.Student users can leave a message to apply for being friends or directly visit the teacher’s blog address to communicate in the blog space. At the same time, in the community communication module, several sections that students are interested in are set up for publishing hot articles, where teachers and students can communicate and discuss specific issues.


## 5. System Database Design

Digitization of information is a prerequisite for students’ IPE, as well as the most fundamental condition for the creation of an information platform. Therefore, information related to students’ ideological and political education must be summarized, sorted, used, and shared in digital form. The main components of the system database are as follows:


### 5.1. Data Flow Diagram

The data flow diagram, which is represented by its fundamental elements, depicts the business process from the user entering the system to the user exiting the system. Take a student’s use as an example. The student user logs in to the system for identity verification. The system compares the student information table to verify the user’s identity. After the verification is passed, it can execute various system platform resources that belong to the student user’s operations, such as study, exam, and questioning. Relevant data includes teacher information and course information. After the operation, the student user exits the system. The data flow diagram of the student user in the proposed information platform is shown in Figure6.Figure 6
Student user data flow diagram.


### 5.2. Data dictionary

A data dictionary is a list of names, descriptions, and attributes for the data components that are used in an information system. It also explains the data flow diagram’s essential components. It includes a description of the database and table structure, as well as one or more data information tables for each element. Table1 shows the data dictionary description of the data flow diagram for student users as an example of the part of the data dictionary of the student data flow diagram.Table 1
The data dictionary description of the data flow diagram.
Main elementsComposition 1Composition 2Composition 3Composition 4Composition 5AuthenticationStudent IDPasswordStudent information formFacultyProfessionalClassStudent IDGenderProfessionalComputerBusiness administrationForeign languageLawChemistryGenderMaleFemaleThe teaching materials such as the courseware of the teachers in the system are accumulated for many years and have a certain value. They need to be prevented from being downloaded and copied illegally. In addition, the teaching process and the examination process also require certain file confidentiality measures. A large number of users’ real information is stored in the system. If the security of the database is threatened, it will bring a lot of unpredictable damage. The current technical principle of data encryption is to use an encryption key to encrypt the plaintext to be sent by the system and convert it into a ciphertext that cannot be read by illegal users. After receiving the ciphertext, the receiver uses the key to decrypt it into plaintext. There are two types of keys: public keys and private keys. This system uses the common MD5 encryption method combined with the verification code to encrypt the transmitted data. The ciphertext encrypted with MD5 is sent to the server with a verification code attached to it. The verification code is temporarily applied before the authentication request is sent to the server. This method can prevent illegal users from intercepting data during the verification process to impersonate a legitimate user.


## 5.1. Data Flow Diagram

The data flow diagram, which is represented by its fundamental elements, depicts the business process from the user entering the system to the user exiting the system. Take a student’s use as an example. The student user logs in to the system for identity verification. The system compares the student information table to verify the user’s identity. After the verification is passed, it can execute various system platform resources that belong to the student user’s operations, such as study, exam, and questioning. Relevant data includes teacher information and course information. After the operation, the student user exits the system. The data flow diagram of the student user in the proposed information platform is shown in Figure6.Figure 6
Student user data flow diagram.


## 5.2. Data dictionary

A data dictionary is a list of names, descriptions, and attributes for the data components that are used in an information system. It also explains the data flow diagram’s essential components. It includes a description of the database and table structure, as well as one or more data information tables for each element. Table1 shows the data dictionary description of the data flow diagram for student users as an example of the part of the data dictionary of the student data flow diagram.Table 1
The data dictionary description of the data flow diagram.
Main elementsComposition 1Composition 2Composition 3Composition 4Composition 5AuthenticationStudent IDPasswordStudent information formFacultyProfessionalClassStudent IDGenderProfessionalComputerBusiness administrationForeign languageLawChemistryGenderMaleFemaleThe teaching materials such as the courseware of the teachers in the system are accumulated for many years and have a certain value. They need to be prevented from being downloaded and copied illegally. In addition, the teaching process and the examination process also require certain file confidentiality measures. A large number of users’ real information is stored in the system. If the security of the database is threatened, it will bring a lot of unpredictable damage. The current technical principle of data encryption is to use an encryption key to encrypt the plaintext to be sent by the system and convert it into a ciphertext that cannot be read by illegal users. After receiving the ciphertext, the receiver uses the key to decrypt it into plaintext. There are two types of keys: public keys and private keys. This system uses the common MD5 encryption method combined with the verification code to encrypt the transmitted data. The ciphertext encrypted with MD5 is sent to the server with a verification code attached to it. The verification code is temporarily applied before the authentication request is sent to the server. This method can prevent illegal users from intercepting data during the verification process to impersonate a legitimate user.


## 6. Conclusion

The ideological and political work management system is an enhancement and extension of traditional ideological and political education in colleges and universities, to guide students in establishing correct values and outlooks on life, improving ideological and political quality, hastening students’ understanding of social norms, and strengthening political discrimination. Starting from the needs of ideological and political education courses, this article combines Internet and information system technology with ideological and political education curriculum reform to help ideological and political teachers solve many problems in the teaching process. In this study, a web-based ideological and political education system is proposed that adopted a three-layer system architecture including a data layer, an interface layer, and an application layer. In addition, this study guarantees the active operation of the complete system and combines algorithms to implement system resource recommendation modules and practical student-teaching functions. Furthermore, the system is designed with multiple module teaching management, interaction management, publicity management, and supervision management. The system has a certain degree of reliability, maintainability, scalability, and good adaptability.



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