Academic Papers and Reports
Every semester, two or three students have the opportunity to complete their obligatory internship (practical term) with fraLine (for more information on internships please visit our job-page). Additionally, students can also write their degree theses (diploma, bachelor or master thesis) within the framework of a fraLine project.
All internship project reports and degree theses that have been written as part of a fraLine project are briefly described and published below.
Summer term 2012
Interactive whiteboards: an empirical study of requirements of educational institutions on the basis of a technology analysis
On the basis of a previous analysis of technological differences between various interactive whiteboards, the student of computational engineering Katharina Thülen examines the technological suitability of interactive whiteboards for schools and the requirements they have to meet for different school types. The evaluation of 127 questionnaires out of 12 schools and of interviews with 11 teachers gives insight into the requirements interactive whiteboards have to meet in different educational contexts. The results provide clues that may help to produce and purchase appropriate interactive whiteboards for educational institutions.
Only in German: bachelor thesis by Katharina Thülen, 2012 [PDF, 1,21 MB].
Summer term 2011
Technology analysis of interactive whiteboards with emphasis on the special requirements of educational institutions
In this study, the student of computational engineering Katharina Thülen analyses different technologies of current interactive whiteboards. She compares a selection of whiteboards on the basis of a chosen set of criteria. These include installation options, surface conditions, resolution and writing accuracy, minimum requirements for the computers used with the interactive whiteboards, possible interference factors as well as environmental compatibility and costs. In order to subsequently determine the specific requirements of schools, the author developed a questionnaire and conducted interviews. The conceptual design of this survey will also be presented within this study. The results of the empirical study will be published in a following bachelor´s thesis (expected in spring 2012).
Only in German: project report by Katharina Thülen, 2011 [PDF, 591 kB].
Summer term 2010
Analysis of necessary steps towards a successful certification of school IT support according to ITIL V3 (ISO 20000)
The best-practice framework for IT service management "ITIL" is successfully implemented by many companies. In her study the master student Shanshan Yu points out the different conditions for IT service management in companies and schools and shows how fraLine implements some of the ITIL recommendations in its IT support for schools.
Only in German: project report by Shanshan Yu, 2010 [PDF, 274,7 kB]
Summer term 2009
Analysis of ITSM elements in the technical support for schools of a major school-maintaining body as to their consistency with ITIL recommendations
Information technology is becoming increasingly important in school contexts – in the classroom as well as for the school-maintaining authorities regarding equipment and operation of schools. The application of ITSM (IT Service Management) principles in school contexts, however, is relatively new since the social and political mandate to promote media competence has emerged only in recent years.
In his diploma thesis the computer science graduate Anthony Schmelz investigates to what extent accepted ITSM procedures and methods, especially the well established ITSM-framework "ITIL", can be applied in school contexts. Therefore, ITIL recommendations are analysed as to their applicability to ITSM requirements of a major school maintaining body. The thesis shows that complicated distributions of responsibilities within the German school system and the elusive value product of "education" make a lot of customization necessary when implementing ITSM in schools.
Only in German: diploma thesis by Anthony Schmelz, 2009 [PDF, 277,5 kB].
Analysis of the suitability of portable applications in educational contexts – practical use of "digital schoolbags" in schools
"Digital schoolbags" are portable software collections adapted to the individual types of schools and made available on portable data carriers (usually USB devices). During his internship the student of computer science Niko Schenk examined six USB memory sticks as to their suitability as "digital schoolbags". Test criteria were operating speed, volume and price.
Only in German: project report by Niko Schenk, 2009 [PDF, 929 kB]
Winter term 2008/2009
eLearning environments for schools
As part of his internship project the student of computer science Robert Ogonowski examined various learning management systems with regard to their applicability in schools. Based on a catalogue of criteria reflecting the needs of schools, five learning management systems are compared and rated. The catalogue of criteria had been developed by interviewing experienced teachers and evaluated by means of factor analysis. Results can help schools to choose a suitable learning management system.
Only in German: project report by Robert Ogonowski, 2010 [PDF, 189,3 kB].
Winter term 2007/2008
Remote maintenance for Frankfurt school-computers
Remote maintenance is one possibility to make school-IT-support more efficient. Thereby, simple support work can be carried out quickly. As part of this internship project remote maintenance tools (Tight VNC, Real VNC, Ultra VNC and RDP) were tested in the Frankfurt school-network.
Only in German: project report by Nils Wilke, 2008 [PDF, 145 kB].
Summer term 2006
Standard Active Directory for “pedagogy” in Frankfurt schools
The directory service Active Directory (AD) had been introduced along with Microsoft Windows 2000/2003 Server and promises, among other things, a largely simplified user management and resource administration. Therefore many schools are interested in the introduction of AD. The following practical study report is dealing with questions of standard development considering special school requirements with regard to technical infrastructure, educational use and systematic introduction.
Only in German: project report by Kai Simon, 2006 [PDF, 901 kB].
Summer term 2005
Evaluation of an Internet-based communication platform
As part of this internship project it was tested whether and how an Internet-based communicational platform for a certain user group could be reasonably implemented and maintained. The study focuses less on questions of technical implementation but on a cost-benefit-analysis within a special context defined by its target group, communicational structures and processes as well as availability of recourses.
Only in German: project report by Axel Gehring, 2005 [PDF, 448 kB].
Winter term 2004/2005
Content security
From an educational point of view a sustainable protection of minors cannot be achieved through a "censorship ideology" but through media education prompting critical interaction with the media. Nonetheless, control and access restriction of Internet content cannot completely be avoided in school contexts. In this respect, filtering software can serve as a supporting tool for teachers.
In the following diploma thesis, which is based on an internship project, filtering software by several producers is introduced and rated.
Only in German: diploma thesis by Jan Kaiser, 2006 [PDF, 2,93 MB]
Reorganization of the Intranet
To reorganize the existing fraLine – Intranet first of all the required criteria were determined. Subsequently, criteria such as target group and goal, usability and maintenance-friendliness were analysed. Furthermore, several varieties of content categorization are discussed in the report.
Only in German: project report by Gökhan Yildirim, 2005 [PDF, 732 kB].
Summer term 2004
Content filtering
This practical study introduces filtering software by different producers and rates them according to their applicability in school contexts. Rating factors include costs, efficiency, operation and handling.
Only in German: project report by Jan Kaiser, 2004 [PDF, 280 kB].
This report was developed into a degree thesis which can be viewd in this section under winter term 2004/2004.
Compatibility tests of elementary school software
This practical study examines selected elementary school software as to their compatibility with the operating systems Windows and Macintosh.
Only in German: project report by Dorina Henrich, 2004 [PDF, 29 kB].
Comparison Chart [PDF, 20 kB].
Reorganization of the FAQ-section on the fraLine-webpage
Research and evaluation as to customizing a PHP-system (open source) for FAQ publication and convenient maintenance.
Only in German: project report by Julian Feurich, 2004 [PDF, 249 kB].
Winter term 2003/04
Remote and administration solutions as well as hardware protection cards
Software for schools or “Easily Learning and Administrating“ – remote administration software for the classroom. InIS Smile 4.0.320 by Ramcke Daten Technik and NetSupportSchool 7.5 by NetSupport were tested as monitoring and admin tool. As far as Windows/User Administration is concerned the products “LANiS” by the Office for Teacher Training (former: HeLP) and “WebAdmin for School” by Streambase were examined.
Only in German: project report by Thomas Németh, 2004 [PDF, 200 kB].
Summer term 2003
Development of a content management system for FAQ administration
In this practical study the content management systems are examined as to their suitability for FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) administration.
Only in German: project report by Jacquelina Sumanova, 2003 [PDF, 86,9 kB]
"Low budget media sections" for primary schools
As part of this practical study, a concept for a low budget media section in elementary schools was developed basing on the use of licence-free software.
Only in German: project report by Mohamed Bohaloua, 2003 [PDF, 82,8 kB].
Winter term 2002/03
Development of a web-based personnel planning tool
Development of a web-based personnel planning tool for fraLine – IT-School- Service basing on the server-side scripting language PHP and the free database MySQL.
