Developing Device-independent Applications for Active and Collaborative Learning with the SLICE Framework
Abstract: This paper presents a technical overview of the development of applications for the SLICE framework, a multi-platform and device-independent solution for creating applications focused on active and collaborative learning. SLICE applications are written using XML to describe the user interface and JavaScript to program any application-specific logic. By writing an application once, SLICE application developers may deploy their application on Android devices, Windows tablet PCs, or PCs running Windows, Mac, or Linux. To demonstrate the development of SLICE applications, this paper walks the reader through programming a simple clicker SLICE application. In doing so, the reader is introduced to some of the key features of SLICE including the Model-View-Controller design pattern and the SLICE Cloud networking model. Finally, an overview of some existing SLICE applications that are used daily is presented.