Enhancing Informal Education with Robotic Process Automation: A Method for Automating Course Search on E-Learning Platforms

Abstract

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a cutting-edge technology that empowers software robots to perform repetitive digital tasks based on predefined rules. Traditionally, these tasks are carried out by humans interacting with various software applications through mouse and keyboard actions. RPA robots excel at emulating human actions with exceptional precision, speed, and consistency. RPA has gained widespread popularity across industries for its capacity to streamline business processes, increase productivity, and reduce operational costs. In educational settings, RPA is becoming an integral part of broader digital transformations. The related work discussed in this paper highlights that RPA is commonly utilized to automate administrative tasks for university staff, teachers, and occasionally students, while its potential applications in the learning process remain largely unexplored. Addressing this research gap, we introduce an innovative approach to leverage RPA in informal learning. Our method focuses on automating the course search process on e-learning platforms. The proposed algorithm includes interaction with platform interface, extraction of essential course details, storing retrieved data, and generating structured reports, all while communicating with various systems. Subsequently, we present a solution developed based on this approach, along with its outcomes, evaluation, and discussion of findings.

Keywords

• automation
• data retrieval
• education
• e-learning
• robotic process automation
• rpa
• web scrapping