Portflow In-line Commentary Extension
Future Software Technologies
Semester programme:Open Learning/Innovation
Client company:Fontys ICT
Project description
The goal of this project is to show that inline PDF annotation is possible. We built a working prototype that proves this feature can work. With this prototype, Fontys ICT wants to show Drieam that inline PDF comments can be added to Portflow. This could motivate Drieam to implement the feature, which would help not only the Open Learning programme but also other Fontys programmes that must use Portflow.
Context
Fontys University of Applied Sciences will require all programmes to use Portflow, a digital portfolio platform made by the Dutch company Drieam. At Fontys ICT, the Open Learning (OL) programme is used. This programme focuses on personalised learning, student responsibility, and continuous feedback instead of traditional exams and grades.
Portflow works well for storing documents and final assessments, but it does not support inline feedback in documents. Teachers and students cannot place comments directly on specific parts of a document. This makes feedback less clear and specific.
Results
During the research phase, we found that Portflow uses an open-source PDF viewer. Based on this, our project group built an extension on top of this existing library that allows users to add comments directly on PDFs. With this extension, feedback can be linked to exact parts of a document, making it clearer and easier to understand. Our goal is to add this extension to the open-source project, so Drieam can reuse it and integrate the feature into Portflow more easily.
About the project group
We worked in a Scrum team of four students. The project lasted one semester until now, and we worked together two days per week on design, development, and testing.