The Multimedia Open Learning
Environment (MOLE)
Nikos Pappas,
Polyxeni Arapi,
Nektarios Moumoutzis,
Manolis Mylonakis
& Stavros Christodoulakis
{nikos,xenia,nektar,manolis, stavros}@ced.tuc.gr
Laboratory of Distributed Multimedia Information Systems and Applications,
Technical University of Crete (TUC/MUSIC) http://www.music.tuc.gr
Exploiting a Learning Environment
to create and sustain multiple CoP
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Communities of Practice (CoP) provide a rich conceptual framework for organizing the
interactions among people that share an interest, a craft and/or a profession
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Knowledge management and learning - establishment and evolution of a CoP
Adapting a Learning Environment (http://www.moleportal.eu) to support multiple CoP
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MOLE approach
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Blended learning: any mixture of traditional education and
online-education
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Blended learning provides a significant learning opportunity
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part of the learning takes place in traditional classrooms and
laboratories, and another part by using eLearning services (e.g.
digital educational materials, e-classes, mailing lists, virtual
discussions, multimedia presentations, communication and
cooperation between trainers and trainees, etc.).
It combines the immediacy of communication among the instructor
and the learners, and the irreplaceable practical training in
laboratories and the convenience, flexibility and self-regulation of
education without strict time and space constraints
MOLE follows the model of asynchronous learning to provide
support in courses, as well as synchronous learning with the use
of multimedia
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MOLE Overview
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MOLE = Multimedia Open Learning Environment
a multimedia information system for managing courses, supporting
learning processes, and learning communities through the Web.
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MOLE Services
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organization & management of digital educational content
(lectures, notes, exercises, technical lab material, literature, FAQs etc)
informing learners
(announcements, mail, calendar, personal rating etc.)
learning communities
(mailing lists, live chat rooms, forums, personal messaging, instant messaging,
annotation tools, video conference etc.)
supporting educational activities
(course registration, lab teams, upload exercises, deadline management,
assessment tests, multimedia presentations etc.)
monitoring services
(course usage statistics, class performance indicators)
multilingual interfaces
10 languages supported (Greek, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Estonian,
Turkish, Czech, Bulgarian, Romanian) - French translation is in progress
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Multimedia Support
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Effective management of multimedia and video/audio data streams.
Mechanisms for synchronizing multiple media in presentations.
Live synchronized multimedia transmission.
Access to recorded multimedia content
Screencasts for demonstrations and presentations.
Concurrent recording of the speaker, slides and (if appropriate) executing software
Educational multimedia content creation and editing in dual mode:
a) via a web based interface (no need for specialized software installations)
b) via an autonomous desktop application (MOLE Studio)
Communication tools to support eLearning communities
(Live chat with video/audio/text, Video Conferencing with dynamic loading of
shared presentations, Asynchronous multimedia communication messages)
Advanced multimedia annotation tools on educational material
make comments, notes, or upload/record audio/video
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Metadata Management and Sharing
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Creation of LOM based Application Profiles using GUI
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Description of resources according to a specific LOM Application Profile using GUI
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Search & browse GUI
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OAI-PMH interface allows exposure exposure of the metadata of each specific community to
Learning Resources Federations/Consumers
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Conclusions – Types of CoP supported
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Educational communities
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Academic Communities
Dep. of Electronic & Computer Engineering at the Technical University of Crete
about 1500 users
School communities
Professional Lyceum of Akrotiri, Chania
about 200 users
Professional communities
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Teachers' communities
pSkills Affiliate Network of Computer Science teachers in secondary education
about 100 users
Organic farming professionals
communities established in the context of the projects
Organic.MednetMednet, CerOrganic and Organic.Balkanet
about 300 users
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Thank you!
Nektarios Moumoutzis
nektar@ced.tuc.gr
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