Opportunities and Challenges
of Distance Education
The 3rd SINO FRANCO WORKSHOP ON
MULTIMEDIA AND WEB TECHNOLOGIES
March 26 – 28, 2002
INRIA SOPHIA ANTIPOLIS
Timothy K. Shih and MINE Lab
Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering
Tamkang University, Taiwan
Problems and Considerations
History of Media Technologies
Policy Issues
Technical Issues
Sociological Issues
Network Issues
Software Systems
Educational Technologies
Scalability
Demonstration of 4
Distance Learning Tools
History of Media Technology for Learning
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1922: Thomas Edison predicted that the motion picture would
replace textbook
W.W.II: Army training film (efficiency was the consideration)
After W.W.II: Television/Video Tape for Learning, but no
interaction
70’s and 80’s: Computer Based Training (CBT) increases
interactivity (limited to the drill and practice strategies).
Stability is the concern to build CBT programs due to the rapid
change of hardware and O.S.
80’s: Satellite TV learning
Early 90’s: Multimedia presentations, CD ROM titles (CAI),
Internet
Mid 90’s: Intelligent/individualized tutoring, WWW
Late 90’s: Distance Learning/Virtual University
The New Millennium and the Beyond: synchronized distance
learning, mobile learning, virtual university, adaptive content
development, remote lab, computer aided assessment, and …
What’s the Big Picture?
Elements of
Distance
Education
Policy
• Criteria for Diploma or Degree
• Standard (e.g., SCORM)
• Intellectual Property (IP)
• Classification of Virtual Universities
• People/Sociological Considerations
Technology
• Educational Professional
• Administrator
People
• Engineer
• Artiste
• Student/Customer
• Network Technologies
• Web Technologies
• Educational Theory
• Intelligent Methods
• Software Engineering
Challenges of Distance Education
Challenges of Distance Education
Policies for Diploma, Standards, IP
Human and Sociological Issues
Technical Problems of DE
Domain Specific Lab
Cluster Computing
Network Technologies
Educational Technologies
Distance Learning Middleware Systems
Distance Learning Systems and Projects
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WebCT
Blackboard 5
Lotus LearningSpace
Topclass
eCollege
NetLearning+
DigitalThink
Convene
CAPA
Assess2Learn
EduCities
PI-Learning
The @campus
Cyber School
WebQuiz Writer
a2zClass
Web Based Learning
Prometheus
http://www.webct.com
http://www.blackboard.com
http://www.lotus.com/home.nsf/welcome/learnspace
http://www.wbtsystems.com
http://www.ecollege.com
http://www.netlearningplus.com
http://www.digitalthink.com
http://www.convene.com
http://capa4.lite.msu.edu/homepage/#over
http://www.riverpub.com/products/group/assess2learn.htm
http://www.educities.edu.tw
http://www.pi-learning.com/main_frame.html
http://www.at-campus.com
http://www.scs.sk.ca/cyber/home.htm
http://www.web-quiz.net
http://www.a2zclass.com
http://www.vitalect.com
http://www.prometheus.com
Issues of Distance Learning Systems
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Course and User Management (Distance Learning Platform)
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LearningSpace, a2zClass, NetLearning+, Topclass, eCollege, Blackboard 5
Course Content
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EduCities
Real-Time Communication
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Assess2Learn, WebQuiz Writer, WBL, Convene, Blackboard 5
Learning Models
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CAPA, EduCities, Topclass
Secure Tests for Privacy
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LearningSpace, CAPA, Assess2Learn, PI-Learning, Topclass, DigitalThink, Convene,
Blackboard 5
Personalized Quizzes and Individualized Learning
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CAPA, Assess2Learn, Blackboard 5
Keep Track of Student Performances and Assessment
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5,
Instance Hints and Intelligent Tutoring
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LearningSpace, PI-Learning, WebCT, @campus, a2zClass, Blackboard
NetLearning+, WBL, Prometheus, Topclass, eCollege, DigitalThink, Convene
CAPA, a2zClass, DigitalThink, WebCT, Blackboard 5
Multilingual Support
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Topclass, DigitalThink, WebCT
Research Issues of Distance Education
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Instructor load in content development
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Courseware/Platform Standard (e.g., SCORM)
Efficient courseware development tools
Instructor load in e-mail Q and A
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FAQ summarization and auto-reply
Unbiased exam and automatic student assessment
 Intelligent tutoring and individualized tests
 Awareness from others at a regular interval
 Universal and mobile accessibility
 Remote lab and virtual lab
 Scalability
 Broadband and real-time communication
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Distance Learning Projects at MINE Lab
A Web document development environment
 Mobile interface agent for persistent look-and-feel
 Course development and student assessment tools
 Communication and annotation tools
 Video presentation recording tool
 Mobile media server
 On-line exam surveillance tool
 Wireless mobile learning
 Distance learning for blind people
 Courseware design as a decision problem
 Administration system
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http://www.mine.tku.edu.tw
A Persistent Look and Feel Agent
Timothy K. Shih and Jung-Hung Wang, MINE Lab, Tamkang University, Taiwan
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Front End of
Virtual World
User Interface
Mobile Agent
Technique
Universal Access
Persistent Look
and Feel
Integrated with
an E-Notebook
Automatic
restore of
personal data
Mobile Agents of Different Roles
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Student Agent
Instructor Agent
Administrator Agent
Student
Instructor
Administrator
An E-Notebook Tool
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Cut and Paste of Web Objects
The notebook is saved as a HTML file
Mobile Storage with a Replication Manager
Integrated with communication tools
Collaborative Notebook (Public Notebook) as a future work
Student, Instructor, and Adm. Agents
Demo
A Course Development and Student
Assessment System
Timothy K. Shih, Nigel Lin, Jianhua Ma, and Runhe Huang (U. of Aizu, Japan)
How do we develop Web courses with an
easy to access style? – Course Patterns
 How do we evaluate student learning
performance? – Navigation, Tests
 How can we help them from the
evaluation? – SPC Table
 How can computer help them? – Tutorials
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Student-Problem Chart
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Revised Model – the SPC Table
 The StudentProblem-Course
(SPC) Table
 View A: Score
 View B: Navigation
 View C: Test
 Each view has two
caution indices
An Instruction Design & Delivery System
Pattern Design
Pattern Specification
Curriculum Development Committee
Specification File
BNF Grammar
Message
Pattern Formal Syntax
Pattern GUI
DDL Statements
Course Pattern
Pattern DDL Program
Web Course
Pattern
Database
Course Pattern
Web Course Design Editor
Course Content
Web Course
Content
Database
Students
Interaction
Course Design
Course Pattern
Instructors
Course Content
Intelligent
Tutorial
Analysis
Web Browser with Web Navigation Patrol
Web Navigation Records
Progressive Learning
State Machine
Navigation
Records
Web
Navigation
Database
Performance
Records
Performance
Analysis Model
Automatic Lecture Generation
Based on Test Results
 Based on Student Navigation Factors
 Based on Test Problem Used
 Based on Web Knowledge Structure, or
Dependency Relations among course units
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The generated lectures are state machines
which include new physical links
 Automatic lecture generation can be
proceeded dynamically
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System User Interface – Content Editor
Content
Text
Picture
Quiz
Button
Structure Assessment
Video
Audio
Undo
System User Interface – Popup Quiz Editor
Unit
Quiz Editing
Frequency
Type
Question
Popup Quiz
Options
Answers
Quiz Activation
System User Interface –
Object Detection and SP Table
Object Detection
Student – Problem Table
Navigation Records
System User Interface –
Tutorial Generation and Editing
Hierarchical Course Structure
Tutorial Structure
Course Editing & Navigation Analysis
Demo
Annotation via Multiple Uni-casting
Timothy K. Shih and Yi-Chun Liao, MINE Lab, Tamkang University, Taiwan
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Text and simple graphic drawing
Annotation message broadcasting via multiple uni-casting
NetMeeting 3.0, COM (Component Object Model), ActiveX
control
Acknowledgement from Remote Stations is included
Floor Control: Control Modes, Channel, and Group
Acknowledgement
Text
A Course Annotation Tool
Green Lights
Red Lights
Yellow Light
Question Button
Request Button
Red Flag
Return Control
On-Line Annotation with Feedbacks
Demo
Annotation Tool
30 Client connections
 Heterogeneous Network
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Demo
Floor Control – multi-modal, multi-group, and multi-mode
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The control of “Who to Speak” in a communication
environment
Concepts:
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Channel: communication modal (text, audio, video, etc.)
Mode: communication style of a channel (Free Access vs. Equal
Right)
Group: the IP domain of a channel
Example: 4 Channels, 3 Groups, 10 Persons, 2 Modes
Annotation Tool (ER)
Chat Room Tool (FA)
Video Conferencing (ER) and
Chat Room Tool (FA)
Multi-modal and Multi-channel Comm.
Annotation
Chat Room
Audio
Video
Video-on-Demand
Shared Notebook
Virtual Panorama
Multimedia Synchronization Using ASF
Timothy K. Shih, Y. R. Liu and Sheng-En Yeh, MINE Lab, Tamkang University, Taiwan
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Automatic Recording
Use Commercial Codec and the Advanced Streaming
Format (ASF) from Microsoft
Video and Slide Synchronization
Text and Drawing Annotation Synchronization
Slide Selection
Presentation Editing
Automatic Loading
Video
Message
Annotation
Music
ASF Records
Slide
Audio
Event-based Synchronization
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Event markers are embedded in a ASF file
Arbitrary activation of markers
Do not record the entire screen as one video clip
Video streaming depends on Codec
Slide
Slide
Slide
Text
Video Stream
User Interrupt
User Interrupt
User Interrupt
 MS Office XP – Presentation Broadcast provides video
and slide synchronization (PowerPoint and IE)
User Interface of Recording Tool
Choose Device
Select Output
Slide Selection
Choose Codec
Presentation Playback
Adaptive Presentation
Hard to record the entire lecture without
making a mistake
 Different presentation needs different level of
details
 Lecture summarization and editing
 Atomic presentation object – a PowerPoint
Slide (with its video and annotation events)
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Atomic
Object
Text
Layered Presentation Hierarchy
Presentation Editing
Three Levels
of Details
Automatic Loading
Automatic Recording and Editing
Demo
Distance Learning in the Future
Bring Outdoors to Indoors – Virtual Reality-based
communication and situated learning
 Bring Indoors to Outdoors – wireless communication
for encyclopedia and E-books
 Edutainment – makes learning easier and more
interesting
 E-Commerce – learning as a commercial activity (i.e.,
knowledge is for sale)
 E-Inequality – each virtual university has its own
uniqueness
 E-Problem? – less people-centric natural of learning
 Yet another ‘dotcom’ issue? (i.e., not so optimistic?)
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http://www.mine.tku.edu.tw