MET Faculty Colloquium
Educational Technologies Research at MET
Emerging Technologies and Pilot
Programs
Leo Burstein and Tanya Zlateva
Agenda
• MET Mission
• Educational Research & Technology @ MET
• Educational Response to the Changing
Working Place
• Our Pilots
– Virtualization
– Video collaboration
• Open Discussion
Acknowledgements
• College of Engineering:
– Professor Merrill Ebner for championing distance
education at BU and for introducing us to the marvels of
teaching on the web
– Andy Abrahamson for generously sharing his experience
with video conferencing
• Networked Services, Office of Information Technology
– Richard Mendez, Roland Jaeckel, Michael Sullivan,
George Gaudette and the entire IT team for their
professionalism and collaboration every step of the way
• MET IT—Julia, Tong, Vincent, Jay
MET Educational Mission
Academic
Rigor
+
Latest Industry
Technologies &
Best Practices
+
Flexible Delivery
Formats
Innovation—MET’s Distinctive Strength:
Capture & Teach trends in enduring
intellectual context
=
BU Brand
+
Responsiveness to Student and Industry
Needs
Ensure student’s long-term success by linking academic knowledge
with practical skills and competencies critical in the modern
workplace.
Mission of the Office of Educational
Research and Technology @MET
• Research, evaluate, test emerging educational
technologies
• Recommend technologies for pilot courses
• Work with faculty for developing appropriate
delivery formats and educational scenarios
• Support and manage the introduction of
emerging technologies
The Changing Workplace
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Knowledge based economy
Emerging Technologies – the more the merrier?
Relentless Innovation
Globally Distributed Work Patterns – out of site ≠ out of
mind (telecommuting, outsourceing, offshoring and putting
it back together)
Teamwork in a culturally diverse and geographically
distributed environment
Flat Organizational Structures – more flexibility, more
responsibility
Time Fragmentation
“Coopetition” = Competition + Cooperation
Business
Education
Technology
The Theory—Skills Chasm
Educational
Philosophies
Classical—Greek, Latin, Hebrew,
Liberal Arts
Modern Languages
Professional
Virtualization
Technology
Cryptography
Security Models
Network Protocols
Setting Up a Secure
Web Server and
Browser
Video-Collaboration
Management
Contingency theories
System theory
Organizational Behavior
Communication Skills
Getting the project
done on time
Business Reality and Education
There is a real gap between higher education and
today’s business realities
Harvard Business Review: "Business schools are on the wrong
track. Some of the research produced is excellent, but
because so little of it is grounded in actual business
practice, the focus of graduate business
education has become increasingly
“We [BU] should
circumscribed -- and less and less
aim to be the premier
[2]
relevant to practitioners".
University in the United States
where specialization is not an end
in itself, but always part of a program that
aims explicitly at higher goals and broader horizons.”
Report of the Task Force on Changing Landscape
http://www.bu.edu/accreditation/
Blended Delivery—e-Live
• Asynchronous delivery blended with face-to face
sessions over traditional 14-week semester
• Synchronous Communication: two-way audio video
(desktop videoconferencing), one-way video two-way
audio; both with application sharing in off-campus week
• Online course content with virtual lectures,
correspondence, projects, assignments, etc.
• Programs and Formats:
– Graduate Certificate in Digital Forensics—launched
Fall 2007: Saturday meetings every fourth week
– MS in Innovation Management—launched Spring
2008: face to face meetings every other week
Blended Courses
Fall 2007 --2 courses
28
Business Data Communication (TC 625 HB )
Lou Chitkushev
Digital Forensics (CS 693 HB)
Vijay Kanabar
Spring 2008 -- 10 courses
214
Accounting (AC630 HB )
Ed Simches
Business Continuity (AD 610 HB )
Mark Carroll
Program and Project Management (AD742 HB)
Roger Warburton
Financial Analysis (FI 631 HB )
Bill Chambers
Introduction to ecommerce (TM 648 HB )
Kip Becker
Biometrics (CS599 HB )
Min Chen
IT Project Management (CS632 HB )
Vijay Kanabar
Business Data Communications (TC625 HB )
Lou Chitkushev
Data Mining (CS699 HB )
Suresh Kalathur
Network Forensics (CS703 HB )
Jim Burrell/Vijay
Kanabar
Educational Technologies Landscape
Technology landscape is crowded, how to find the perfect
technology (and do they exist?)
Learning
Management
Systems
Multimedia
Collaboration
Authoring
• Blackboard
• Vista
• Course Info
• Angel
• Moodle
• Sakai
• Mobile Academy
• Learning Gateway
•…
• Video
• Flash
• Silverlight
• Animations
• Voiceovers
• Podcasting
• iTunesU
• iPOD, Zune,
…
• MS Office
• Dreamweaver
• Expression Studio
• Google Tools
• Respondus
• Camtasia
• DRM
• PHP, Ajax …
• Discussions
• Blogs, Wikis
• SharePoint, Groove
• Webinars
• Video conferences
• Citrix/app sharing
• Social Networking
•…
Virtualization
• One of the disruptive technologies. One of the
most successful IPOs in 2007.
• Virtualization is an abstraction layer that allows
multiple virtual machines, with heterogeneous
operating systems to run in isolation, side-by-side
on the same physical machine.
• We are using three variations at MET:
– client-side virtualization: (a) pre-configured
installations (e.g. Oracle), (b) lab support
– server-side virtualization: group projects, ease of
provisioning, simulating distributed environments
Virtualization Scenarios @MET
CS579
Complete pre-configured installations provided to MET students
on a DVD, savings setup and
troubleshooting efforts not
related to course objectives
CS601
CS693
Multiple images on MET Lab
computers for different courses
can be quickly rolled out and
switched between classes with
no extra effort
Virtualization Scenarios @MET (cont.)
ix
vii
x
viii
Easily replicated separate
server-based environments
for small student groups,
and/or multi-server
environments to emulate
distributed systems
iii
iv
Application
Server
Network
Protocol
Analyzer
v
Client
Workstation
vi
Certification
Authority
Virtualization Layer
ii
Hardware Platform
i
Example: “online banking” scenario
(simulation of a distributed computing environment in
a Cryptography/PKI Lab, linking to crypto algorithms,
network protocols and security models)
MET Virtual Data Center
Photo courtesy of MET IT
MET-VH1
Benefits of Using Project Collaboration Server
Typical Student/Instructor Project Assignment Process:
Without PCS
With PCS
Student
Instructor
Student
Download
Assignment
Obtain License,
Download
Software
Review
Assignment
Review
Assignment
Download
Assignment
Complete
Assignment
Obtain License,
Download
Software
Test Assignment,
Grade and Make
Comments
Review
Instructor’s
Comments
no
Install/configure
software
Upload
assignment
End
Instructor
Test Assignment,
Grade and Make
Comments
no
All
?
yes
End
Complete
Assignment
All
?
yes
End
Upload
Assignment
Learning Activity
Download
Checked
Assignment
Review
Instructor’s
Comments
End
Overhead Activity
Virtual project collaboration environment
might help to streamline assignments
handling, eliminate
potential discrepancies
in between students’
and instructor’s setups,
and creates opportunities for group
activities (e.g. Project
Server in AD742HB); all
this without incurring
additional hardware
and installation costs.
Structure and Dialog –
Maximizing Impact
Structure
Course materials,
well defined activities,
schedules, etc.
Dialog
f2f sessions,
online discussions,
video collaboration
Independent Learning Ability
Video Collaboration Demo
Video collaboration is a term
we use to
describe a
combination of
videoconferencing and online
meetings tools
(e.g. screen &
application
sharing).
IOCOM Demo Scenario
• Start with Vista, meet with Dao in MET Test Room; Dao
introduces herself.
• Dao showing a few slides (positive psychology).
• Bring in recorded interview with David W.
– why and when video collaboration is important
– what learning activities are most suited for video
collaboration
• Harvard interview
• Music recording
• Show Suresh,
• Show example with multiple participants
• Desktop sharing
Students survey based on Fall 2007
experience
Students survey based on Fall 2007
experience (Cont.)
Comparative analysis of video
collaboration technologies
Video Collaboration = Video Conferencing + Online Meeting
Technology Evolution
Vendors
1. Videoconferencing + Online Meeting IOCOM,
Radvision,
…
2. Online Meeting + Videoconferencing Webex,
GoToMeeting,
Wimba, …
Meeting Type
Primary meeting objective is to
exchange opinions, develop
positions, plan actions, etc., in
relationship to certain
information that is mostly
known by meeting participants.
Primary meeting objective is to
exchange information and
develop common knowledge
domains between meeting
participants.
Leo
Market Sample
* Based on limited testing
Product/Technology Provider
V/Conf.
Features
O/Meet . Reliability Support Quality and
Features
Availability
1
IG Meeting/IOCOM
4
2
3
5
2
vRoom/Elluminate
2
4
4
2
3
Scopia/Radvision
4
4
3
2
4
Live Classroom/Wimba
2
3
3
5
GoToMeeting/Citrix
1
4
4
6
WebEX/Cisco
2
5
5
7
8
Live Meeting/Microsoft
DimDim (Open Source)
3
2
4
3
2
1
9
Acrobat Connect/Adobe
1
10
Session/Wave3
4
1
3
3
* limited to Windows clients
Using IG Meeting for MET video collaboration pilot (low entry cost, support – incl.
weekends, technology similar to Internet2 Access Grid (BU is one of the 80+ Access Grid
nodes).
MET Strategy Implications
Technology providers are making attempts to bridge these differences and
come up with a “one fits all” technology, but (as of early 2008) with limited
success. Desktop video technologies can still be characterized as emerging,
and, with major vendors like Cisco and Microsoft now demonstrating more
interest, the market will undergo a certain level of consolidation in the next few
years. Until this happens, we should minimize our risks and costs and continue
to build our video collaboration strategy around limited pilots, focusing on
understanding how to link video technologies to pedagogical objectives. We
might need to continue using a combination of video/audio technologies that
best fit our pilot objectives.
A very important consideration in planning emerging technology pilots is
availability and quality of support. Close collaboration with technology
providers and technology support teams, as well as a high level of commitment
from pilot participants, are critical to overcome the “infant mortality” failures
and ensure a meaningful learning experience.
More Student Feedback
How to make new technology introductions easy for students and faculty?
Math Demo
Echo360
• Easy to use “appliance” records your lectures and
provides automated end-to-end processing of
audio/video content, including posting to a streaming
server and sending you an email with a link to the
recorded lecture.
• System operationally supported by MET IT, with NIS
available for second level support.
*********Demo **********
• To schedule a recording, just email itmet@bu.edu .
Technology Excitement
Mobility
Social Networking
Use, Amuse, or Abuse?
How to Introduce New Technologies
Open Discussion
Second Life Video?
Zune?
- Importance of support services (If something can go wrong – it will, be prepared; this is
another reason why blended programs with more “forgiving” environment are great for new
technology pilots).
- Manage costs through iterative piloting – no “waterfalls”, proper timing is key, using the
razor blade terminology, we want “cutting edge without cuts”.
- Drive adoption through learning objectives, fascination with technology is worthless
without a commitment to perform often less appreciated but necessary ground work.
- Standardize through abstraction .
- Maintain strong relationships with technology providers.
- Ensure processes are defined end-to-end (e.g no video recordings that never make it to
students).
- Flexibility, e.g. distributing learning content through a variety of delivery channels to
accommodate different students’ preferences without introducing extra work for faculty.
(e.g PowerPoint presentation to iPOD podcasting).
-Define measurements – cannot manage what you cannot measure.
AND WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Use, Amuse, or Abuse?
How to Introduce New Technologies
Open Discussion
• What works best for you?
• What does not work?
• What would you like to see?
• What does it take?
References
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Chris Dale, Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Warren G. Bennis and James O’Toole, How Business Schools Lost Their Way
Moore, M. “Theory of Transactional Distance”.
Blanchard, K. “Enterprise Management and Situational Leadership”.
Moore, M. “Investigation of the Interaction Between the Cognitive Style of Field Independence and…”.
Force, D. “Relationships among transactional distance variables in asynchronous computer conferences”.
Keller, J.M. 1983. “Use of ARCS model of motivation in teacher training”.