The Future of Distance Learning
AUCD Training Symposium
Presented by
Dr. Fred T. Hofstetter
University of Delaware
Dreams
We are living at an exciting time
when technological dreams are
coming true.
“If you can dream it, you can do it.”
Moore’s Law
In 1965, Intel’s Chairman, Gordon
Moore, predicted that the capacity
of a computer chip will double every
18 months.
It’s been happening ever since,
and scientists predict that this
trend will continue at least until
the year 2010.
Moore’s Law
Al Gore’s Law
Computer prices are declining
at a rate of 50% per year.
Computers will be everywhere.
Computers will truly become
personal.
Wearable Computers
Dockers Mobile Pant
Levi’s is designing
clothes to let you
wear computers.
Sign Language Wearables
At MIT, scientists are designing a
wearable computer that can
recognize sign language.
Universal Access
The dream is to provide a
universally accessible multimedia
interface for all students, including
those with special needs:
First as learners through an IMS
that is truly accessible.
Later as workers in the new
information economy.
Digitization, Convergence,
and Distribution
We can digitize anything you can
read, see or hear; put it online in
a standardized format; and
provide worldwide access any
time or place.
Scan any text
Snap any picture
Record any sound
Capture any video
Publish to the Web
Deliver Anywhere
Distribution Channels Will
Change
MPEG Case Study
Toward Mobile Computing
MPEG Video
MPEG is an industry-wide digital video
standard that’s being used in
DirecTV, DVD, and HDTV.
MPEG has compact-disc quality audio
and can do 5.1 surround sound.
Satellite TV
DirecTV uses MPEG to bring you highquality digital television with surround
sound via satellites and 18-inch
dishes.
You can get it at Circuit City and
Radio Shack.
It is easy to install and costs less
than cable.
DVD
DVD uses MPEG to play movies.
Fastest rollout in media history.
Profitable in the first year.
HDTV
Uses MPEG to transmit video.
HDTV will replace NTSC.
Eventually, everyone will buy a
new TV.
George Gilder’s vision of a
telecomputer will be realized.
Master Teachers On Demand
Guitar lessons from PlayMusic.com
What is MP3?
MP3 is an audio file format based
on one of the MPEG audio layers.
MP3 enables very high CD-quality
music to be distributed over the
Web.
Some artists are beginning to release
music in MP3 format on the Web
before distributing it on audio CDs.
Free MP3 Downloads
Go to the free download section
of amazon.com
One of the MP3
songs is “Take It
to the Limit” from
The Eagles Have
Landed.
Rio
Rio is a $150
pager-sized
computer that
plays MP3 files.
But that’s all it
does.
Cassiopeia
Cassiopeia
is a $399
hand-held
computer.
It can play
MP3 files as
well as run
Windows.
Cassiopeia
This digital
camera card
enables the
Cassiopeia to
take pictures
and record
movies.
Let me show
you.
More Storage
IBM’s MicroDrive will increase the
storage of handheld computers.
Wireless Britannica
Search the complete
Encyclopædia
Britannica from your
wireless Palm VII,
using the new
Britannica Traveler
application.
Palm VII Wireless Internet
Teledesic Satellite Network
The Teledesic Network
will consist of 288
satellites divided into
12 planes, each with 24
satellites.
As the satellite planes
orbit north-to-south
and south-to-north, the
Earth rotates
underneath.
Where Matters Not
“On the Internet,
there’s no there.”
Anna Paquin
MCI commercial
Implications for Education
Putting Theory into Practice
with Serf®
What Is Serf?
Invented in 1997, Serf is a selfpaced multimedia learning
environment that enables students to
navigate a course, access
instructional resources, communicate,
and submit assignments over the
Web.
Instructors create courses without
having to know HTML.
Logging
On
Viewing the Course
Student Control Panel
Instructor Options
Editing a Serf Syllabus
Textual Content (adds text to the current cluster)
Class title (starts a new class cluster)
Generic title (starts a new generic cluster)
Preamble title (starts a new preamble cluster)
Multimedia graphic (adds content with a graphic icon and link)
Multimedia movie (adds content with a movie icon and link)
Multimedia sound (adds content with a sound icon and link)
Multimedia Web site (adds content with a Web site icon and link)
Observational assignment
Web portfolio assignment
Web query assignment
Submit file assignment
True/false question
Multiple choice question
Fill-in-the-blank question
Image map question
Short answer question
Slider question (Likert scale)
Examination (launches a test)
Strand (launches a tutorial module)
Diagnostic (launches a self-assessment)
Survey (administers a questionnaire)
Control panel (creates a customized control panel)
Menu bar (replaces or augments the current Serf menu bar)
Banner (replaces or augments the current banner)
Trailer (replaces or augments the current trailer)
Kinds of
Syllabus Events
Creating an Event
Editor
Viewer
Discussion Forums
Reading Forum
Topics
Using the
Gradebook
Assigning
Grades
Teaching in the Zone
Helping All Students by Giving
What They Need, When They Need It
Identifying the Zone
Vygotsky defined the zone of
proximal development as the
difference between the difficulty
level of a problem a student can cope
with independently and the level that
can be accomplished with help from
others.
Systems like Serf identify the zone
and provide the help from others.
Throwing the Zone Away
In traditional teaching, we throw the
zone away.
Students take tests, the results of
which often are never handed back.
Students hand in term papers at the
end of a course with no chance to
rewrite them.
We are throwing the zone away.
Teaching in the Zone
Constructivist teaching via the Web
brings the student into the zone.
The instructor becomes a coach who
helps the student achieve goals.
Time shifting makes the process
efficient and manageable for student
and teacher alike.
A Hypothesis
The effectiveness of an online
learning system is directly related to
the degree in which it facilitates
teaching in the zone.
Methods I use to do this include:
Giving the student another try
Just-in-time discussion
Customized scaffolding
Gallery of other students’ work
Problem-based Learning
The problem with problem-based
learning is assessment.
How do you assess what each student
has contributed in a cooperative
learning environment?
Systems like Serf solve this problem
by logging what each student
contributes.
Identifying Team Skills
Imagine an IMS in which students
could join teams and exhibit their
online skills.
Then imagine a Department of
Labor database being able to
match the skills of those learners
to actual jobs that could employ
students after they finish school.
School to Work
Helping Online Students
Plan Careers and Get Jobs
DOL Databases
The Department of Labor is creating
a suite of Web sites to help people
get a career and obtain the training
necessary to qualify for a job in their
chosen field.
Every American will have a Career
Management Account and a Lifelong
Learning Portfolio.
America’s
Job Bank
America’s Job Bank lets you track job
searches, post your resume, create
cover letters and develop a personal
on-line Career Kit to facilitate your
job search.
AJB Home Page
AJB Job Categories
AJB Computer Jobs
AJB Programmers
AJB Programmer Openings
AJB Selecting a Job
AJB Job Description
America’s Learning
Exchange
America’s Learning Exchange is a free
electronic marketplace connecting
people to the training and education
they need.
Job seekers find who’s offering the
training they need to qualify for a
job.
ALX Home Page
ALX Enter a Keyword
ALX Search Results
ALX Course Description
ALX Click to Enroll
The Instructional
Management Systems Project
The Department of Labor Developed
These Databases as a Contributing
Member of the IMS Project
Instructional Management Systems
(IMS) Project
Develops open specifications for
facilitating online distributed learning
activities, such as:
locating and using educational content
tracking learner progress
reporting learner performance
exchanging student records between
administrative systems.
IMS Partners
Apple, IBM, Microsoft, Cisco, Sun
DOD, DOL, ADL, ETS
WebCT, Blackboard, Click2Learn
PeopleSoft, SCT
California, Michigan, Maryland,
Virginia Tech, Miami-Dade
Plus hundreds of developers
The Web is Changing
From an HTML page-based paradigm
To an XML component-based model
In HTML, you used a standard set of
tags to create a static page
XML enables you to define your own
tags for use in dynamic ways
XSL lets you teach the browsers
what to do when they encounter your
special tags
Web Services
XML can also be used behind the scenes
for data exchange with a Web Service.
A Web Service is a type of computer
application that receives and responds to
XML requests received over HTTP from
clients on the Internet.
Because HTTP is the most basic protocol
on the Internet, the Web Service
enables you to write program components
that can serve any end-user or computer
in the world to which you provide access.
What XML Can Enable
Access from PCs, PDAs, Wireless Devices,
Set-top boxes, Mobile Phones
Embedding of special features within content,
such as audio, video, and illustrations
Rendering of text in the learner’s preferred
format—HTML, XML, PDF and E-books
Real-time rendering of mathematical notation,
graphs, and charts
Alternate representation in response to
learner profiles
The Future’s Future
Is the Educator’s Challenge
How to Ensure Emerging Standards
Meet the Needs of Your Discipline
Recommendations
Join the IMS project.
Help ensure that the IMS specifications
meet the needs of your discipline.
Support the Department of Labor’s
ALX/AJB/ATB/Acinet project.
Go to w3.org to see if the World Wide
Web (W3) consortium is working to
further the needs of your discipline.
W3C Web Accessibility
Initiative (WAI)
"The power of the Web is in its
universality. Access by everyone
regardless of disability is an essential
aspect."
-- Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director and
inventor of the World Wide Web
W3c = World Wide Web Consortium
Key Design Guidelines
Design content that allows presentation
according to the user's needs and
preferences.
Use markup or a data model to provide the
logical structure of content.
Separate content and structure from
presentation.
Give users control over how long they can
spend reading or interacting with content.
Design assistive-technology compatible
user interfaces.
Designing distance learning programs
around the emerging IMS standards can
make education truly ubiquitous.
To paraphrase Mufasa:
“Everything the XML touches is our kingdom.”