Technologies Available For Use In Distance Learning? 131
DaScope asks: "I have been assigned a new project: setting up a distance learning facility where the teacher can simultaneously teach to different people across the country. Audio/video streaming, interactive whiteboards, photo albums and discussion boards are different options available to us. What other technologies are available for distance learning use? What are the cons/pros of the different technologies available, and are they available for Linux?"
Try MOO (Score:1)
Also make sure that you remember to list your courses in the open content distance learning database at Globewide Network Academy (http://www.gnacademy.org [gnacademy.org]
Horizon Live (Score:1)
SUNY/ State University of New York uses Domino (Score:1)
Re:I would keep it simple. (Score:1)
WebCT, AUC, and FirstClass (Score:1)
In one college we started running WebCT (www.webct.com [webct.com])for 100 distance education classes. This was developed by a college in Canada, and it worked pretty well for what we needed, and was somewhat setup for multimedia. The server ran on Linux/BSD/Unix (NT support was coming) as Perl and C scripts, and the group at WebCT said had pretty good support, not that we had many problems. There was even talk of a DEC Alpha port. WebCT has most of what you are looking for, you would just need a streaming media server. There are yearly fees for WebCT, but they are not that bad.
Another bigger college I worked at went with FirstClass for oncampus classes, and a few departments started using WebCT for Distance Ed classes. FirstClass is expensive!
The K-12 Public school district I now work for is currently using AUC ( http://auc.sourceforge.net [sourceforge.net] ) to support students learning. This is an open sourced free solution that has decent mailinglist support. The OpenSource part is nice for making minor modifications. Also 50% of the suggestions end up in the next release.
Re:Chuck Flynn today (Score:1)
Tech that works (Score:1)
* Resist the urge to stream _everything_. Sometimes it's just better to put the next lesson into a
* Videoconferencing isn't as useful as it sounds. Apart from the bandwidth requirements, you're lucky if what you want to look at is framed properly without multiple cameras. Everyone will want it, however (It's one of those buzzwords, you see) so say it's planned for 'phase 2'.
* Audioconferencing, however, can be extremely useful. If you're going to do it, never forget the possibilities inherent in the humble telephone. Especially as a backup when the modem explodes.
* Work hard on making the audioconferencing work well. Ideally, you want a 'party line' situation, where students can hear the teacher, and can also talk to other students and hear the questions they ask. Also, pay attention to the hardware, which is usually the weak link. Get headsets with little boom mikes and software which 'normalizes' the volume.
* If computers are a central part of the lesson, investigate remote-screen viewing software like VNC. It lets you see that students are coping, help them out when they get stuck, and the knowlede that the teacher is also looking over their shoulder tends to keep students focussed. It doesn't use a lot of bandwidth, either.
Just my $0.02
Groove.net (Score:1)
The raw pper to peer features of Groove might be sweet for classroom application. And it supports security and control that you'd need. Customizing it to suit specific classroom requirements sounds like a good challenge.
BlackBoard and WebMentor (Score:1)
Digital Dakota Network (Score:1)
Re:UMUC's use of Domino (Score:1)
"Smart" Whiteboards for under $1,000 (Score:1)
The mimio board is a capture device that sticks onto (or can be mounted on) the upper left hand corner of any existing whiteboard. By inserting stantard markers in the jackets which go along with the capture board, the software captures every stroke along the way, step-by-step. This alone was something that few of the devices which I had investigated could do, but there is more. They also have a plugin available for it that allows you to record audio as well and create a realplayer simultaneous stream (smil file). The entire presentation can be played back by any machine with realplayer (when you play the file it downloads a plugin. I have tried it on windows and macintosh, I have no idea whether it works with any other platform, but I would assume not.) The file size created is very reasonable (example: selectble audio bitrate + 157Kbytes for a 1hr board intensive lecture). We have begun using it so that students may re-experience a class which they have missed or need work with. I am by no means a representive for mimio, there product just worked really well for us.
Total Cost: $775 + Shipping
$499---->Capture Device, 4 Marker Sleeves, Eraser and software
$249---->BoardCast Producer Plugin (So we could create the real streams with synced audio/board)
$25----->25ft Serial cable (So we could have the computer half way across the room)
Hope you enjoy it, if you end up buying one, or have any questions, I'd be interested to hear from you, feel free to email me at AptrippA@AguilfordA.edu [mailto] (Remove the A's) -Peter Tripp
Shadow netWorkspace (Score:1)
http://sns.internetschools.org [internetschools.org]
A litte more info (Score:1)
Shadow netWorkspace is perl and java applications running on a perl API set using mysql for db and apache/mod_fastcgi for the server.
It is also 100% GPL'd code.
Distance Learning (Score:1)
My mother teaches several rural Nebraska schools using a system such as this and even a newbie like her understands "face to face" instruction requires no special skills on the part of the students or the teacher (well, to a point).
This type of system is OS agnostic, but also rather expensive. For smaller class sizes with a dedicated teacher though, I don't think it can be beat.
Good luck!
About HorizonLive (Score:1)
There have been several posts about HorizonLive so far in this thread, and I'd just like to say a few things about Distance Learning and HorizonLive.
First of all, the subject of one of these posts, "distance learning is hard", is a good start for a discussion. There are so many different ways to accomplish "distance learning", and these all vary in difficulty.
There are several ways that people look at this topic in a narrow way. Some people expect to replace all other means of learning with internet-based distance learning. That's just unreasonable. For certain applications, I don't think there's any combination of technology that's going to be able to compete with a good old fashioned classroom. For others, there are easier ways to distribute knowledge, like books or other asynchronous means of communication.
That said, when you decide that what you want to do is enable people in diverse locations to be able to share a live, interactive learning experience, you have a lot of compromises to make. Most of these comprimises rest upon the requirements you put on the class participants. If you require them all to have un-firewalled internet access, at very high speeds, with only a particular type of computing platform and peripherals, you can build a nice, gee-whiz learning environment. However, the barrier for students to use the software will be very high, and that limits the utility of the software.
I think that HorizonLive has made choices which a lot of slashdotters will find they may have made themselves. Here's why:
In short, we try to make a compelling learning environment accessable to as many people as possible, with the lease amout of fuss possible. The goals are somewhat contradictory, and elusive, but we get closer all the time.
We certainly are not the right solution for everything. Any package that tried to be that would certainly be doomed to failure. However, I think we are a great choice for many applications.
If you're looking for a distance learning solution, I'd say that you ought to take a few minutes and check out our website [horizonlive.com], where you can find additional information about us. You can even participate in a live demo session, or view archives of actual HorizonLive classes.
-SteveK
(linux user since 0.99.12k).
Re:Blatant Commercial Plug (Score:1)
Other than that, Sametime is a very nice app. Got to play around with it a bit a few weeks ago with our Notes dev guys.
Open Source distance learning software (Score:1)
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H.323, Internet2 (Score:1)
So don't listen to the vendors who poo-poo realtime voice and video over IP networks, it can work just not usually over the commodity internet. Abilene and other advanced research networks change the whole equation for those with access to them.
Sorta'... (Score:1)
Their strategy is coming together but it's far from perfect I'm afraid. It IS a pretty neat solution when it's putted together but it can be painful getting used to how it works - especially if you're not Notes experienced.
I'd certainly suggest looking into this product though. It uses browser applets for the students so there shouldn't be a load on each workstation. Unfortunatly I think their silly licensing model is per seat - what a joke! Supposedly this will be changing I was told - we'll see.
At least the backend code can be run on Linux but you'll have to do any NSF development on the WIN32 platform. The Linux backend Domino server can't handle as many concurrent users as the WIN32 code can either. I'm also not sure that the SameTime stuff from Databeam can be hosted on Linux so I'd check into that. It's also a pricey package wen all of it is added up (sigh).
Blackboard... and DLE (Score:1)
They have a "Tutuornet" and Virtual Chat room all written in JAVA, Level1 Blackboard still uses MySQL, the run on APACHE, they use PERL, CGI, works on LINUX, SOLARIS, (ick)NT(retch), W2K(p-tuey). I have gotten it to run on FreeBSD and NetBSD, though not officially supported.
Another good thing is, BlackBoard has teamed up with TextBook Publisher and other Publisher to come up with "plug-in" modules for Teachers to use as a "template" for thier course. I think they have somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 - 600 pre-made modules, ready for customization.
Some of the things Blackboard does have now, is a "student portal" or a "MY-Blackboard" setup. Makes it easy to help the student know what they need to know as far as schedules, what your grades are for what class, you next counselor meeting or when OPen registration startes for the next term. Blackboard is used by more than 3000 Learning institutions, there has gotta be a reason for that. It works..well.
Something else... I only maintain the "system", the instructors/professors/faculty maintain the rest.... SO it has GOT to be easy to use else they couldna do it very easily. No I am not talking about the CS Profs here, I am talking about the Business School Old Farts that teach Typing and dictation.... and HATE these darn computers thingies.
I guess what it comes down to, is that you either take a look at it or you don't. Believe me, I was amazed when I actually was told to install it. I had very little work to do then, as I still have very little to do now. The upgrades are fast and easy, I have test Migration to the new ersion several times, but the teacher don't wanna "have more to do" cause BB5 really makes a jump in functionality.
BTW, they are at:
www.blackboard.com
just a url (Score:1)
My old comp-sci teacher also has a site where his students can read notes and print out worksheets: http://askwood.com
Good projects available (Score:1)
I might also, humbly, suggest that people look at Duck [umass.edu] and, in particular read why I wrote it [umass.edu].
Lotus LearningSpace (Score:1)
As it runs on Domino, you can have either browser based clients or use the Notes clients. Domino is available for Linux and there are still persistant rumors of a Linux Notes client.
--
Re:Distance-learning has ethical quesitons unresol (Score:1)
Another blatant commercial plug ... (Score:1)
It pumps out real-time mpeg2 video & audio over high-speed network links.
The reason i mention it here is because i'm quite proud if the box. Really. We put our enthusiasm in it when it was designed, and it shows.
Distance Learning (Score:1)
IRC; gives on the spot text and a bit of voice if one prepares it early (dcc file transfer)and it is in
ICQ, AOL, and MSN messenger service; much like IRC.
HTML; "canned" or prerecorded lessons.
There are a number applications which have the whiteboard, and streaming sound, text, and colagerative file sharing, but each targets the commercial use and is cost prohibative to the casual user, either student or teacher. Also, these are too difficult for the casual user to learn.
The test requires that the tool(s) must be intuitive, do what it is supposed to do without a great deal of training or computer knowledge. (this may require some good wizards and deamons).
Video is not needed at all, it does nothing to improve the learning experience, and requires far too much bandwidth (lowest common denominator being 486/66 with win95 and a 28.8 modem). Who wants to watch a professor give a lecture anyway. The whiteboard is a must, as is sound, text, and especially hands on file colaberation. All these tools MUST be able to run on ANY platform, thus, be 100% independant of the operating system. Perhaps the best language would be JAVA, PERL, or even HTML. What ever it is, must be very easy for both the teacher and student to use, at most, with a one time very low cost, no cost being best. It must be very intuitive or it will not find the instructors nor the students, each being easily frustrated and unwilling to go forward.
Phone Companies... (Score:1)
At AT&T they use a system with a monitor and camera, and each person has a device on the table. They swipe their employee ID card (also for access to the building and time "cards"). They answer questions from the instructor and request assistance (where they can ask a question and everyone can hear them), through the device, which has a microphone and keypad. When they complete and pass the class, their employee records are automatically updated to reflect that. Now, from what I understood, it used an OC3 of bandwidth (155Mbps), but since it was on the same floor as their switch (and I mean *THE* switch, nearly the entire floor), it was nothing.
MCI used almost the same setup, but I was told it was mostly for corporate broadcasts, such as the merger with Worldcom a couple of years ago.
I wrote down the brands/models of the systems, but unfortunately I cannot seem to find it anywhere (that's what I get for using trees!). My suggestion is to call them (usually a salesrep) and arrange a tour. Maybe you can get a gander at the system, just to see what features they have and all that. I had very good experiences touring both places, we ended up getting the tour from the head technician in both cases. They were spouting off lingo, giving us stats on the hardware, etc, confusing the hell out of the salesrep. Some damn fine systems they have! The way that I got the tours was that we were shopping around for our service, and they both wanted our $30K/month contract. I'm not sure if they give a tour to just anyone, but perhaps you could arrange it for a Cub/Boy Scout troup or something similar. I took my son's Cub Scout Den on a tour of the local phone company's main building (Cincinnati Bell) and they went home impressed as hell, though not as much as the adults who came along
Mallard (Score:1)
LearningBias (Score:1)
Distance education will only fill a niche (Score:1)
I took a History class that the Professor elected to have the university staff (audio) record his lectures. I later discovered they are using a RealPlayer server to offer the lectures to enrolled students. It is available at http://www.imds.iupui.edu/lecture/ but it doesn't offer much information until you logon.
It does the audio lectures via a RealPlayer stream to the student wherever he/she is. BUT, I am unaware of any classes using it for "Distance Education". It is primarily used to supplement the traditional "class attending" student who may have missed a lecture or wishes to review the lecture from home or a campus computer.
I see a real possibility of using an "Oncourse" type application combined with audio/video streaming as a distance education solution. But IMHO real distance education cannot replace attending a classroom until "interactive realtime" communication is possible with the instructor and the student. Take a look at the distance programs out there now. From what I have seen so far it is all reading done at your pace with excercises to email in to the instructor when completed. This would be fine and dandy if learning were so simple. But what if you have a question? Then it is phone calls (consider time zones or professor schedules), emails (consider when it gets read and when an answer is forthcoming), etc,etc.
I dont want to belabor the point but I see this as one of the major problems with distance education. Another problem is a matter of quality in the education you recieve. I wouldn't want my Dentist to get his education over the internet or from snail mail reading assignments. I wouldn't want my speech classes done strictly in front of a video camera...public speaking is more than a good video production.
Until two way realtime communication is more practical and affordable and until academia accepts the non-traditional method of learning, distance education with the technology we have now will only fill a niche in higher education.
Works for me... (Score:1)
Re:Distance-learning has ethical quesitons unresol (Score:1)
I can stab you to death with a pencil. Uh oh. We better stop making pencils because someone bad can use them to do bad things. They can write notes about hate and distribute them to people.
License clause.... my ass. We must keep the children safe. troll.
Andrew
www.adlnet.org (Score:1)
Commuters need offline materials (Score:1)
Re:Speaking as an Alaskan... (Score:1)
I'm from a good deal further West (and North) than Montana. Fortunately, Alaska has a reputation for cold that keeps some of the nuts out, but we have some of both sorts up there too... obnoxious crazies from back east looking for a place to fester, and quiet folk who are left alone because they never trouble others. Not many plain folk up there, but there is a colony of old believers down on the Kenai, as I recall.
Re:Distance-learning has ethical quesitons unresol (Score:1)
The ethical questions I would point out are of the effectiveness of distance learning. What you are doing is taking the presence of the teacher away from some of the students. I believe it would be very difficult to teach in such a situation. Having a message board to post questions to is very different from being able to raise your hand and ask a question. Even with cameras and two way streaming video, this is no substitute for actualy teacher presence, imo.
But then, ianae (i am not an educator)
Re:Distance learning at Indiana University (Score:1)
We've been able to take people with no computer experience and get them online and earning their master's. It takes a lot of time and patience, so be prepared if you're students need to ramp up.
Even if you are teaching a bunch of Slashdot types, I still maintain that investing in staff for support is crucial to success. No one wants to work with indifferent or mean people, and that goes double for students who are footing the bill.
That all being said, we also go for low bandwidth (since we are a global program and many of our students have older machines and slower dialups). IRC-based chat rooms, nntp-based bulletin board system. We also stream Real Audio (at 6.5 kbps...sounds grrreat!). We find that having synchronous class times as well as asynchronous work really helps students feel like they're part of the ol' learning environment. We also tend to emphasize some oncampus time (two weeks in the beginning of the program to get to know us and their classmates, then a day per class enrolled in during the semester).
Re:Why? (Score:1)
Indeed a good question to ask before purchasing anything...
And remember that not all learners are /. readers...or are yours? And will all of them be? I say this because someone suggested IRC for example. I wouldn't want to use IRC for an average distance learner...and think of the requirements you just layed on.
Distance learning has usually been a failure, and probably will be until technology changes drastically (like really fast broadband access in all the students' homes).
There's some truth to this, but it's also a bad generalization. All teaching/learning involves an instructor, resources (texts etc.), tools for delivery (your voice, a microphone, the web etc.), and an objective. I have had correspondence courses that I deemed useless. My 1,000 student section of history 202 was pitiful while I learned a great deal out of the independent study 201 course where I read at my own pace and did everything correspondence. Teaching and learning is about leveraging the tools and resources to meet your objectives. In some cases, clear objectives lack...and no matter what tools you use, you're screwed! Oh...and then there's learner motivation...which can be killed by too-hard-to-use technology/delivery systems, boring professors, dull material, immaturity etc. Hence the reason technology alone or 'distance learning' alone shouldn't be blamed. Check this [teleeducation.nb.ca] out.
Anyway...technologies...especially for Linux?
- WebCT [webct.com] - A course development, delivery and management server. Linux version available
- Sorenson [s-vision.com] - Desktop video conferencing...Sorry, No Linx though.
- Mimio [mimio.com] - Whiteboards etc. Linux...Dunno
- W3C [w3c.org] - They do web stuff
And I'll stop there...but you get the point hopefully...Galego
some suggestions (Score:1)
knowledge forum [motion.com] -- developed at OISE/UT. i was there once upon a time. :)
Paul
Re:Blatant Commercial Plug (Score:1)
Another blatant plug: distanceed.com [distanceed.com]. Not a very commercial plug, since the company isn't doing so well, but I think the product is worthwhile.
The part I designed is the mathematical formula renderer, which can also be found at the Aftermath Café [qued.com] integrated into a BBS for students to exchange ideas/answers, and so on. (there is some other random stuff on this page too). All the math teachers I've talked to think the formula renderer is cool, but it hasn't been marketed effectively so the company is going under. Sad for me, since 3 years of work is essentially being lost as a result, and I think it could really help people.
Hey -- I'm a programmer, not a salesman!
If you're running the right browser, the applet version is coolest, but the servlet will run in any browser.
check out my mp3 page [mp3.com]
ArsDigita Community System (Score:1)
ArsDigita have a system based on Oracle and AOLserver that forms the ArsDigita Community System (ACS). There is also a fully GPL'd version based on PostGreSQL and AOLserver know as OpenACS.
To quote from OpenACS.org: ArsDigita host a number of Q&A forums on web/db issues, Oracle administration and a host of other subjects - including their own training material.
The main thing about the ACS is collaboration. And BTW, it is already being used as part of courses at MIT...
Re:SUNY/ State University of New York uses Domino (Score:1)
Re:H.323 must die. (Score:1)
NAT certainly complicates the use of this protocol, but then which is more evil: H.323 for putting addresses inside the protocol or NAT devices, which break the end-to-end philosophy of the Internet?
There are many protocols on the Internet that put addresses inside the protocol. Essentially and protocol that requires more than one connection will do it.
As for dynamic UDP ports-- that's the way RTP/RTCP works. Streaming media on the Internet is done via UDP-- you can't fault H.323 for that.
Security? I admit that many don't implement it, but H.235 has been around for several years. H.235v2 was just recently approved: perhaps you should look at that document.
Re:I would keep it simple. (Score:1)
i want to receive my multibillion company too!
Cold Fusion.... (Score:1)
Speaking from experience (Score:1)
Re:Distance-learning has ethical quesitons unresol (Score:1)
Well, I think that the internet is already being used for those purposes. You can't stop such things by passing laws, but by educating people so they don't want to join those groups in the first place. Anyway, I think you miss the real problem behind distance learning.
IMHO, the real problem is the ability to cheat. With no one there to watch you, it would be a simple thing. I know that many people, given the opportunity, would take advantage of it. This could potentially have more of an impact on society in general than hate groups by turning out "educated" people that have less grasp of their supposed learning.
Distance Ed. Tools (Score:1)
Currently, our system works like this:
All distance ed. classes have a homepage on our WebCT server. (Dual PIII Xeon, NT 4 - I think there's a *nix version of WebCT, but I'm not in charge of the server) Course web pages are maintained by student employees for professors who aren't that computer literate. The page gets the syllabus, list of projects, an assignment drop box, and a few discussion boards. Professors lecture to a digital camera about once a week. Those tapes are converted to
So far, this is the best system I've seen for distance ed. I've also worked on a system called Blackboard, which doesn't have as many features, but is slightly more userfriendly for designers (this system also ran on NT, not sure about hardware). I've also used, but never worked on, a system called Web Course in a Box (WCB). That system was older, uglier and most of the campus has stopped using it.
For some examples of distance ed classes:
WebCT: http://www.sois.uwm.edu:8900 [uwm.edu]
Blackboard: http://blackboard.imt.uwm.edu [uwm.edu]
WCB: http://www.uwm.edu/wcb.uwm [uwm.edu]
Mike Karasch
School of Information Studies [uwm.edu]
Distance Learning (Score:1)
We are also developing tools that will hopefully integrate dynamic HTML and simple updates so that teachers who are away from the campus and their home computers can make updates to their websites and can administrate a course webpage easily and effectively. We also have another tool, EPost that allows teachers to use discussion boards in their course websites.
The addition of these tools allows teachers to make their classes more intersting and also will hopefully lead to courses that are educational and run from a remote location...
Re:Why? (Score:1)
Unfortunately, you are correct.
It is this cost that is preventing it's widespread use. Add to this the fact that Colleges make a very large portion of their profits from Their Dormatories and Cafeteria meal plans. What's the incentive for a large school to develop these classes? Bloated systems often mean keeping jobs. No More Dorms? Guess we won't need a maintainance man. No more Cafeteria? Guess we won't be needing more cooks. You get the idea. Nobody wants to lose their job even if it means having a better system. Just look at the Government.
As much as I'd love to see this stuff more available, Unfortunately, I'm pesimistic about it happening anytime soon.
Open/Closed (Score:1)
rr
Using these tech's within a classroom (Score:1)
rr
2 words (Score:1)
Who are the users? (Score:1)
It is of course equally important that the students can use the tools. If you, for example, decide to use an online discussion forum, make sure that the students actually understand how to use it and it should preferably be running in a browser (no installation).
When I checked different tools I made sure that they worked on Netscape in linux, if it works there it works everywhere.
If you have a lot of students, make sure that there is an easy process to recover lost passwords, students tend to forget their passwords all the time and they should be able to mail it to themselves (instead of bothering a sysadm or a teacher).
Identification is always important and depending on the type of education; online tests, students sending in papers, etc, you should at some point consider the legal aspects of your system (i.e what happens if a student claims to have failed because Internet Explorer crashed his test, etc).
I have used a couple of online-forums, and my favourites are
http://www.learnloop.org
http://www.discusware.com/discus
just my 0.19202 Swedish Krona
Re:What a blatant troll! (Score:1)
I don't agree with the original poster, but I do think there is a difference between a Troll and an attempt to begin a meaningful dialog about how a specific technology should be used.
The original post borders on trollness due to the strong anit-censorship sentiments on /. and the fact that this thread seems to border on OT based on the original question, but requesting that the original post be moded out of existance is hardly any better.
Other Distance Learning Technologies (Score:1)
I recently completed a grant funded distance learning pilot program at my university. We chose the Polycom ViewStation. It's an integrated videoconferencing device capable of connecting over both Ethernet and ISDN. It's got lots of other cool features like support for uploading powerpoint presentations, and an auto pan/tilt camera that will track you as you speak and walk around the room.
We used the Polycom along with our existing video delivery network, to provide 2-way face-to-face audio & video in real time. The instructor for our course also incorporated a web-based component using WebCT. WebCT incorporates regular web pages as well as chat rooms, testing, and other materials created by the instructor through the web interface. Anyhow.. that's the quick and dirty.. hope it helps.
Bandwidth, Money, People, and Gotchas (Score:2)
I just finished a Master where several of the courses were taught via distance learning. I also work with a group where the focus is development of web-based educational content. My particular interest is in determining what it takes to add streaming video (synchronous and asynchronous) to on-line teaching.
Bandwidth - Modem: If the clients are on the end of a modem, then Real Audio and text chat, along with a web-board type threaded discussions is about the best you can get. Students can submit via e-mail or via a website (either a site under your control or each student on their own). An integrated package like O'Reilly's webboard can make synchronous sessions more interactive as the instructor can post urls, syllabus pages, and extra information, while the students can chat amongst themselves during class.
Bandwidth - DSL/Ethernet: Streaming lectures, both synchronous and asynchronous, become accessible when bandwidth climbs. Allowing students to have web-cams (Classpoint) can mean greater interactivity, but the result is somewhat problematic because of the 20 second delay for streaming (do not underestimate this problem). If you control both ends of the wire (i.e. satellite Corporate sites), then doing web or video-conferencing can work well. It's still a good idea to have text chat as a component as both an emergency channel and for student whispering during class (and whispering is important for building group cohesiveness).
Money: Takes a fair amount of money up-front, to get several people and sufficient equipment in place. Almost all distance learning requires significant lead times (semester or more) for technicians to ready equipment, work out procedures, and work with instructors to create content. For example, the instructor needs a full syllabus and all of the materials they intend to present in electronic forms at the start of teaching (this can be significant impediment -- don't underestimate this problem).
People: Takes people, both technicians to run the equipment, trouble-shoot problems for users, work with the instructors, and ensure the content is available for the students. It also takes people during each session (which can be a real problem sometimes).
Gotchas: People forget, then realize belatedly, that all of the administrative work they used to do in person or via mail, needs to be converted to an electronic format. This can mean setting up a secure site with .pdfs of what needs to be read, mechanisms to register and deregister people, sometimes handling money, getting certificates (or whatever) back to the student, advising (etc. -- a lot depends on the type of teaching).
Comment 1: It can be useful to have at least one "physical presence session" where everyone gets together in one room (if it's a full-semester course). A surprisingly large number of problems and gotchas can be solved by this session. This may not be feasible for many situations, but for our Masters program, it is one of the key reasons why the program works so well. Students who attend the session meet their peers, see the instructors, and "bond" with the school during these "once a semester" sessions.
Comment 2: One of the easiest way to gauge what you'll need is to try and find a distance program that does pretty much what you think you'll need. Most distance education programs are still novel enough that reports get written with ancillary web-sites that extoll the wonder and usefullness of their particular program. I've also found most developers involved with distance learning to be responsive to serious inquires about specifics (usually with too much information :-). I would spend a good two weeks to two months (or more -- depends on the scale) searching to find as many distance education sites as possible and to get a feel for what folks are using. Work through the sites, make sone tentative choices, then try to contact the principals directly for comments. Any serious use of distance education is going to cost money, often lots of money. The amount of money your group will spend on having you visit a few sites to actually see how it's done is going to be cheap compared to making even one mistake in choosing, buying, and implementing a technology plan that will likely be with you for years.
Comment 3: Good luck -- you need it. The right people and the right technology choices can mean the difference between "wasting" hundreds of thousands of dollars and years of time Vs. getting something up that works. The risks of failure are real as "you" are becoming a integral part of the teaching and learning that will go on. Most likely you're not an educator, thus not able to fully comprehend what will happen as learning gets funneled through whatever technology choices you make. The rewards won't be very great because most don't realize just how transformative your technology choices will be on the process. Your sponsors "expect" success and learning and probably don't understand how big of a duty they've pushed on to you.
The "modem" on-line courses I took were from: http://alexia.lis.uiuc.edu/gslis/degrees/leep.html
elarson@roadkill.net
H.323 must die. (Score:2)
Re:WebCT (Score:2)
It is mainly a bunch of perl scripts and the apache server. However it seems their chat script is buggy as can be, and that most fixes involve a reboot. Their tech support isn't that great either - many times, even though they say they support NT/2k, they claim a problem is caused by us running it on there.
However, in their defense, our faculty love it and I think the students like it as well.
Re:Why? (Score:2)
The idea was that you could select what you wanted to react (magnessium strip and fire) and it would play a pre-recorded scene of the result.
Pretty cold and inpersonal, however that may help with the "hands-on" experiments.
Personally, I like sitting in a class with a faculty member to learn, but I'm getting old.
Re:Distance-learning has ethical quesitons unresol (Score:2)
How can you define illegitimate education?
There are accreditation boards already in place for conventional educational facilities which would be ideal for judging the new online ones.
And if a company wanted to use it for training people around the world??? I don't think they'd be certified by any of the regional/national certification boards - so I guess that's illegit education?
Only then can we be sure that our children will be safe from the hate that looms on the horizon of the new millennium.
I believe that you'll find more hate looming in your home town with prejudice and racisim and general stupidity then you'll find in online courses.
Distance Learning - The Whole Kit ... (Score:2)
Moderators: Tiny posting, but exactly what he wants.
Re:Distance learning is hard... (Score:2)
--- This is my sig. There are many like it, but this one is mine. ---
VRVS (Score:2)
The VRVS system achieves bi-directional communication among participants who enter the same Virtual Room. This communication media can be audio, video, and whiteboard, depending on what media each participant selects.
An audio stream consumes between 9Kbit/s and 78 Kbit/s depending on the audio format that is selected in the control panel of the audio application (PCM: 78Kbit/s, DVI: 46Kbit/s, GSM; 17Kbit/s, LPC4: 9Kb/s).
A video stream can put a much higher load on the network: from 10 Kbit/s up to several Mbit/s. The maximum data rate value is defined for each source by a bandwidth limit slider in the control panel of the video application. For a video stream over the Internet the advised data rate is typically from 15 to 128 Kbit/s.
The VRVS system aims at controlling the maximum bandwidth used by videoconferences taking place in the virtual rooms.
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UMUC's use of Domino (Score:2)
---
Ryan Wilhelm
Speaking as a Montanan.... (Score:2)
As for the seeds of hate, they are most frequently passed from parent to child. If we want to control racism, we must control, or hold accountable, parents.
As for opposing a technology because it can be used for an illegitimate purpose: anything can be used for an illegitimate purpose. You can not name one thing invented for the purpose of good that has not been, or can not be, subverted for evil purposes.
UWired (Score:2)
Re:WebCT (Score:2)
As for WebCT itself, it's pretty good, but the discussion boards aren't well-suited for extremely active discussion (when it gets over 500 messages, it becomes hard to find things).
Live video is probably unnecessary. It's a rare teacher who can accomplish more though a video connection than could be done through well-designed online notes.
DETA (Score:2)
Experiences (Score:2)
Blackboard: Its basicly $20k+ of perl scripts that are constantly broken and cant do what you want. DONT USE IT!
FirstClass: A very nice email/conference system. It has Mac and Windows clients and a Web Client( Which does not have all features). This is a very nice product that provides many features ( ie drop boxes, chat, email
LearnSys (?) Something like that
Prometheius - A cold fusion appilcation
Other technologies ive used in conjunction with DL are RealVideo, IRC, Video Tapes ( Taped lectures sent to the students), CDs with content (much like the Video Tapes).
On the cheap end of things (as all of these listed here cost $$ )... i dont know of much.
Video streaming wise ive had many experinces (Real, Quicktime, Windows Media ). Basicly Real has the most support, but is VERY expensive. Quicktime a bit cheaper (get server softwear for free!). Still need the encoder, but u can mahe multirate streams like you can with Real and Windows Media. Window Media is the cheapest
Those are what i can recall right now
Dave
What a blatant troll! (Score:2)
I'm not a moderator this week, but it'd be nice if somebody moderates Flynn's article appropriately.
One nice little program... (Score:2)
E-Nun2k (Score:2)
Re:Distance-learning has ethical quesitons unresol (Score:2)
I would certainly not trust any accreditation boards; they are as susceptible to political correctness as any other group, and thus teaching Shakespear might wind up verboten, and teaching that ALL consentual sex is rape might not. One of those should seem innocous, and the other should not, to pretty much everyone.
This problem has been around for as long as there has been communication: someone might lead someone else astray. It's old enough that the ancient Greeks had a word for it: someone who led a lot of folks astray was a demagog.
Check out U of Phoenix Online - Tools are here! (Score:2)
WebCT (Score:2)
It can run on Linux, and people connect to it with a normal web browser.
The downside is that it is commercial, but usually the institution wants something commercial anyway. Check it out at http://www.webct.com [webct.com].
Blackboard and Tegrity (Score:2)
To suplement those courses we are also using a system by Tegrity [tegrity.com] which allows you to stream live audio and video over the Internet. It works together with powerpoint and it supports a whiteboard for the teacher.
You can also use the interactive whiteboard in blackboard together with tegrity if students don't mind having both windows open.
You may also want to look into Rotor [rotor.net] which is a very nice system that is used for anything from distance learning to presentations for/by the entertainment industry.
Re:IRC/Instant Messaging (Score:2)
Re:IRC/Instant Messaging (Score:2)
GPLed Interactive Classroom Software (Score:2)
Take a look at the Authenticated User Community [sourceforge.net] (AUC) package. It is a GPLed intranet system for providing online classrooms. While it will not handle the streaming audio/video parts of your problem, it is a nice tool for coordinating the class. There is a live demo at the web site where you can discover the following features and more:
Realvideo has a free encoder and server for linux (Score:2)
Alternatively, you could just use the realencoder to save to a file, and as many people as you want could download that via plain old http.
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Remote TA Distance Learning Software (Score:2)
Avid ePublisher (Score:2)
The relevance is that you can film a class lecture with whatever equipment you have, import the video into the ePublisher program, import all the class handout materials or slides into the program, create a table of contents that allows a user to jump around to different stages of the lecture, and upload it to a server so that anyone can visit the URL and see the entire lecture.
Although it may sound like it, this isn't a plug for the company or even the program. My university was asked to beta-test the program, and I've since become way too familiar with all the dirty little details. It's in release 1.0 and so has its share of problems and bugs, but definitely has potential for distance learning.
Pros: you can record a lecture/presentation with all the original materials (slides, etc). Anyone in the world who can visit the webpage can view the entire lecture. A user can jump around in the lecture's timeline non-linearly. If something went by too quickly in the lecture, a user can jump back to that section/chapter. If the lecture goes too slow, a user can jump ahead to important sections. Also, Avid provides a USB video capture device with the product, so all you need to import video is svideo-out or composite-out.
Cons: It takes time to complete a project in this way. You need to have some kind of recording equipment to capture the video (although you can also make an audio-only project), and the process of synchronizing events (slides, handouts, etc) to the audio or video within the application is time-consuming. Also, I am fairly sure that there is no Linux version - the release is for 98 right now (In fact, I think they're still working on NT/2000). And on top of all that, the current release is still 1.0. I think that speaks for itself.
Collaborative Virtual Workspace (Score:2)
Re:I would keep it simple. (Score:2)
Re:One nice little program... (Score:2)
I haven't used it for conferencing with more than one person, but I can agree that I like it in its simplicity
Re:WebCT and difficulties (Score:2)
If the students have a low bandwidth connection, the connections to some of the associated course files do not work well.
Finally, the course ID setup works well for students who take multiple courses, but the learning curve for WebCT itself is very high for students taking their first course.
Courses which were correspondence courses still have about the same drop out rate as WebCT courses - it all depends on student maturity and motivation.
Syllabus is commercial but has info (Score:2)
Caveat lector; It is a commercial publication.
I would keep it simple. (Score:3)
Based on my experience, I would say one of the most important things you could setup would be a web based discussion forum. The need to easily interact with the rest of the class during non-class hours is something I have really missed. An important thing to allow (I think) would be anonymous posting. Since the distance students are kind of "disconnected" from the rest of the class (if there is a live class at all) it can be hard to get a feel as to where the rest of the class is at in comprehending the material. It would be good to allow people to post questions without their names on them to avoid looking like a complete dumbass. This may sound stupid, but its a lot more common than you may think.
The next most important thing I would say you should think about is applicable to live classes only. (A lot of NTU feeds are on taped delay.) This would be some way for the distance learning people to interrupt the teacher in real-time. There have been several times when I would have really liked to have been able to ask a question. I would say it would be OK not to have a AV feed from the student back to the teacher (Umm, can you say OVERKILL!), but SOMETHING (like ICQ maybe) is needed to allow the distance people to break in.
My final advice would be to train the hell out of the camera operators. It is ANNOYING to have some schmuck on the camera that thinks panning and zooming around all of the time is cool. Just leave the thing in one spot for crying out loud! Make sure the instructors are up to speed on the equipment as well. It can be annoying to watch them spend 5 minutes trying to figure out how to get their PC screen to go out on the feed.
Just my 2 cents. dv
Blatant Commercial Plug (Score:3)
Distance learning at Indiana University (Score:3)
As a distance education student (Score:3)
Don't focus too much on live video and audio at first. What you need is a good discussion forum that not only keeps messages from the current class but from past classes as well, it is really helpfull to read past disscussions especially when doing a difficult assignment.
Have a section where people can (optionally) post thier email addresses ICQ, AIM etc. If you go the IRC/chat room route make sure you publish the logs (see above) and make them searchable.
Ineractive quizzes. Just do some cgi/php/whatever scripting to randomly select questions and mark them right or wrong when the form is submitted. This allows students to know if they are understanding the curriculum and I can't emphasise enough how important that is. Your students don't have any face time to see if they understand things, quizzes give those who understand it the confidence to move on and tells those that are struggling where to put in extra work. I can't emphasis enough how important that is, after disccussion boards it should be your next priority (ie. before shiny video streams).
As far as video/audio does go I'd put up some mp3's of lectures, nothing fancy just pure audio that will allow people to record them to cassette and listen to them on the way to work etc. I'd do some kind of flash presentation before going the video route, ask yourself what a video feed will get you that a slide show and audio won't, remember that many of your students will be on 56k or less.
Notes to the curriculum designers;
- Optional material. In my experience you will have some distance students who have large ammounts of prior knowledge, optional material will allow you to challenge these students without placing extra pressure on those that are struggling.
- Be very prompt when answering student questions. Solo study is very isolating and having to wait more than one working day for a response just unacceptable.
- Allocate enough tutors (see above). Make sure assesment marks are back promptly. (This is where my course falls down.) It is exceedingly frustrating to not have your first assignment back when your doing your third or fourth.
Best of luck
Practical Distance Learning (Score:3)
Each classroom on the system was setup with a camera for the instructor and a camera for the students, microphones for everyone desk in the room, a chalkboard which was situated so that it could be seen on the instructor camera, and a small setup that served as an overhead projector. The teachers most often use this for notes and such as it is more convenient than traditional chalkboard use.
We also had a full audio-visual setup so that the teacher could play video onto the system for all participant to see, or so students could record class periods for viewing. The entire setup was controlled by a fairly simple piece of software on a touch-screen interfaced PC. No one had trouble using the system.
We only had two incidents where we lost connection with the host and these were either intentional, or quickly remedied. It was no different than a teacher calling in sick.
I would suggest you do something similar, if you really want distance-learning. It is very effective.
IRC/Instant Messaging (Score:3)
HTH
rr
Why? (Score:3)
Usually administrators see distance learning as a way of making money. They get the same tuition or fees, but don't have to pay for heating a classroom, janitors, etc. What they don't realize is that doing distance learning right is very expensive, not least because it's a huge amount of work for the instructor to set up the first time, and they can't do it without release time.
There are also some real problems associated with distance learning. Students don't form the same kind of social bonds they normally would. In the science classes I teach, I like to have the students do little hands-on experiments, which they wouldn't be able to do at home. And of course, how do you teach labs? There's also the issue of students pulling scams, like getting help on exams. (At my school, we recently had a person take an entire course for someone else.) Students in these courses also tend to lack the necessary commitment. Of course, all these problems were problems back when distance learning meant TV telecourses. Distance learning has usually been a failure, and probably will be until technology changes drastically (like really fast broadband access in all the students' homes).
The Assayer [theassayer.org] - free-information book reviews
Use almost all of 'em. (Score:3)
The only drawback is that the use of a discussion board requires students with a bit of restraint and sometimes that's more of an issue that people think (even with adults).
My $0.02, having done just what I described
-dave
Live lectures (Score:3)
Frequently there were equipment problems, network problems, and the latency was ridiculous. The lag and audio quality was so bad the students in Hawaii hardly ever asked questions. How would you like to come to class to see a message written on the board by the TA saying "Sorry, we can't get NetMeeting working today."
A better approach would be to send the audio portion using POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service). If you figure how much each student pays in tuition and divide it by the number of lectures he or she attends, the price of the phone call is nothing. Even if you were paying a dollar a minute you still come out a head, keep in mind 30 or so students were attending remotely. One lecture missed due to technical issues means hundreds of dollars in wasted tuition.
Re:IRC/Instant Messaging (Score:4)
Groove - excellent collaboration tool for students to work together and for workshops (but still in beta) http://www.groove.net
Rotor - interactive video streaming, good for quizzes, questionairres and presenting. The next version will support flash media as the presentation material (instead of jpegs)http://www.realnet.net.au
Oracle iLearning - course administration replacement - it allows the students to select which courses they take and at what pace, while still enforcing requisites etc. http://ilearning.oracle.com/
All of these technologies (and others) have their place in online learning. Quite frankly, the places that JUST video tape a lecturer talking and then stream it to the web have got it completely wrong. It really doesnt add much to the learning experience and still has problems of people understanding the lecturer (either due to quality of audio/video, or of language barriers, or hearing impairments.) Lecturers should be there for guiding students in the right direction and perhaps fielding questions and making clarifications.
my 2 cents
video/audi creates problems. (Score:5)
One of the main problems is end-user bandwidth. We have a completely web-based elearning product that requires nothing beyond a 4.0 browser and a 28.8 connection, and still end users run into problems...
For elearning today, you're best off using something with forums, threaded messaage boards and text chat. This makes it easier for the teacher to control the situation, and easier for the students to ask questions without completely interrupting. These methods actually fit the model better, and you don't have to worry about as many issues with getting the information out to the student.