The Future of Distance Learning AUCD Training Symposium

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The Future of Distance Learning AUCD Training
Symposium

• Presented by
• Dr. Fred T. Hofstetter
• University of Delaware

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Dreams
We are living at an exciting time when
technological dreams are coming true.

• If you can dream it, you can do it.

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Moores Law

• In 1965, Intels Chairman, Gordon Moore,
  predicted that the capacity of a computer chip
  will double every 18 months.

• Its been happening ever since, and scientists
  predict that this trend will continue at least
  until the year 2010.

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Moores Law
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Al Gores Law

• Computer prices are declining at a rate of 50
  per year.

• Computers will be everywhere.

• Computers will truly become personal.

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Wearable ComputersDockers Mobile Pant

• Levis is designing clothes to let you wear
  computers.

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Sign Language Wearables

• At MIT, scientists are designing a wearable
  computer that can recognize sign language.

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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.

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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.

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Scan any text
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Snap any picture
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Record any sound
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Capture any video
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Publish to the Web
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Deliver Anywhere
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Distribution Channels Will Change

• MPEG Case Study
• Toward Mobile Computing

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MPEG Video

• MPEG is an industry-wide digital video standard
  thats being used in DirecTV, DVD, and HDTV.

• MPEG has compact-disc quality audio and can do
  5.1 surround sound.

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Satellite TV

• DirecTV uses MPEG to bring you high-quality
  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.

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DVD

• DVD uses MPEG to play movies.

• Fastest rollout in media history.
• Profitable in the first year.

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HDTV

• Uses MPEG to transmit video.

• HDTV will replace NTSC.
• Eventually, everyone will buy a new TV.
• George Gilders vision of a telecomputer will be
  realized.

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Master Teachers On Demand
Guitar lessons from PlayMusic.com
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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.

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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.

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Rio

• Rio is a 150 pager-sized computer that plays MP3
  files.

• But thats all it does.

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Cassiopeia

• Cassiopeia is a 399 hand-held computer.

• It can play MP3 files as well as run Windows.

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Cassiopeia

• This digital camera card enables the Cassiopeia
  to take pictures and record movies.
• Let me show you.

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More Storage
IBMs MicroDrive will increase the storage of
handheld computers.
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Wireless Britannica

• Search the complete Encyclopædia Britannica from
  your wireless Palm VII, using the new Britannica
  Traveler application.

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Palm VII Wireless Internet
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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.

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Where Matters Not
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Implications for Education

• Putting Theory into Practice with Serf

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What Is Serf?

• Invented in 1997, Serf is a self-paced 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.

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LoggingOn
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Viewing the Course
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Student Control Panel
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Instructor Options
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Editing a Serf Syllabus
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Kinds of Syllabus Events
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) Su
rvey (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)
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Creating an Event
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Editor Viewer
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Discussion Forums
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Reading ForumTopics
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Using theGradebook
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Assigning Grades
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Teaching in the Zone

• Helping All Students by Giving
• What They Need, When They Need It

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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School to Work

• Helping Online Students
• Plan Careers and Get Jobs

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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.

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Americas Job Bank

• Americas 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.

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AJB Home Page
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AJB Job Categories
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AJB Computer Jobs
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AJB Programmers
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AJB Programmer Openings
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AJB Selecting a Job
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AJB Job Description
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Americas LearningExchange

• Americas Learning Exchange is a free electronic
  marketplace connecting people to the training and
  education they need.
• Job seekers find whos offering the training they
  need to qualify for a job.

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ALX Home Page
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ALX Enter a Keyword
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ALX Search Results
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ALX Course Description
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ALX Click to Enroll
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The Instructional Management Systems Project

• The Department of Labor Developed These Databases
  as a Contributing Member of the IMS Project

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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.

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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

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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

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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.

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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 learners preferred
  formatHTML, XML, PDF and E-books
• Real-time rendering of mathematical notation,
  graphs, and charts
• Alternate representation in response to learner
  profiles

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The Futures FutureIs the Educators Challenge

• How to Ensure Emerging Standards Meet the Needs
  of Your Discipline

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Recommendations

• Join the IMS project.
• Help ensure that the IMS specifications meet the
  needs of your discipline.
• Support the Department of Labors
  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.

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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
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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.

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Designing distance learning programs around the
emerging IMS standards can make education truly
ubiquitous.

• To paraphrase MufasaEverything the XML touches
  is our kingdom.