11 Support of Distance Education

The primary objective of the activity Support of Distance Education is a qualitative shift in the electronic support for higher education by utilising the existing possibilities of state-of-the-art networking and local digital technologies, such as the tools for recording, processing, storing and presenting multimedia data or tools for cooperative teleworking.

Within the activity we develop a methodology, pilot projects and example deployments of such technologies in education, so that they can be reproduced in the wider community of CESNET members. The activity also targets university students who are specialising in technical and natural sciences.

11.1 Maintenance and Development of the Portal

In the previous period, we started the portal eLearning.cesnet.cz in a revitalised form and specified the route for its future development.

The revitalisation mentioned above consisted of the preparation of a new structure, design and factual content. We keep adding news items on a continuous basis.

As of today, the technical implementation is finished. Next year we intend to focus on improving portal contents, i.e., increasing the attractiveness of the portal by publishing regular updates of topical information, key articles on e-learning, manuals, shared experience, opportunity for publishing etc. The can be best achieved through recruiting new renowned contributors.

The portal has been presented at several conferences.

11.2 E-Learning Standards

We developed a Java API for working with tests according to the IMS QTI specification, and a system for visual design of these tests.

Furthermore, we completed the design of a system for indexing and searching the video records of lectures based on speech recognition technologies and started its implementation.

Regarding the software architecture of learning management systems, our attention was focused particularly on adaptive and personalised systems and their relation to standards for learning objects content sharing, such as SCORM. The possibilities for personalisation of standardised learning objects adaptivity have been identified and appropriate architectures proposed.

We also investigated the possibilities for synchronisation of streamed video with other media types (text, images, animations) in the environment of learning management systems (Class Server).

The results have been regularly published.

11.3 Blended Learning and Methodologies of New Procedures

The CEWebS system from the University of Vienna has been acquired and adapted accordingly. It has been used for verification of certain schemes for blended learning; the system is being used for student team projects. In order to propagate CEWebS as well as other software projects, we created an environment for controlling Java software projects based on the Maven system.

We analysed the CEWebS architecture and formulated plans for joint work on CEWebS and its applications in education. Jürgen Mangler held a tutorial on the architecture and applications of the CEWebS framework. The idea behind that was to transfer the know-how necessary for designing new web services for CEWebS and modifying its architecture.

The detailed knowledge of the CEWebS architecture allowed us to use the framework during the winter semester for electronic support of education and also for implementing advanced student projects dealing with educational software. The possibility of writing platform-independent web services for CEWebS in Java has been tested. We utilised the instances of the CEWebS system that run in Brno and Vienna for testing some of the existing and also newly designed web services from the viewpoints of robustness and performance.

In the area of methods for optimal communication of clients in the backward direction, we proposed two basic approaches: purely textual communication and managed voice or visual communication. The management of voice communication may rely on a web-based system utilising the Java technology. The visual - i.e., fully interactive - communication is based on the concept of virtual rooms residing at a common server.

Figure 11.1: Technical implementation of one-way shared lecture

We also investigated new ways in e-learning and focused on finding a suitable technical solution for shared lectures. Several options are available, ranging from very expensive to relatively affordable, the latter being usually connected with the operating system used. The key issue in the selection process was the required technical equipment of potential users along with the expected type of lecture/conference. This way, we obtained several simple methods and procedures for communication between participants/students and their lecturer. Another important factor we had to take into account is the actual content of each lecture/conference (demonstration of details etc.). Further investigation of the problems related to the communication in the backward direction is planned for the coming period. One of the results of this work is an extensive technical report [HS05] that defines basic concepts and shows the individual technical solutions in some detail.

Figure 11.1 shows the technical implementation of a one-way system for lecture sharing with software-based streaming. The camera and microphone that capture the image and voice of the lecturer are connected to a grabber card in a PC. The signal is subsequently compressed and sent to a streaming server, which distributes it to all subscribed client stations. Various software products can be used for this purpose depending on the desired format of the output stream.

In the first half of 2005, we also looked at restructuring the mobile workplace in order to allow for wireless transmission of video signal. For experimental purposes we used the GigaLink device, which is certified for wireless operation in the 2.4 GHz frequency band in the Czech Republic (CTO 1998 1 r 790). The frequency band (2.4-2.4835GHz) is divided into 5 channels, each 14 MHz wide. One of the reasons for choosing this system was the character of deployment locations - mostly large rooms where sufficient signal strength must be guaranteed over distances of up to 30 meters. The system was also used for continuous recording of the two-day conference EMTECH 2005. We found the system useful especially due to its supreme mobility.

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