Full HTML for

Basic foilset Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning

Given by Geoffrey C. Fox at NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting on October 12-13 99. Foils prepared October 10 99
Outside Index Summary of Material

Architecture of Training Portal with interfaces, services and distributed educational objects
Internetics Curricula used in our web-based training
Standards and pragmatic use of XML for Educational Objects
Services and some solutions: Databases for administration and content; Authoring.
  • WebCT and Blackboard commercial solutions
Motivation for Distance Education and Training
  • New business models for Universities
Collaborative Portals -- Interactive Course delivery using Tango Interactive today and how to do it right
e-commerce and other applications of this technology

Table of Contents for full HTML of Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning

 Denote Foils where Image Critical
Denote Foils where Image has important information
Denote Foils where HTML is sufficient
1 Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning
2 Overview of Training Portals
3 Portals in Education and Training
4 3-Tier Architecture for Education Portal
5 Basic Multi Tier architecture
6 Internetics and Computational Science Curriculum
7 Conventional Computational Science
8 Information Track of Computational Science
9 Information Track of Computational Science
10 Detailed Course Contents
11 What is Internetics ?
12 Internetics and Computational Science
13 Synergy of Parallel Computing and The Grid Internetics as Unifying Principle
14 Sample 1999 Java Academy Certificate
15 Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning Standards and Pragmatic XML
16 Standards and XML I
17 Standards and XML II
18 XML and Other Object Models
19 A Custom Java Applet for Quizzes(6 problems)
20 Part of XML definining quiz
21 Fragment of NPAC Education XML DTD
22 Re-usable Education Object Strategy
23 Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning Education Portals
24 Major Commercial Education Portal Technology I
25 Major Commercial Education Portal Technology II
26 Some General Objects of Importance to Education
27 (Education) Portal Building Model
28 General Object Descriptors of Interest to Education II
29 WebWisdomDB Curriculum System
30 Manager Function of WebWisdomDB
31 Access WebWisdomDB Curricula Database I
32 Access WebWisdomDB Curricula Database II
33 General Object Descriptors of Interest to Education III
34 Education Specific Objects
35 Some Important Education Services/Tools
36 Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning Synchronous Web Based Education
37 Why use Distance Education and Training?
38 Traditional Model of Instruction
39 Better Model of Instruction
40 Role of Collaborative Objects in Education
41 Universal Shared Object Strategy
42 Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning Collaborative Technology Today
43 What is Web-based Collaboration?
44 Simplest Shared Object is Client Side Java Applet
45 Architecture of Tango Distance Education
46 Courses at Jackson State
47 So putting these ideas together for Distance Education
48 Shared Simulations -- Fluid Flow and Planetary Motion
49 Applications of Web-based Collaboration
50 More General Shared server side Objects
51 Sharing Server Side Objects II
52 Shared Event Model of Collaboration?
53 So what do we have now--TangoInteractive
54 TangoInteractive System Architecture
55 Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning Collaboration with XML Tomorrow
56 Next Generation TangoInteractive
57 Collaboration Framework
58 Each Collaborating Client Receives Events
59 Shared Portal on the Web
60 A Collection of Shared Place Components
61 SPDL Example: Declare Shared Portal Objects
62 Another Example of SPDL: Define User Roles
63 XML Collaborative Web page Architecture
64 Applications of Shared XML Content Pages
65 XML and Universal Access I
66 XML and Universal Access II

Outside Index Summary of Material

HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 1 Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting
NCSA
October 13 1999
Geoffrey Fox
NPAC Syracuse University
Syracuse NY 13244-4100
gcf@npac.syr.edu
3154432163
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 2 Overview of Training Portals

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
Architecture of Training Portal with interfaces, services and distributed educational objects
Internetics Curricula used in our web-based training
Standards and pragmatic use of XML for Educational Objects
Services and some solutions: Databases for administration and content; Authoring.
  • WebCT and Blackboard commercial solutions
Motivation for Distance Education and Training
  • New business models for Universities
Collaborative Portals -- Interactive Course delivery using Tango Interactive today and how to do it right
e-commerce and other applications of this technology
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 3 Portals in Education and Training

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
We are discussing Web-based education or portals to a virtual university or virtual corporate training center and yesterday you heard about portals to computing
Merrill Lynch predicts that Enterprise Information portal market will be $15B by 2002
So assume that we are building education portals in terms of "Distributed Educational Objects" -- this is not really an assumption but a statement as to "language used"
Portals are built as a customizable set of XML components ( e.g. Display a thumbnail of the next web-page in lecture or run a Particular Program )
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 4 3-Tier Architecture for Education Portal

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
There are several important Object Models: COM, CORBA, Java, Web, Oracle Database ......
But it doesn't matter!!
XML File System (Web Site)
Or
Middle Tier "Business Logic" dissociates User and Back End
Export/Import
Request
Information
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 5 Basic Multi Tier architecture

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
Two Sweet Spots for defining Universal Interfaces (IDL or Templates)
Educational Objects can be stored in Databases or Web Sites
Broker or Server
XML
Result
XML Query
Rendering Engine
Browser
Rendering Engine
HTML
Objects
XML Request for service
followed by return of XML result
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 6 Internetics and Computational Science Curriculum

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 7 Conventional Computational Science

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
At Syracuse built around a two course sequence and associated application, computer science and math courses
CPS615: Introduction to Computational Science
  • Technology and its projection, Computer Architecture, Application Motivation, Performance Analysis, Programming Models, MPI, (F90, HPF), (Java for Science)
  • and practical algorithms such as: particle dynamics, PDE's with CFD as example, Random numbers, Monte Carlo
CPS713: Case Studies in Computational Science
  • Detailed studies of 3 areas such as Numerical Relativity, Optimization, Computer Graphics, Condensed Matter, Experimental Physics Data analysis
These form 2 course certificate in simulation track of computational science
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 8 Information Track of Computational Science

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
1995
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 9 Information Track of Computational Science

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
Syracuse is not ranked so high but at least it is a sample of the real world and I realized that at such schools computational science was not the answer and that for instance best Undergraduates went into School of Communication
So I developed an alternative "information track" with four core courses
CPS406(undergraduate)/606(graduate) Introduction to Web Technologies
CPS616 Core Web and Distributed Object Technologies
CPS640 Internet Infrastructure
CPS714 Advanced Topics and Case Studies in Internetics
They had Silly catalog titles for sundry political reasons
There was the K-12 Java Academy in same vision
Java Academy CPS406, CPS606, CPS616, CPS640 all offered as full semester distance education courses
Graduate
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 10 Detailed Course Contents

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
CPS406/606: CGI, Java, Introduction to CORBA/RMI/JDBC
CPS616: More on CORBA/RMI/JDBC; Database discussion as necessary; Advanced Java (Servlets, Javabeans, Enterprise Javabeans, Frameworks); Security; Introduction to XML; JavaScript and Dynamic HTML; in the past VRML and Perl
CPS640: Network and Internet Service Architecture; Quality of Service; Multimedia Servers; Compression technology
CPS714: Whatever is important this semester done as a projects course;this year we did XML (for scientific information and to build PSE's); Distributed Computing using CORBA/Web; Java Grande; Advanced Security; How to build a Portal; Collaboration; Electronic Commerce; High performance Web Servers; Latest W3C Initiatives
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 11 What is Internetics ?

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
Emerging field centered on technologies services and applications enabling and enabled by world wide communication and computing grids
The contents come from Computer Communication and Information science fields but with an applied flavor so forms critical knowledge needed by many application fields such as scientific computing, telemedicine, electronic commerce, digital journalism and education
Students with an interdisciplinary background are natural participants
The applied focus with many totally new and rapidly evolving technologies makes Internetics unique
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 12 Internetics and Computational Science

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
Computational Science is Interdisciplinary field in between Computer Science and "large scale Scientific and Engineering simulation-based" applications
  • Academic fields: Aerospace engineering, physics etc.
Internetics is Interdisciplinary field between CS and Both Simulation and Information-based applications
  • Bioinformatics, Public Communication ...
  • As information applications dominate commercial world, internetics has an information flavor (analysis of physics data is an "information" application; QCD Monte Carlo is a simulation application)
Enrollment in Classic Computational Science at Syracuse has dropped from 50 to 10; enrollment in Internetics has risen from 6 to 100 (95-98)
  • Syracuse students could only take CPS615 as I was funded to offer as distance education class to Jackson State
Current Internetics Curriculum starts with High School Java Academy;undergraduate and graduate programs, through the four course continuing education certificate
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 13 Synergy of Parallel Computing and The Grid Internetics as Unifying Principle

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
The two forms of Large Scale Computing Scale Computer for Scale Users in Proportion Power User to number of computers
Parallel Distributed Information Systems Computers Computational Grids
<--------------- Internetics Technologies --------------->
1% market
99% of market
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 14 Sample 1999 Java Academy Certificate

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
Starkville,
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 15 Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning Standards and Pragmatic XML

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 16 Standards and XML I

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
So we wish to move ahead and enter a world moving with Internet Speed ...
But neither us nor the world we move in knows quite what we want to do
We need to set standards so that our infrastructure and content can be largely reused
If we start now with public domain or commercial systems like "mine", "yours", WebCT, Blackboard, CAPA then how can we do this so can evolve as technology changes
We could ask system provider to support "standards" but this is not very helpful if standards are insufficient
Educause IMS (www.imsproject.org) and IEEE P1484 are working on standards (which will be expressed in XML) but currently they seem far from being sufficient.
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 17 Standards and XML II

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
So we need to agree on an "architecture" (such as that shown earlier) and decide where the "sweet spots" are to define standards
  • i.e. you do not agree on standards but do try to agree (or guess) what entities will have standards defined for them in the future
Then standards define interfaces to distributed educational `objects (methods and properties)
XML is useful as a flexible way of specifying object interfaces in a convenient user readable way supported by growing number of tools
  • Internet Explorer and Communicator 5 renders XML
  • Many Java libraries for processing XML
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 18 XML and Other Object Models

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
So XML Web pages are natural XML specified objects but you can use XML as export of an Oracle database
COM and CORBA define their interfaces in a specialized IDL (Interface Definition Language)
Java defines its object interfaces in terms of Java the language
But it does not matter if object is in text file, C (accessed via CORBA or COM), Oracle, Java or JavaScript; one can define interface in XML and map to particular realization
So XML is Universal Object Specification
  • it may or may not be preferred object implementation
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 19 A Custom Java Applet for Quizzes(6 problems)

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 20 Part of XML definining quiz

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
< npaceducationxml > <question questionID="0000005">
  • <timeInMinɬ</timeInMin>
  • <timeInSecᡖ</timeInSec>
  • <text>Which of the following are control structures?</text>
  • <multipleChoice>
    • <option>while</option>
    • <option>if-then-else</option>
    • <option>class</option>
    • <option>switch</option>
    • <option>public</option>
    • <correctAnswer>while</correctAnswer>
    • <correctAnswer>if-then-else</correctAnswer>
    • <correctAnswer>switch</correctAnswer>
  • </multipleChoice>
</question> </ npaceducationxml>
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 21 Fragment of NPAC Education XML DTD

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
<!ELEMENT npaceducationxml (quiz+, lecture+, author+, course+) >
<!ELEMENT quiz (question)+>
<!ATTLIST quiz quizID ID #REQUIRED
authorID IDREF #REQUIRED
courseID IDREF #REQUIRED
lectureID IDREF #REQUIRED>
<!ELEMENT author (name, email+, institution)>
<!ATTLIST author authorID ID #REQUIRED>
<!ELEMENT name (family, given)>
<!ELEMENT family (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT given (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT email (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT institution (#PCDATA)>
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 22 Re-usable Education Object Strategy

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
Identify types of educational objects and divide them and their properties into
  • a) Education specific
  • b) World Wide or Business Enterprise specific (Yahoo Netscape IBM etc. will define e.g. portalML, X3D, VML )
  • c) Particular field specific (MathML, ChemistryML etc.)
Find where good standards exist and use them
Work with organizations to eventually agree on important missing standards (as with IMS and DoD ADL)
Define in XML, the missing interfaces as <yourinstitutiontrainingxml> and insist that vendors either adopt these interfaces or define their proprietary interfaces as <webctxml> <blackboardxml> etc.
  • Convert these temporary standards (either permanently or on the fly) to eventual <wwweducationandtrainingxml>
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 23 Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning Education Portals

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 24 Major Commercial Education Portal Technology I

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
Blackboard has popular products (CourseInfo, Campus) which have very good administrative support including linkage to University student databases.
1000 institutions (300,000 people) using this
Modest capability to author curricula but good tools such as discussion lists, homework, grading and simple quizzes
No Built-In Synchronous Delivery
http://www.blackboard.com
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 25 Major Commercial Education Portal Technology II

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
WebCT has 877 Institutions in 46 countries with stronger authoring capabilities but still rather basic HTML
Good services such as Glossary
http://www.webct.com
http://webct.ncsa.uiuc.edu:8900/
WebCT Course Page from NCSA
WebCT
Says .....
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 26 Some General Objects of Importance to Education

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
"(better)portalML" -- define the user's customized portal layout and what they can choose from
  • define available objects and layout (number of columns etc.)
  • placement of component objects on pages and specification of their parameters and location e.g. access weather object for suchandsuchcity with suchandsuch sensor overlay
  • choice of nifty JavaScript index
  • preferences for resolutions and "universal access"
  • borders, backgrounds etc.
Portal building tools will exist for developers (architect type of portal i.e. differentiate my.NPAC from my.Netscape) and users ( specialize particular portal architecture )
Such general tools will be competition for education specific systems like WebCT
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 27 (Education) Portal Building Model

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
Educational Components and Services are abstracted as a set of hierarchical Toolbars-- perhaps as in Word or similar commodity software
Toolbars (made of individual commands/object accesses) are defined in XML and rendered in HTML for user interface.
Toolbars can access a direct middle-tier service or a educational objects
Education Toolbars include user profile specification (layout, universal access), University Services (sports, tickets) , Choice of different curricula, Access to particular on-line resources (programming labs, chats, bulletin boards etc.), Homework submittal and administrative services, integration with "personal portal" to store notes
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 28 General Object Descriptors of Interest to Education II

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
VML is Vector Graphics Mark up Language
DrawML is designed to support simple technical drawings as sketched on whiteboards and used in (my) PowerPoint
VRML (3D scenes) re-implemented in XML as X3D
MathML Mathematical Expressions
What emerges to support export of Excel, Word for spreadsheets, text etc.
Database access languages as in ColdFusion
Resource Description Framework (RDF) standard for metadata exchange, enables better content searching on the Web
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 29 WebWisdomDB Curriculum System

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
Store PowerPoint on a foil by foil basis, HTML in Database
Store Images and Multimedia objects (to support education or family photos!)
Create scripts (play lists) that create new presentations by mixing old ones
Complete XML Syntax to access database contents from browser and can add your own tags interpreted by Java Servlet
Java Administrative manager supporting hierarchical (directory style) "courses"
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 30 Manager Function of WebWisdomDB

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
Edit Categories
Edit Foils
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 31 Access WebWisdomDB Curricula Database I

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
<?WWTEMPLATE>
<?XML VERSION="1.0" CACHE="NO"?>
<WW_DOCUMENT>
<WW_CONNECT CONNECTION=""/>
<html> <head>
<title> Foilnumber <WW_FOILNUMBER PARENTID="${PID}" FOILID="${FID}"/> :<WW_TITLE FOILID="${FID}" /> </title></head>
<WW_BODYIMAGE/>
<tt><a href="#image">Image</a><a href="#buttons"> Buttons</a> </tt><b> <WW_LINK FILENAME="temphelp.tdl" ATTR="">HELP!</WW_LINK>
</b> version of Foils prepared <WW_MODIFICATIONDATE FOILID ="${FID}" /> </tt>
Connect to Database
Insert Foil#
Insert Date
Insert Title
Insert Link with file coming from database
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 32 Access WebWisdomDB Curricula Database II

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
<h2> Foil <WW_FOILNUMBER PARENTID="${PID}" FOILID="${FID}" /> <WW_TITLE FOILID="${FID}" /> </h2>
<WW_LINK FILENAME="tempfoilsephtml.tdl" > HTML Version</WW_LINK>
<hr> <a name="buttons">
<WW_NEXT FOILID ="${FID}" PARENTID="${PID}" FILENAME="tempfoilsepimage.tdl" IMAGENAME="ww_next"/>
<WW_PREV FOILID="${FID}" PARENTID="${PID}" FILENAME="tempfoilsepimage.tdl" IMAGENAME="ww_prev"/>
<WW_LINK FILENAME="tempfullindex.tdl" ATTR="PID=${PID}">
<WW_IMAGE IMAGENAME="ww_up" FOILID="${FID}" PARENTID="${PID}" /> </WW_LINK>
<WW_SELECTSOUND FOILID="${FID}" NAME="ISSOUND"><INSERT NAME="${ISSOUND}"/>
</WW_SELECTSOUND>
........
</WW_DOCUMENT>
Conditional Test on associated audio clip
being available
Next and Previous Buttons
Insert Image from Database
Title again
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 33 General Object Descriptors of Interest to Education III

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL) enables simple authoring of TV-like multimedia presentations such as training courses on the Web
Image and other specialized media descriptors
  • enable storing of multiple resolutions (image) or multiple video codecs and optimized access
More generally perhaps universalaccessML will allow one to support different renderings of an object needed for different users and clients
  • palmtops versus PC's
  • audio versus image for visually impaired users
"People" including students, teachers, administrators
"Bibliographic" descriptors as in Dublin Core
CollaborationML as in NPAC's SPW (Shared Portal on the Web)
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 34 Education Specific Objects

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
Administrative Structure
  • degrees, departments, lecturers, Deans ...
Performance (grading) information
Assessment data such as surveys, access logs
Glossaries (there would be a middle tier glossary service to automatically link glossary entries to document fragments
Quizzes
Hierarchical Curriculum structure from document fragment to page to lecture to course with provision for linked material for further study
  • "next" "previous" "more detail" "linked video" buttons
Index/Abstract of high level knowledge
Homework
Student Annotations
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 35 Some Important Education Services/Tools

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
Glossary service stores current glossary (defined in XML) and integrates with selected document fragments
Select optimal version (audio, image, high resolution etc.) of an object (Universal Access Service)
XML Glossary
Java
Servlet
Add Glossary
Basic Web Server
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 36 Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning Synchronous Web Based Education

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 37 Why use Distance Education and Training?

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
New and rapidly changing Academic Curriculum suggest the use of distance education as it will allow a few experts to deliver instruction to more students and this addresses both
  • The shortage of trained faculty
  • cost of developing new curriculum QUICKLY requires many students (say around 5-10 times traditional class) to amortize cost
Distance Education is technically sound based on web curricula-- both synchronously and asynchronously -- today with very robust clear implementations available over next 2 years
Both delivery mechanism and identification of knowledge nuggets (such as Internetics or computational science) that are smaller than a traditional degree suggests different approaches to certification
  • Courses are given, graded etc. by multiple organizations -- University integrate degrees?
Similar arguments for distance training with relative importance of synchronous and asynchronous learning differing by customer group
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 38 Traditional Model of Instruction

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
Professors
Students
Common Shared Books and Such Resources
Done separately for each class at each university
Often
Low
Quality
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 39 Better Model of Instruction

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
Professor at AVU
(AnyTown Virtual University)
with team of authoring specialists
Outside
Students
(dominant clientele)
Common Shared Books Web based Lecture Material
and Similar Resources
Institutions focussing on particular disciplines, teach a given class
to Students from Universities which provide beds and mentors
Possible local Students
INTERNET
Classes are
given by
AVU
to students
around
the state
(world)
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 40 Role of Collaborative Objects in Education

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
Learning is an example of an activity which can be thought of in terms of objects (digital audio streams when you talk, books, homework, science fair exhibits) worked on alone or together -- either between students or students and teacher
  • digital "togetherness" is supported by collaboration technology
Collaboration can be synchronous as when individuals talk to each other
  • Objects or object properties are shared at same time
Or asynchronous when sharing is done at different times
I post a web page and you look at it later is a basic asynchronous sharing model while writing on a blackboard is hallowed synchronous model in teaching
All objects can be thought of as web pages as these are rendering of a server side object
  • e.g. web page form elements specify data base access or CGI Script
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 41 Universal Shared Object Strategy

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
Assume teachers, students, engineers, shoppers, salespersons, families teach, learn, collaborate, buy, sell, socialize via electronic versions of traditional human interactions combined with shared objects expressed in XML and rendered as web pages
  • Most sharing is asynchronous and one usually wishes to share synchronously same material that one accesses asynchronously
  • objects can be (electronic) text books, aircraft designs and simulations, expensive jewelry or photos of grandchildren
Only shared event model (used in Tango) of sharing (collaboration) is capable of necessary efficiency and customization to each user
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 42 Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning Collaborative Technology Today

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 43 What is Web-based Collaboration?

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
Collaboration means sharing objects
Web-based Collaboration implies use of Web to share distributed objects accessible through the Web
  • Shared Web Pages; Resources accessed through Web Servers or Brokers; Client-side applications with programmatic interfaces
Specify Page
Receive Identical Page
Web Site
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 44 Simplest Shared Object is Client Side Java Applet

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
Web Pages are an example where there is a single copy of an object; perhaps simpler is the replicated object model used in chat-rooms and more generally shared applets where sharing is maintaining consistent state of replicas
Server Shares Events
Java Chat Rooms (applications or applets). Share text typed by users
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 45 Architecture of Tango Distance Education

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
NPAC Web Server
JSU Web Server
Java Tango Server
.......
Share URL's
Audio Video
Conferencing Chat Rooms
White Boards etc.
Address at JSU of Curriculum Page
Teacher's View of Curriculum Page
Student's View of Curriculum Page
Participants at JSU
Teacher/Lecturer at NPAC
.......
Java Sockets
HTTP
Java Control Clients
All Curricula placed on the Web
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 46 Courses at Jackson State

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
Taught using Tango since fall 97 over Internet and defense high performance network DREN twice a week from Syracuse
  • Course material based on Syracuse Senior Undergraduate class CPS406(Web Technologies) and graduate classes CPS615/616/640(Base Computational science/Internetics)
  • Curricula, Homework, Grading, Facilities done by Syracuse
  • Students get JSU NOT Syracuse Credit
Jackson State major HBC University with many computer science graduates
Do not compete with base courses but offer addon courses with "leading edge" material (Web Technology, modern scientific computing) which give JSU (under)graduates skills that are important in their career
Needs guaranteed 30 (audio) to 100 (video) kilobits per second bandwidth
  • Use a proxy server or mirror site
  • Actually get around one megabit/sec Syracuse to Jackson State
Current Semester offered to 40 students in 5 distant places and separately 40 at Syracuse
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 47 So putting these ideas together for Distance Education

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
We have curricula authored in some fashion and placed on the Web -- it is shared by sharing specification of current Web Page
  • At simplest this is URL but also supported using JavaScript API and Shared Web Page Events are:
  • Shared Scrolling position
  • Shared Pointer as DHTML layer
  • Web Pages can come from databases, WebCT, Blackboard, WebWisdomDB etc.
We have shared client side C++ object -- the digital audio-video conferencing subsystem
We have several shared Java applets
  • One or more Chat rooms
  • Whiteboard
  • "Raised Hand" / Quiz applets for specialized teacher-student interactions
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 48 Shared Simulations -- Fluid Flow and Planetary Motion

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
These educational resources are
shared replicated client side objects
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 49 Applications of Web-based Collaboration

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
Multi Player Games: Use Chat Rooms and digital VTC to establish context
  • Share Java, JavaScript, VRML etc. games
  • Tango has Card Games, Othello, Chess, Snakes and Ladders
Crisis Management: Again use general tools (including whiteboard) and add shared maps and multimedia situation reports
Command and Control: Military, Test and Evaluation -- any real time control of complex system
  • support distributed experts who can be on call remotely and shared object is visualization of test results
Collaborative Computing and Engineering: Here specialized shared objects are CAD, simulation and planning tools
UpScale Web Commerce Sites with people available to help shoppers and lecture on demand
Socializing .....
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 50 More General Shared server side Objects

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
Web Page Sharing is a special case of sharing server side objects -- CGI Scripts, Databases, Object Repositories etc.
This can be done by sharing the Web specification of these objects which can be done client side without ANY change to basic object
This is sharing of client side interface (proxy) to server side object
Specify Object
Collaboration Server Shares Object Specification
Receive Identical Specification
Fetch Identical Objects
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 51 Sharing Server Side Objects II

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
We have used the shared proxy notion to implement
  • Shared Browser
  • Shared Form to access Server side computation (NCSA Biology Workbench -- bunch of CGI scripts)
  • Shared access to Web-linked database such as WebWisdomDB
Server does not need to know about detail of
collaboration.
It is more efficient if it
caches information for
re-use.
Thus use custom data-base
caching or general
proxy server
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 52 Shared Event Model of Collaboration?

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
So if all clients want exactly same view at all times, then the "shared event" model is a waste.
Might as well, just share the display produced on originating client (cf. Microsoft NetMeeting)
In fact, shared event typically enables each client to get the same view but instead one shares the object but has different presentation layers on each client
For instance, share a single XML document but apply different style sheets on each client
Again in command and control, basic application is a 3D map (Geographical Information System) but not so interested clients can present a simple 2D view
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 53 So what do we have now--TangoInteractive

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
http://www.npac.syr.edu/tango
Largely Java system enabling collaboration between general client side objects
  • If client side object is a Server proxy, then this ruse enables sharing of server side objects
  • Has API for Java applet/application, C++, JavaScript
API Enables sharing of events in applications
  • This is just a fancy way of saying it forwards messages
API Enables applications to find out about participants
Currently ONLY deployed for Netscape version 4.5-4.7 as uses LiveConnect to connect JavaScript to Java
  • Internet Explorer version not fully debugged
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 54 TangoInteractive System Architecture

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
N: Netscape Browser
LD: Local Daemon
CA: Control Application
AP: Applet
LA: Local Application
CS: Tango Java Server
DB: Collaboration Database (XML now)
HTTP: Web Server / Object Broker
Client
Client
Collaboration Server
Object/Content Server
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 55 Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning Collaboration with XML Tomorrow

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 56 Next Generation TangoInteractive

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
So let us imagine that we can redo all of this and assume that
  • The proxy ruse is correct and one does only need to share client side Web Pages
  • There are plenty of conventional web pages but full support for XML and W3C DOM in browsers
  • XML can be used for control pages and specialized pages such as those produced by web-linked databases and education portals
Collaboration implies sharing of electronic objects and is needed in Asynchronous and Synchronous modes
Asynchronous mode is MOST important (in all applications including distance education) and will be supported by run of the mill object web infrastructure
  • shared web pages and documents
  • electronic mail
Synchronous mode has important applications
Tango Server accumulates Asynchronous and Synchronous events
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 57 Collaboration Framework

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
Objects register and then define their state via a stream of events
Need to share (federate) events between domains (your PC and mine) whose event services are normally isolated
Object or Visual
Proxy for Object
Event specifying Object
or Change in Object
Federate and
Queue events
"Tango Server"
Clients which receive events which are either queued (asynchronous)
or processed synchronously
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 58 Each Collaborating Client Receives Events

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
Event Stream becomes set of time stamped XML messages
  • Control Messages: e.g. New Participant Joined
  • Shared Object Definition/Update Messages (e.g. Page Scrolled by such and such amount done as XML serialization of JavaScript Event object)
One or More Shared Places
One or More Shared Places
.............
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 59 Shared Portal on the Web

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
Each "Shared Portal on the Web" or SPW is a set of XML and HTML documents
An XML document defines the collaboration and portal Structure -- who is allowed in "Shared Place"; what objects can be there; where they are stored; portal design described earlier
  • For collaboration, this replaces the suite of undocumented rigid policies in TangoInteractive as well as scattered configuration files
  • There is one such XML document for each type of SPW e.g. there would be distedtojacksonstate.xml or distedfsu.xml or favoritecorporatetraining.xml etc.
  • We have developed the XML based SPDL (Shared Place Definition Language) which is currently quite simple and is used in the SPW structure definition
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 60 A Collection of Shared Place Components

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
<placedef>
.
. .
</placedef>
SPDL document
Web browser
Regular content
Web page
Document Fragments as Shared objects
In W3C DOM, each Web Page (HTML Page)is defined as a
set of Nodes -- You choose which nodes (and their children)
that you wish to share and then events are exchanged
maintaining state consistency with logic defined by XML page
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 61 SPDL Example: Declare Shared Portal Objects

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
<sharedobject name="viewer"/><location> http://www.npac.syr.edu/experiments/apps/viewer.jar
  • </location>
  • <width</width>
  • <height</height>
</shared_object>
<sharedobject name="chat">......</sharedobject>
This fragment describes shared portal objects that are used in the shared place.
  • Two shared objects are declared.
  • Other objects in the HTML page which are not declared here, will not be recognized by the Shared Place Framework and so operate in non collaborative mode.
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 62 Another Example of SPDL: Define User Roles

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
<roles>
<object_roles name="viewer">
  • <role_item name="creator" mode="static" >
  • <user_group>syracuse</user_group>
  • </role_item>
  • <role_item name="observer" mode="static" >
  • <user_group>boston</user_group>
  • <user_group>washington</user_group>
  • </role_item>
</object_roles>
</roles>
The fragment of the SPDL document on this page defines the roles for the users of the shared object: in particular we illustrate with the roles creator and observer.
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 63 XML Collaborative Web page Architecture

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
Content Server
XML Content
Pages
Style Sheet /
User Profile
Customization Agent
XML Content
Pages
Style Sheet /
User Profile
Customization Agent
Shared by SPW
Events
Trapped by XML JavaScript Shared Browser
Master
Nonmaster
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 64 Applications of Shared XML Content Pages

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
Support of Collaboration between PC client, Palmtop and high graphics devices such as CAVE's
So in education, can support a mix of wireless palmtops and laptops in the class, with distance PC's
  • Laptops and PC's get all the information including shared PowerPoint/Web Curricula pages etc.
  • Palmtops just get quizzes, chatrooms, whiteboard etc.
Linkage of geographically distributed researchers is necessary to support collaborative computational science
  • One researcher may be in a 3D virtual environment
  • Others will be looking at traditional scientific visualization on workstations
A common XML specification of visualization is mapped according to display capabilities of client device
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 65 XML and Universal Access I

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
It is essential that collaborative technologies support all users independent of their hardware and physical capabilities
Hardware issues are essentially illustrated by palmtop to CAVE example on previous foil
Suppose we wish to teach a class where some students and/or teachers have impaired sight and hearing.
Then we need to share same object content but render it differently on each client.
  • Possibly want to render a given object in multiple ways on a given machine
Essential to share content (as in XML Shared Web Pages) and this enables you to choose right presentation for given client
  • Typical HTML layout aimed at fully capable users and needs to be redone for physically impaired users
Concepts of XML SharedWeb Pages for universal access developed with Al Gilman from Trace Center
HTML version of Basic Foils prepared October 10 99

Foil 66 XML and Universal Access II

From Collaborative Portals for Distributed and Distance Learning NCSA Industrial Partners Meeting -- October 12-13 99. *
Full HTML Index
Assume that all education will be web-based
Assume that we need to provide web resources of equal quality for all citizens
This will not work if one has to translate each course from material for "regular user" to that for "user for different access capabilities"
Thus only chance is to define curriculum in XML and produce customized presentation layers
One will need a powerful indexing/abstracting scheme to be able design appropriate navigation schemes for all users and clients
  • Natural framework is XML based Education Portals with SPW implementing collaboration (a.k.a. teaching)
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