Untitled presentation Virtual University -- General Principles and Some Examples from NPAC Activities Distance Learning Tutorial Fall 1995 Geoffrey C. Fox, Wojtek Furmanski 111 College Place Syracuse University Syracuse NY 13244-4100 Abstract of Virtual University Presentation This presentation sets the application (in this case education) backdrop for the HPDC95 Tutorial on the use of Web based technologies for education i.e. for the Virtual School (K-12 classroom) and the Virtual University We assume that Living Textbook, Phy105/106 material (on-line screendumps) and InfoVision and WebServer discussions are also used We describe uses of NII/GII in education, relationships with edutainment, advantages of digital versus analog, overseas as well as U.S.A.. delivery, role of Geographical Information Systems, role of Interactive and other simulations We look at current as well as future Web Technologies and the implications for presentation of scholarly work and the curriculum Broad Areas of Applicability of NII/GII (National/Global Information Infrastructure) in Education Student-Teacher and Student-Student and other individual Interactions Pedagogical (electronic books and similar material -- InfoVision) and Exploratory learning using WWW as a Òvirtual libraryÓ for projects Homework and Student Projects including electronic laboratories and field trips Assesment and other electronic ÒadministrativeÓ support Relating Education and the Real world Networked world-wide collaborations of students doing real science including remote control of instruments (telescopes, microscopes) fetching data over web Eventually full collaborative televirtual environment linking teachers, children, scientists, real world and simulated world Historical Backdrop -- A Disappointing Role of Technology in Education Upto now, computers have been useful but not revolutionary in education In 1983, I installed several million dollars worth of computers at Caltech with an IBM grant. We did not fail but word processing, some electronic mail and games were main use of machines. They were helpful but not a paradigm shift Further distance education using current technology i.e. analog video delivery of static high quality curricula combined with modest student--teacher interactions Has also only been a modest success -- has only a small Òmarket shareÓ But the Future will be Different with a Technology Dominated Education Education will be totally changed by the use of distributed InfoVision servers and clients The power and pervasiveness of todayÕs machines with the replacement of analog video services by digital services suggests this time I will not be wrong InfoVision will not only improve education but suggests totally new educational systems with radical changes to traditional universities and K-12 schools These changes in University -- student interactions are accompanied by Changes in research (reduced funding with different expectations -- e.g. train graduate students for industry not to be university faculty) And changes in academic disciplines with merging of some fields and growing interest in multidisciplinary work. Some remarks on the Hardware Infrastructure Although you can build useful Interfaces to current Web based on 28.8 kbaud and other modems using POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) -- Especially if you use caching as described later ISDN or ATM is needed for quality video delivery Note full screen NTSC video requires about 1.5 megabits/second to deliver if compressed with MPEG and 0.7 gigabytes of storage for each hour of material Compare Quad speed CDROM at 0.6 megabits/second. Of course today get 56 kbaud to T3 lines with older/more expensive technologies ISDN is 10% of needed performance but perhaps only need quarter screen with 15 frames per second for education as typically uses few minutes clips -- you are not watching 2 hour movie Further improved compression such as Wavelets makes ISDN even more attractive -- unfortunately MPEG is standard and will be built into PCÕs Some Further remarks on base Infrastructure The basic multi-use principle says that we will exploit not only the hardware infrastructure but also the software and other technology produced by suite of NII applications including business, health care, entertainment etc. Note that (1.5 megabit/second) Digital Video supports: Collaboration with real-time video of participants Simulation where you are transmitting video animation produced either in batch mode or in real-time by computer Geographical Information System where you transmit rendered 3 dimensional terrain -- here and above can reduce transmission by transmitting VRML based vector representation of video -- not pixels As well as text-indexed video clips selected from expected 100,000 hour (about 70 terabyte) digital archive Some General Remarks and Features of Virtual University on the Web -- I Disciplined Navigation -- It is too easy to get lost in Cyberspace and it will get worse -- need some organizing principles Guided Discovery and Exploration -- In Exploratorium -- relatively unstructured browsing -- one needs guidance and feedback Interactive and Editable -- One must be able to modify and edit hypermedia material as part of learning process Assesment -- Tools are needed to track students navigation pathways and their reactions to chosen pathway -- Use this for evaluation and individual student oriented course refinement Some General Remarks and Features of Virtual University on the Web -- II Multi-user Collaboratory -- Tools are needed for group navigation, experience sharing and collective editing Schoolchildren will interact (with their peers) internationally over Web Active Simulation -- Simulation support needed with two-way interactivity that enables real-time interaction with the simulated world Multi-Sensory -- Coherent Integration model of various multimedia modalities -- hypertext, sound, video, simulations Immersive -- Virtual Reality paradigm with spatial navigation metaphor seems very promising base technology Technological Issues and People--People Interactions Basic issues covered in collaboration module This aspect of Virtual University cannot use caching and hierarchical server structure. It is thus particular sensitive to available bandwidth and so needs the best compression and transport technology. It is the aspect of virtual University which is sensitive to teacher--pupil separation Use of videoconferencing suggests that 56kbaud lowest practical speed, ISDN (128 kbaud) pretty good but full screen 30 frames per second needs the usual 1.5 megabits/sec link with MPEG compression. Better compression such as Wavelet should reduce needed bandwidth Multi-User environments with interactive 3D MOOÕs and other televirtual (you create a computer environment which provides realistic virtual world in which collaborators interact) are important and active research areas. NII and Education - Distance Learning Student Can be combined with Collaborative Technology Can be used in emergency (sick pupil) or as norm for students in remote areas The InfoVision Scenario INFOrmation Video Imagery and Simulation ON demand -- Home clients and High Performance Multimedia Servers Information Video Imagery and Simulation on Demand Tomorrows Communities will be centered not just on roads, libraries, schools and local businesses but EVERY community will have a High Speed Digital Community network that will both drive the community internally but also tell the outside world about business services, tourist attractions etc. Technological Issues and Pedagogical Curricula This is set of InfoVision technologies for search and delivery of multimedia information and simulations Includes Video Servers, Web Search, Multimedia transport, Video browsing and of course compression for delivery Caching and Hierarchical Multi threaded Server technology Simulation issues include Geographical Information Systems, Distributed Event Driven Simulations, VRML data structures, Terrain rendering Authoring includes future WebTop publishing and Productivity tools (Java critical here) as well as fundamental information science issues such as ... What is right way to present and organize multimedia distributed hyperlinked multi-author material Multi Media is not necessarily the most important idea Hyperlinked (non sequential and World Wide) material is more important. What is Natural Information Unit -- I? Currently we teach and learn using lectures supported by books (and scruffy equivalents such as xeroxed notes) as well as presentations in form of bulleted itemized summary lists Hyperlinks make ÒsequentialÓ books very unnatural. Further computers are not very good at flipping sequentially through electronic pages -- I can beat computer flipping paper book! Thus one can suggest that (electronic) encyclopedia is a better model so that Encyclopedia Galactica is natural abstraction for the Web my children prefer Encyclopedias to electronic books on CDROM This suggests that Web Information should be produced in short hyperlinked modules as in Encyclopedia articles What is Natural Information Unit -- II? These Web modules (Encyclopedia Galactica articles) are produced by multiple authors and one can have several different descriptions of a given subject Note Presentations are not hyperlinked but they are built around a small unit of information -- the page with just a few items on it. Font Size and hence information content per page limited by projection screen technology. Thus electronic presentations can be expected to be important Note a typical HTML page on Web has more characters in it than a typical presentation page -- which is correct? What is right ÒsizeÓ for information nuggets? Technological Issues and the Student This includes the expected personal (productivity) environment which is illustrated by our concept WebWindows and particular WebTools system Note that homework will be done as an electronic part of the learning environment. Web Search and more disciplined Navigation (as in WebTools) will guide studentÕs exploration of CyberSpace Virtual Reality could be a revolutionary technology to improve the learning environment by immersing student in physical or more speculatively information world, Features of Virtual Reality -- a New Consumer Level Product This is a ÒHuman-Computer InterfaceÓ technology which allows user: Full Visual Immersion in world created by computer Although called ÒVirtual realityÓ, the computer world can be A Simulation of either a real or artificial world Multisensory Interactions Immersed vision Stereo Sound Tracking of Head / hand / feet movement Physical Forces Temperature Video Game systems under development Currently mainly in Theme parks, Sportstar 2000(Syracuse) etc. Implementation Issues for use of Web Technology in Education Technically and Politically easiest is use of high speed networks and servers internal to a University and its associated infrastructure (dormitories) i.e. do a better job with current set-up. Note Web technology can be used hierarchically and applied at any resoltion from a single University department through to the full world. Extreme scenario is individuals from the Adirondacks wilderness to the South Pole getting a Global Electronic University degree from a mix of Professors at Caltech, Harvard, Munich, Tokyo etc. Intermediate scenario is innovative University setting up partnerships with say Large U.S.A.. University linking with smaller (e.g. minority) U.S.A.. Universities or overseas partners in Africa, China etc. where base curricula and mentoring from partner University is augmented with curricula and interactions with Professors from larger University What is so important about Digital ? Analog as in current Cable Satellite or broadcast TV or radio represents informations by WAVY SHAPES Shapes can be arbitrary and if changed (distorted) canNOT be easily corrected Digital as in current computers represents everything by NUMBERS and uses Òerror-correctionÓ so that you receive EXACTLY what is sent with NO distortion of text or images So information is more precise Can do on-line banking and looks better -- your great art piece is not distorted or the medical picture is transmitted without adding or subtracting tumors/pathologies etc. Some of the Jobs that will Need NII (Internet, World Wide Web) Skills Computer, Telephone, and Cable Engineers Journalists from both print, photography, and video fields Artists, Advertising designers, Architects, Film Producers, ÒBookÓ Publishers etc. Real Estate Brokers School Teachers, Librarians, Government and Business workers involved with giving information to public or fellow workers Shop owners and staff advertising their wares on digital highway. Allow woodworkers in Adirondacks or heart of Africa to advertise material to all on the World Wide Web All those in medical area -- from Virtual reality to allow surgeon in Syracuse to manipulate robot devices at accident scene to Multimedia patient records Law enforcement (police searching worldwide databases) and lawyers accessing case histories. Students Prefer Education using Technologies that will benefit them in the Real World SyracuseÕs Phy105 (for instance) exploits the students interest in learning science (a typically unpopular area) using a technology that interests them and will be valuable to them when they graduate Remember that even if you donÕt believe in these technologies, our children will through both America On-line Internet access and perhaps more dangerously through virtual reality based multi-user video games accessed through 1-900-abcdefg or WWW Should try to build on success of Edutainment (SimCity, Carmen SanDiego) and make game backdrops of educational value The Next Generation Home Computers include Settop Boxes and Videogame Controllers ÒAllÓ children will have the equivalent of todayÕs $20,000 business or university computer processing capability in BOTH Settop Boxes and in Video Game Controllers which will ÒjustÓ be Personal Computers Some Classes of Educational Uses of the Internet and the future National Information Infrastructure (NII) Distance Learning and teacher/student collaboration over the network Video information on demand Text Information on demand Image Information on demand Interactive Simulation of physical systems Geographical Information Systems Some Virtual University Activities Involving NPAC -- I Living Schoolbook -- Prototype of K-12 Educational Environment of year 2000 ATM delivery to K-12 schools from NPACÕs Multimedia Information Servers Collaboration between NYNEX, State Schools, NPAC and SyracuseÕs School of Education HPDC95 Tutorial and Other Computational Science Courses CPS600, CPS615 On-line Presentations Links to other documents such as Parallel Computing Works On-line Demonstrations of WebTools, Java, Parallel databases, Web Search etc. On-line homework in linked CPS600 Course Server Some Virtual University Activities Involving NPAC -- II Physics 105/106 -- Science for the 21st Century (for non-Scientists) -- Some course modules built around Multimedia Information Systems SETI --Search for Extra Terrestial Intelligence Mind and Machines -- Involved on-line neural network simulations PseudoScience and the Paranormal Scientific Literacy, Imaging and Evolutionism versus Creationism under development This hyperlinked material accounts for about 10% Phy 105, 20% Phy 106 and expect to increase if success continues Need caching locally and high speed local networks to support the 167 students in each class Major Physics department commitment -- 3 faculty developing the 3 modules Overview of the Living Schoolbook Project The Living Schoolbook is a New York State funded Initiative to create K-12 educational applications that exploit leading information technologies Living Schoolbook Base Educational Services are: Interactive Multimedia Geographic Information System -- Virtual Field Trip -- New York State The Interactive Journey Video Information on Demand Cached Internet Resources Telecollaboration in the classroom Realistic (HPCC) Simulations on demand Living Schoolbook Leverages Information Technologies Terabyte Databases Parallel Supercomputers Interactive Multimedia High Speed Wide Area Networks The Living Schoolbook Project Partners The Project Team Syracuse University School of Education ColumbiaÕs Teachers College NYNEX NPAC Upstate Project Schools Fowler High School, Syracuse NY Rome Free Academy, Rome NY Whitesboro Middle School, Whitesboro NY Downstate (New York City) Project Schools PS126: The Ralph Bunch School The Dalton School School for the Physical City Outside Partners of the Living Schoolbook Project askERIC Educational Database for teachers with consultation The Discovery Channel -- Video Content Provider NewsBank -- Text Content Provider Reuters News Service Syracuse Language Systems -- Learn Foreign Languages on Demand TravelVenture -- Interactive travel information on Demand US Air Force Rome Laboratory -- InfoVision technologies WorldView Corp. : Interactive Client-Server Geographic Information System Collaborative Technology and the NII Input from real time video of collaborating individuals as well as: Keyboards, Pens, Video/Images on CD-ROM and InfoVision server, Simulations Software will run on ÒSettopÓ downloaded from information server. Allow Sick Children to participate in lessons while at home and in hospital Allow discussions of Homework among teachers and students etc. Video (Movie and News) on Demand (VOD) and the NII The simplest VOD applications treat InfoVision server as a ÒglorifiedÓ VCR with a huge stock of readily accessible prerecorded tapes Movies -- With granularities of around one hour Videotaped lectures -- and which can be restarted, rewound etc. Interactive VOD will have granularity of order a minute ÒBrowseÓ text or video indices to form customized ÒchannelsÓ such as: CNN Newsroom and NewSource Reuters Wire Service feeds from around the world These services provide video news footage of several hours per day with a textual index Store several years of video footage on InfoVision servers Browse textual indices e.g. for all material on Syracuse Develop customized class material InfoVision - Text Information on Demand on the NII Can store Books Newspapers Encyclopedias etc. as full text. Further we expect that text indices will be most popular way of browsing the 100,000 hours of expected digital video archives Rather than keyword or abstract searches, search full text for say all newspaper articles with words Syracuse, Bargain Price, Twizzlers in same paragraph Speed from local parallelism - InfoVision Servers will have 64 --> 1024 processors - each scans part of text Power from use of Web Search techniques to access information from entire galaxy This is vision of Digital Library Integrate sophisticated full text front end with backend video, imagery and simulation InfoVision - Image Information on Demand on the NII KODAK GIODE - Global Imagery on Demand Everywhere - Service (KPEX -- KODAK Picture Exchange) Images stored in multiresolution KODAK Photo CD format Browse at low resolution - select and buy images you need for Annual Report cover or school project Gradually develop sophisticated search by image content or as in video example, search using textual index (initial major implementation ?) Could Generate index in Òbatch modeÓ by searching images with particular pattern recognition algorithms Interesting images available from local libraries and New York State tourism and economic development resources Index with spatial geographical Information System InfoVision - Simulation on Demand Financial Modeling will allow you to make more money by investing more wisely Reasonably accurate simulations are available for Weather - tornados, storms, etc. Environment - smog in Los Angeles acid rain in the Adirondacks Atoms - Molecules - Reactions Air flow around vehicles from cars .... shuttles These simulations of physical phenomena can be used to illustrate scientific principles in classroom change shapes of cars Investigate connection of lake effect snow with wind direction and geography change laws of nature Approaches to Simulation in Web Education -I The current standard way of recording simulations is possibly annotated (audio, text or add-on video) analog video We can clearly implement the digital analog of this but there are several interesting alternatives Firstly we can use clickable image Web technology to allow student to click on a region of video image and find out further information In GIS with terrain rendering, we click on multimedia buttons at particular spatial sites In Tornado simulation, we could click on image region and get information such as humidity, wind velocity etc. Approaches to Simulation in Web Education -II We can follow strategy of multimedia games such as ÒNight TrapÓ and allow student to select from several different multimedia(video) streams -- this is interactive movie Here we need to run (in batch mode) multiple scenarios ahead of time We can either run simulations in real-time or pre-simulate and store digitally in file. In real-time scenario, we can use interpretative web interfaces to allow simulation parameters including laws of physics to be changed by user This would require our full WebWork with interpreted and perhaps virtual reality based simulation as in HPFI prototype (High Performance Fortran Interpreter) Approaches to Simulation in Web Education -III Typically it needs supercomputer performance to simulate full 3D physical phenomena but we canÕt really give this performance interactively to each student. Thus either run canned simulation in batch mode or develop stripped down Òlittle modelÓ which can run with modest resources such as studentÕs client computer Java appears wonderful technology to support client computing and this has been demonstrated for neural network simulations In what other cases is this Òlittle modelÓ simulation interesting? Could build games based on little models such as a variant of Sonic the Hedgehog where he/she wanders in world traversed by multiple tornados abstracted from realistic simulations From Video Games to Yellow Pages Video Games include travel through race courses (Crash and Burn) or through ÒMystical WorldsÓ as in Donkey Kong or for the new generation of PC games such as MYST Other PC Edutainment systems such as Oregon Trail and Carmen San Diego provide Òadventure/knowledgeÓ filled journeys through sort of the real world NASA, USGS and other sources (such as Russia) provide digital terrain data which can be used to provide totally realistic Òflight simulationsÓ Current widely available 3D data has 10 to 30 meter resolution but even now, Synthetic aperture radar sensors are being tested which can be flown in a plane and give horizontal and vertical resolution of around 1 meter. The software to implement this is called a Geographical Information System (GIS) Uses of Geographical Information Systems with the NII Other applications that will be important with the NII include: Yellow Pages You will be to access a ÒchannelÓ on the NII which allows you to request ÒTaco BellÓ and travel through Syracuse on the computer seeing where they are and how busy Travel Agencies Try out your holiday on the computer first! Community Information as part of Community network Weather -- Cruise around 3D world with real weather superimposed to plan trips etc. Real Estate ÒParade of HomesÓ will be presented on-line or as a CDROM which you can browse at your leisure Content of New York State -- The Interactive Journey NPACÕs part of Living Schoolbook will provide 3D journeys through both Mars (courtesy of NASA) and parts of New York State Computer holds digital maps and basic spatially tagged information such as Video, text and Images of locations in New York State Cultural, Historical, Geological Information Teachers can add such information for particular classes to their clients or server. Use for virtual field trips such as simulated trip down Hudson river or Erie canal Note this is a generalized flight simulator and one can build on distributed simulation technology built by DoD for multi-student interactive simulations Exploratorium versus Structured Learning The GIS based Interactive Journey can typically be used as a structured learning tool with a planned journey navigating in a structured way through spatially located multimedia information This is contrasted with browsing our InfoVision archives which is set up as an Exploratorium with only general principles such as Òdiscover all you can about the Civil WarÓ guiding students through archives Actually limited available digital video currently imposes artificial structure but this will go away One can of course provide structure by imposing non-spatial navigation paths through Exploratorium archives VASTNET -- NPAC, Newhouse School, University Electronic Media Services Collaboration Video and Server Technology Network is prototype of Wire Service of future using Web Technology to service Mass Communications Industry Partner with this field (Newhouse School) to find out how to author on-line video and other multimedia material NYNET ATM network extended internally to allow linkage of NPAC to Newhouse School of Public Communications and University Electronic Media Production Unit Faculty and students -- the multimedia digital journalists of the future will use: Archives stored on huge computers browsed at low (VHS) resolution but stored (delivered by wire server) at broadcast quality. Browsing also using text interfaces (index to a clip of average length 15 seconds) Study Integration digital editing (AVID) technology of media field with digital web and powerful computer technology. Industrial partners from traditional print and analog video fields CNN and Reuters Manhattan Transfer Edit -- Video Post Production Company Comments on FLAG (Fiber Optic Link Across the Globe) and the Virtual University - I FLAG is an enterprise in which NYNEX Network Systems Company is a major (roughly 40%) investor. Current fiber link from U.K. to Japan (via Africa) is being constructed at an approximate $1.4B cost Natural Strategy is for Web Servers in U.S.A.. to deliver educational material via FLAG to Africa and Far East This would set up hierarchically as: U.S.A.. to first offramps: Coastal Countries (in Africa) Coastal Countries distribute information in cascade fashion to rest of continent Download bulk educational material ONCE (standard caching scenario) Use FLAG Interactively for exploration and for student-teacher Interaction Real-Time Compression critical for interactive use of FLAG as lines are costly -- note Internet is free but needs compression as overloaded .... Comments on FLAG (Fiber Optic Link Across the Globe) and the Virtual University - II Many students from these countries come to the U.S.A.. now but ... There are many more who presumably would like a (U.S.A..) education but cannot afford trip and tuition. The developing countries are setting up their own educational infrastructure which could be more attractive than trip to U.S.A.. In Virtual University, one sets up a partnership between U.S.A.. and overseas University where key curricula and its delivery are provided over GII (Global Information Infrastructure of which FLAG is one example) High-end PCÕs should be included as possible Web server for Africa even we use SP-2, multi-processor SGI etc. as server in U.S.A.. University Role of Caching in the Virtual University -- I Caching can either be teacher driven (preselect material) or student driven as in computer paging As education naturally has groups (a class) of over 20 students browsing related material one can expect caching to be very effective Caching helps with both bandwidth and ensuring students browse relevant and appropriate material Experiments by NASA Langley find that 95% of material accessed by students is found in Cache -- implies that 28.8kbaud connection purchased by the school ÒactsÓ like a dedicated T1 line Role of Caching in the Virtual University -- II Datamine the WWW for resources relevant to K-12 Classroom Kidsweb is our initial selection based on teaching experience at NPAC to eighth graders in Syracuse Area This is NPACÕs most popular internet access point Selection by teachers provides high-value materials, efficiency in teacher preparation time and K-12 appropriate material Note many schools do not provide Internet access due to (perception that) much inappropriate material Teacher selection produces structure to students roaming Internet Could be useful to produce selections on CDROM for targeted application areas. Role of Caching in the Virtual University -- III We will need caching anyway for both the Global University and indeed general hierarchical Web Server/ InfoVision scenario Comparison with InfoVision and the Entertainment Analogy: Suppose Jurassic Park VI is released on the Hollywood NII Server Without Caching -- perhaps 20 million people will videodial Hollywood to get their simultaneous showings at 1.5 megabits/second each Need Cross-section bandwidth across the US of about 15,000 gigabits/sec With Caching, average person will find new movie cached on local server only a few optical fiber miles away. Will reduce needed bandwidth by about a factor of 100 as must travel about 15 miles not 1500 miles to get movie.