WebWisdomNT is a major rewrite of the WebWisdom distance education system, which has been successfully used since fall 1997. It includes the latest web and distributed object technology as well as improvements based on our past experience. It also uses the latest release of TangoInteractive for supporting synchronous and interactive learning. WebWisdomNT is built using advanced Java, JavaScript, Dynamic HTML and optionally Oracle (or equivalent) relational database technology. It is systematically built around the concept of distributed educational objects, which are shared in interactive and synchronous sessions.

WebWisdomNT makes one fundamental assumption -- that all curriculum material is web-based. It is either stored directly on a web site or accessed through the web interface to a backend repository, which is either an object store or a database such as WebWisdomDB. Through this database, WebWisdomNT is designed to support large collections of curriculum material. However it will also support the individual user who wishes to store curriculum material on a web site -- say by exporting PowerPoint to the web using "Save as HTML".

WebWisdomNT does not directly supply an authoring system but it rather adds value to several different existing systems. Currently we recommend and support basic HTML, PowerPoint and WebCT curriculum pages. WebWisdomNT enhances such systems in three major areas.

• The WebWisdomDB Oracle database will store such material as object components and reconstruct them using powerful XML templates with the WebWisdom XML Template Server.
• The database also allows construction of general lectures, which mix and match from individual pages stored in different formats and different presentations.
• Using either the database or simple Web pages, one can add dynamic HTML layers to any instructional pages supporting shared cursors, indices, thumbnail look ahead, glossaries, quizzes and notes.

In the following we describe the utility of different components of WebWisdomNT for both student and teacher in both synchronous (interactive) and asynchronous modes. WebWisdomNT separates the concept of teacher and administrator although in practice, the same individual often plays these roles. In the simplest view of the capabilities described below, one iterates the following four steps

1. Teacher prepares material and stores as described under "Asynchronous use of WebWisdomNT by teacher"
2. Teacher and students establish a TangoInteractive session and teacher delivers an interactive or synchronous session.
3. Teacher and/or students (or their administrators) save if needed a record of the session either in a database or web site.
4. Students access material asynchronously to enhance knowledge, prepare and file homework. Teachers and students interact with classical asynchronous tools including electronic mail and threaded discussion lists.

The teacher would of course often "just" review existing material in which case their capabilities are identical to those described below for a student. The simplest (and most common role) of a teacher is to prepare some curriculum material and place it on a web site. This could then be enhanced using WebWisdom DynamicFilter Converter to permanently add dynamic HTML layers for Enhanced WebWisdom Pages offering capabilities including shareable pointer, notes, quizzes, glossaries, thumbnails and support of Java whiteboard. Alternatively, one could set up web site so these enhancements could be achieved dynamically through the WebWisdom DynamicFilter Server. As described above, one can choose whether or not to store data on a Web site or to put material in the WebWisdomDB database. This automatically gives one the capabilities of WebWisdom DynamicFilter, which are supported through the XML templates provided with the system for exporting data. The database would be preferred choice either if one needed its capabilities to manage systematically large curriculum collections or if one required certain other features including play list generation, enhanced support of PowerPoint and a very convenient integration of web material with audio-video recordings.

The teacher (administrator) would access the WebWisdomDB database through its powerful Java WebWisdomDB Manager, which allows one to import or export curriculum material. This interface supports a hierarchical classification of lectures and other curriculum material so as to naturally support a virtual university divided into colleges, departments and programs. It also allows editing of educational objects at a fine granularity including single slides of a PowerPoint presentation. HTML pages can be divided into text, audio, video and other page components. The XML templates supporting the web export are also stored in the database and can be edited for individual customization. The WebWisdom XML Template Server comes with several powerful built-in XML macros to build sophisticated web pages; one can both use these and build additional macros invoked by XML tags from the web export templates. The WebWisdomDB Manager also supports construction of compound presentations or "play-lists", composed of pages generated from several different sources of any authoring style.

The teacher (administrator) could also access additional tools supporting asynchronous collaboration. These could be outside WebWisdomNT such as particular standalone Web pages or electronic mail. There are two special tools supplied by WebWisdomNT. Students register in the WebWisdom Course Server where a teacher would access student homework and place course details, grades and surveys. The offers simple enhancements to conventional electronic mail with a dynamic HTML interface allowing the teacher to manage threaded discussions which can be fed from TangoInteractive or more usually conventional mail interfaces. Optionally this material can be stored in the WebWisdomDB database with a more powerful interface through the WebWisdomDB Manager. This allows a Java editor of discussion lists and linkage to audio-video of discussions using the general support for educational objects in WebWisdomDB.

The student accesses curriculum material using standard web browser display and navigation methodology. This material can be conventional Web Pages, the dynamic web export from WebWisdomDB, or material enhanced through WebWisdom DynamicFilter technology. The enhanced material could allow choice of display mode such as image resolution and switching between image, Java whiteboard annotation and text mode. These options are made available either through WebWisdom DynamicFilter or the web export from WebWisdomDB through WebWisdom XML Template Server. The material could also be the record of a synchronous session, which can be replayed using the offline mode of WebWisdom TangoInteractive Executive.

Material originally stored in the database WebWisdomDB can, of course, be statically exported and stored on a web site or local CDROM for asynchronous access by the student. The choices in material styles (static or dynamic servers and database sources) just correspond to choosing different URL's. Depending on administrative choices made by the teacher (administrator), curriculum enhancements are either stored permanently on a web site or generated dynamically by accessing material through WebWisdom DynamicFilter Server.

Students register in the WebWisdom Course Server and file their homework there. Course grades and surveys are also processed by this resource. For asynchronous communication with the teacher, one can use many approaches outside WebWisdomNT but we supply the WebWisdom Integrated Mail system, which allows threaded discussions integrated with both TangoInteractive and conventional mail resources. The WebWisdom Course Server is integrated with TangoInteractive community support to allow seamless support of user groups in asynchronous and synchronous mode.

The teacher would start an interactive session by choosing a TangoInteractive Server and selecting the desired application configuration. Relevant applications would be selected and opened -- these would include whiteboard, chat, audio-video play-back and the "raised hand" or student feedback applications. One would also open an instance of Buena Vista, our integrated audio-video conferencing tool. In some configurations, one would open these applications on separate computers with perhaps Buena Vista monitored by networking support person and one or more chat sessions by the graders. The teacher could use one or more machines him or her self or (using say Windows 98) multiple monitors on the same machine.

Students would have also started TangoInteractive and usually the teacher uses the remote open facility in TangoInteractive to open the common applications on all student machines. Students creeping in late can open TangoInteractive on their machine and join sessions themselves. Support for latecomers is provided. As the class develops, further applications could be added to support special features for this lecture or to allow particular focussed chat sessions such as between a mentor and an individual student. TangoInteractive's capability of launching multiple instances of a given application is very useful in this regard. As part of general TangoInteractive support, mail messages can be sent to course participants recorded in the WebWisdom Course Server and received either in the Tango session and/or as part of conventional mail. These exchanges can be archived in the WebWisdom Integrated Mail system. Mail support is also integrated with archiving of the chat sessions.

The centerpiece of the synchronous session is the use of either the general-purpose shared browser or the optimized WebWisdomNT application to share curriculum material between students and teacher. The latter would choose the preferred delivery mechanism. WebWisdomNT offers the ability to enhance the experience for both teacher and students as described below. Using either shared browser or WebWisdomNT, the basic operation is sharing a web page specified by a URL. As always, the URL could dynamically generate contents from a back-end database such as WebWisdomDB. Some of the special capabilities of WebWisdomNT are offered for general pages but some are only available for the special pages generated by WebWisdom DynamicFilter or WebWisdom XML Template Server. WebWisdomNT features include:

• One can choose between different mirror sites holding material where each client can separately access the data from different sources. The teacher may use a main web site while the students on their home machines have their access mapped to the local CD-ROM's.
• WebWisdomNT (unlike the original WebWisdom) supports separate roles for administrator/support person, teacher and students. Other roles available include those for network monitor and network client. These allow automatic measurement and display of TangoInteractive message roundtrip times between teacher and student and also download times from chosen web server. The network monitor (who is often the teacher) gets a dynamic display of these performance figures. The monitor can also see loading status of shared browser material to check on possible time lags in curriculum material reaching particular clients.
• One can access and display quizzes, notes and glossaries in a shared fashion or privately on each machine.
• One can share the cursor between the teacher and students
• One can share data input into forms, either to get identical copies on teacher and student machines or to allow the (remote) teacher access to a student's entries for comment and correction.
• One can separately choose on each client, between available display modes. These include text, images chosen from several resolutions, a Java whiteboard supporting annotation. In versions aimed at universal access, audio versions of the text and images would be made available to the visually impaired.
• The teacher and student share essentially the same interface to the general shared browser but there are different interfaces in WebWisdom DynamicViewer for teacher and student. In particular, the teacher has a sophisticated navigation interface allowing he or she to rapidly choose between different choices for the next material to be presented.
• The student can always independently review material that has already been presented. This can be accessed either through a straightforward list of URL's already displayed or for quicker browsing through image thumbnails.
• Correspondingly, the teacher can preview material still to be presented. This look-ahead capability allows one to tune the discussion of a given page to better tie in with following material.
• Both teacher and student can obtain a full record of WebWisdom session, either at level of page URL's or at level of events (including changes in form entries, pointer movements, window scrolling and resizing). This record can be saved and/or replayed. Each item is correctly timestamped. Recording of audio-video session is also available.
• Both teacher and student are provided with a simple window manager controlled from a control-bar, which is forced to lie above all windows and so always be easily accessible. This control-bar has a simple clock as a heartbeat recording arrival of messages from the teacher to each student.