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Guidelines for Participation
Guidelines for Participation in Tango-Based Distance
Learning
Last updated: $Date: 1999/10/30 18:35:44 $
Background
NPAC has been offering interactive synchronous distance learning
(ISDL) classes in computational science since Fall 1997. We have
learned much about the mechanics of how to produce and deliver these
classes with the minimum additional effort compared with traditional
face-to-face classes. Nevertheless, ISDL is strongly dependent on
technological tools, and for ISDL to work, these tools must work. And
this requires the time and attention of support personnel at both the
delivering site and the recipient sites. Based on our experience to
date, we have developed a set of guidelines which we consider crucial
to the success of ISDL activities. If you wish to collaborate with us
in distance learning, we ask that you read and follow these
guidelines.
Guidelines
- You must designate a technical point of contact at your
site who will be responsible for insuring that Tango is properly
installed and working, checking network connectivity ahead of class
sessions, etc. We expect that the technical contact will be readily
available during classes in case of problems, preferrably monitoring
the class, and reachable via the Tango chat tool.
- You must also designate a faculty point of contact to the
class. This person serves as a point of contact for the NPAC
instructors regarding academic issues, and as "last resort" contact if
we are unable to reach the technical POC at a site (which
unfortunately happens all too often). We also strongly recommend that
this person act in the role of mentor to the class, assisting
the students by providing local support and continuity. Faculty
mentors have also found that by sitting in on classes and increasing
their familiarity, they are able to incorporate new ideas and even new
courses into their local curriculum.
- Tango works best on a reasonably modern Windows PC, but some SGI
systems and Linux systems are also supported. Our platform recommendations should give
you some idea as to what is required, though this is not the only
platform on which Tango will work. Additional information can be
found on the other platforms
page. In any case, you will need to provide us with full details of
your classroom environment.
- Proper audio (and video) setup is crucial to the
effectiveness of the classroom environment, and must be prepared and
tested well in advance of the first class, and must be checked prior
to each class. Each location should have at least one system with
external speakers to allow the students to hear the instructor,
preferrably two such systems to provide a backup. We would like to
have at each site a camera which is capable of imaging the classroom,
providing the instructor with a view of the classroom and facilitating
remote support.
- You should have a good network connection, and if you have
more than a few students, it is also helpful to run a caching proxy
web server locally to help reduce network load.
- You should not expect Tango to work through any kind of
firewall. If the administrators of your firewall are cooperative, it
may be possible to get Tango working, but this is non-trivial
and must be arranged (and tested) well in advance of the first
class.
- Problems experienced at recipient sites must be reported promptly
to the NPAC support staff, and we will want to work with you to
isolate and resolve them before the next class.
- We will do our best to provide the support necessary to deliver
the class to participating sites, but this requires equal dedication
and effort on the recipient side. If you are not providing the
necessary level of support, you should not expect us to take heroic
measures on your behalf.
- To faciliate remote support, we request that you setup your
classroom machines with an FTP server and a user "tango" which has
access to the directory tree in which the software is installed.
Passwords for such accounts should be provided to the NPAC support
team and will be kept confidential.
- All software upgrades to classroom machines should be coordinated
with the NPAC support staff. Since Tango and related tools are at the
cutting edge of current technology, it is not uncommon for "upgrades"
of system software to introduce new bugs which result in problems
running Tango. This is particularly true of browsers. Likewise, all
site must be running the same release of Tango itself.
- We recognize that ISDL is novel, and sites sometimes want to "show
off" to important visitors. We ask that you notify us in advance of
such high profile events, and join us in making an extra effort to
insure that everything is well-tested before the demonstration and
that your support staff are on hand throughout the event. We have
found that the fact that things usually go fine tends to engender
complacency among the recipient sites which can turn a small problem
into a catastrophic demo. We are obviously dedicated to ISDL and
always want it to look as good as possible, but especially so when
someone important is watching!
If you have any questions or comments about these guidelines,
please contact David Bernholdt <bernhold@@npac.syr.edu>
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systems and others are also supported. Our hardware platform recommendations
should give you some idea as to what is required. In any case, you
will need to provide us with full details of your classroom
environment.
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preferrably two such systems to provide a backup. A camera which can
be used to provide the instructor with a view of the classroom is
optional.
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