Easy Teach and Learn Towards the establishment of

Easy Teach and Learn Towards the establishment of the virtual lecture hall ETH World Showcase 29 October 2003 Kostas Katrinis, Georgios Parissidis and Bernhard Plattner {katrinis, parissid, plattner}@tik. ee. ethz. ch

Introduction q Easy Teach & Learn Start: 01/05/02 → Finish: 01/05/04 Problem Statement Objectives Approach Achievements Outlook Demonstration 2 Contributors: Kostas Katrinis - Georgios Parissidis Supervisor: Prof. Bernhard Plattner

Problem Statement q Problem Statement Objectives Approach Achievements q Existing distance learning platforms lack features relevant to a university environment. ET&L resolves these deficiencies and delivers a fully working system. Outlook Demonstration Interoperability Ease of use Teaching and tutoring ET&L Integration into emerging Learning Infrastructure Openness Existing Distance Learning Platforms 3

Virtual Lecture Problem Statement Objectives Approach Achievements Outlook David at home Demonstration Pascal at home in Zurich Erlenbach Karin in the office Lucy at home 4

ET&L in the “e-Learning Map” Problem Statement Virtual Classroom Objectives ET&L Approach Achievements Outlook Demonstration 5 Interfaces Synchronous E-learning

Objectives Problem Statement Objectives Approach 1. Intuitive user interface for both the tutor and the student 2. Achievements Outlook Heterogeneity across several dimensions: q Operating system q Transport modus (unicast/multicast) q Quality of service characteristics of the underlying Demonstration network 3. Tutoring Capability 4. Provision of a natural way for interaction control 5. ET&L as a building block of an integrated learning environment 6. 6 Delivery of a working system

Approach Problem Statement 1. Intuitive user interface Ø Objectives Ø Approach Ø Achievements Outlook 2. Demonstration Heterogeneity across several dimensions: Ø Ø Ø 3. Ø Break-out groups Private discussions (“whisper”) Provision of a natural way for interaction control Ø 7 Operating system: development with Java Transport modus (unicast/multicast): application-layer multicast to support unicast users. Quality of service characteristics of the underlying network : adaptive video transmission Tutoring Capability Ø 4. Joint presentation-whiteboard tool with web browsing capability Simple conference setup and participants manipulation Automatic configuration of media components with minimum user interference Activity Sensing Floor Control

Approach (cont. ) Problem Statement 5. Objectives ET&L as a building block of an integrated learning environment: Ø Approach Achievements Ø Outlook Demonstration 8 6. Specification of interfaces with SCORM compliant Learning Management Systems Implementation of SCORM functionality Delivery of a working system: Ø Prototype development of every designed component Ø Integration

Achievements Problem Statement q Achievements Outlook presentation tool enhanced a transparent q Activity sensing floor control q Design and development of a protocol for the management of SIP-based conferences Demonstration q Uniform configuration of SIP conference servers q Development of a video coder implementing the “MPEG-4 Fine Granularity Scalability” profile 9 with whiteboard over an embedded web browser Objectives Approach Slide

Activity Sensing Floor Control Token based Floor Control Problem Statement Objectives Request Approach Response Achievements Outlook Demonstration q Not suitable for all educational scenarios Activity Sensing Floor Control + Resembles natural way of performing open discussions 10 + Decentralized, no moderator needed + Fair

Management of Educational Conferences q Problem Statement Problem: existing systems lack interoperability among each other in the signalling level Example: Joint lecture given by Prof. X and Prof. Y residing at ETH Zurich and EPFL respectively Objectives Approach Prof. X Achievements Prof. Y Student 1 Outlook Student 1 Demonstration Student 2 System 1 ETH Zurich q System 2 Student 2 EPFL Our remedy: higher level specification towards uniform management of centralized educational conferences 11 q Specification of basic features q Modular structure q Mapping of the requirements to existing technologies (SIP multipoint conferencing) q Reference Implementation

Outlook Problem Statement q Objectives q Approach Achievements q Outlook q Demonstration Working prototype of the Easy Teach and Learn Platform Difficulties not critical for the successful completion of the project Coped with several research issues Future work: q q q 13 Application Layer Multicast Scalable Video Beta Version of prototype Management System integrated with Learning

Demonstration Scenario Demonstration Problem Statement YOU ARE HERE Objectives Approach Achievements Outlook Demonstration Georgios (Tutor) Kostas (Student) ET&L Course HPI F 10 14