EMERGING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES AND THEIR APPLICATION TO COLLABORATIVE LEARNING AT A DISTANCE
Harold A. Records, Bryant College
Introduction
The rapid evolution of information technologies is leading to the creation of new and exciting tools that are beginning to have an impact on collaborative learning at a distance. The purpose of this paper is to introduce those interested in collaborative learning at a distance (CLAD) to emerging technology tools that are and will forever change how this is done. The use of technology in local and distance learning is becoming commonplace (U.S. Department of Education Star School Program 1998). Institutions of learning are using information technologies to facilitate learning in traditional classrooms and to reach out to students in remote locations. The World Wide Web is weaving its way into the fabric of global business and personal communications. The rapid march of computer hardware provides a seemingly unending stream of new capabilities that has satisfied many business needs and is struggling to support the greatest consumer of computer power . . . multimedia and video telephones for all.
The story of collaborative learning at a distance is one of yesterday, today and tomorrow. Yesterday, learning at a distance meant travel to remote locations by students and teachers. It meant correspondence courses via "snail mail" and limited subject and delivery options. Today, learning at a distance takes on new meaning. It includes electronic communications, vastly expanded options for subjects and delivery vehicles. It means shrinking of geographical and time constraints and it sometimes leads to unrealistic learning expectations. Tomorrow, learning at a distance will mean harnessing the computer, telecommunications infrastructure, and techniques from both traditional teaching and the entertainment industry into a new paradigm.
Teachers, particularly those with a global view who need to reach across geographical and national boundaries will be teaching in a sea of technology. This technology should not be an end unto itself, but rather a facilitator that enables both the learner and the teacher to more effectively do what it is that they wish to do. Hence the need for a new paradigm of delivery that does not lose sight of pedagogical objectives.
Technology-related Concepts of Distance Learning
Before getting into specific technologies it is helpful to consider the following ideas that differentiate technology-based from traditional methods of learning and teaching:
In North America, Europe and many other parts of the world learners have grown up with television, video games and the Internet. They are at least in part pre-disposed toward visual and electronic learning.
In other parts of the world such as the Newly Independent States of the former Soviet Union education levels are good but there is not a pre-disposition toward visual and electronic learning.
Teachers in the global arena must be aware of their particular audience and must tailor both course content and delivery technique accordingly.
Technology-based teaching enables multiple learner/learner and teacher/learner contact modes. These include synchronous or same time link ups and asynchronous, different time link ups.
Technology-based interpersonal relationships (including teacher/learner) appear to afford a comfortable way to get acquainted and sometimes to remove barriers to communication.
It is easier to communicate and to convey information in person than through any electronic means.
Massive quantities of academic resource materials are available instantly via the web.
A learner’s willingness to contribute time and effort is even more important in a technology based distance learning environment than in a traditional classroom because the learner must be more of a partner and less of a recipient in the learning process.
Computer-based videophones enable live, two way, global "see and talk" communications over the Internet without long distance phone charges or the traditional high cost of video conferencing.
Technology does not always work "as advertised" and it is a good idea to have a "plan B".
The next step is to identify specific technologies that can be applied to collaborative learning at a distance.
Emerging Technologies
Viewed piecemeal, technology and changes in technology are overwhelming. Viewed on a "need to know" basis they are more manageable. Specific items of interest for those who wish to learn and to teach at a distance can be lumped into categories of machines (hardware), programs (software) and connectivity (networks and the World Wide Web).
Machines include a user’s own computer and many more unseen items such as server computers for applications, networks, and databases plus communication devices such as hubs, routers, and multiplexers. Changes in these items are being made at a dizzying pace and the only sure things are "smaller, faster, better, cheaper." For the first time, today’s desktop and server computers have the speed and massive storage space required to adequately support audio and full motion video. In order to take advantage of these developments, a user needs to have a relatively new computer equipped with a microphone, speakers, headset and video camera. An appropriate computer can be purchased for about $1,500, a microphone for $15, a headset for $15, and a small monitor top video camera for $125.
Programs include e-mail, a web browser, selected multimedia software, and videophone software. E-mail has two parts. The first is a host service such as AOL, CompuServe, or @Home that provides a mailbox and mailing address and charges an ongoing fee of $15 to $40 per month. The second is e-mail software that comes with a web browser such as Netscape Communicator or Microsoft Internet Explorer. These programs will either come pre-installed on a new computer or can be downloaded from the web for free. Multimedia programs can be used to create electronic content for CLAD. These programs include sourcing, editing and authoring programs. Sourcing programs such as the Sound Recorder included in the Microsoft Windows operating system can be used to create and edit sound clips. Imaging programs such as Paint Shop Pro can be used along with digital cameras to put your pictures into the computer for subsequent viewing on the web.
Video capture programs such as those that come with most small monitor-top video cameras can be used to capture and put video sequences of your creation in your computer and on the web. Creative Labs, Intel, and Kodak make these cameras which also come with videophone software. Other sources of videophone software include RealVideo and Microsoft’s Net Meeting program (Bank 1998). It is important to note that both ends of the communication must use the same video phone software, but can use any camera. Because Windows 98 comes with Net Meeting it may become the de-facto standard.
Connectivity as the name implies refers to everything necessary to connect two or more people across distances that can be near or far. In addition to e-mail and browsers, connectivity includes telephone and/or cable companies, special network interface cards (called NICs) that go in your computer, and transmission equipment such as satellites, optical fiber and undersea telephone cables. The good news is that we do not need to know much about these things other than the fact that they exist. What we do need to know is how fast these things can move data around the globe. The term used as a "catch all" to measure this is bandwidth. Bandwidth refers to data transfer rate which is measured in megabits per second. In "computerese", one megabit (Mbps) is equal to one million bits, and seven or eight bits equals one character (Megabit 1999). Hence one megabit is equal to about 125,000 characters or about 3.5 pages of typewritten information. This means that a bandwidth transfer rate of 10Mbps sends about 35 pages of data per second. By way of comparison a standard telephone line can handle up to 56 Kbps (56,000 bits per second) or about .2 pages per second, an ISDN telephone line up to 128 Kbps (128,000 bits per second) or .4 pages per second, a satellite about 400 Kbps or about 1.4 pages per second, a T-1 telephone line 1.54 Mbps or 5.4 pages per second, a television type cable modem, 52 Mbps or 182 pages per second (What is 1999).
Hence, cable provides significantly faster voice and data movement than most other means. It is no wonder that telephone companies are acquiring cable companies in a big way (Bank 1999) because this allows them to provide telephone service over the web and to capture a significant portion of today’s emerging Internet-based video phone business. The moral of the story with connectivity is to get as much speed as you can because full motion video and two way audio need as much as you can get.
Application of Emerging Technologies to CLAD
Now comes the fun part, using these new technology toys to topple time and distance barriers. Imagine yourself in front of a class being able to telephone your counterpart on a different continent in front of his or her class, and be able to both see and hear that classroom while they see and hear you. Welcome to the world of Internet videophone! Imagine that instead of seeing them on a tiny computer screen you are looking at a full wall size projection. This can be done now as demonstrated by the Collaborative Learning at a Distance Program between Bryant College in Smithfield Rhode Island, the Eastern Humanities University and the Belorussian Academy of Sciences both located in Minsk, Belorussia. As part of this project a connection has been established between Bryant’s "K2 Multimedia Discoverylab" and The Academy of Sciences. Using existing Internet connections, a Kodak video camera, and Microsoft Netmeeting experiments are being conducted. Clarity of voice and speed of video are affected by the time of day that the connection is made. It is best to avoid early morning and late afternoon in both sending and receiving countries because these tend to be high use times on the internet and therefore leave less available bandwidth. Finding the right times to call can be "tricky" considering the difference in time zones, class meeting times and internet traffic. Based on our experience to date, the MS NetMeeting program lends itself well to collaborative learning at a distance. It allows the obvious video and audio contact and also provides for other share and collaboration features which include a chat window, a whiteboard and application sharing.
Exhibit 1 Using the chat feature in MS NetMeeting
As shown by Exhibit 1, the chat feature brings up a window that allows a user to type in a message. In this case, the current message says "still not good but ok". When the sender presses the enter key the message also appears on the receivers screen. Please note that picture quality of the sender is better than that of the receiver and that the messages in the chat window are a chat conversation on how to fix the problem. As it turned out, the image difference was caused by the cameras. The better sender image was from a newer Creative Labs WebCamII and the receiver image was sent by an older Kodak DVC300 video camera. The chat window for some reason is most useful when audio is not working and callers need a way to coordinate the settings of their equipment.
Exhibit 2 Using the Whiteboard Feature in MS NetMeeting
The next collaborative feature is the whiteboard. As shown by Exhibit 2 both sender and receiver click the whiteboard button in NetMeeting and the MS Windows Paint window appears. Both callers can now write or draw in this window as on a traditional classroom chalkboard. Please note that the window can be moved independently on each user's screen and in this example covers some of the video picture. (Please note the high level of academic content being shared on the whiteboard.
Exhibit 3 Using the Application Sharing Feature of MS NetMeeting
The next collaborative feature is application sharing. As shown by Exhibit 3, each caller opens an application program, in this case an electronic spreadsheet, and can make entries on the sheet. In this screen the receiver’s picture is not showing, but the application can still be shared. Whenever a caller makes an entry his or her initials are visible on the spreadsheet to indicate who is making the entry. When work is completed, the spreadsheet can be saved to each caller’s computer even though they may be thousands of miles apart. Application sharing and collaboration can be done with other applications in Microsoft Office Suite including Word and PowerPoint. Application sharing is a powerful tool that is supplemented by, but not dependent upon simultaneous audio and video connections.
Conclusions
Emerging computer and telecommunications technology can be successfully applied to collaborative learning at a distance to overcome geographical and time constraints. The computers, cameras, microphones, headsets, and software programs to make it work are readily available and surprisingly inexpensive. Changes in telecommunications infrastructure in support of the World Wide Web are making the transfer of live two-way audio and video communications a reality. These same vehicles make it possible to communicate on-line in writing via chat windows, to share drawings and diagrams on whiteboards, and to work together on electronic spreadsheets, word processors and presentation programs while seeing and hearing the other person or persons. Although these technologies are exciting and hold great promise they are in the early stages of their life cycles and frequently require the user to have great patience and to be perseverant in order to make them work properly.
Having the technology is one thing. Being able to make it work is another, and perhaps the biggest challenge of all is to weave these emerging technologies into a new paradigm for learning and teaching that can more effectively connect people from different continents and cultures in order to share both common and uncommon experiences and to learn from each other in both formal and informal electronic settings (Litoff, Ilacqua & Langlois 1998).
References
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