“Some Design Challenges for e-Universities”

Professor Tim O’SheaMaster of Birkbeck &Provost of Gresham

Talk Structure

• Talk Structure

• UK e-University

• New Technologies

• LMN ltd and HERO ltd

• Birkbeck examples

• Challenges & Dilemmas

• Why Bother?

UK e-University

• Open University inspiration• Other OU-2s have bombed• Right technological time• Some great UK niche courses• Whose degrees?• Broad or narrow?• Which commercial partners?• High stake and high risk

IT & Ed - Briefest History

• 1960s - Skinner, Suppes & Programmed Learning

• 1970s - Piaget, Papert & Learning Programming

• 1980s - Intelligent Computer Tutors• 1990s - Computer Supported Collaborative

Learning• 2000s - Virtual Schools and Universities

Technological Trends

• Convergence of technologies

• Wireless mobility (active badges)

• Moore’s law X 3

• The Internet is a ‘pond’

• The World Wide Web is an Open Library

• Object-Oriented Programs (windows and Java)

• Machine Learning

The World Wide Web

Your computer

Birkbeck Network

JANET

Internet

Convergence of Modes

• Synchronous and Asynchronous

• Shared Alternate Reality Kit

• Video and Audio Links

• Side by Side and Face to Face

• ‘Time Travel’

• Joining past conversations

• Hybrid Virtual Realities

Higher Education Research & Opportunities ltd

• Owned by Universities & Research Councils

• Also Course Application Providers

• Information on places, subjects and funds

• News features and daily news feed

• Very useful for overseas and 6th formers

• A portal - a nice set of web sites

London Metropolitan Network ltd

• Owned by 39 unis & colleges in M25

• Linked to 57 further education colleges

• Linking with libraries & museums

• Supports research and teaching

• Almost invisible at 155M, soon 2.5G

• Same capacity as main UK network

• 240 video-links, 12K audio links & 100M

LHEC 20 April 1999

The Birkbeck Experience (1)

• Some courses (e.g Biology) use educational software such as WebCT

• Some courses (e.g. Geography) use commercial software

• Some courses (e.g. Organisational Psych) use computer conferencing

The Birkbeck Experience (2)

• Some courses (e.g. Screenwriting) use electronic mail

• Some courses (e.g. Earth Sciences) use CD-ROMs

• Crystallography has an international reputation for computer based research

Who are Crystallography students?• Most of our students are graduates

– many work in industry– some are taking the courses for credits towards

a PhD

• a few are advanced undergraduates– most of these are European students on four- or

five-year Masters courses

Course Prerequisites

• Students need access to a suitable computer– We support the PC, Macintosh and Unix/Linux

platforms– All software needed for the course is in the

public domain– Slow Internet links can cause problems

• A B.Sc. or equivalent and some computing experience is also required

Multimedia Course Material

• Images• Image maps• Databases• Links to external Web

sites• “Movies”• Molecules can be

manipulated in 3-D

Movies illustrate protein motion

Software for Molecular Visualisation

• Roger Sayle’s Rasmol is the main program we use for visualising molecular structures– it is readily available on the Internet– it runs on a wide variety of platforms– it is easy to install and use, and free

• It can be launched automatically when a molecular structure file is selected

Other Software• The program Mage is used to display

interactive diagrams, known as “kinemages”– Each kinemage consists of a number of images

which the student can manipulate• e.g. to alter side chain torsion angles and watch the

protein conformation change

• Students on the crystallography course run programs on the Birkbeck server

• All software is freely available for academic use

Tutorials in Virtual Reality• Students and tutors meet and talk in real time

using a MUD – MUD = Multi User Dimension

– an Internet environment in which participants move around and interact with each other

– we use one based at Birkbeck– mostly text-based; Web interface popular

• We occasionally use “BioMOO” – “The Biologists’ Virtual Meeting Place”– about 1000 users

Reality Check

• If a car was like a computer• How many computer scientists?• Routes through 10 pages?• The 1:200 rule• £2000 x 200 x 50 = BA?• Savings from I.T.• Transparency via I.T.• Platform stability

Key Issues

• Improving navigation support• Reducing cognitive cost - especially for new

learners• Ensuring approaches scale to 1000s of learners and

the WWW• Maximising added value and incidental learning• Widening Access while Enhancing Constructive

functionality• Management issue - staff technology expertise

Cognitive cost

• Different metaphors - physical object, spatial, locational, computer-computer, etc.

• Broken metaphors - infinite desktops, etc.

• Mixed metaphors - disks into waste bins, etc.

• Different short cut conventions

• Response time variation

Cognitive Cost (2)

• Cute but opaque icons & acronyms

• Syntax/metaphor variation between systems

• Navigation tool variation

• (COGNITIVE COST RISING)

Navigation Support

• Where am I in this information space?

• Is it really a 2D space, tree, network lattice?

• Who is also active in the space

• How can I plan next week’s route?

• How can I travel between spaces?

• How can I travel in parallel?

(NAVIGATION IS GETTING HARDER)

e-University position

• Capitalised around £100m

• Holding & Operating Companies

• Committee for Academic Quality

• 84 Pilot course bids

• London, Oxbridge/Open, WUN

• Great Technology Partners

• Developing very quickly

e-University Challenges

• Generic self-assessment

• navigation support

• appropriate assessment

• creating the e-library

• interactive tutorial support

• choosing the grain-size

• the digital divide

Design Challenges (2)

• Reusable learning objects

• Genuine peer learning

• Time flexibility

• Authentic software

• Real student programming

• Sense of community

• Sense of location

Digital Dilemmas

• Mind the Gap!

• Delivery costs dropping!

• Design costs rising!

• 200 cats on the Internet?

• What manufacturers want?

• Join Open Source party?

• Who owns copyright?

Digital Solutions

• Cross subsidise the Gap

• Exploit low delivery costs

• Reuse learning objects

• Authenticate your pets

• Plan for obsolesence

• Say ‘Yes’ to Open Source

• But who owns copyright?

Why bother?

• Dewey democratic principle

• Bruner technological principle

• Knowledge economy real

• Access, access, access

• Exciting experiment

• Birkbeck Blessings