Collaborative Technologies in International Distance Education Richard Anderson, Ruth Anderson, Natalie Linnell, Fred Videon Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, USA {anderson, rea, linnell, Mansoor Pervaiz, Umar Saif Department of Computer Science, Lahore University of Management Science, Lahore, Pakistan {umar, UW Center for Collaborative Technologies

Outline Project Overview: Goals & Challenges Technology Employed  ConferenceXP  Classroom Presenter Findings and Lessons Learned

Seattle – Pakistan, Spring 2008 Masters Level Computer Science Class  University of Washington  Lahore University of Management Science  Microsoft Class Topic: “Computing for the Developing world”

The Goal Achieve an interactive class across distance and culture

Challenges/Benefits Challenges  Network bandwidth and latency to LUMS  Important not to degrade experience for UW & Microsoft students  Time zone Benefits  Engaged faculty member present at LUMS  International perspective of high value

ConferenceXP Platform for real-time collaboration High quality, low latency multipoint conferencing Targeted for standard PC and high quality network Works with commodity cameras and audio equipment Built-in collaboration tools including presentation, whiteboard, screen sharing, video playback, chat

Oct 30, 2008IIIT Bangalore

Overview of ConferenceXP Began at Microsoft Research in 2001 Numerous successful deployments for distance learning, 2003-present UW Center for Collaborative Technology established July 2007 to continue project Shared Source License: Free download for Research & Educational use

Classroom Presenter TabletPC-Based Distributed Presentation System Instructor navigation and annotation on local and remote displays Open Source License Students contributed to class using digital ink  Students installed software on their laptops/tablets  Instructor reviewed/displayed/annotated/discussed student work  Promotes active learning

10 Student Submissions Workflow 1 Students Instructor Public Display

11 Student Submissions Workflow 2 Students Instructor Public Display

12 Student Submissions Workflow 3 Students Instructor Public Display

13 Student Submissions Workflow 4 Students Instructor Public Display

Distributed Classroom: 2 Sites PMP VENUE Archiver Video cameras Audio Video Displays Speakers Video cameras Audio Video Displays Speakers CP Instructor CP Display CP Display Student Tablets UWMicrosoft ConferenceXP Classroom Presenter

3-Way Architecture High BW Venue Low BW Venue Archiver MicrosoftLUMS UW CP Server CP

Classroom Activities

Project Results High connectivity 9 out of 10 classes  One lecture originated from Pakistan  Only failure was on the UW-Microsoft Link (which also brought down UW-Pakistan) Some early audio issues Participation of students from Pakistan  Student activities were a positive factor  Audio latency a negative factor  Multiple rounds of audio communication

Key Lessons for Deployment Participants at all sites must have incentive Instructor must make an effort to create multisite interaction Active participants at remote site help Audio is very important, and hardest to get right Time zones and scheduling are major issues

Acknowledgements Major support provided by Microsoft Research External Research and Programs Jay Beavers, Jane Prey, Randy Hinrichs, Chris Moffatt, Jaime Puente, Lolan Song, Sailesh Chutanai, Tom Healy Jason Van Eaton, Tony Hey, Harry Shum, Paul Oka, Steve Wolfman, Ken Yasuhara, Ruth Anderson, Craig Prince, Valentin Razmov, Natalie Linnell, Krista Davis, Jonathon Su, Sara Su, Peter Davis, Tammy VanDeGrift, Joe Tront, Alon Halevy, Gaetano Borriello, Ed Lazowska, Hal Perkins, Susan Eggers, David Notkin, Andrew Whitaker, Richard Anderson, Rod Prieto, Oliver Chung, Crystal Hoyer, Beth Simon, Joe Tront, Eitan Feinberg, Julia Schwarz, Jim Fridley, Tom Hinkley, Ning Li, Jing Li, Luo Jie, Jiangfeng Chen, Melody Kadenko, Julie Svendsen, Shannon Gilmore, Umar Saif, Mansoor Pervaiz, Jim Vanides

Resources & Contacts Richard Anderson, Ruth Anderson, Natalie Linnell, Fred Videon Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, USA {anderson, rea, linnell, Mansoor Pervaiz, Umar Saif Department of Computer Science, Lahore University of Management Science, Lahore, Pakistan {umar, UW Center for Collaborative Technologies: