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

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

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

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

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

6 Objectives Problem Statement Objectives Approach Achievements Outlook Demonstration 1.Intuitive user interface for both the tutor and the student 2.Heterogeneity across several dimensions:  Operating system  Transport modus (unicast/multicast)  Quality of service characteristics of the underlying 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.Delivery of a working system

7 Approach Problem Statement Objectives Approach Achievements Outlook Demonstration 1.Intuitive user interface  Joint presentation-whiteboard tool with web browsing capability  Simple conference setup and participants manipulation  Automatic configuration of media components with minimum user interference 2.Heterogeneity across several dimensions:  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 3.Tutoring Capability  Break-out groups  Private discussions (“whisper”) 4.Provision of a natural way for interaction control  Activity Sensing Floor Control

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

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

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

11 Problem Statement Objectives Approach Achievements Outlook Demonstration Management of Educational Conferences  Our remedy: higher level specification towards uniform management of centralized educational conferences  Specification of basic features  Modular structure  Mapping of the requirements to existing technologies (SIP multipoint conferencing)  Reference Implementation System 1 Student 1 Student 2 Prof. X ETH Zurich Student 1 Student 2 Prof. Y System 2 EPFL  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

12 Project Status Problem Statement Objectives Approach Achievements Outlook Demonstration Completed In-Progress Rescheduled Future Planned

13 Outlook  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:  Application Layer Multicast  Scalable Video  Beta Version of prototype integrated with Learning Management System Problem Statement Objectives Approach Achievements Outlook Demonstration

14 Demonstration Alpha Version of the Integrated ET&L Prototype Demonstration Scenario Problem Statement Objectives Approach Achievements Outlook Demonstration HPI F10 Kostas (Student) Georgios (Tutor) ET&L Course YOU ARE HERE