Click anywhere to continue About the technology We want you to be clear about what you wish to achieve with the technology, so that you are ready to brief your technical support staff or to carry out research yourself into the technology currently available. We won’t specify technical details here as systems are changing very rapidly. To implement SHARP you need to set up the following: X Software and hardware for running an asynchronous multimedia conference (AMC) across an appropriate network. X Hardware and software for making video clips, audio clips and graphical and text annotations. Technology excursion Slide 1 of 4

Click anywhere to continue AMC software Asynchronous multimedia conferencing of the type required by SHARP is still in its infancy: you are likely to find a choice of software packages to support AMC in the very near future. The SHARP project has developed a prototype tool – WebOrama – which currently offers the basic functionality required for a simple SHARP AMC. (You can try out WebOrama on this SHARP site.) When choosing or designing AMC software, you will need to consider the following: X What types of video/audio/text/graphics will it support? X How can annotations be linked to a video and to each other? – Can you link an audio annotation to a part of a video clip? X How can a conference be structured? X How easy will the system be for participants to learn? Technology excursion Slide 2 of 4

Click anywhere to continue The network You might want to run your SHARP conference across a local area network (or intranet), or over the Internet. You will need to consider where and when your programme participants need access to the conference. You must make it easy and convenient for them to participate regularly. Technology excursion Slide 3 of 4

Click anywhere to continue Video, audio, text and graphics X Software packages for creating computer based text and graphics are now everyday tools for most computer-literate people. X The hardware and software for recording video and audio are also becoming cheap and readily available. You might choose to use camcorder-type equipment or monitor-mounted cameras and microphones. When you set up a SHARP conference you will need to identify equipment and software that is appropriate for your needs. Whilst there’s a learning curve in finding out how to operate any equipment and software, the most significant issue for you will be how to use the technology appropriately to capture good shareable representations of working practices. Technology excursion Slide 3 of 4

Click anywhere to continue You have completed the core part of the SHARP tour. Please choose any of the following excursions : Where to now? Technology Pedagogy Making video clips Making video clips Making annotations Making annotations End the tour End the tour

Click anywhere to continue On from here Thank you for taking the SHARP tour. Please go on now to explore the rest of the SHARP web site. You can: Y Sign our [Guestbook] Y Contribute to the [Discussion area] Y Go to the [Project Office] for more details of the SHARP project. Y Look at [Events] for information on upcoming dissemination events. Y Experiment with [WebOrama], a prototype AMC tool.