TransformAble and Sakai Interface Flexibility Jutta Treviranus and Colin Clark Adaptive Technology Resource Centre, University of Toronto

2 The Sakai UI Dilemma

3 Goal: Consistent User Experience Growing number of tools Growing number of developers A consistent identifiable look Intuitiveness and transparency of design

4 “You say tomato, I say tomato, lets call the whole thing off” Sakai is a very diverse community We differ greatly in our preferences, needs, habits, concepts, comforts, convictions….

5 “Different strokes for different folks…” Institutional preferences and branding Conventions of academic discipline Cultural differences Linguistic differences Differences related to age Differences related to role and perspective Different teaching approaches Different learning approaches Disability and environmental constraints

6 Consistent User Experience vs Accommodating Differences Do we need to choose? Or can we have our cake and eat it too?

7 Proposal: “Flexible User Interface” Swappable styles Swappable UI components Runtime transformation for unique needs of individual

8 Learning outcomes context…

9 What have we e- learned?

10 What have we re- learned? (In another context)

11 Outcomes of E-learning Does not save money Does not save instructor time Does not shift the Bell curve higher * Campus Computing Project, Educause, UCLA, Flashlight Implementations, Project 25, What's the Difference?: A Review of Contemporary Research on the Effectiveness of Distance Learning in Higher Education, NEA Affiliate Capacity Building--Higher Education

12 Outcomes of E-learning Compresses the Bell curve Assists learners who had difficulty with traditional delivery Makes academic life easier for students

13 Other side of Bell Curve Fewer high achievers Why? Students unprepared for self-directed learning We have cultivated “Educational Bulimics”- binge and purge on facts Thomas Marino Require stress or tension to perform

14 Determinates of Success Action and Interaction –passive vs active learning –Retention: “half the fun is in the chase” –Engagement: “it’s good to feel needed” –Ownership Personal relevance Personalization Convenience - the customer attitude –Expectations of technology

15 The Right Motivators External vs Internal Competition vs collaboration and the competition of collaboration Private and public rewards

16 Beyond No Significant Difference: Each learner learns differently The major value added by on-line learning is the ability to personalize learning On-line learning gives us the ability to scale the individualized learning experience to a large group of learners

17 Causes of Educational Breakdown Mismatch of pace Mismatch of knowledge assumptions Mismatch of learning approach with teaching approach Mismatch of motivators and feedback Mismatch of sequence or path Access barriers

18 Marginalized Student The student who uses an alternative access system The student who is shy –Flexible balance between social and private learning The student who is learning English –Pace and modality The student who is disorganized –Single structured repository The student with a disability –Flexible presentation and control

19 Disability in Learning Context Disability= Mismatch between learner needs and education offered Not a personal trait but artifact of relationship between the learner and the learning environment or education delivery Accessibility= The ability of the learning environment to adjust to the needs of all learners

20 Accessibility = Flexibility of education environment, curriculum and delivery Availability of adequate alternative-but- equivalent content and activities

21 Personalization To optimize learning experience for each learner Of user interface, content and activity

22 Preferences Presentation style Depth of content structure Classification or sorting preferences Access requirements Equivalent content requirements Language Path (sequential vs overview and then detail) Content views Learner scaffolding types (definition, interactive exercises, peer discussion) Learning activity

23 Session specific preferences Learner outcome goals Topic exclusions Placeholders, annotations and knowledge review Facilitating communities of interest

24 The Accessibility Context

25 Three Approaches to Meeting Accessibility Commitments 1.Single Compliant Resource approach 2.Media rich plus “accessible” alternative approach 3.Transformation based approach

26 Problems Identified with Single Compliant Resource Approach Rejection of valuable resources that are not compliant “Accessible for everyone but optimal for no-one” Time and expertise required of all resource creators Reluctance to use new or innovative technologies Design decisions often do not make the experience better for all users (breaks the “curbcut rule”)

27 Problems Identified with “Two Versions” Approach “Accessible” version not maintained and becomes outdated Unequal access to resource People with disabilities not a homogenous group

28 The Transformation Approach A transformable, flexible resource system Dynamically matching resources and resource delivery to needs of each individual

29 The Difference “Just in case” approaches vs. “Just in time” approach Resource compliance vs. system compliance Accessible to “everyone” vs. optimized for every individual

30 The Open Standards, Interoperability Context…

31 Specifications to Support Personalization: IMS “AccessForAll” specifications A way to state what you need/prefer as a learner or user (ACCLIP) A way to match up what you need with the right resources (ACCMD) Common Specification: Proposed ISO/IEC standard in Final Draft DC-Accessibility extension IEEE LOM binding

32 Must avoid.. Stereotypes and assumptions of requirements Labeling or classifying users/learners in politically sensitive ways Collecting irrelevant private information

33 Must Address Critical Interoperability Restricted interface choices and flexibility Each person with a disability is potentially a unique external system that needs to interoperate Must respond to a huge array of interfaces, which change frequently Essential that these personal access systems can find information in a consistent place, stated using a consistent vocabulary, structured in a consistent way

34 Take advantage of ability to: Transform user interface of resource (display and control) Re-aggregate learning resources

35 Objectives for Specifications Address legislative and regulatory requirements Do not compromise the experience of the student majority Do not unduly burden education provider Facilitate cumulative and collaborative authoring Respect unique individual requirements (learner- centric)

36 ACCLIP Accessibility for LIP (Learner information Package) or ACCLIP –How do I want/need things to be displayed? –How do I want/need things to be controlled? –What content alternatives, equivalents or helpful tools do I want/need? –In what context?

37 ACCMD Label primary resource –Can it be transformed (EARL statement) –Does it require hearing, site or text literacy –What are the locations of any known equivalents The Alternative equivalents –What primary resource is this for? –What learner preferences or requirements does this address?

38 Personal Preference Statement Where do we keep it How do we assert it

39 Prerequisites Flexible architecture Resource pools Good authoring practices –Content and structure independent of presentation –Function independent of method of control –Well structured (e.g., markup) –Well labeled (e.g., metadata)

40 Implications for teaching if it is to be fully implemented Create transformable curriculum

41 Shift for Educators Flexibility of presentation rather than quality of single presentation Flexibility of path Flexibility of pace Modularity rather than completeness Harness learning peers

42 Shift for Educators Cooperative authoring Cumulative authoring Learner driven construction

43 Now given the context what are we doing in Sakai…

44 What are the TransformAble Services? Three services packaged as Web services and Java libraries: 1.PreferAble 2.StyleAble 3.SenseAble Can be used independently or as a suite to provide accessibility services to a Web app

45 PreferAble A guided preferences editing tool Users specify preferences and needs by answering easy to understand questions Implements ISO AccessForAll spec Provides a user interface that can be embedded in a Web application Implementers can customize UI to match site branding & user experience

46 PreferAble Architecture

47 StyleAble Styles and transforms site presentation to meet individual needs and preferences Two types of transformations: –Style sheet generation –Document transformations Transformations rely on HTML document markup: use good semantic markup

48 Style Sheet Generation Applies user style preferences to global site appearance Screen enhancement: –font face,family, and size –foreground, background, highlight colours –link appearance

49 Document Transformations Restructures document based on learner needs Given a well-formed document, StyleAble can automatically generate: –A table of contents –List of available links –Reduced content density version

50 StyleAble Architecture

51 SenseAble SenseAble is an alternative content matcher and aggregator Performs two main functions: 1.Matching and ranking adaptations based on learner preferences 2.Aggregation, assembling, and substitution of resources

52 SenseAble Aggregator: –replaces and recombines parts of a multi-part resource based on the best matches found –Examples include: Adding captions or audio descriptions to a movie Adding graphic or textual alternatives Matcher: – searches through metadata for alternative resources within the repository and selects among adaptations based on user's preferences

53 SenseAble Architecture

54 Demo: TILE and Stretch TILE provides the groundwork for TransformAble functionality TILE is a single monolithic application: authoring tool, repository, and prototype learning environment We’re currently in the process of refactoring TILE into separate services

55 Integrating TransformAble with Sakai Step 1: Enhance Sakai presentation layer to support transformation Step 2: Integrate PreferAble & StyleAble into Sakai Step 3: Integrate SenseAble with Sakai’s ongoing repository work Timeline: March 31, 2007 We need your help and suggestions!

56 Staging? Pilot institutions Pilot applications Select services Maturity of content repositories within Sakai Scaling

57 Questions, Suggestions, Volunteers….