educational technologies research at met emerging technologies and pilot programs
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MET Faculty Colloquium. Educational Technologies Research at MET Emerging Technologies and Pilot Programs. Leo Burstein and Tanya Zlateva. Agenda. MET Mission Educational Research & Technology @ MET Educational Response to the Changing Working Place Our Pilots Virtualization - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Educational Technologies Research at MET
Emerging Technologies and Pilot Programs
Leo Burstein and Tanya Zlateva
MET Faculty Colloquium
Agenda
• MET Mission• Educational Research & Technology @ MET • Educational Response to the Changing
Working Place• Our Pilots
– Virtualization– Video collaboration
• Open Discussion
Acknowledgements• College of Engineering:
– Professor Merrill Ebner for championing distance education at BU and for introducing us to the marvels of teaching on the web
– Andy Abrahamson for generously sharing his experience with video conferencing
• Networked Services, Office of Information Technology– Richard Mendez, Roland Jaeckel, Michael Sullivan,
George Gaudette and the entire IT team for their professionalism and collaboration every step of the way
• MET: all our colleagues who participated and encouraged us
MET Educational MissionAcademic
RigorLatest Industry Technologies & Best Practices
Flexible Delivery Formats+ +
Innovation—MET’s Distinctive Strength:Capture & Teach trends in enduring
intellectual context
BU Brand Responsiveness to Student and Industry Needs= +
Ensure student’s long-term success by linking academic knowledge with practical skills and competencies critical in the modern
workplace.
Mission of the Office of Educational Research and Technology @MET
• Research, evaluate, test emerging educational technologies
• Recommend technologies for pilot courses• Work with faculty for developing appropriate
delivery formats and educational scenarios• Support and manage the introduction of
emerging technologies
The Changing Workplace• Knowledge based economy• Emerging Technologies – the more the merrier?• Relentless Innovation• Globally Distributed Work Patterns – out of site ≠ out of
mind (telecommuting, outsourceing, offshoring and putting it back together)
• Teamwork in a culturally diverse and geographically distributed environment
• Flat Organizational Structures – more flexibility, more responsibility
• Time Fragmentation• “Coopetition” = Competition + Cooperation
Business Education
Technology
The Theory—Skills Chasm
TechnologyCryptography
Security ModelsNetwork Protocols
Setting Up a Secure Web Server and
Browser
ManagementContingency theories
System theoryOrganizational Behavior
Communication SkillsGetting the project
done on time
Educational Philosophies
Classical—Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Liberal Arts
Modern LanguagesProfessional
Virtualization
Video-Collaboration
Business Reality and Education
There is a real gap between higher education and today’s business realities
Harvard Business Review: "Business schools are on the wrong track. Some of the research produced is excellent, but because so little of it is grounded in actual business practice, the focus of graduate business education has become increasingly circumscribed -- and less and less relevant to practitioners".[2]
And Boston University is accepting the challenge:
“We [BU] should aim to be the premier
University in the United States where specialization is not an end
in itself, but always part of a program that aims explicitly at higher goals and broader horizons.”
Report of the Task Force on Changing Landscape http://www.bu.edu/accreditation/
• Asynchronous delivery blended with face-to face sessions over traditional 14-week semester
• Synchronous Communication: two-way audio video (desktop videoconferencing), one-way video two-way audio; both with application sharing in off-campus week
• Online course content with virtual lectures, correspondence, projects, assignments, etc.
• Programs and Formats: – Graduate Certificate in Digital Forensics—launched
Fall 2007: Saturday meetings every fourth week– MS in Innovation Management—launched Spring
2008: face to face meetings every other week
Blended Delivery—e-Live
Blended CoursesFall 2007 --2 courses 28
Business Data Communication (TC 625 HB ) Lou Chitkushev
Digital Forensics (CS 693 HB) Vijay Kanabar
Spring 2008 -- 10 courses 214
Accounting (AC630 HB ) Ed Simches
Business Continuity (AD 610 HB ) Mark Carroll
Program and Project Management (AD742 HB) Roger Warburton
Financial Analysis (FI 631 HB ) Bill Chambers
Introduction to ecommerce (TM 648 HB ) Kip Becker
Biometrics (CS599 HB ) Min Chen
IT Project Management (CS632 HB ) Vijay Kanabar
Business Data Communications (TC625 HB ) Lou Chitkushev
Data Mining (CS699 HB ) Suresh Kalathur
Network Forensics (CS703 HB ) Jim Burrell/Vijay Kanabar
Educational Technologies LandscapeTechnology landscape is crowded, how to find the perfect technology (and do they exist?)
LearningManagementSystems
• Blackboard• Vista• Course Info• Angel• Moodle• Sakai• Mobile Academy• Learning Gateway• …
Multimedia
• Video• Flash• Silverlight• Animations• Voiceovers• Podcasting• iTunesU• iPOD, Zune, …
Collaboration• Discussions• Blogs, Wikis• SharePoint, Groove• Webinars• Video conferences• Citrix/app sharing• Social Networking• …
Authoring
• MS Office• Dreamweaver• Expression Studio• Google Tools• Respondus• Camtasia• DRM• PHP, Ajax … How do w
e know when st
udents should
“constr
uct a w
iki entry
rather th
an
to have a virtu
al disc
ussion
or a
face-to
-face
d
ialog?” [1]
Leo
Virtualization• One of the disruptive technologies. One of the
most successful IPOs in 2007. • Virtualization is an abstraction layer that allows
multiple virtual machines, with heterogeneous operating systems to run in isolation, side-by-side on the same physical machine.
• We are using three variations at MET:– client-side virtualization: (a) pre-configured
installations (e.g. Oracle), (b) lab support– server-side virtualization: group projects, ease of
provisioning, simulating distributed environments
Virtualization Scenarios @MET
Complete pre-configured instal-lations provided to MET students on a DVD, savings setup and troubleshooting efforts not related to course objectives
Multiple images on MET Lab computers for different courses can be quickly rolled out and switched between classes with no extra effort
CS579 CS601 CS693
Virtualization Scenarios @MET (cont.)
Easily replicated separate server-based environments for small student groups, and/or multi-server environments to emulate distributed systems
Hardware Platform
Virtualization Layer
Application Server
Certification Authority
Network Protocol Analyzer
Client Workstation
vii
viii
ix
iii iv v
x
ii
vi
i
Example: “online banking” scenario (simulation of a distributed computing environment in a Cryptography/PKI Lab, linking to crypto algorithms, network protocols and security models)
Download Assignment
Student
Obtain License, Download Software
Install/configure software
Complete Assignment
Upload Assignment
Download Checked
Assignment
Download Assignment
Instructor
Obtain License, Download Software
Test Assignment, Grade and Make
Comments
Upload assignment
Review Instructor’s Comments
no
All?
yes
End
End
Review Assignment
Complete Assignment
Instructor
Test Assignment, Grade and Make
Comments
Review Instructor’s Comments
no
All?
yes
End
End
Review Assignment
Student
Benefits of Using Project Collaboration Server
Typical Student/Instructor Project Assignment Process:
Without PCS With PCS
Learning Activity
Overhead Activity
Virtual project colla-boration environment might help to stream-line assignments handling, eliminate potential discrepancies in between students’ and instructor’s setups, and creates opportu-nities for group activities (e.g. Project Server in AD742HB); all this without incurring additional hardware and installation costs.
Structure and Dialog – Maximizing Impact
StructureCourse materials, well defined activities, schedules, etc.
Dialogf2f sessions, online discussions, video collaboration
Independent Learning Ability
Impact
Video Collaboration DemoVideo collabo-ration is a term we use to describe a combination of videoconferen-cing and online meetings tools (e.g. screen & application sharing).
IOCOM Demo Scenario• Start with Vista, meet with Dao in MET Test Room; Dao
introduces herself.• Dao showing a few slides (positive psychology).• Bring in recorded interview with David W.
– why and when video collaboration is important– what learning activities are most suited for video
collaboration• Harvard interview• Music recording• Show Suresh, • Show example with multiple participants• Desktop sharing
Students survey based on Fall 2007 experience
Students survey based on Fall 2007 experience (Cont.)
Comparative analysis of video collaboration technologies
Technology Evolution Vendors Meeting Type1. Videoconferencing + Online Meeting IOCOM,
Radvision, …
Primary meeting objective is to exchange opinions, develop positions, plan actions, etc., in relationship to certain information that is mostly known by meeting participants.
2. Online Meeting + Videoconferencing Webex, GoToMeeting,Wimba, …
Primary meeting objective is to exchange information and develop common knowledge domains between meeting participants.
Video Collaboration = Video Conferencing + Online Meeting
Leo
Market Sample
Using IG Meeting for MET video collaboration pilot (low entry cost, support – incl. weekends, technology similar to Internet2 Access Grid (BU is one of the 80+ Access Grid nodes).
Product/Technology Provider V/Conf. Features
O/Meet . Features
Reliability Support Quality and Availability
1 IG Meeting/IOCOM 4 2 3 52 vRoom/Elluminate 2 4 4 23 Scopia/Radvision 4 4 3 24 Live Classroom/Wimba 2 3 35 GoToMeeting/Citrix 1 4 46 WebEX/Cisco 2 5 57 Live Meeting/Microsoft 3 4 * limited to Windows clients
8 DimDim (Open Source) 2 3 2 1
9 Acrobat Connect/Adobe 110 Session/Wave3 4 1 3 3
* Based on limited testing
MET Strategy ImplicationsTechnology providers are making attempts to bridge these differences and come up with a “one fits all” technology, but (as of early 2008) with limited success. Desktop video technologies can still be characterized as emerging, and, with major vendors like Cisco and Microsoft now demonstrating more interest, the market will undergo a certain level of consolidation in the next few years. Until this happens, we should minimize our risks and costs and continue to build our video collaboration strategy around limited pilots, focusing on understanding how to link video technologies to pedagogical objectives. We might need to continue using a combination of video/audio technologies that best fit our pilot objectives.
A very important consideration in planning emerging technology pilots is availability and quality of support. Close collaboration with technology providers and technology support teams, as well as a high level of commitment from pilot participants, are critical to overcome the “infant mortality” failures and ensure a meaningful learning experience.
More Student Feedback
How to make new technology introductions easy for students and faculty?
Math Demo
Echo360
• Easy to use “appliance” records your lectures and provides automated end-to-end processing of audio/video content, including posting to a streaming server and sending you an email with a link to the recorded lecture.
• System operationally supported by MET IT, with NIS available for second level support.
*********Demo **********
• To schedule a recording, just email [email protected] .
Technology Excitement
Mobility Social Networking
Use, Amuse, or Abuse?How to Introduce New Technologies
Open Discussion
• What works best for you?
• What does not work?
• What would you like to see?
• What does it take?
References1. Chris Dale, Harvard Graduate School of Education.2. Warren G. Bennis and James O’Toole, How Business Schools Lost Their Way3. Moore, M. “Theory of Transactional Distance”.4. Blanchard, K. “Enterprise Management and Situational Leadership”.5. Moore, M. “Investigation of the Interaction Between the Cognitive Style of Field Independence and…”.6. Force, D. “Relationships among transactional distance variables in asynchronous computer conferences”. 7. Keller, J.M. 1983. “Use of ARCS model of motivation in teacher training”.