Title:

Keywords: Distance learning; multimedia; language learning; Internet; group learning

Richard F. Walters and Robert J. Blake

University of California, Davis

Education today faces a demand for more instruction of a rapidly growing population of increasingly diverse students. Physical facilities are no longer able to keep up with this demand; Distance learning offers a possible solution, but current forms of distance learning suffer from a lack of meaningful interaction between the learner and learning facilitator. What is needed, therefore, is to provide ways to increase and enhance interaction in the best forms possible for all learners. Technology can make increased interaction possible, even though it may not reach the same level as face-to-face, one-to-one communication.

This report describes an attempt to use technology to enhance interaction among learners and between learners and instructional staff. The approach is general, platform-independent, based on solid pedagogic design, and applicable to a wide range of subject areas. We describe the current status of the project and indicate ways in which it might be made more widely available in the future.

The Remote Technical Assistance (RTA) package was designed to improve communication in the learning process through technology. The most promising approach seemed to be network-based computing, using the Internet as its base. We believe that this technology is becoming universally available, and that it can serve as a stable but evolving platform on which to base a strategy for enhancing communication.

Our design is further constrained by the following criteria

* Platform-independence: UNIX, Macintosh and PC-based environments.

* Public domain software:

* Supervisory monitoring: We keep track of participants and their interactions, creating a database of activity for future use.

* Security: We will provide mechanisms for the security and confidentiality of communications at levels appropriate to the activity involved.

* Open systems design: We chose to rely on other packages wherever possible. Our approach was to make our system compatible with other tools such as word processors, spreadsheets, viewing tools, and Internet search engines.

This design is independent of any information content related to its use. The details of application in specific areas may require any combination of multimedia resources. Language learning requires the ability to record, forward, and archive sound. Medical systems require display and annotation of images. Some scientific communication is dependent on manipulation of formulas. All are included in the design.

The result of these goals and design constraints was what we have termed the Remote Technical Assistance (RTA) project. It has been under development at UC Davis for over two years and is now at the point where it is operationally ready to apply to a variety of learning situations.

We divide the process of learner communication into three broad areas, with opportunities for overlap between each. These three domains are

* Resource Searching: Locating instructional resources of all types, including multimedia.

* Asynchronous Messaging: Sending an arbitrarily complex question to be answered as soon as practicable.

* Synchronous Interaction: Live communication between learners and instructors to answer questions and stimulate thought.

RTA is divided into three major components: Servers, using a software package that monitors all forms of communication; Clients, used by learners and instructors to interact with the system and each other; and Information Resources, dynamically evolving widely dispersed multimedia information pertinent to the course involved.

The Server is responsible for the operation of RTA. It keeps track of the courses and their students and instructional staff, controls login and communication with and between clients, and manages the RTA databases, including all messaging, logs of all interactive sessions, indexes and pointers to supplementary resources, and statistics on RTA usage. The Server is currently installed on UNIX platforms, but it could probably be installed on other systems. Storage standards for sound, images, and other file types are primarily TCP/IP standards. All traffic for a class goes through the server assigned to that class. In its current design, we do not foresee any problems with upward scalability to large numbers of simultaneous users.

Clients form the user interface to RTA, whether student or instructor. Clients are being developed for all platforms (Macintosh, DOS Windows (3.1, 95, and NT), and UNIX, with the Macintosh version currently the most advanced.

The network connection used to link RTA clients and servers is the Internet. All other protocols are converted to TCP/IP as input and translated to local format for display.

Interaction with RTA is in three modes: messaging, live communication and searching the database. In the messaging mode, learners can formulate complex questions that may include text, attachment of files (spreadsheets, word-processing documents, etc.), snapshots [portions] of their current screen, and sound clips. The learner is not limited to a single image, sound message or file. Dialogs can use non-English fonts such as those used for Spanish, Russian, and Japanese.

If a fellow student or a member of the instructional staff is on-line, this fact will show on the client screen. A learner can then elect to go into the second mode of communication: live chatting with one or a group of colleagues. Once connected to an interactive session, the participants can engage in written (multilingual) or oral dialogue, whiteboarding, with annotation identified by each originator, and attachment of files of any type. It is also possible for an instructor to invoke a URL on the students'

screens, allowing them to continue with its use on their own.

The final mode of interaction is in a resource searching mode. This area, referred to as Expert Teaching Assistance (ETA) is evolving with use, but it is expected to include frequently asked questions, URLs to instructional support, and other course-related aids to the learning objectives. Semi-automation of components of this system is also under development.

These three modes of interaction are closely coupled. A message might be responded to in real time, leading to an interactive dialogue. To do so, the student might notice that an instructor has signed on to the system and enter into a chat mode, sharing the content of the message to obtain an immediate answer. Questions posed by several students could lead to group discussions, or they could form a new resource in the Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) portion of the database. Invoking a URL image on a student's screen might encourage the student to explore that topic and terminate an interactive session. The flexibility to move back and forth between these modalities is an important design feature of RTA.

The interactive process is stored for future analysis and synthesis. We anticipate that instructional staff will use this material to enhance the resources available for the ETA component.

RTA was tested in two computer science courses in Spring, 1996. Results indicated that the system was promising but needed a more stable user interface and server.

In the July-November semester at Queensland University, Brisbane, one course was used as a test for RTA, still based on the same version of the server used at UC Davis during the Spring Quarter. Results of that experiment are not yet available.

During the period July-November, 1996, the server and Macintosh client were completely rewritten, resulting in a much more robust system that was tested starting late in the Fall Quarter. Operationally, the system provided few problems, and the research group was able to focus on pedagogic issues. Usage was restricted to courses in Japanese, Spanish and Russian on the Davis campus (an effort to link to students in related courses at Berkeley was deferred). The experience in Spanish exemplifies those in the other languages and it reported in more detail below.

The initial RTA application for Spanish paired intermediate-level students into dyads or "electronic partners" assigned Web-based exercises/activities and RTA-assisted language tasks. Students worked with Spanish-language Web sites chosen primarily for their portrayal of the cultural diversity found within the Spanish-speaking world. Each lesson consisted of a short reading passage excerpted from the original Web sites (located in Cuba, Argentina, Spain, etc.) and then transported to a local Web page which included key English glosses and specific collaborative tasks and/or comprehension checks. Student dyads used the RTA conferencing software to help them negotiate the meaning and cultural context presented in the Spanish language web sites. Tasks for each electronic team included;

1) Using the RTA conferencing software to introduce each other and "chat around" with text, sounds, and whiteboards but restricted to Spanish-only communication;

2) Interviewing each other via RTA in order to produce written personality profiles of each partner which were then handed in electronically and posted on a class Web page with the instructor’s annotations;

3) Writing a joint composition via RTA about the theme of public image, which again was shared on the class Web page.

4) Investigating a Spanish-language Web site dealing with Eva Peron, the Argentine first lady during the 1940s; and

5) Assisting each other via RTA in writing a final composition on Eva Peron.

The goal was to use RTA to increase communication between students engaged in real language tasks offered by Web-based materials written by and for native Spanish-speakers (i.e., authentic materials). Preliminary results indicate that RTA provides a supportive electronic forum for language study which stimulates high levels of individual student motivation and a satisfying sense of engagement in the Spanish language. Students appreciated being able to work collaboratively with their respective partners to solve the linguistic and cultural challenge that arose in the Web-based exercises and tasks.

In the second year Japanese course, students used RTA to communicate with each other only in Japanese, an experience not otherwise feasible. The reaction was once again highly enthusiastic as the students developed their ability to communicate using the difficult medium of Japanese phonetic and logogramatic writing.

In both cases, RTA proved effective in managing dual as well as group interaction. Dialogues preserved from these conversations will aid RTA designers in further refining the user interface of the tool, but it appears to be approaching a level of stability that is ready for further testing. The dialogs will themselves become a part of the ETA resources for future classes.

To date, the only site other than UC Davis to have tested RTA is at Queensland University, Brisbane, Australia. This has proved to be an attractive site because the faculty and staff there were knowledgeable in all pertinent technical aspects required for RTA installation, and they are committed to investigation of distance learning in very large lecture classes (1,000 students or more) as well as independent study settings. We plan to build on this initial venture by limited beta testing in early 1997, and we hope to further expand dissemination later in the year.

T he concept has no limitations with respect to content. Medical images constitute an early area of investigation for the near-term future. We anticipate investigating use of shared images (radiographs, photomicrographs) in RTA setting to facilitate clinical consultation for veterinary students as well as for remote consultation in a primary care human medicine network.

The full range of RTA applicability remains to be explored. We believe, however, that the concepts are sound, that the overall approach is unique to this date, and that it will be an important contributor to learning strategies in the years to come.

This research was supported by support from a number of University of California sources, including the Office of the President, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, Teaching Resources Center, and the deans of Engineering and Letters and Sciences. Undergraduate and graduate students have volunteered their time on the project, which has to date generated two M.S. theses and a number of term project reports. Extramural support has come from Queensland University, Brisbane and a donation from Apple Computers, Inc. We are especially indebted to the following faculty and students who have been particularly active in the project. Faculty include Nancy Reed and Matt Bishop (Computer Science), David Fahy (Japanese), Jim Gallant (Russian), Bruce Rosenstock (Religious Studies), and Bill Hornof (Veterinary Radiology). Students and former students include Adam Karp (Spanish), Mike Yamaguchi (Japanese), Brian

Kennedy, Sean Davis, Paul Hirose, Randy Buechner and many others, all from Computer Science. The project would not have been possible without their collective support.

Laurillard, D. (1993) Rethinking University Teaching: A Framework for the Effective Use of Educational Technology, Routledge Press, London.