Lessons learned in building a sustained distance learning program Richard Anderson and Fred Videon, UWCSE ODL, October 18, /18/2011ODL, Windhoek1

Masters in Computer Science Distance Learning Program UW Professional Masters Program – Masters in Computer Science – Taught by faculty from UW Computer Science and Engineering – Coursework masters program (8 graduate courses to complete degree) – Targeted students working in industry – Combination of distance and face to face courses – Regional program 10/18/2011ODL, Windhoek2

Distance learning technology Synchronous distance learning Instructor lecturing to students in multiple classrooms Goal: link together classrooms to form a single class Multiple transmission technologies used – Started with Polycom/ISDN system – Developed internet video conferencing system to support the course 10/18/2011ODL, Windhoek3

ConferenceXP Open Source Platform for real-time collaboration Delivered in collaboration with Microsoft Research Main deployment in Masters Program – University of Washington – Microsoft 10/18/2011ODL, Windhoek4

Beyond two-way classes Lectures available at the desktop Two courses offered between University of Washington, Microsoft, UC Berkeley and UC San Diego Course offered with Lahore University of Management Sciences, Pakistan – 12 hour time difference, 6:30 pm course in the Seattle, a 6:30 am course in Lahore! 10/18/2011ODL, Windhoek5

Building a successful distance learning program Component of a strong degree program Entire program designed to meet the needs of students working full time in industry No distinction between distance and non- distance students Students had choice of sites they could attend classes 10/18/2011ODL, Windhoek6

Technology Support verbal interaction in the class with microphones Lighting of instructors, high quality microphones for the instructor. Writing on slides with electronic ink Lecture archiving to allow review of lectures 10/18/2011ODL, Windhoek7

Challenges Currently, the technology is very robust – Last lecture with degraded quality: Autumn 2008 – Last lecture with sustained outage: Spring 2002 While the technology was being developed, there were many “glitches” – Made strong efforts to address problems – Told students about the challenges, and what we were doing to address them – Students understood they were part of a program that was innovating in technology and education 10/18/2011ODL, Windhoek8

Gaining instructor buy in Faculty were initially skeptical about program and distance education Faculty discovered that students were enthusiastic and hard working Selective in choice of instructors for distance courses Ensured that faculty had in-class, as well as distance students Supported traditional slide and whiteboard pedagogy 10/18/2011ODL, Windhoek9

Distance Learning Goals Small number of live classrooms with very good interactivity High reliability Support for presentation with whiteboard or digital ink Record all classroom artifacts Content to desktop: multiple platforms; Stream/download; live/archive; freely available to public System flexibility when new requirements arise 10/18/2011ODL, Windhoek10

Classroom Setup Audio is important and difficult to do well – Microphones permanently installed – Echo cancellation hardware Video: fixed camera positions; multiple video streams Projectors: use as many as practical – Display of remote students gives sense of presence. – Instructor should also be able to see remote students 10/18/2011ODL, Windhoek11

Basic PMP setup (2 sites) PMP VENUE Archiver Video cameras Audio Video Displays Speakers Video cameras Audio Video Displays Speakers UWMicrosoft CXP CP3 Instructor CP3 Display CP3 Display Student Tablets CP3 10/18/2011ODL, Windhoek12

3-way setup for UW, MS, LUMS PMP Venue 1 PMP Venue 2 Archiver MicrosoftLUMS UW CP3 Server CP3 10/18/2011ODL, Windhoek13

Network Reliability of the network is key Distributed administration can be a problem Test often and be proactive Have well tested backup plans – Alternate network paths – Telephone 10/18/2011ODL, Windhoek14

ConferenceXP Open Source Platform for real-time collaboration – High quality, low latency multipoint conferencing – Targeted for standard PC and high quality network – Works with commodity cameras and audio equipment – Built-in collaboration tools including presentation, whiteboard, screen sharing, video playback, chat 10/18/2011ODL, Windhoek15

Classroom Presenter TabletPC-Based Distributed Presentation System Instructor navigation and annotation on local and remote displays Open Source License Students can contribute to class using digital ink – Students run the software on their laptops/tablets – Instructor can review, display and annotate student work – Promotes active learning 10/18/2011ODL, Windhoek16

Lecture Capture and Playback ConferenceXP Archive Service – Stores all artifacts in SQL Server database Tools used to post-process archive into multiple formats – WMV, MP4, OGG – Video showing presentation instead of the speaker – Custom viewer (WebViewer) concurrent video and presentation with table of contents – HTML 5 viewer 10/18/2011ODL, Windhoek17

A Selection of Recent Courses Compiler Construction, Autumn Concurrency, Spring Cryptography, Winter /18/2011ODL, Windhoek18

Links & Contacts ConferenceXP Classroom Presenter {anderson, 10/18/2011ODL, Windhoek19