Learning Environment Architecture Development Project
SUMMARY REPORT - Table 1

Description of Need Source/Relevant Statistics Classes of Responsive Technologies Potential Projects/Services
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
Support all platforms -- Use platform-independent software (web browser), and only develop/implement software solutions which are cross-platform. Faculty survey: For desktop platforms, 61.7% use Windows-based machines, a little less than half (47.6%) use Macintoshes, 17.6% use both, and 15.4% use UNIX-based machines.
Student survey:
TSP survey: 		Design Guidelines1 Design Guidelines for UCD Projects
Support mobility -- Make it easier to work from multiple locations and multiple systems. Faculty survey: Nearly 90% of faculty do at least some of their instruction-related tasks from off-campus; nearly fifty percent (49.3%) use a laptop computer, and over a third of these use their laptop in the classroom. Many faculty use more than one computer regularly (the median use is 3 computers).
Student survey		 Design Guidelines

DHCP2
Distributed File System/Common File Space3

 Design Guidelines for UCD

DHCP
AFS4
NFS
DCE
I-Drive
CODA
Protect our intellectual property -- Make sure that intellectual property rights are protected, and that copyright and license requirements are met AC4 developed document "Future of Academic Computing" which requires the development of a controlled access infrastructure to limit access and to share access with a defined community of scholars; standards and infrastructure for digitally-signed e-mail and for encrypted e-mail; and a comprehensive security plan. Authentication5, authorization6 and security systems
Public Key Cryptography7 		Distributed Authentication
Kerberos
PKI
Protect individual privacy and institutional security -- Make sure that privacy and securitypolicies and regulations are honored.    Authentication, authorization and security systems
Encryption
Personal Digital Certificates		 Distributed Authentication
Kerberos
PKI
MANAGE COMPLEXITY
Hide complexity without reducing functionality; if this is not possible, minimize complexity with the right functionality trade-offs. Faculty interviews: "Make it painless."
"If it takes more than an hour to learn how to use more than half of the basic functions, I don't have time." 		Middleware8
Portals9
Design Guidelines
"Faculty Friendly Middleware"10
Gateway/MyUCD Plus11 , (campus-developed portal) Commercial portal service (e.g., GoCampus)
Help us do more reusable work - don't make us re-do work. Make it possible to repurpose work without redoing it (single set of tasks results in same basic set of material which can be used for course web page, class handout, PowerPoint presentation, etc.) Faculty survey: Over half the faculty would value productivity tools that help with presentation and distribution of lecture material.
Faculty interviews: the most commonly mentioned barrier to using technology in instruction is insufficient time. "I'm tired of starting over every time a new technology becomes available." 		Import/Export Utilities Middleware (between data or other structure, between database and presentation software)

Web/Database Interfaces

Repositories12

Interoperability Standards

 Faculty-Friendly Middleware

Various web server/middleware/Database combos Specialized databases

IMS Project13 (http://www.imsproject.org)
Create evolution/solution paths -- Provide tools that make it possible for faculty to use the "entry level" tool, and then re-use the work as they advance to a more complex/sophisticated tool.) Faculty interviews, small discussion groups: Most faculty proceed incrementally in stages - start out with simple goals ("put the syllabus on the web"), and then require more sophisticated and complex tools as their needs become more sophisticated ("put a simulation on the web"); but they don't want to lose the work done in earlier stages. Middleware

Import/Export Utilities Role/Transaction-based Portals

 Faculty-Friendly Middleware

Gateway/MyUCD Plus
Make the administrivia trivial to do. Provide simple-to-use tools and technology that make record-keeping and class management/administration less time-consuming. Faculty survey: Over half the faculty would value productivity tools that help with record-keeping/grading. Course Management Software
Gradebook Software

Test Item Data bank Software

 WebCT/CourseInfo

MicroGrade, LXR-TEST, Diploma, CAT, ParScore MicroTestIII, LXR-TEST, Diploma, CAT, ParTest
Un-bury us -- Make it easier to filter, sort, manage and archive electronic mail. Faculty survey:
Over half the faculty (51.5%) suggest that their students use e-mail, and 36% required that their students use e-mail as a regular part of their courses.
Faculty interviews: The average number of message received from students per week is [**], and many faculty expressed a concern about the increasing workload e-mail represents. 		Middleware Faculty-friendly middleware (mail web interface)
MAXIMIZE THE USEFUL FEATURES OF SYSTEMS AND SERVICES.
Help us do more, with the same resources.
Certain resources are scarce or require a long lead time to expand (e.g., classroom space). The campus already struggles with over-enrolled general education classes and a constraint on classroom facilities. This can only worsen as enrollment is expected jump to 30,000 by 2010 (a 20% increase). 		Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef, interview with the Enterprise, 11/7/99. On-line course materials (replace some lectures or labs with on-line information). Course Management Systems (commercial software which is designed to help faculty create and manage course web sites). CourseInfo, WebCT14 OnCourse (Indiana U's "home-brewed" course management system)
Optimize flexibility -- Provide technology that has multiple entry and use points, ranging from entry level to advanced. Faculty interviews, small discussion groups: Diversity of faculty preferences - ranging from "I want to do it myself," to "Help me do it," to "Do it for me."
Diversity of needs - from simple/easy to use to complex and fully-featured/but harder to use. 		Multi-level infrastructure (an infrastructure which is developed with multiple "layers", with software which is tailored for varying levels of user sophistication and need) LEAD team's proposed course management architecture:
  • Level 1: Gateway/MyUCD Plus
  • Level 2:Course web pages created by filling out on-line forms
  • Level 3: Commercial course management system (entry level and intermediate level)
  • Level 4: Fully customized course pages, using author's choice of tools
  • Level 5: Enterprise-wide course management system integrated with Banner/SIS.
    • HELP US MANAGE DISSEMINATION OF AND ACCESS TO INFORMATION
    Web-enable faculty and students -- Provide an easier way to create and maintain course web pages, and put class materials on line, most especially static information (e.g., syllabus, general information). For students, [**] Faculty survey:
    Majority of faculty (65%) either already uses a course web page or has specific plans to start using one. For actual or anticipated course web pages, general, static information was considered the highest priority. On a scale of 1 to 5, 5=essential, the mean was 4.56. The next most important web page feature was visualization (mean of 2.89).
    Student survey:Over a third rated personal web pages as 4 or above; but another third said they wouldn't use university-sponsored resources for personal web pages.
    Student focus group:
    University should provide resources for academically-related web pages (resume, portfolio of work, etc.) TSP survey    		 Role/Transaction-based portals

    Course Management Software

    		 Gateway/MyUCD Plus

    Faculty-Friendly Middleware

    CourseInfo/WebCT
    Make it easier to distribute and collect materials electronically -- Provide an easier way for faculty to distribute electronic files to students, and for them to collect and manage electronic files "turned in" by students. Faculty survey:
    In over one-fifth of the classes offered by respondents, students are required to use electronic file distribution.
    Student survey: Over three-quarters of the student respondents rated as 4 or above the importance of electronic distribution and submittal of assignments and handouts (scale of 5 to 1, with 5 being "very useful").    		 Common File Space AFS
    NFS
    DCE
    I-Drive
    CODA
    HELP US COMMUNICATE & COLLABORATE.
    Help connect faculty to their students -- Provide a range of choices of ways to communicate with students. Faculty survey: Almost half (44.5%) of faculty would value tools that aid in student contact. Asynchronous:
    Electronic mail
    Interactive Communication tools

    Audio/Video conferencing

    		 Eudora, Outlook
    RTA
    Visual Rendezvous
    Help connect students to each other -- Identify and/or develop tools which help students work collaboratively and in teams. Faculty survey: 20% of faculty ranked student collaboration as their first or second priority (concentrated in Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies).
    Student survey:Over three-quarters of students find that informal study groups and class-assigned collaboration and group products help them to learn.     		Course Management Systems
    Interactive communication and collaboration tools (groupware)     		CourseInfo/WebCT

    RTA, Visual Rendezvous
    Help us share work that is re-usable -- Make it easier for faculty and staff who desire to do so, to share their work. Faculty discussion groups:
    Certain resources could be used across campus and across curriculums (e.g., images, slides, learning objects such as simulations). There is no easy way to do this now.
    TSC discussions:     		Repositories/Digital libraries

    Meta-data and search functions

    Learning Object Exchange Systems

    		 Specialized Databases

    IMS Project

    MERLOT (a CSU service allowing faculty to share courseware)

    1. Design guidelines , if adopted by an institution, are design specifications that all applications should meet. An example of a design guideline is "When a new application is developed, it must run on all platforms­Windows, Macintosh, UNIX.

    2. DHCP is a protocol and a service which increases the ease of configuring a computer for use in different locations. For example, a faculty person who uses a laptop in their office, at home, in a classroom, in the library, would have to put a new address in their network configuration each time they moved. DHCP allows more automatic re-configuration.

    3. A distributed file system is a system that supports file management (organizing, copying, editing, viewing, sharing, distributing, and backing up files) across systems, across platforms, and across networks.

    4. AFS, NFS, DCE, and CODA are all examples of distributed files systems. I-Drive is a commercial service that supports many of the functions of a distributed file system, and it is designed to provide web space for individuals (particularly students).

    5. Authentication is a process that verifies you are who you say you are, for the purpose of an on-line transaction.

    6. Authorization is a process that defines what you can do (given that you are who you say you are).

    7. Cryptography is the art of preparing or reading messages intended to prevent their being read by those not privy to the secrets (the code) of the form. Encryption is the process of enciphering or encoding information. Public Key Cryptography is a type of basic encryption technology.

    8. Middleware is the "glue" that can make software applications work together, even if they weren't designed with that in mind. It can make it appear to the user that the services are integrated and organized, when in fact they are separate and somewhat fragmented. Middleware also works as an intermediary between types of software­for example, enabling a web server and a database to work together.

    9. A portal is a user view of a complex web site, typically through a web browser, that is created every time the web is accessed. The portal can be completely customized to the individual, based on their role in an organization and on their individual preferences. The portal can also make information from certain enterprise-wide databases more accessible. A portal "best practice" is to design portals that facilitate workflow.

    10. "Faculty Friendly Middleware" is an ITF-funded project to develop middleware that makes the web, and fragmented applications (generation of classlists, uploading of grades, etc.) easier and more convenient to use.

    11. Gateway ("MyUCD") is an ITF-funded project to develop portals for students and faculty.

    12. A repository is a specialized database with a well-defined structure for storing, archiving and managing specialized types of data. For example, an image repository is a library of images that are organized for easy classification, access and re-use.

    13. The IMS project is managed by an international consortium made up of software and hardware vendors, institutions of higher education, K-12, and integrator/consultants The goal of the project is to create technical specifications to ensure interoperability between course management systems, and between course management systems and other systems (e.g., student information systems).

    14. CourseInfo and WebCT are commercial course management systems, designed to simplify creating and managing on-line course resources (typically, on the web) and providing support for common class management activities, including communication and collaboration.