iCampus (Past and Present)
Day one of the conference focused on MIT (a conference sponsor) but I was specifically focused on iCampus. One of my main reasons for attending this conference was to get a better background on the history and future of iCampus. I have been working with xTutor this past year but I am hoping to expand my work with some of the other more popular iCampus tools. Dr. Phil Long (Sr. Strategist for Academic Computing Enterprise, MIT) kicked the conference off with the introduction of Dr. Vijay Kumar (Director, MIT Teaching and Learning Laboratory) who reviewed the history of iCampus. He explained that the program was the result of internal discussion within MIT on how to continue with its tradition of supporting research and interaction. MIT wanted its technology to support active learning and engage the student and create learning spaces that supported collaboration and engagement. MIT partnered with Microsoft Research to solicit technology projects that supported active learning from both students and faculty, The project that stated in 1999 is schedule to complete the end of this year. Dr. Kumar also talked of the Open Courseware (OCW) Initiative, which is the critical underpinning of iCampus and the bright future of an ever expanding OCW world. DSpace, OKI (Open Knowledge Initiative) and other MIT projects were also reviewed.
The State of iCampus
Dr. Long talked of the future of iCampus and reviewed each iCampus Tool for is history and its uses in the classroom. The Maricopa Community College District was noted in his PowerPoint presentation as an institution currently using iCampus tools. Dr. Long explained that history had proven that the farther away the institution the more active and successful they were. The University of Queensland in Australia being one of the most successful iCampus sites. He explained that the success of iCampus now was in the hands of its community. This is good news for Maricopa who has really just started with iCampus and can benefit from the investigation already done by others and also become an active contributor by sharing materials they will create. The shape and mechanisms for establishing this community were not discussed but contact was made with MCCCD this past week to solicit our experiences and suggestions.
Dr. Long identified some of the more mature iCampus Tools which have seen success in the academic community. Space is tool short in this blog to review them all but I have listed them and attached links to their web pages
Teal - Technology enable active learning to engage the student in and online environment that merges lectures, experiments and simulations.
iLabs - Run a lab experiment remotely via an online lab
xMas - Cross media annotation system allows you to build xml links to portions video and audio for viewing and comment without violating digital copyright,
iMoat - A web enabled tool to assist in the grading of written assignments
xTutor - a environment that allows for customized problem sets to create interactive self paced learning that brings the instructor evaluation into the session.
Spoken Language Transcription - take digital recordings, convert them via software into text and then use a search engine to search on the text but play the digital content back to the student.
All of these tools have the potential of enhancing learning at the Maricopa Community College District
There were other presenters from MIT with very interesting research and presentations. I have chosen to focus on iCampus in the blog but all of the presentations made by members of MIT will hopefully soon be available for viewing on the Net.
The Afternoon and a visit to the MIT Stata Center (Learning Spaces)
The afternoon was highlighted with a tour of the MIT Stata Center. Designed by architect Frank O. Gehry, the building is both visually spectacular and a lesson in what can happen to a physical space when maximized for the use of research and learning activities (learning spaces). The Center is the home of the CSAIL ( Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory ) where computer science is the focus. I can not do the Center's design justice but I can point you to a web site ( MIT Stata Center ). I also took some digital pictures which I can share via Flickr .
I am all set to head off to the 2006 Boston Campus Technologies Conference (http://www.campustechnology.com/conferences/summer2006/ ) at the end of the Month (July 31 August 3). Along with many presentations about campus technology, I will be able to tour MIT and see some of the initiatives they have underway. With MIT being the home of iCampus, I hope to meet with others who are using iCampus and better understand its future.
What I have done so far and what I still need to do .....
I have been working with XTutor off and on over the past semester. It has at times been frustrating (lack of documentation and the problems associated with very new product) but also very exciting (it can do some remarkable things. Especially in the area of self paced learning).
For the next step, a lot depends on community. The MCCD community and the XTutor community are the communities I refer to. My recommendation is to continue working with XTutor but only with the support of both communities. With the newness of the product, comes a lot of effort (XTutor does have a steep learning curve). Effort that I am sure is being duplicated by many individuals and schools.
I will be suggesting to iCampus that for this technology to take off, it will need the help of ..... what else.... technology and sharing from its users. I will be suggesting that iCampus coordinate the setting up of a CMS (content management system) such as Drupal (http://drupal.org/) to bring users and developers together via blogs and wikis to share experiences, problems and successes.
I would also suggest that they make a BlackBoard or Moodle e-Learning site available so that e-learning modules can be developed that show how to use the product from a users and developers perspective. If not MIT and iCampus maybe Maricopa or one of the other colleges using iCampus might be able to create on-line learning content (it does not have to be just MIT).
Finally, a web site (possibly the same cms site) needs to be created to share XTutor XDoc problem sets that have been developed. Reusable objects that one developer/school could share with other schools. Without the community coordination, the product becomes too labor insensate with each user repeating the same mistakes as everyone else. XTutor has much promise but only if the workload and learning is shared.
What I am doing now ......
I have started development of a simple XTutor editor (written as a PYTHON script for portability) that will allow the developer to create and maintain xdoc and PYTHON text files with a code snippet utility that provide an ability to extract (search and filter) XTutor problem sets from a site shared SQLite database.
Stay Tuned ...
I will be blogging from Boston and sharing what I see at the conference....