Establishing Collaborative Postgraduate Research Programmes and Integrated Teaching Agendas Using The Access Grid by Helen Goodchild | Papers by Helen

Establishing Collaborative Postgraduate Research Programmes and Integrated Teaching Agendas Using The Access Grid A Report Prepared For The Higher Education Academy Vince Gaffney, Helen Goodchild, Mary Harlow HP Visual and Spatial Technology Centre Birmingham Archaeology Institute for Archaeology and Antiquity University of Birmingham Establishing Collaborative Postgraduate Research Programmes And Integrated Teaching Agendas Using The Access Grid Vince Gaffney, Helen Goodchild, Mary Harlow Introduction This report outlines the experiences gained at Birmingham in relation to the use of the Access Grid for the purposes of integrating teaching agendas. The project was funded as part of a UK HEA project investigating the benefits of the Access Grid for use within higher education. Access Grid technology allows for simultaneous interactive seminars with a number of centres world-wide. It consists of multimedia display (PowerPoint/white boards), presentation and interactive environments, interfaces to grid middleware, interfaces to visualisation environments. As a consequence the Access Grid supports large-scale distributed meetings, collaborative work sessions, seminars, lectures, tutorials and training for groups who can be in the UK and/or abroad. The Access Grid’s primary value is group-to-group communication and is increasingly characterised by efficient delivery with low latency. Access Grid nodes are "designed spaces" that explicitly contain the high-end audio and visual technology needed to provide a high-quality user experience, but there is the potential for desktop delivery across personal nodes. Given the increasing pervasiveness of the technology (http://www.accessgrid.org/community/nodes/nodes.html), the Access Grid is potentially one of the most important distributive e-learning tools currently available with the potential to permit harmonisation of curricula across institutions and time zones. The project aims were to explore the educational context of the Access Grid in a variety of circumstances: • To investigate values and limitations to the technology, • To provide methodologies for use in seminar and formal lecture provision • To demonstrate the practicalities for implementing harmonised curricula integrated across institutions and countries • To create a set of guidelines and protocols to facilitate the learning experience The project sought to investigate the potential advantages of Access Grid technologies including: • Efficient and cost-effective delivery of shared courses through harmonised curricula across institutions and countries • Extension of curricula content through access to courses delivered at other institutions • Novel environments for teaching which enhance student interaction from different institutions • Enhancement of the student learning experience through the integration of direct personal instruction as part of an e-learning strategy in support of abstract technologies such as WebCT • Promoting increased understanding amongst students and academic staff of differing academic traditions and teaching practises through international courses Initial use of the Access Grid for teaching by the Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity (IAA) at Birmingham suggests that there are issues related to the use of the technology. These include: • The requirement to modify existing teaching practise in relation to the delivery of teaching material, • The implications of using proprietary systems in a formal environment as opposed to freeware personal nodes in multi-use spaces (and mixing the two delivery systems), • Basic problems relating to the harmonisation of curricula across institutions and time zones and the conceptual issues of delivering educational packages on multi-site courses. Case studies of current usage The IAA has access to two InSORS studio nodes in the HP Visual and Spatial Technology Centre and Midlands E-Science (both situated in the IAA). Lectures were recorded using Camtasia Studio software. External sites used a combination of proprietary softwares such as InSORS or AG Toolkit to contact the IAA virtual venue. In respect of external lecturers there were limitations when the AGToolkit was used. PowerPoints had to be distributed via the IAA node on these occasions. 2 Thus far, usage at Birmingham has included: • Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity Postgraduate Research Seminar: Landscape (http://www.iaa.bham.ac.uk/Seminars/postgraduate_landscape_seminar.htm) • Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity Research Seminars 2005-6: Dress and Accessories (http://www.iaa.bham.ac.uk/Seminars/iaaseminar2005_6.htm) • Joint teaching for undergraduates in Physics Additional non-teaching-related projects include: • Primary Care Project meetings • Links with parallel Virtual Network Computing links • Larger remote sensing and visualisation seminar, now supported by the ICT Methods Network as the "Visualisation and Remote Sensing Access Grid Support Network " (http://www.iaa.bham.ac.uk/Computing/HP_VISTA/Seminars/access_grid_seminars.htm) “Dress and Accessories” Seminars Participants: Birmingham University, University of Manchester, Durham University, University of Lund (AG Toolkit), University of Copenhagen (AG Toolkit) Activity: 1 hour seminar paper given by invited speakers to staff, postgraduates and undergraduates as part of their “Dress in Antiquity” research seminar. Format: Speakers give a traditional PowerPoint-based lecture from the various venues. At the end there are questions and discussion. Postgraduate Landscape Seminars Participants: Birmingham University, University of Arkansas, Durham University Activity: 1 hour seminar paper on the subject of “Landscapes within Archaeology and Ancient History”. Given by postgraduates and invited guest speakers. Format: Speakers give a traditional PowerPoint-based paper. These are mostly from Birmingham, but sometimes with speakers from other venues. At the end there are questions and discussion across the Access Grid. Undergraduate Physics lectures Participants: Birmingham University, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (Oxfordshire) Activity: 2 hour lectures on “Space Technology” for undergraduate physics students Format: Lecturers give a traditional PowerPoint-based lecture either from Birmingham or from RAL to students at both venues. Little or no discussion. PowerPoints are displayed locally with the students given control of changing slides. Feedback In the context of these activities, user surveys were handed out to determine opinions of the technology and format (see Appendix). Responses were generally positive, and much of the criticism was levelled at format and lecture content rather than any shortcomings of the technology itself. General advantages noted • Access for students to state-of-the-art research around the globe • Fostering a sense of community between small departments in disparate locations • Access to specialist knowledge not available in own departments, expanding teaching and research opportunities through shared curricula • Immediacy of learning • Opportunities for distance learning – breaking down traditional barriers social/economic (also ability to record lectures) 3 Disadvantages noted • The lecturer often fails to engage the students in remote venues, particularly when asking questions • Remote students noted that consequently it was easy to coast through classes as little was expected of them and it was easy to hide when questions are asked. • Because scientific equations were written on PowerPoints, they no longer had the time for reflection, or time to write down the equations, which ordinarily is provided by lecturers that write on the board • Audio, although good, is still not as clear as a local speaker and often needs to be amplified • During discussion the technology is affected when people from different venues speak at the same time • The need to book operators and venues for people who are not familiar with the technology • Two hours is a very long time for students to listen to lectures in this environment – one hour is the optimal length. • It is necessary to think about ways in which features may be pointed out in slides. Lecturers ordinarily get up and point to slides but this is impossible. A laser pointer will not be picked up by remote audiences. • Recording lectures using available software across the network is a labour-intensive pursuit but probably a requirement as part of any teaching strategy. • The organisation of Access Grid sessions across multiple sites is a time consuming activity but critical to the success of the enterprise. • External speakers using the AG toolkit personal nodes were limited in their use of PowerPoint. These had to be distributed via the IAA Node. • The use of sub-standard microphones (echo-reducing rather than echo-cancelling) could reduce the quality of experience dramatically and, on occasions, destroy the effectiveness of presentations. • The quality of delivery is dependant on the quality of connections. Even in a university environment this remains outside the control of individual operators and may vary from day to day or even hour to hour. There is always the possibility that a presentation may fail for reasons which have nothing to do with the presenters or organisers but which are linked to general systems or communications failure at any point across the Internet. What we have learnt • • • • • • • • • • For seminars, in particular, seriously think about camera angles and microphone placement to encourage discussion (see Figs.1 and 2) The speaker must face directly into the camera (and the local audience) otherwise the remote audience will not be engaged When posing questions, speakers tend to ask only the local audience rather than the remote. Microphone placement is often inefficient for hearing student responses – perhaps a roving microphone or a wireless solution may be required. It is sometimes necessary to amplify local audio for seminars due to background noise The seminar organiser needs a system for mediating discussion if interacting with a number of partners For some seminars (e.g. involving complex equations), a printout of the PowerPoints are often necessary for students to keep up Lecturers must speak more slowly and clearly for remote audiences; they must also be fairly static and controlled in arm and head movements PowerPoint colour schemes often make slides difficult to read. Also, font size or design is often too small or too fussy. Strict guidelines must be issued to lecturers well in advance of the lecture to ensure clear presentations Giving students control of locally operated PowerPoints helps to keep them engaged A primary difficulty in using the technology at undergraduate level lies in the requirement to harmonise lecture slots and equivalence of credit values. It may be that AG use may be a supplementary activity at undergraduate level rather than a core distributive technology. 4 • • • • • The technology clearly has real value at postgraduate level where there is greater flexibility in relation to timetabling and accreditation. The smaller numbers of students participating permits higher levels of participation with greater academic return to the students themselves. Complex lectures in seminar nodes require the presence of a trained operator to ensure that the video and audio feeds are working and appropriate. Running a session is not a particularly complex activity and staff or postgraduates could be trained to act as operators. However, there will always be a requirement to have access to technical support in the event of catastrophic failure. In the event of problems, sites should always be supplied with a chat client (e.g. Jabber) to permit communication between sites without disturbing the flow of any lecture or seminar. Every Access Grid session requires careful planning. The central operator must coordinate with all external sites and quality check links. Particular care must be taken in quality checking individual nodes that may use sub-standard equipment. Failure to do so will undermine the value of the technology How this knowledge will change how we teach • • • • • • • Lectures must be organised to encourage more interactivity and structured discussion. Speakers need to be clearer in terms of presentation and lecture at a slow-medium rate to enable understanding for remote audiences. Speakers should remember to ask questions to/engage the remote as well as local audiences, and not forget that they are there. Otherwise the students will not feel involved and will feel more like they are eavesdropping. Speakers should number all of their PowerPoint slides for clarification – especially when slides are being shown remotely rather than through IgPix, e.g. “as we can see on slide 2…” PowerPoints must be the correct resolution – one potential option may be to create templates for users Seminar leaders must be aware that if they are using external media (e.g. playing of DVD’s) or PowerPoints to be projected locally they must be provided well in advance to operators Guidelines should be given to new users of the Access Grid explaining clearly how it works, and what they should expect and how they should respond/interact with the tutor/seminar presenter. Future projects • • The group will continue developing the experience gained as part of this project through the recent award by the AHRC ICT Methods network grant for a project entitled “Visualisation and Remote Sensing for the Arts and Humanities: an Access Grid Support Network” The project group has since been donated 10 licences of InSORS AG software by i2i and the Access Grid Support Centre (University of Manchester). These have been distributed to support individual projects at Birmingham through the University's "Collaborative Research Networks" (http://www.bham.ac.uk/page.asp?section=0001000100070020). Further work is now being considered in relation to distance learning – live and recorded large- and small-scale lectures. Links to other technologies such as WebCT to create interactive learning environment The experiences at Birmingham have been incorporated into a forthcoming White Paper on the “Access Grid in Education”. This stems from the Access Grid in Education Virtual Institute, set up with the aim of sharing collective expertise in this area and creating a distributed community and data repository Investigations will now be carried out into the use of complementary technology, e.g. Smart Boards for increased interactivity Investigate improved accessibility, e.g. induction loops for the hearing impaired Further international research seminars for postgraduates and academic staff involving multiple venues 5 • • • • • • • Increased incorporation of Access Grid technologies within Masters programmes. Dr Mary Harlow received a Universitas 21 fellowship to go to University of Melbourne in September 2006 to discuss integrating curriculum using the Access Grid. This was a very successful visit in terms of exchange of ideas. One of the immediate outcomes is the participation of John Whitehouse (Dept of Education, Melbourne) as a contributor, using the Access Grid, to the MA Classics/Ancient History run at the University of Birmingham. Provide greater opportunities to increased the number of partners for existing seminar series 6 Figures Fig. 1. Layout of Birmingham venue for PG Landscape and Dress Seminars. Note, the two microphones in the audience are roving. Also, the camera on the speaker needs to be revised – possibly to a more central location on a tripod. Fig. 2 Layout of Birmingham venue for undergraduate lectures with RAL. This formation takes account of the local lecturer. The layout is the same for remote lecturing 7 Figure 3 Midlands E-Science Seminar Node comprising multiple projectors, echo cancelling microphones and INSORS Access Grid Cube Figure 4 Formal lecture in the HP VISTA projection room as part of the postgraduate landscape seminar. The speaker is Dr K. Kvamme (Arkansas) 8 Figure 5 Technical support - the use of large seminar rooms requires presence of a trained operator. Relevant Web Links For information on InSORS technology http://www.insors.com/ For information on the IAA node http://www.iaa.bham.ac.uk/Computing/HP_VISTA/resources/access_node.htm IAA Visualisation and Remote Sensing Access Grid Support Network http://www.iaa.bham.ac.uk/Computing/HP_VISTA/Seminars/access_grid_seminars.htm Midlands E-Science centre http://www.mesc.bham.ac.uk/ The Access Grid Support Centre at Manchester http://www.agsc.ja.net/ The Access Grid community http://www.accessgrid.org/ For a list of certified nodes http://www.accessgrid.org/community/nodes/nodes.html The European Access Grid http://euroag.accessgrid.org/ Access Grid in Education Virtual Institute http://www.eotepic.org/moodle/course/view.php?id=2 University of Wollongong E-Teaching site http://staff.uow.edu.au/eteaching/eteachinginfo.html 9 Camtasia Recording software http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.asp 10 APPENDIX FEEDBACK FORM 11 INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY & ANTIQUITY Higher Education Academy ACCESS GRID PROJECT Questionnaire The Higher Education Academy access grid project is a joint higher education venture which seeks to use the latest web technologies as a tool to integrate courses from a number of instutions and countries. As part of the Higher Education Academy Access Grid Project consortium we would ask you to fill in this form and record your opinions on the value and success of the joint seminars held as part of the project. If you could return these by e-mail to Ms Helen Goodchild (H.Goodchild@bham.ac.uk). The information provided here will be treated as confidential (although you may sign the form if you wish) and will be of assistance in the future development of the access grid community. Seminar Title : A. Technical resources Dedicated Access Grid Room with large scale projection, multiple cameras and microphones What type of Access Grid facility were you in? Date Seminar Node with plasma screen or digital rpojector single/multiple camera and microphones Personal Node with monitor and headset Other – Please describe Unsatisfactory How well did the visual projection function? How clear was audio system? How useful were the visual aids (if relevant)? How do you rate the role of the technology in respect of supporting the goals of the seminar B. Module content, delivery & learning resources Unsatisfactory How well were seminars organised? How clear was the presentation? How stimulating was seminar content? How useful were discussions and/or exercises? How enthusiastic were the presenters? How useful were the visual aids (if relevant)? Satisfactory Good Excellent Satisfactory Good Excellent 12 C. Self-assessment Please identify your year and degree programme or other reason for attendance. How challenging did you find the seminar content? Very challenging Fairly challenging Straightforward Fairly easy Very easy How well did you assimilate and understand the material? Not at all To a certain extent To a moderate extent Were you able to participate in seminar discussion? With relative ease Easily (i). Contribution: None Insufficient Moderate contribution (ii). Involvement: Uninvolved Limited Positive Significant contribution Enthusiastic Do you regard the use of such technologies as valuable in creating access to expertise or experience of staff and students in other institutions? Not useful limited use useful Extremely useful Please list any suggestions for improving the reception of teaching using this technology D. Appraisal of the module What, in your opinion, were the three best features of the Access Grid Seminar? 1. 2. 3. Make a note of up to three suggestions for improvements to the Access Grid Seminar. 1. 2. 3. Signature__________________ 13