Application sharing in teaching context with wirel

UniversitätStuttgartFakultätInformatikApplicationsharinginteachingcontextwithwirelessnetworksC.Burger,S.Papakosta,K.RothermelTechnicalReport2001/07December2001InstituteofParallelandDistributedHigh-PerformanceSystems(IPVR)DepartmentofComputerScienceUniversityofStuttgartBreitwiesenstr.20-22D-70565StuttgartGermanyApplicationsharinginteachingcontextwithwirelessnetworksAuthors:Dr.C.BurgerDipl.-Inf.S.PapakostaProf.Dr.K.RothermelCR-Classification:K.3H.4.1Keywords:ApplicationsharingTeachingContextawareness2ApplicationsharinginteachingcontextwithwirelessnetworksCoraBurger,StellaPapakostaandKurtRothermelInstituteofParallelandDistributedHigh-PerformanceSystems(IPVR)UniversityofStuttgartBreitwiesenstr.20-2270565Stuttgart,Germany{caburger,papakosi,rothermel}@informatik.uni-stuttgart.deTechnicalReport2001/07DepartmentofComputerScienceUniversityofStuttgartOctober2001AbstractThesuccessofteachingisdependingonacoupleoffactors:onhowfarstudentsareinvolvedintolectures,onthemate-rial,itscompletenessandonco-learningofstudents.Involvementofstudentsintolecturesmeans,beingabletofollowthethoughtsoftheteacher,askquestionsandmakecomments.Thematerialmustbepresentedinasuitableformandessentialpartsofithavetobeavailableduringthewholelearningprocess,forpreparingparticipationinlecturesandexercisesaswellasforexams.Formoreeffectivelearningandtrainingofsocialabilities,workingingroupsofco-learn-ershastobeencouraged.Mobileandubiquitouscomputingoffernewpossibilitiestoachievethesegoalsbyincreasingtheawarenessinclassandsupportinganactiveparticipationofstudents.Bypromotingexistingconceptsandenablingnewwaysofapplicationsharing,theprojectSASCIA(Systemarchitecturesupportingcooperativeandinteractiveapplications)aimsatdevelop-ingaframeworkformultipleapplicationstosupportteachingincollocated,remoteandhybridscenarios.Itscoreiscom-posedofcomponentstocaptureanddistributecontextinformationaboutsessions,participantsandthoseapplicationsthatareusedduringalectureorencounteramongstudents.Aconfigurablefloorcontrolwasdesignedtocopewithawidespectrumofapplicationsandlearningsituations.Forsomecases,evenacontrolforsemanticconsistencycanbenecessary.Incombinationwithasuitableuserandsessionmanagement,awhiteboardforannotationsandarecordingfacilitytosupportlatecomersaswellassubsequentreplay,thesecomponentsareprovidingtherequiredfunctionality.Asaconsequence,SASCIAoffersremotecontrolandviewingfacilitiestoallparticipantsduringlecturesandco-learn-ingsessions.Thatmeans,usageofalotoffacilitieslikeapplications,pointingandannotatinginapplicationwindowsareavailabletoeveryonebyleavingteacherstherighttointerruptatanytime.Allpublicannotationsaswellasprivateonescanbestoredandreplayedafterwards.Byofferingstateinformationabouteverybodyinclasswithproperregardofpri-vacyconcerns,participantsareenabledtoaddresseachothermorepersonally.Thisholdsespeciallyforteachersgettingdirectfeedbackontheirpresentation.Fordiscussionswithoutateacherbeingpresent,SASCIAprovidescollaborativewaysofexperiencingteachwareandavotingmechanismtosupportadhocencountersandpeerrelationsamongpartici-pants.Asdemonstratedbymeasurementvalueswithafirstprototype,theperformanceofthewholesystemisacceptable.Fur-therevaluationandexperimentsinrealclasssituationsareplannedforthenextsemesters.1IntroductionEducationhasbecomeoneofthemostcrucialfactorsofourcommunityregardingindustryaswellasallotherareasofdailylife.Toachievehighqualityinteaching,studentshavetobeinspiredtoactivelydealwithatopic.Hence,suitablefacilitiesareneededandanappropriateatmospherehastobecreatedtoletstudentsexperiencethematerialbythem-selves,discussandtestdifferentaspects,askquestionsandmakecomments.Inshort,aconstructiveratherthananinstructivemannerofteachingisthepreferredone.Moreover,learningingroupshastobeencouragedtoincreaseitseffectivenessandtotrainsocialabilities.Afirstsupportforcollocatedscenarioswithallparticipantsbeingpresentinthesameroomwasgivenwithdesktopcom-putersconnectedbyafixednetworkandequippedwithaconferencesystemforapplicationsharing.Becauseoftheenourmouscostsandtheinflexibilityofthisapproach,itwasrealizedinspecialenvironmentsandforsmallgroupsof3learnersonly(cf.[1]).Bytransmittingaudioandvideofromlecturestodistributedgroupsofstudents,remotescenariosaresupported(e.g.[11];[41]).Thisisusefulforinstanceinsparselypopulatedregions,forhandicappedpeopleorforlifelonglearning.Inshort,thosepeoplearegainingprofitfromtele-lectureswhopreferstayinginacertainenvironmentduetoproblemswithtravelingorjusttosavetimeandcost.Buttele-presenceisnotwellacceptedduetoitslackfrommediatingthefeelingofreallybeingtogether.Moreover,tele-lectureshaveproofedratherpoorwithregardtointeractivityandstudentsbecomingactivelyinvolved[26].Evennewmechanismsandpoliciesforfloorcontroltoachievemoreflexibilityingainingaccessrightstomicrophoneandkey-board,didnotchangethissituationtremendously(cf.[42]).Nevertheless,tele-lectureshavetriggeredtherecordingofaudioandvideoincombinationwithslides,amechanismthatisusedsuccessfullytomakeavailablematerialtolearners[12],[57].Byaddingfurtherfacilities,evenannotationsasmadeon