Next-Generation Educational Software

1. Next-Generation Educational Software Ed-Media 2002 June 27 Andries van Dam Brown Universityand theNSF STC for Graphics and Visualization

2. Usage Agreement • These slides may be downloaded and used iff they are correctly attributed and the user sends Andy van Dam (avd@cs.brown.edu) email describing where and how they are to be used. • If any modifications or corrections or additions are made to these slides, the user agrees to send these changes to Andy van Dam with full permission to use them.

3. Acknowledgements • Sponsors • NSF, Sun, Macromedia, Microsoft, Taco • Contributors • Rosemary M. Simpson • Anne M. Spalter • Sascha Becker (biology demo) • Julian Wong, Jim Rusconi, David Kelley, Michael Kowalski, Mark Oribello

4. Roadmap • Motivation • Microworlds • Exploratories • Clip Models • Research agenda • A modest proposal • Bulletin: education one of top grand challenges at CRA Grand Challenge workshop

5. Motivation • Society mandates • lifelong learning • just-in-time learning • Skills needed • adaptability – learning to learn • critical thinking • insightful problem solving • Technology provides • commodity hardware • federation of devices • Web-based access, search, and collaboration

6. Thomas Edison • Motion pictures as educational tool • “Scholars will soon be instructed through the eye.” • - 1913 • “I believe that the motion picture is destined to revolutionize our • educational system and that in a • few years it will supplant largely, • if not entirely, the use of • textbooks.” • - 1922 Jesse

7. Edison’s Legacy • Bell Labs science films (1950s) • Frank Capra, director • high school as target audience • superlative and memorable exemplars • Hemo the Magnificent • Our Mr. Sun • FantasticVoyage

8. BenjaminDarrow • Radio as educational tool: • “radio may come as a vibrant and challenging textbook of the air.” • - 1932 • Founder, first director of the Ohio School of the Air • “Radio: the Assistant Teacher”, 1932

9. Alan Kay ... Montessori’s idea was that school should always be an extended kindergarten and it’s the job of people who design the kindergarten tomake what happens when kids use it for their own reasons more interesting than the regular world is. I think that's an excellent way of thinking aboutdesigning a learning system.” Brown/MIT Vannevar Bush symposium • (October 1995): • http://www.cs.brown.edu/memex/Bush_Symposium_Panels.html

11. Seymour Papert • Computer + student choice as educational tool: • “There won’t be schools in the future…. I think the computer will blow up the school. … but this will happen only in communities of children who have access to computers on a sufficient scale.” • “Trying to Predict the Future”, Popular Computing, October 1984

12. And Other Pioneers • Andrea diSessa • Boxer • Doug Engelbart • NLS • Hermann Maurer • Hyperwave • David Merrill • TICCIT • Ted Nelson • hypertext, Dream Machines • Bruce Sherwood • physics • Patrick Suppes • logic • … • John Anderson • ACT • Donald Bitzer • Plato • Alfred Bork • physics • Alan Borning • ThingLab • John Seely Brown • West and Sophie • Gregory Crane • Perseus • Marc Brown & Robert Sedgewick • BALSA

13. Success Stories in Science/Math • Graphing calculator • ACT, PAL, PACT cognitive tutors Vpython • for Physics teaching • Mathematica • Geometer’s sketchpad

14. Yet, for each new technology • { euphoria and hype struggle to produce material for the new medium mature judgment disappointment and cynicism wait for the next technology that willbe the answer • } • -anon.

15. Why Now’s The Right Time To Be Excited Again • Moore’s law commoditizes the necessary platforms - diversity: from graphing calculators to dynabooks • hypermedia, 3D graphics will be ubiquitous • decent (multi-modal) UIs possible • Higher B/W networking, Web distribution • tools multiplying, moving down from professionals • flexible, extensible roll-your-own courses, JIT learning • but too much of today’s content is just repurposed, not next-generation that takes advantage of the new capabilities - educational learning-object consortia, e.g.,NSF’s NSDL and EU’s Ariadne

16. Genres Lectures both synchronous & asynchronous Classical CAI Bork, Plato Traditional multimedia Voyager Intelligent CAI/tutoring PACT, Biologica Student programming & scripting Logo, Squeak, Alice • Simulations • The Sims, Simxxx • Social simulations • Engines for Education • Multi-player games & worlds • SimCountry, MooseCrossing

17. Our Pedagogical Stance • Constructivist: learning by doing • Montessori • self-paced, structured environment with self-revealing materials • Piaget • developmental stages and age-appropriate concepts • Papert • learning powerful ideas by programming • Kay • Dynabook -> Squeak • Spiral approach • Bruner – “…any subject can be taught effectively in some intellectually honest form to any child at any stage of development.” • Multiple points of view and goals • Multiple learning styles (Gardner)

18. Roadmap • Motivation • Microworlds • Exploratories • Clip Models • Research agenda • A modest proposal

19. Microworlds: Exploratories D • Highly interactive • Simulation-based applets • geometric structure • behavior • parameters that are exposed through interfaces • to control and experiment • Made up of re-usable software components • Web-based delivery of applets embedded • in a hypermedia context • More than 50 in Computer Graphics alone

20. Roadmap • Motivation • Microworlds • Exploratories • Clip Models • Research agenda • A modest proposal

21. Microworlds: Clip Models • Simulation-based model • geometric structure • behavior • parameters that are exposed through interfaces • to control and experiment • correctly reflect ontology and semantics of domain • “Clip” suggests ready-made objects for easy embedding in different contexts • e.g., hypermedia explanation • also want to combine clip models

22. Family of Clip Models • One clip model/concept doesn’t suffice: need a family • levels of detail • e.g., from anatomical to microscopic views of kidney • levels of sophistication • e.g., from Bohr atom to quantum mechanical atom • Additional variations in either model or view/controller • learning styles • e.g., verbal/textual, visual (1D, 2D, 3D, …), kinesthetic, … • pedagogical strategies • lecture aid, sandbox, guided exploration, laboratory, … • device types • e.g., from handhelds to immersive virtual reality

23. Families of InteroperableClip Models (1/2) • Clip models can be stand-alone but often will be composed and combined (edu-beans on steroids) • hierarchical composition • e.g., cardiovascular system is composed of heart, arteries, veins, blood, … • associations of peers • e.g., heart, lungs, brain, kidneys, … for respiration • must import, export suitable parameters • Difficult to compose models that weren’t co-designed • paucity of collections of reusable learning objects • meta-data is necessary but not sufficient

24. Families of InteroperableClip Models (2/2) • Killer problem: how to provide adaptive focus+context • allows learner to drill down or explore at will • interoperability among models of different levels of sophistication and, potentially, simulation, • e.g., how does senior-high school heart model interoperate with fifth-grade lung and vascular system models? • plethora of languages and specialized tools • e.g., Java, Squeak, Flash, Excel, Alice, Maya, … • Requires design for interoperability • software engineering plus instructional design plus …

25. Additional Complexities • Stand-alone and/or embedded within multiple contexts (e.g., lecture, lab, e-book…) • Adapt to different and as yet undefined learning environments • synchronous and asynchronous • virtual and real classrooms • on-demand and collaborative learners • spontaneous study groups • …

26. Luxo Jr. • Pixar award-winning animation

27. Level of Geometric Detail (and material spec)

28. Inputs Bulb color Bulb wattage Electricity (ON or OFF) … Outputs Light intensity Light color State of (ON or OFF) … Mousing over models brings up menu-based parameter settings • Model with sci-viz feature: red shows temperature gradient • Model with wiring exposed

29. Light Bulb Is Also A Clip Model… simple interior microscopic view of heated filament outer geometry more realistic structural detail

30. High Med Low One-way Three-way User configurable LAMP Geometry LOD Structural LOD Bulb function Bulb wattage … Moving parts Wiring Just geometry Show electrical Show thermal reaction Show photons Emits light Setting Up a Clip Model Emits light

31. Using the Clip Models • Student wires lamp and chooses filament materials • Adds clip models • a power source (the outlet) • Turns on light and sees different temperatures of light create different spectral breakdowns • a prism

32. Demo:a clipmodel “storyboard” Tour through a Digital Human – all faked with a variety of tools (Flash, Director, Maya,…) Project leader: Sascha Becker Brown 1997 A.B. in Computer Science, with honors 1997-2001 software developer Construct Internet Design Quokka Sports Mills College 2002 Post-Baccalaureate Pre-Medical program Applying to medical school for 2003

33. Roadmap • Motivation • Microworlds • Exploratories • Clip Models • Research agenda • A modest proposal

34. What you saw in this demo • Descent through a structural hierarchy • muscle->cell->myofilament->myosin head->mitochondrion • Multiple modalities • schematic and realistic 2D and 3D • passive observation and interactivity • Multiple levels of sophistication • Myosin contraction • Krebs cycle • Multiple levels of detail • Krebs cycle • altitude demo • Interoperability at different levels of detail

35. What you didn’t see • Real models • no simulation • approximate geometry • faked behavior • families, e.g., for the heart, faked • Real interoperability • among simulations at the same level • among simulations at different levels • Real navigation

36. Clip Models - LOD

37. What would it take to turn this demo into reality? (1/4) • Instructional design – user point of view • multiple access points • asynchronous - from search engines, link lists, browsing, … • synchronous – from coherent curriculum • different levels of detail present at same time • global contexts plus multiple local focus + context • selective spatial and logical (level-of-detail) zooming • seamless interaction • bi-directional travel between models • saving state – taking your work away with you • synchronous and asynchronous tele-collaboration • smooth transition to other modes of work

38. What would it take to turn this demo into reality? (2/4) • Instructional design – technical point of view (1/3) • ever-expanding family of clip models for each concept • interoperability across families for clip models at different levels • exchange information among the components in unanticipated ways – how to anticipate what sorts of parameters might need to be exposed • this interoperability problem is what requires more than just standard components • frameworks for assembly

39. What would it take to turn this demo into reality? (3/4) • Instructional design – technical point of view (2/3) • solving the interoperatbility lies at the intersection of • simulation science • software engineering • ontology and semantics building • also involves deep issues of… • instructional design • user interface design • adaptive hypermedia/agents • …

40. What would it take to turn this demo into reality? (4/4) • Instructional design – technical point of view (3/3) • may be impossibly difficult combinatorial explosion to solve in general • necessitates domain-specific approaches that weaken generality of concept • brute force technique • implement all necessary parameters for every model at deepest level • almost certainly computationally intractable • requires mixing and matching of stubs and real data for parameter slots

41. Grand Challenge-scope project(1/2) • Digital Human project excellent start • their ontology currently concerned with anatomy, has to go down to the cellular level

42. Grand Challenge-scope project(2/2) • Clip models are embedded in a context • how do you design persistent learning environments that immerse learners for long periods of time in content? • time on task is most correlated with performance • like learning a language by immersion in the country • what interfaces encourage interactivity and team learning? • how do you embed assessment into learning objects? • how do we measure critical thinking and problem solving? • how do we build learning environments where students can self-reflect, or talk to experts, or get prolonged mentoring? • how do we teach conceptual learning?

43. Roadmap • Motivation • Microworlds • Exploratories • Clip Models • Research agenda • A modest proposal

44. Learning Federation (1/3) • Will this massive undertaking happen without external stimulation? • Neither the government nor industry will do it as a matter of course • government underspends horribly on education R&D • DOD does invest in R&D for training • industry is no better and has been hugely impacted by dot.bomb • unlike video game improvements, this will not happen without some sort of industry-government planning and funding

45. Learning Federation (2/3) • Non-profit, Sematech model • industry-led, industry-government-university collaboration • funds research partnerships • interdisciplinary teams • old-style ARPA/ONR management • precompetitive basic and applied research • prototype next-generation learning environments and “courses” • identify and test concepts to be moved into practice • provide flexible and efficient management • address intellectual property issues • assess ROI • help disseminate result • encourage formation of new research teams and consortia

46. Learning Federation (3/3) • Research areas • learning science (perceptual, cognitive and social science) • content and instructional design • evaluation • assessment • learning tools and technology • learning management systems • monitor innovations in hardware and software

47. Where is Learning Federation Now? • Still in formative stage • initial funding by several companies and NSF for planning and research roadmap effort • initial research roadmap at NSF in November, 2000 • eight others planned • fruitful discussion with Larry Grossman re “Digital Promise”/DO IT

48. “To Infinity and Beyond…”

49. Resources • Brown University’s Exploratories Project • Digital Promise/DO IT (Digital Opportunity Investment Trust) • Digital Human project • Ariadne Foundation • CRA (Computing Research Association) Grand Challenge position paper • “Reflections on Next Generation Software” by Andy van Dam • “Speculation on a Future Learning Environment” by Randy Hinrichs and Henry Kelly

50. The End