Online Courseware Manager for Computer Science

1. CS.UNR e-Learning Online Courseware Manager for Computer Science Kishor K. Waikul MS Computer Science, May 2003. Department of Computer Science, University of Nevada, Reno. 03.27.2003

2. Outline • Introduction • Highlights of the similar courseware systems • Need for yet another courseware manager • Benefits of ASP.NET • CS.UNR e-learning features • Future work

3. Introduction

4. What is courseware ? • Definition of the courseware “Content-specific instructional software, which functions to generate instruction with the support of instructional delivery systems” • Five elements of courseware: • Content • Learning/Pedagogical method • Learning objective • Medium • Architecture - Z. Zhiting

5. Why go online ? • Influence of rising enrollments • Challenges faced by evaluation and feedback methods • Greater demand for asynchronous learning and Distance Learning • Innovations in web development technology • Exciting advances in communication tools and multimedia

6. Need integrated ? • Diverse but related modules • Ease of use • Data sharing and integrity • Content organization • One login – session management

7. CDM <Courseware Development Methodology> • Definition of CDM “A collection of procedures, techniques and tools, and documentation aids, which will help the courseware developers in their efforts to implement a new courseware.” • Standards for CDM • Usability • Aesthetics • Educational efficiency - S. Retalis

8. Planning and Design Stage Development Stage Performance and Evaluation Stage CAA <Computer Assisted Assessment> • Planning and design • Pedagogic considerations • Feedback plan • Development • Creation of resources • Execution of plan • Performance and evaluation • Evaluate feedback • Improve student experience

9. Highlights of the existing systems

10. WebCT Campus Edition® Course Utilities Course Components Course Builder Designer Map Content Assistant My WebCT Course Tools Course Homepage Content Modules Syllabus Calendar Grade Book Whiteboard Chat Discussion Forum http://www.webct.com

11. Blackboard 5® Content Management Calendar Grade book Personal organizer Course cartridges Website builder Custom workspace Communication Discussion board Virtual Classroom Messenger Collaborative browse Shared whiteboard Assessment Multimedia QA Tests and Quizzes Automated release and recall Instant feedback http://www.blackboard.com

12. Centra Symposium® Live Interaction Asynchronous Learning Virtual classroom IP AV Conference Live labs Shared whiteboard Text chat Learning objects Save, Replay events Access events before and after live session Rich Content Shared desktop Sync. Web tours Agenda builder 28.8 kbps support Satellite servers http://www.centraone.com

13. eMind® Platform Knowledge Objects No installation Corporate IMS Calendar Reporting tools Import/Export tools Reorganize course Per-Client editing Searchable library Linking objects Offline training Manage events Combined results Tracking tools Event emails Live Instructor Remote classrooms Streaming AV Virtual Classroom Interactivity http://www.emind.com

14. Macromedia Web Learning Studio® = Authorware 5.2 + Flash 5 + Dreamweaver 4 = e-learning authoring tools Engaging Features Rich multimedia support Built-in interactivity Powerful navigation tools Streaming mp3, video Low bandwidth support Seamless product integration Instructional Features Instructional templates Built-in data tracking AICC Compliance Quiz framework AICC = Aviation Industry CBT Committee http://www.macromedia.com

15. Motivation

16. Motivation • Rising population of the computer science courses • Grading delays and overlapping assignments • Need for automatic grading • Online feedback on programming assignments • Anytime and anywhere accessibility • Miscellaneous tools: • Calendar • Automated email sorting • Class agenda • Grade book • QA and assignment tools

17. Benefits of ASP.NET

18. Benefits of ASP.NET • Object-oriented compiled code versus interpreted scripts • Managed code with Common Language Runtime (CLR) • Event-driven programming model • Rich .NET base class library • Scalable architecture with extensive caching • Advanced session management • Isolation of unsafe code • Intelligent server side controls mapping into HTML • Easy deployment with assembly model

19. CS.UNR e-Learning

20. Role-based workspaces • Instructor workspace • Student workspace • Teaching assistant workspace • Administrator workspace Access to the workspace through login terminal on the home page • Session established through separate login • Link for registration into the system • Encrypted irreversible passwords

21. Instructor workspace

22. Course tools Add course • Required fields shown in red title • Date fields are read-only • Initiates a transaction consisting • Course entry into course list • Creation of course table • Creation of class schedule • Course available at next sign-in in a drop-down list of courses

23. Course tools Edit course information • Edits active course • Syllabus file overwritten if new file uploaded • Course delete option • Course deletion cascaded by deletion of dependent records

24. Course tools Events manager: add event • Add events for selected date • Hide events from students or TA • Personal organizer

25. Course tools Events manager: show week • Display events in the week of selected date • Only one event in the detail view • Events can be edited or deleted • Color coded calendar

26. Course tools Events manager: show today • Displays events for current date • Events can be edited or deleted • This module to appear on the welcome screen for instructor

27. Course tools Resource manager: add resource • Resource categories: • Presentation • Other files (PDF, multimedia) • Hyperlinks to resources • Descriptive notes • Dynamic input controls • Configurable maximum file upload size File type: presentation Text type: descriptive notes

28. Course tools Resource manager: show resources • Browse resources for all the courses • Sorting by title, course name, type, and date posted • Filter by course • Search for a particular resource • Option for deleting resource • Preview resource

29. Course tools Class organizer • Different from events • Class plan in-advance • Helps student prepare before class • Tasks can be added to selected class • Attach resource • Add or delete class • Automatic sequencing of classes

30. Student tools Show students • List of students registered for the active course • Email address • Sorting by first name, last name, and email address • Option to remove student from course • 20 students shown per page

31. Student tools Course registration switch • Turn on/off course self-registration • Avoids the task of manually adding students to the course • When registration is turned on, the course appears in the list of open courses

32. Student tools Grade book: grade formula • Assign percentage grade to each course component • Sum is verified against 100% on update • Percentiles used for calculation of final grade and current position of the student in the class

33. Student tools Grade book: edit grades • Select course component and update points • Points verified against maximum points if available • Sorting by student’s name and points • Required by manually graded course components

34. Assignment tools QA bank: add question Multiple choice question • Question types: • Multiple choice • Fill in blanks or short answer • True/false • Categories of questions: • Quiz • Self-test • Assignment • Difficulty levels • Feedback on answers • Negative scoring allowed

35. Assignment tools QA bank: edit question • Displays list of questions • Form used for adding question is loaded with current values • Search list for specific text in the question title • Question type cannot be modified

36. Assignment tools Manage files Assignment status icons • Files stored in the database • Update grades for programming assignments • Grading status icons • List of files for each student and file information • Date submission decided by last submitted file • Search students by name • Links for file comment and preview

37. Assignment tools Feedback on files • Select line of code and post comments • List of previously posted distinct comments from all the graders for the same assignment • Already commented lines shown in red font. • Module available to the instructors and TAs

38. Assignment tools Preview files • Preview commented files as seen by the students • Commented lines shown in different font and background • File information shown on the top • Link to download original code file

39. Student workspace

40. Course tools Course registration Course information module • List of courses open for registration • Link for detailed course information • Registers student for the course • Course added to the list of the courses taken by student

41. Assignment tools File upload • Enter number of files to upload • Select target assignment • Status message displayed reflecting success of the upload process • Files can be later added for an assignment

42. Future work

43. Instructor workspace • Create assignments • Grading daemon • Integrated email • Discussion board • Course website manager • Help topics

44. Student workspace • Grade book • Previous assignments and quizzes • Answer quiz • Manage files • Test run programming assignments • Discussion board • Help topics

45. Teaching Assistant workspace • Subset of tools from instructor workspace • Grading and feedback tools • Access to course email • Discussion board • Help topics

46. Administrator workspace • Database administration • Password renewals • Remove users • Cleanup during semester breaks • Help topics • More tools will be added as required

47. Thank you

48. Q & A