This article presentsa collaborativeteachingenvironment thatlets students workthrough lab-basedtutorials with accessto a remotelylocated lecturer viaWebcams, email,discussion forums,and chat rooms.Remote-controlsoftware also letslecturers takecontrol of thestudents’ labcomputers totroubleshootproblems. Thisproject aims tofacilitate knowledgetransfer betweenstudents andlecturers.

Universities are starting to moveaway from posting course notesand homework assignments onstatic Web pages to a more interac-

tive mode by adopting collaborative tools fordelivering course material. The University ofUlster recently implemented a Web-based col-laboration environment called Binary Meetingsfor its lab-based tutorial classes.

During the tutorials, students access the cam-pus local area network from a computer lab andwork through the scheduled lesson that’s storedon the Web server. Typical coursework in theundergraduate networks course at the Universityof Ulster include Web-page creation, Java pro-gramming, and trace-route applications. Studentseither print the lesson or have the lesson activeon the desktop while completing it.

However, students working in lab-based classesoften need immediate assistance with theirlessons. Additional help can come from postgrad-uate demonstrators who are in the lab during thetime-tabled class or from the lecturer. However,this approach is limited for several reasons:

❚ there can be up to 80 students time-tabled inmultiple labs in a given lesson, which makesit difficult to get around to all students requir-ing help;

❚ for convenience, students may wish to workoutside the time-tabled class;

❚ lecturers find that they’re repeatedly solvingthe same problem; and

❚ lecturers must be in the lab, which cuts intotheir research time.

To counter these problems, I implementedBinary Meetings. This environment displays therelevant course material on the Web and givesaccess to group email, which lets students emaillecturers with questions. Students can alsobrowse the discussion forums to see if other class-mates have encountered their problem. They canalso post a question to the class in the forum orchat room, and transfer files using the file-transfer applet. Lecturers can also remotely con-trol student computers by configuring settingsand running programs. This article looks moreclosely at the environment’s various features andhow they work together as a teaching aid.

Binary MeetingsWhen students initially log onto Binary

Meetings, the default notes page is set to theindex page for the existing course notes. Theindex page is fixed because the course notes arethe focus of the tutorial, thus the system doesn’tlet students view another page at startup.Students can use Binary Meetings to

❚ transfer files to each other (or third parties)using the file-transfer applet,

❚ email the lecturer with a problem or use groupemail to email all their classmates,

❚ receive help from other students through thechat room,

❚ browse the discussion forums or start a newone,

❚ let the lecturer login to their machine andpoke around, and

❚ communicate using the Webcam.

As Figure 1 shows, the top frame containsgroup email, remote-control software, file shar-ing, Webcams, and chat-room applets.

All the lab tutorial notes for the networksmodule are stored online. Lecturers give studentsuser accounts for Binary Meetings at the start ofthe term and tell them to use this environment

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A Web-BasedCollaborationTeachingEnvironment

Kevin CurranUniversity of Ulster, Northern Ireland

Feature Article

during the semester. In the first session, lecturersintroduce students to the communication toolsand encourage them to use the tools when prob-lems arise.

In Figure 2, a student has logged on using anickname that another student is using.Therefore, the system prompts her to enter a newnickname. The student responds by entering“Mary_Coyle.” The right side of the chat appletlists the people logged on within the studentforum. Names preceded with the @ symbol indi-cate the forum supervisor, who can kick peopleout of the forum if they break the rules.

A remote-control component lets a lecturer(or student) take control of another computer inthe lab to assist a student or view experimentresults. The lecturer can, for example, changeclass path settings to let the student compile theJava program. This control can only occur whenthe user requesting help grants permission to thelecturer. The student can see the lecturer work-ing on the machine through mouse movements,window pop-ups, and so on. Although there aresecurity risks involved in letting students takecontrol of other students’ machines, I haven’t yetdiscovered any foul play. Most students appreci-ate this powerful component and seem to actresponsibly.

Students can access audio and video in multi-ple Webcam modes, which lets them view up tothree video feeds on the Webcam page (seeFigure 3). The default setup, however, is for twoWebcam panes in the top right of the browserwhile annotated slides appear in the middle leftof the browser window. Webcams require con-stant live feeds and generally need to run serversoftware on each computer. To overcome thislimitation with students who access the Webthrough slow modems, I implemented the

Webcam software using JavaCamPush, which isa Java applet that’s integrated as part of SurveyorCorp.’s Webcam32 (see http://surveyor.com formore information). Using JavaCamPush, aMicrosoft Internet Explorer or Netscape user canview real-time live streaming video fromWebcam32.

If both student and lecturer have Webcams,then they can see and speak to each other.Otherwise, only the lecturer’s Webcam willappear in the frame window.

EvaluationAt the end of the January 2002 semester, 50

students completed a questionnaire to evaluateBinary Meetings. Most students indicated thatthe chat room was the most useful tool in theenvironment. This was surprising because I hadassumed that the Webcam would offer a greaterbenefit because students didn’t have to be in thelecture theater to attend a lecture. However, onedrawback of the Webcam was that students hadto be at the college to view the lecturer becauseof security restrictions on the university’s net-work. Some students commented that this waspointless because if they actually had to come tothe university they might as well attend the lec-ture in person so they could interact with the lec-turer face to face.

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Figure 1. Interactive chat and video session while browsing labtutorial notes.

Figure 2. A conversation using the chat applet.

Figure 3. Webcamsincluded as Javaapplets.

Students found that the file-transfer facilitywas the least useful tool. Interestingly, I addedthis tool so that students could easily send filesto lecturers, such as complex pieces of program-ming code or assignments. Students found thistool the least useful because current universitypolicy states that assignments must be signed inat the faculty office, so they couldn’t use the toolfor this purpose. They also said that if they had adifficult piece of code or a document they want-ed the lecturer to review they preferred to meetwith the lecturer so that they could receiveimmediate feedback.

Students thought that the discussion forums(see Figure 4) and chat were essential toolsbecause they allowed collaboration with otherstudents taking the same class. They were alsoable to communicate with their lecturer in realtime to clear up any misunderstandings from alecture or other problems they had. I had hopedthat the chat and discussion forums wouldreduce students’ inhibitions about speaking upin class because the chat allows private discussionbetween the student and lecturer. Most students(90 percent) said the chat room allowed them tofeel less anxious about asking their lecturer orother students questions.

The remote desktop was an essential tool for 60percent of the students, and 40 percent found ituseful. I implemented the tool to let lecturers takecontrol of students’ lab computers for live demon-strations. However, after asking students why theyfelt the remote desktop was essential, I discoveredthat they used the tool to access their home PC.This let them view and copy documents if theyforgot files or wanted to check the configurationof something on their home computer.

The online notes were beneficial because stu-dents needed to access course material and theywere already familiar with downloading notesfrom the university Web pages.

The majority of students (70 percent) thoughtthe whiteboard feature was useful. They com-mented that the whiteboard was beneficialbecause it let them draw shapes of different typesand colors and annotate them with text.However, 30 percent of students said that theydidn’t find any real use for this tool because itwas quicker to draw a diagram on paper. Thesecomments indicate that the students didn’tunderstand that the whiteboard was intended tolet users draw diagrams to enhance discussionwith other students or the lecturer within thechat room. In such a case, the person who wasintended to see the drawing wouldn’t have beensitting beside the student to view any hand-drawn diagram and could only have viewed dia-grams they created online.

The questionnaire’s respondents stated thatthey wouldn’t feel comfortable using BinaryMeetings as their primary educational toolbecause they don’t feel that it substitutes com-pletely for the interaction and feedback availablein face-to-face tutorials. Therefore, if this type ofenvironment were to be implemented in thefuture, students said they would use it as an aidto the current educational learning and teachingprocess. When asked about the potential prob-lems that could be envisioned with this type ofenvironment, the majority of students stated thatthey were concerned that the chat facility mightbe misused.

Students felt that they developed a range ofskills through working in Binary Meetings. Theseincluded learning how to take part in chat roomand discussion room forums (78 percent) anddeveloping videoconferencing communicationskills (32 percent). Table 1 shows selected resultsof the survey.

The last set of questions related to the overalldesign aspects within the environment. A small

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Table 1. Student evaluation results.

Feedback Response Rate (%)Found group email useful 54Didn’t experience information overload 78Enjoyed online environment 92Found chat helpful 88Found video helpful 70Amount of time spent learning tools worthwhile 85Found experience enjoyable 79Felt part of a group 84

Figure 4. Screen shot of Binary Meetings discussion forum.

percentage of students (20 percent) stated thatthey didn’t understand how to use one of the fea-tures. While talking with the students, I foundthat they mainly didn’t understand how to usethe file-transfer facility. Also, some users statedthat they didn’t realize that the remote-controlsoftware had to be installed on the computerthey wanted to connect to. Including an explana-tory note on the page that allowed the student toactivate the remote desktop feature could haveeasily rectified this. Although I tested the userinterface design before launching BinaryMeetings, a small percentage of students statedthat they didn’t like the interface. However, 90percent of students didn’t have any problemswith the design, and most requests were forincreased functionality.

Students genuinely seemed to enjoy theonline tutorials. The interaction during lectures

increased each week and attendance exceededthe average for the rest of the year. A key chal-lenge for the future will be supporting the kindof interaction that’s presently available in tradi-tional classroom tutorials.

Ongoing workBinary Meetings has now become a spin-off

company of the same name. Thus, the applica-tion is changing from a purely online tutorialenvironment to a more general collaborationenvironment.

A design goal of Binary Meetings is that itshould be open and support third-party applica-tions easily. I’m in the process of linking to thereal-time translation package Systran (http://www.systransoft.com) to let people type in theirnative language and have the software performthe translation. I’ve also incorporated an inter-

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Distributed multimedia applications can facilitate stu-dent–teacher interaction in terms of conferencing as well asmultimedia educational material. Distance-learning programsfacilitate teaching and learning activities when teachers andstudents can’t meet at the same place or time. Because BinaryMeetings falls within the category of distance learning, researchinto distance learning on the Web relates to our work. Here Ireview other collaboration environments.

The Java-Enabled Telecollaboration System (JETS) is a col-laboration system designed for sharing real-time Java applets.1

Using any Java-enabled Web browser, multiple users in atelecollaboration session can share generic applications in theform of Java applets through a Web browser. JETS aims to shareapplications rather than present a tutorial in real time. JETS pro-vides a shared whiteboard with which users can request help,although it wasn’t designed for this purpose.

Web Course Tools (WebCT)2 and Blackboard (http://www.blackboard.com/) are software for managing Web-based edu-cational environments. Both packages can be used to createentire online courses or publish materials that supplement exist-ing courses. WebCT and Blackboard provide bulletin boards,online chat, online quizzes, a calendar, student self-evaluations,threaded discussions, synchronous communication (real-timechat and whiteboard), assessment tools, and collaborative workgroups. Binary Meetings differs in that it provides a portal withinteractive tools that lets students see the lecturer through aWebcam and lets the lecturer control students’ lab computersto correct a problem. WebCT and Blackboard are more of a totalsolution for presenting and managing online course material.Binary Meetings could be used to complement these services.

RC (Remote Collaboration) is a tool created at the University

of California, Davis, to enhance interaction among people usingthe Internet.3 It combines features such as chat, annotatableimages, sound messages compressed for transmission, sharedviewing of Web pages, and a collaborative writing tool. BinaryMeetings differs mainly in the interactivity provided by theWebcam along with the live audio and the remote control ofthe student’s computer.

An example of an industrial collaborative environment is Redise(remote and distributed software engineering),4 which uses anInternet conferencing system. The system allows communicationby video, audio, a shared whiteboard, and a shared text editor.The main difference between Redise and Binary Meetings is thatthe tools in Redise are all separate applications that users mustinvoke individually to conduct a session. Any collaboration envi-ronment used in an educational setting must operate as a wholeand not depend on students to invoke individual components.

References1. S. Shirmohammadi, J.C. Oliveira, and N.D. Georganas, “Applet-

Based Telecollaboration: A Network-Centric Approach,” IEEEMultiMedia, vol. 5, no. 2, April–June 1998, pp. 64-73.

2. B. Wheeler, “WebCT—WebCT Clear Leader in Online LearningPrograms,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, 11 Oct. 2000, p.34.

3. R. Blake, “RC—Remote Collaboration—Computer MediatedCommunication,” Language Learning & Technology, vol. 4, no.1, May 2000, pp. 120-136.

4. K. Jopke and M. Lother, “REDISE—Remote and DistributedSoftware Engineering,” Proc. Conf. Development and Operation ofComplex Automation Systems (EKA 99), Technical Univ. ofBraunschweig, Germany, 1999, pp. 44-48.

Related Work

active whiteboard application called E-beam(http://www.e-beam.com). In addition, I alsoenvisage that third-party applications for verticalmarkets such as construction (CAD), engineering(CAM), medicine, and others will also be withinthe overall environment.

Furthermore, I’m constructing a meetingmanager that will call and schedule an onlinemeeting. Meeting contributors will be selectedfrom a contacts database and invited by email tojoin an online meeting at a prearranged time.The meeting reminder function will emailreminders to the group at seven days, one day, 30minutes, and 5 minutes before the meeting. Eachsession can be saved, compressed, encrypted, andarchived off-site for future replay.

The implementation of Binary Meetings canbe deemed a success as the students stated it pro-vided many benefits and they showed a keeninterest in the environment. MM

Kevin Curran is a lecturer at theUniversity of Ulster, MageeCollege. He has a BSc honorsdegree in computer science fromthe University of Ulster and iscompleting a PhD in computer

science at the University of Ulster. His research is focusedon the distributed computing field, especially emergingtrends within distributed objects, dynamic protocolstacks, multimedia transport protocols, and Java.

Readers may contact Kevin Curran at theNetworking Research Group, School of Computing andMathematical Sciences, University of Ulster, MageeCampus, Northern Ireland, BT47 3QL, UK, email kj.curran@ulst.ac.uk.

For further information on this or any other computing

topic, please visit our Digital Library at http://

computer.org/publications/dlib.

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