Compur. Educ. Vol. 8. No. 4, pp. 415-477, 1984 Printed in Great Britain

0360-1315/84 $3.00 + 0.00 Pergamon Press Ltd

VIDEO INTERACTIVE LEARNING SYSTEM (VILS)

SERGE GAUDREAU’ and M. W. CHANT

‘Department of National Defence, Ottawa, Canada KlA OK2 and 2Sony of Canada

BACKGROUND

The Canadian Forces has a requirement to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of unsophis- ticated equipments such as the Source Data Automation @DA) terminals used by supply technicians in the automated supply system. One promising technique is the use of low-fidelity simulation where students are given a self-paced course incorporating visual material stored on a video tape recorder. The visual material simulates the actual equipment the student in learning to operate.

OBJECTIVE

The central purpose of the VILS project is to develop the hardware, software and courseware

necessary to simulate the operation of the SDA device currently in use in the CF Supply System. The introduction of low fidelity simulation to replace the use of operational equipment in teaching personnel to operate these devices could result in considerable savings in money, equipment and time. To meet that requirement, microcomputer technology combined with video tape devices appears to offer the necessary interaction to ensure maximum efficiency.

HARDWARE

The configuration of the VILS is shown in Fig. 1 and is adaptable to videodisc players.

The Master Control Station is made up of:

a video cassette recorder (VCR) and a monitor to test and implement the courseware; a hard disc of 10 Megabytes capacity able to store the data file, the program file and the student

records file; a printer to produce hard copy of files; and a Central Control Unit (CCU) comprising an SMC-70 microcomputer with two floppy disc

drives and a communication card with a VCR driver. The CCU is capable of independent operation while the learning stations are in use.

Each learning station is made up of:

a terminal connected in series via RS 232 communication line; a video cassette player (VCP) and a monitor, under the control of the terminal and the

courseware, to supply the sound and visuals required; and a touch sensitive screen capability is being added to allow a higher degree of student interaction.

Since the system is designed for self-paced instruction, each learning station can function

independently under its own courseware program downloaded from the hard disc file.

SOFTWARE

Since VILS is above all a Training Development Research Project it is critical to integrate software that is user friendly, fast to operate and easy to use in courseware design by instructional staff with no computer experience. Three different software packages are implemented: System Operating Software, Application Software and a Courseware Authoring Language.

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476 SEWE GAUDKEAU and M. W. CHAN

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Fig. 1. Video Interactive Learning System (VILS)

The System Operating Sgftware is written for speed of operation, ease of program development,

and includes a HELP function. It controls the communication to the twelve learning stations and comprises:

(a) A Data File Structure designed for minimum storage requirements and fast access times. The

design of the structure takes into consideration the average human response time and ensures low latency by initiating interactive activity using character displays or video material from the VCP. Techniques of multiple dumps are a design feature when courseware control programs are exceedingly long. Such dumps are an integral part of the courseware control program.

(b) A Records File designed to feature minimum space, ensuring security and accessibility by authorized personnel. The scheme is capable of conforming to format requirements of the user and still conforms with standard practice of the Computer Industry. The Records File provides complete student file, time (sign on/sign off time), courseware evaluation and general progress of students. It is capable of providing Computer Managed Instruction (CMI) features for about 500 students/year for 10 h of instructional time.

The Application Software is developed to simulate the functions of the SDA. The initializing

procedures of the SDA Operator’s Console functions, i.e. function lamp test, key turn-on and sound alarm test, and power on procedures are simulated and displayed on the monitor.

The interaction function and result of activating the SDA keyboard and its message display unit

are simulated by the terminal keyboard and the monitor. If the result of an input requires display of motion sequence, for example operation of the card reader/punch unit or lamps on the operator’s console, the relevant sequence on the VCP is called up by the terminal and displayed on the monitor.

The inclusion of corresponding audio stimuli and video motion allows the student to realize articulatory movements. Colour video and graphics enhance reality and provide extended motivation.

The Courseware Authoring Language is user friendly and designed for efficiency, speed and ease

of use. The language is capable of being used by instructional staff without computer background using the instructional material designer process, e.g. stimulus prompts, stimulus instructive, questions and confirmation.

The Authoring Language has the following features:

(a) it is page oriented:

pages are consecutively numbered: a table of contents is used to define and list each page by its number, title and type; branching, marking and other operational instructions are also defined and listed in the table

of contents.

(b) has three major types of pages: TEXT PAGE: 40 x 25 format, single key input to determine branching, graphics overlay and

marking information; FORMS PAGE: 80 x 25 or 40 x 25 format, graphics overlay, programmed field with hidden

data, multiple key input to match hidden data and marking information;

Video Interactive Learning System 477

VIDEO PAGE: start and stop anywhere on the cassette and allow automatic branch back to digital page or wait for a key input.

(c) has two types of graphics:

DRCS (Dynamically redefinable character sets) stored in the font table with font editor provided;

VECTOR GRAPHICS using simple command format ie, LINE, CIRCLE, BOX, etc.

COURSEWARE

This project is conducted at the Canadian Forces School of Administration and Logistics

(CFSAL) at CFB Borden within the self-paced TQ 3 Supply Technician program. The courseware is designed by a contractor under the Sponsored Program Division of the National Film Board in accordance with the Systems Approach to Training. A task analysis was completed by the contractor and evaluated by DND staff. Learning objectives were then developed and have been grouped into six modules of instruction. Programming edit is carried out by the Training Development Company of the Canadian Forces Training Development Centre to optimize the instructional strategy. Technical and grammatical edit is carried out by the Supply Training Company and Standards Company of CFSAL to ascertain the accuracy of the content material and ensure that the level of comprehension is appropriate for the target population. The production of the video material is being contracted through the Sponsored Program Division of the National Film Board. Each module of instruction is then entered into the system by the instructional staff of CFSAL using the authoring language. The evaluation of the courseware and of the overall project is performed by the Training Development Officer of CFSAL.

CONCLUSION

The VILS has been developed to meet the needs of a specific learning situation requiring a

definite degree of simulation. The cost-effectiveness of this approach is being analysed and looks very promising in the initial stage of its application. Data is being collected and will be available by March 1985. Analysis of the results will determine to which extent this system may be implemented.

Note: The VILS is a Research and Development project sponsored by the Chief Research and

Development Branch of DND.