Recent development in multimedia e-learning technologies

Multimedia and networking technologies have significantly impacted on our daily activities, particularly in terms of how we learn. Nowadays, classroom teaching no longer simply relies on chalk and blackboard as the prime medium for course dissemination. E-learning technologies have made it possible to provide a virtual classroom environment on the Web through supporting teacher-student and student-student communications, course material distribution as well as online student assessments. They provide students with more control over their learning schedule and pace. On top of this, multimedia technologies further offer students different forms of media to match their learning styles, leading to enhancements of their learning effectiveness. This extended introduction discusses the latest e-learning specific multimedia technologies, their research challenges and future trends from both pedagogical and technological perspectives. We also summarize the papers included in this special issue

Design and Development of an E-Learning Management System

The trend of e-learning technologies is expanding fast. Web-based learning environments are becoming very common in the higher education institutions. Nowadays e-learning management systems are very popular. Many universities throughout the world deliver educational programs via the Internet. Developments of e-learning systems are generating great impact in the field of education services to improve the teaching and learning process, and overcome geographical displace. In recent years, various kinds of Internet technologies have become available for developers to implement such e-learning system that provide an e-learning gateway on the Internet. The rapid advancements in information and communication technologies, especially the networking and multimedia, have led to the development of many advanced e-learning systems these days. A user-friendly interface and a sophisticated data model are the essential design consideration to make the e-learning system easy-to-use for the instructors and learners. The need for such architecture is critical for designing the system and standards development. The system is developed under Computer Supported Cooperative Work framework and web portal technology. The system integrates all the critical and valuable communication tools that effectively improve the collaboration in an e-learning environment

VRLAB: an interactive 3D learning environment

The recent information and networks explosion has greatly affected the fields of education and distance learning, leading to the development of educational material that provides support for interactive communication between trainers and learners. Web technology in particular stands as a medium with great educational value, mainly due to its ability to grant access to training material without any spatial or temporal constraints, thus motivating and attracting new users to experience this novel form of learning. As the Internet constantly evolves, new technologies tend to influence the domains of e-learning. The combination of the Web, multimedia and 3D graphics has resulted to the implementation of new training tools bearing advanced navigational and interactive functionalities along with appealing user interfaces that encourage learners to actively participate in the learning process. Moreover, 3D Virtual Worlds have surfaced making available new forms of visualization, distribution and presentation of training material. The objectives of the present paper are to discuss the educational value of 3D virtual worlds and the emerging challenges regarding the analysis, design and development of these innovative user interfaces. VRLAB is an e-learning system created solely to address the aforementioned issues. It offers a three dimensional multimedia user interface with extended interactivity, permitting learners to participate virtually in studying and performing simulated lab experiments for a course in Computer Graphics

Standards and Costs for Quality Management of E-Learning Services

The proportions of the technological development in the field of communications and information represent an irrefutable premise for significant changes in all the spheres of human life. Corroborated with the advance of the Internet recorded in the last decade, these changes form the perfect recipe for the emergence (ever since the '90s), functioning and development of flexible forms of labour at distance, using the technology of information and communication. Among the first domains where the impact of technology is very strong may be named education, marketing, advertising and commerce; the forms of manifestation are materialized in e-learning, cyber-marketing, online advertising and electronic commerce. But the simple use of technology does not automatically assure the success of the new forms of activity. These transformations of the traditional into digital, of the classic into virtual must be accompanied by the adequate support with respect to the quality of services, standards, platforms and the hardware and software technologies. If we are referring to the educational domain, we have to analyze the e-learning phenomenon or tele-education in its spectacular evolution in such a recent history. Quality represents a landmark of major importance in all the fields of modern society based on knowledge. From the perspective of tele-education, quality assurance must be focalized on three main directions: the quality of the actual educational process (class/course support, platform, technology, etc.); the quality of the instructor (professional training, qualification, specialization, pedagogic ability, teaching method, etc.); the quality of the person undergoing the course/class (training, knowledge thesaurus, involvement, accumulation wish, etc.). Also, like in any activity, quality standard reporting means an economic approach by quality costs. Theat means that the good product or quality services in e-learning are very strongly linked with educational multimedia production and good costs.quality, standards, e-learning, technology, cost

Multimedia Resources as a Complementary tool of Teaching and Learning. Case Study of a Game Designed to Teach Immunology Contents.

In 2003 the University of Porto recognized the potential of internet based learning systems and in that year started a project to implement the use of learning management systems (LMS) in classes based on a blended-learning model. The implementation of this project at universities large as the University of Porto (U.Porto) was a complex process that necessarily involved a large number of actors, so it was necessary for the University to define new ways to resolve their constraints. One of the strategies defined was through the Unit for New Technologies in Education (GATIUP) gives direct support to the teachers who wants to use e-learning platforms and also support the development of relevant educational multimedia contents to be used in the courses. In the last years the number of teachers at U.Porto interested in multimedia contents with educational purposes grew, and the number of requests that arrive at the unit increased. To demonstrate the importance of this type of resources we intend to shortly present here one of ours recent works: a game based on basic immunology learning contents. In this paper we intent to provide a brief description of what is one of the biggest concerns of today's University of Porto, the support of use and development of educational multimedia resources. We intend in a few words present a successful example of an Immunology course that uses multimedia contents - specifically games conceptualized by students - to support learning

E/Valuating new media in language development

This paper addresses the need for a new approach to the educational evaluation of software that falls under the rubric "new media" or "multimedia" as distinct from previous generations of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) software. The authors argue that present approaches to CALL software evaluation are not appropriate for a new genre of CALL software distinguished by its shared assumptions about language learning and teaching as well as by its technical design. The paper sketches a research-based program called "E/Valuation" that aims to assist language educators to answer questions about the educational effectiveness of recent multimedia language learning software. The authors suggest that such program needs to take into account not only the nature of the new media and its potential to promote language learning in novel ways, but also current professional knowledge about language learning and teaching

Distance, multimedia and web delivery in surveying and GIS courses at the University Of Southern Queensland

[Abstract]: The University of Southern Queensland has been involved with the distance education of surveying courses for over 25 years. In recent times, staff of the Surveying and Land Information Discipline, and the University as a whole, have embarked on multimedia enhancement and web delivery of curricula. This paper examines some of the initiatives undertaken to enhance the delivery of educational materials and discusses some of the issues involved in the effective delivery of distance education materials. The significant experience in the delivery of traditional educational materials has proven to be an advantage in the repackaging and enhancement of teaching materials. Delivery of education to off-campus students requires a significant support infrastructure which is often not recognised by new entrants into the flexible delivery arena. Traditional support mechanisms such as phone, fax and standard media (eg. videos, audio tapes etc) are being replaced by email, ‘electronic’ discussion groups, CDs and internet resources. These enhancements, when developed professionally, require a significant commitment of resources and expertise and often require a team approach to their design and development. Access by off-campus students to internet services and affordable software packages also require careful consideration in the design and offering of distance education materials