Requirements for Adaptive Multimedia with VLE Integration

BPC & DEC Software Systems Research GroupSuzy Cutts Philip Davies David Newell Nick RoweBournemouth

UniversityBournemouth and

Poole CollegeBournemouth

UniversityBournemouth and

Poole College

VLE Integration Opportunity

• BU Student Portal to range of learning resources

• One stop shop• SUE survey interface• BlackBoard v8

ISSUES• Interface unintuitive, dated • Lacks interactivity• Not widely accepted in PI, by

staff or students

• Widely used across PIs• BPC• UCY, Yeovil• Weymouth

• E.g. Moodle – Cisco unit learning materials, wide adoption, many years use, flexibility

ISSUES• Embedded course materials• In place 5+ years• Lacks uniform experience

Adding Integration & Adaptation• Stage 1: Network VLEs• Stage 2: Add Common Interface/Application• Case Study – Cisco ‘VIRTUAL TRAINING MODULE’– Adaptive– Multimedia Presentation System – Contextual Supplemental Support

• Interactive (staff/student)• Adaptive FAQ

‘Requirements for an Adaptive Multimedia Presentation System with Contextual Supplemental Support Media’

Initial Requirements

• Network Laboratories at BU, BPC, Yeovil• Cisco Packet Tracer 5.1

Record animation and voice over of lab instructions

• Web Browser: Flash Multimedia Platform– Embed content description as metadata in XML– Navigation: menu adapts to content description– FAQ – dynamic segmentation of VTM, tutors answers

in HTML files linked to Flash timestamp in XML– Content /XML in VTM adapts to students’ needs

• Interface common to BB/MyBU and Moodle

Starts as Web Application - VTM

Integrate Web App in Moodle

• VTM Prototype in DEC network labs• To maintain security– Isolated from BU Network/Internet• Use For Cisco Certification Courses (UG/PG/CPD, etc)• Cannot access general labs or remotely/wireless• Cannot access from inside MyBU• (Cannot create Certification/CPD cohorts on MyBU)

• Add Web App VTM to Moodle

VTM in Moodle @ BU

Integration with Moodle @BPC

• Host Web App VTM on Moodle Server at BPC– Available to BPC (BU PI FdSc) students• learning material for any BPC network unit• Can be accessed internally via BPC Intranet/Wireless

and remotely by BPC students at home

– Cannot be accessed from MyBU PI accounts without second login to a moodle account

– Add VTM to Moodle hosted at BPC Lansdowne

Embedding VTM in Moodle @ BPC

Integration with MyBU @BU

• Add VTM to myContent– (quota issue?)

• Add menu item ‘E-Learning’ to student menu– (File locking issue in MyBU students’ accounts)

• Flash file streams within MyBU account– Can access anywhere via mybu.bournemouth.ac.uk

• Next step is to create integrated ‘Building Block’

Embedding VTM in MyBU

Blackboard/MyBU Building Block

• ‘Building Blocks’ is a Blackboard technology to integrate a Web App into the BB menu system– BB v9 ‘tag library’ files are prepared, WIP– BBv9 test installation set up at BU

• Create and test VTM as BBv9 feature– BBv9 : ‘integration with other LMS’– Allows one login to multiple LMS• Host VTMs on either platform and run on either• Host anywhere/access from anywhere

Initial Findings• Users experience of MyBU and Moodle are very

different at BU and PIs• Users experience of VTM in Moodle and

Blackboard/MyBU will be the same– Slightly easier to host VTM on Moodle at PIs– Lack of LMS integration/inflexible features in BBv8

force separate hosting of the VTM on Moodle– BBv9 claims improved integration of VLEs

• Further work on XML/Metadata/Ontology– Describe dynamic VTM content– Ontology based content retrieval engine

Demo - BlackBoard/MyBU

Dissemination

• IEEE MMEDIA2009 First International Conference on Multimedia, July 2009, Colmar, France (Joint BU-BPC Paper accepted)

• EPSRC Sandpit hosted by Southampton Uni– Digital Economy strand, £3m, joint bid

• National Cisco Academy at Birmingham BCU– Integration with Packet Tracer eAssessment Tool• Enterprise Opportunity (global user base)

• Enhancing the Student Experience – UG & CPD

Questions ?