A Collaborative Educational IS Based
on WWW
Meiqi Fang ,Tieyan Li, Jinghai Rao, Xiaomeng SuInformation School,Renmin University,Beijing, China
AbstractWhat are we going to talk about?
An educational IS An educational IS based on WWWA collaborative Educational IS based on
WWW
How we organize the article?Basic principle and our consideration in
designing such an ISIllustrate a real project -SIM_EDI to
embody the basic rulesAdjustments and our final suggestions
1.IntroductionIntroduction
Basic principlesWhy the WWW?
Easier and wider accessibilityWide range of KnowledgeMotivated learning rather than
Unmotivated learning
Why collaborative?Classify the web-based
educational IS
1.1 Classification of Web_based Educational IS
1) Real time remote educational IS
similar to the traditional classroom-
based instruction mode
learning at same time different place
An example to demonstrate both the
advantage and the limitations
1.1Classification of Web_based Educational IS2)Educational IS focused on information
sharing
Currently the most widely used style Located the student at the center of the self-teach
CircleAccess at any time any place Easy participation, enormous resource and
well_organized knowledge
Give a typical example
what we can draw from this?
1.1Classification of Web_based Educational
IS3)Collaborative educational IS Constructive Theory of Education The Multi-User Dungeon(MUD) paradigm The collaborative learning model can
help positively in applied subjects To achieve the goal of a highly functional
IS, certain extra points need to be considered besides the routine ones
1.2 Our consideration in designing such an IS
To what degree your future system can simulate the real situation--Is it the more the better?
How to server both the needs of simulation and to simplifying the systemA careful designed interfaceCertain automatic roles can be developed Monitor and keep track of the participantsAs in a game, there must be proper rules
proper chose of platform and tools
In the remainder of this article, you will
see a sample of the collaborative learning environment-- SIM_EDI. It simulates the trading process around a steel factory and its partners, allowing students to be acquainted with Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), commercial routine and the international trading pattern, through performing trading activities in this simulated environment.
2.Architecture of SIM_EDI
We describe the system which we have designed and tested in order to show how the above principles may be integrated with a real system
Now the detail :-)
2.1 Structure of SIM_EDI
A two-tier structure Roles within a LAN
2.2 Roles within a LAN Automa
tic roles
Student
perform
ed roles
System
manage
r
2.2.1 Student performed roles and SIM_EDI working
process Recycling
agents
Manufacturers
Wholesalers
Retailers
Transport
Agent
2.2.2 Automatic Roles Simulation
Bank--the key link of currency flow
Consumer--the source and destination of currency flow and merchandise flow
Customs--the pivotal agent in the flow of merchandise
Mailer--the key link of information flow
2.2.3 Instructor
the computer system administrator,
DBA etc. for the distributed computer
system
the referee/controller of the game that
take place within the simulation world
the instructor/guide/assessor in the
real world
2.3 SIM_EDI Management Center (SEMC)
An intermediary
Functions
2.4 Other system functions Business Management Function
– There is a mini MIS(Management Information System) in every user’s system.This MIS can manage the daily routine work and it closely integrate the “enterprise “ with market information.
System rewards and penalties– In an educational system, the instruction should mark
every student according to their performance in the game.
– Rewards should not be offered only in the form of money, credit or score, but need to be designed as a method that can stimulate students to remain assiduous.
– In SIM_EDI students will be “punished” when breaking a rule
– Use Email to exchange experiences and discuss questions.
2.5 Superiority of SIM_EDI on WWW
A much more real environment, oral negotiation can be avoided.
Use of WWW distinguishes domestic trade and foreign trade to some extent
Conveniently obtain knowledge in relevant fields through the Internet , not just a simple online help
A larger system leads to more variety , and so more amusements
When more users participates there is a wider exchange of experience
3 Conclusions and Suggestions
After analyzing the system, we list some of our conclusions and suggestions when exploiting a collaborative educational IS on WWW as follows:
Support multiple platforms to ensure the portability of the system
Simulate the real environment at the user interface, but make the internal implementation simple and easy to manage.
The game rules in the simulated environment should be independent of the simulation program.
Simulation should be flexible. Here: the instructor can adjust many types of parameter to alter the configuration.
3 Conclusions and Suggestions Taking account of the network load,
especially the transfer ate in the Internet, all data transfer should use short files to guarantee high speed
Even in an educational system, security should be considered. In order to avoid cheating, we can use authority management and log file. Here we use ftp to transfer the encrypted files.
There is no centralized management. Every part of the system can execute freely. The balance of the system depends on a set of game rules.
Further studyCollaborative educational IS based
on constructive theory will
broaden the development of CAE. Integrate IT with education theory
Further research and practice are
required in this field
Acknowledgment
Many thanks to Dr. Ken Moody for helping to clean up the English and to Huijiang Dong for collecting materials for the paper, also to the referees for their recommendations