A Collaborative Educational IS Based on WWW

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A Collaborative Educational IS Based on WWW

• Meiqi Fang ,Tieyan Li, Jinghai Rao, Xiaomeng Su
• Information School,
• Renmin University,
• Beijing, China

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Abstract

• What are we going to talk about?
• An educational IS
• An educational IS based on WWW
• A collaborative Educational IS based on WWW
• How we organize the article?
• Basic principle and our consideration in
  designing such an IS
• Illustrate a real project -SIM_EDI to embody the
  basic rules
• Adjustments and our final suggestions

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1.Introduction

• Basic principles
• Why the WWW?
• Easier and wider accessibility
• Wide range of Knowledge
• Motivated learning rather than Unmotivated
  learning
• Why collaborative?
• Classify the web-based educational IS

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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

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1.1Classification of Web_based Educational IS

• 2)Educational IS focused on information sharing
• Currently the most widely used style
• Located the student at the center of the
  self-teach Circle
• Access at any time any place
• Easy participation, enormous resource and
  well_organized knowledge
• Give a typical example
• what we can draw from this?

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1.1Classification of Web_based Educational IS

• 3)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

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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 system
• A careful designed interface
• Certain automatic roles can be developed
• Monitor and keep track of the participants
• As in a game, there must be proper rules
• proper chose of platform and tools

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• 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.

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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 -)

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2.1 Structure of SIM_EDI

• A two-tier structure
• Roles within a LAN

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2.2 Roles within a LAN

• Automatic roles
• Student performed roles
• System manager

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2.2.1 Student performed roles and SIM_EDI
working process

• Recycling agents
• Manufacturers
• Wholesalers
• Retailers
• Transport Agent

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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

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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

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2.3 SIM_EDI Management Center (SEMC)

• An intermediary
• Functions

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2.4 Other system functions

• Business Management Function
• There is a mini MIS(Management Information
  System) in every users 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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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Further study

• Collaborative 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

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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