108_[International_Conference_on_Web-based_Le,_Reggie_232

Web-b sedLearning:

Technology andPedagogy

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editors

Reggie Kwan

Open Universityof HongKing

Joseph Fong

City University of Hong Kong

Proceedings of the 4th International Conference

Web-b sed Learning:

Technology and Pedagogy

Hong Kong 1 - 3 August 2005

vpWorld Scientific CHENNAI

-N E W JERSEY * L O N D O N * SINGAPORE B E l J l N G * S H A N G H A I HONG KONG T A I P E I

Published by
World ScientificPublishingCo. Re. Ltd.
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USA office: 27 Warren Street, Suite 401-402, Hackensack, NJ 07601

UKoffice: 57 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9HE

British Library Cataloguing-in-PublicationData
A cataloguerecord for this book is availablefrom the British Library.

WEB-BASED LEARNING
Technology and Pedagogy
Proceedings of the 4th International Conference
Copyright 0 2005 by World ScientificPublishingCo. Re. Ltd
All rights reserved. This book, or parts there05 may not be reproduced in any form or by any means,
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system now known or to be invented, without written permission from the Publisher.

Forphotocopyingof material in this volume,pleasepay acopying fee throughthe CopyrightClearance
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is not required from the publisher.

ISBN 98 1-256-430-6 (pbk)

Printed in Singaporeby Mainland Press

Conference Organizer

W Hong Kong Web Society

IIn Cooperation with

W City University of Hong Kong
W The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Premier Sponsors

W ACM Hong Kong Chapter
H BEENET / WebCT

W IEEE Hong Kong Chapter
W K.C. Wong Education Foundation
W Hong Kong Pei Hua Education Foundation Limited
W Education and Manpower Bureau of Hong Kong Government

Exhibitors

W BEENET
H Thomson Publishing

W WebCT

V

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Foreword

Hong Kong Web Society has been organizing an annual internationalconference
on Web-based Learning since 2001. The conferencehas attracted many academic
scholars and industrialpractitionersto submitpapers and share discussionsduring
their papers presentation in the conference. Overall, more than 100 papers are
reviewed by the conferenceprogram committeein each conference. These papers
cover the advancement technology of infrastructure as well as the learning
behavior and the teaching effectiveness of elearning. Basically, we can
summarize them into four areas as follows:

eLearning for adaptive learning -

In order to speed up the learningcurve of learners,we aim to supplementcLearning
(class room learning) with eLearning (online learning through Internet). The
students can do self learning from web-based learning exercises on the Internet,
which will assess the studentsacademiclevel and provide them with suitableonline
exercises to work on. As a result, the students can learn everywhere and any time
through Internet.

eLearning for teacher helpers -

In order to reduce teachers’work load on authoringexercisesfor their students, on
getting students feedbacks and on communicate with students more effectively,
many eLearning systems facilitate these functionalities to the teachers as their
helpers. For example, eLearning authoring tool can help teachers to prepare
exercises, and blog journal file can help teachers getting students feedback on a
particular learning problem or subject.

eLearning for distance learning -

Besides traditional class room learning, students can also access learning
facilities remotely. For example, a virtual cyber laboratory can help students to
perform their laboratory exercises at home through Internet. An online tutorial
session can help students access to their tutors through their notebook computers,
As a result, students can learn in a very comfortably environment without
traveling time, cost and hassle.

eLearning technology infrastructure-
In order to make eLearninga success, technology infrastructureis a must. In fact,
eLearning is more cost effective whenever it can be accessed by mass learners

vii

viii

because individualcost will be less with increasednumber of learners for eLearning
while the eLearning developmenttime and effort is fixed. In other words, once an
eLearning package has been on production, it can be reused for many times with
minimum operation cost. However, such mass learners operations need the
support of technology. As a result, research on eLearning technology infrastruc-
ture is another important area for researchers to explore.

Finally, we appreciate the authors who have submitted so many papers to this
conference and make it a success in the world of elearning.

Joseph Fong
Co-chair of the ICWL 2005 Applied Track

ICWL 2005 Conference Committee

Honorary Co-Chairs Keith Chan, The Hong Kong Polytechnic
University

Frances Yao, City University of Hong Kong

Conference Co-Chairs Kamal Karlapalem, IIIT (India)
Qing Li, Hong Kong Web Society

Program Co-Chairs Ronnie Cheung, The Hong Kong Polytechnic
University

Rynson W. H. Lau, City University of
Hong Kong

Organization Co-Chairs Hong-Va Leong, The Hong Kong Polytechnic
University

Marian Choy, City University of Hong Kong

Communications Coordinator Taku Komura, City University of
Hong Kong

Treasurer C. W. Ngo, City University of Hong Kong

Publication Co-Chairs Wenyin Liu, City University of Hong Kong
Ming Cheung, City University of Hong Kong

Media Chair Frederick Li, The Hong Kong Polytechnic
University

Application Co-Chairs Joseph Fong, City University of Hong Kong
Reggie Kwan, The Open University of

Hong Kong
Kenneth Lau. ICON Limited

'htorial Chair Howard Leung, City University of
Hong Kong

Publicity Co-Chairs L. F. Kwok, City University of Hong Kong
Qun Jin, Waseda University, Japan

Local Arrangements Edward Ho, The Hong Kong Polytechnic
University

ix

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Welcome

Welcome to Hong Kong and ICWL 2005. We are thrilled to have ICWL back in
Hong Kong after ICWL 2003 in Melbourne and ICWL 2004 in Beijing. For the
out-of-towners, we wish you have fun in Hong Kong.
Now, ICWL is in its fourth year. We are ecstatic to witness the advances of the
field. In the past four years, different tools, models, and applications have been
developed, deployed, and evaluated. We look forward to meeting with all of you
to exchange ideas and to take web-based learning to new heights.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank every single author for contribut-
ing to the field of Web-based learning. We are also grateful for all reviewers for
their effort in reviewing the many papers. We also owe it to all the colleagues
who took care of the logistics and made this book and ICWL 2005 a success.
Finally, we would like to express our most heart-felt thanks to all the organizations
that support this conference. We are grateful to the Hong Kong Web Society for
hosting this conference; to BEENET and WebCT, Pui-Hua Education
Foundation, K.C. Wong Foundation, City University of Hong Kong, the Polytech-
nic University of Hong Kong, and the Education and Manpower Bureau of
Hong Kong Government for their sponsorshp.

Reggie Kwan
Editor and ICWL2005 Applied Track Co-Chair

xi

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InternationalProgram Committee

Brian dAuriol University of Texas, USA
Howard Beck University of Florida, USA
Stephane Bressan National University of Singapore, Singapore
Wentong Cai Nanyang TechnologicalUniversity, Singapore
Jiannong Cao The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, HK
Keith Chan The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, HK
Shi-Kuo Chang Chang University of Pittsburgh, USA
Arbee Chen National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan
Marian Choy City University of Hong Kong, HK
Jo Coldwell Deakin University,Australia
Tharam Dillon Sydney University of Technology, Australia
Guozhu Dong Wright State University, USA
Ling Feng University of Twente, Netherlands
Joseph Fong City University of Hong Kong, HK
Andrzej Goscinski Deakin University,Australia
Edward Ho The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, HK
Runhe Huang Hosei University, Japan
Weijia Jia City University of Hong Kong, HK
Qun Jin Waseda University, Japan
Ryoichi Komiya Multimedia University, Malaysia
Taku Komura City University of Hong Kong, HK
Reggie Kwan The Open University of Hong Kong, HK
L. F. Kwok City University of Hong Kong, HK
Dik Lee HKUST, HK
Sue Legg University of Florida, USA
H.V. Leong The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, HK
Clement Leung Victoria University of Technology, Australia
Howard Leung City University of Hong Kong, HK
Frederick Li The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, HK

xiii

xiv

Keqin Li State University of New York at New Paltz, USA
Minglu Li Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
Wenyin Liu City University of Hong Kong, HK
Xiaofeng Meng Renming University, China
John Murnane Melbourne University, Australia
C. W. Ngo City University of Hong Kong, HK
Zhiyong Peng Wuhan University, China
Geoff Romeo Monash University, Australia
Timothy Shih Tamkang University, Taiwan
Chengzheng Sun Griffith University, Australia
Lily Sun The University of Reading, UK
Boleslaw Szymanski Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA
Changjie Tang Sichuan University, China
Guoren Wang Northeastern University, China
Limin Xiang Kyusan University, Japan
Simon Yip The Chinese University of Hong Kong, HK
Kang Zhang University of Texas at Dallas, USA
S. Q. Zheng University of Texas at Dallas, USA

Contents

Foreword vii
ICWL 2005 Conference Committee ix
Welcome xi
International Program Committee ...

Xlll

PART ONE Tools 3
13
1. The InterTESTWeb-Based Multiple-ChoiceTesting Software: 23
Developing and Evaluating On-Line English LanguageTests 29
Philippos Pouyioutas, Victoria Kalogerou, and Maria Poveda 37
47
2. WebLec: A Full-scale Lesson Management Support System
Developed by University Students
Satoshi Uchida

3. On or Off the Slate: University Library E-Reserve Supports
Web-based Learning
Ophelia Cheung

4. Design and Implement of The Web-basedVirtual Laboratory
for On-CampuseCircuit Courses
Gu Rong, Zhu Miaoliang, and Dong Yabo

5. A Mechanism for Knowledge Map Construction on Personalized
E-Learning Platform:A SemanticApproach
S.M. Huang, H. E Hsueh, and H. E Jiang

6. Yet Another Platform for Web-based Learning
7:S.Li, S. M.Wong,and Reggie Kwan

xv

xvi 57
67
PART TWO Models 75
83
7. Blended Learning Approach: A Strategy to Address the Issue of 93
Declining Enrollment in Mechanical Programs and A Promising 103
Model in TeachingAutoCAD in Arabic
R. Bedri and M. 0.Al-Nais

8. Concept Maps and Learning Objects
Leonel Iriarte Navarq Manuel Marco Such, Pedro Pernias Peco,
and Daniel Moron Martin

9. The Construction of Web-based Mastery Learning System
Hsien Tang Lin, Zhi Feng Liu, and Shyan-Ming Yuan

10. Enhancing Problem-based Learning by E-learning: A Study with
the Teaching of Data Structures and Algorithms
Kent K. T Cheung, Alan Z K. Chan, and Paul K. 0.Chow

11. How Should Online Tutors be Trained?
A Four-level of Evaluation for E-moderating Programme
Eva Bang

12. Methodology for Developing Dynamic Web Authoring System
for E-Learning
fin Fei Yeung and Joseph Fong

PART THREE Applications 117
125
13. Creation of a Library of Learning Objects (LO) from Pre Existing 135
Contents
Leonel Iriarte Navarq Manuel Marco Such, Pedro Pernias Peco,
and Daniel Moron Martin

14. A Mobile Agent Assisted Learning Resource Service Framework
based on SOAP
Wu Di, Yang Zongkai, and Cheng Wenqing

15. Teaching Stroke Order of Chinese Characters by Using Minimal
Feedback
Kerry Bang and Howard Leung

xvii

16. An On-Line Programming Environment with Automated Assessment 145
Ronnie Cheung

17. Webits and Quality Control in Marking of Examination Scripts 155

Philip Tsang, Reggie Kwan, Andrew K. Lui, and Henry Lo

PART FOUR Human Factors 165
175
18. Social Capital Creation and Reciprocity in Online Learning 183

Platforms 193
Andrew K. Lui, Yannie Cheung, and Reggie Kwan 203

19. Are Teachers in Hong Kong Ready for e-Learning?

Teddy Koon Keung So

20. Implementation Issues on the Specification for Service Quality

Management of e-learning
Yi Zhang, Zhiting Zhu, Chengling Zhao, Zongkai Yang, and
Sanlan Lu

21. A Comparative Evaluation and Correlation Between Learning

Styles and Academic Achievement on E-Learning
Daniel Su

22. A web-based environment for better administration of distance

learning courses

S. C. Ng, S. 0. Choy, R. Kwan, and X C. Tsang

Author Index 213

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PART ONE Tools

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THE INTER TEST WEB-BASED MULTIPLE-CHOICE TESTING
SOFTWARE: DEVLOPING AND EVALUATING ON-LINE
ENGLISH LANGUAGE TESTS

PHILIPPOS POUYIOUTAS’,VICTORIA KALOGEROU’
and MARIA POVEDA2

‘Department of ComputerScience, Intercollege

46 MakedonitissasAvenue, Nicosia 1700, CYPRUS
pouyioutns.p~intercolle~e.nc.cvk,aloperou.v~inte~collepe.nc.cy

Department of ComputerScience, Universityof Cyprus
75 Kallipoleos Street, Nicosia 1678, CYPRUS
[email protected] y

Abstract. In this paper, we explain the InterTest system, a WEB based educational
software, developed at Intercollege, to meet the need of an on-line multiple-choice
assessment tool. We also report our findings from its use in developing and using
on-line the Intercollege English Placement Test. We compare the newly automated
process of on-line testing with the manual process used so far from the point of
view of the faculty/staff administering the process and from the point of view of the
students. Our main conclusion emanating from this comparison is that the InterTest
software is a very useful teaching/leaming/assessmenttool that can be utilized by
faculty members to enhance the teaching and learning environment of the College.

1. Introduction

InterTest [1,2] is a WEB based educational software developed at Intercollege, a
College of Higher Education in Cyprus, to meet the need of an on-line multiple-
choice assessment tool. The software has been integrated into the InterLearning
[3,4,5,6,7] web-based educational software, which allows faculty members to
develop and post on the WEB, educational material. InterTest allows the
creation, delivery and assessment of multiple-choice tests and supports amongst
others, on-line multiple-choicetests management, adaptive multiple-choicetests,
extended reporting capabilities (summary and detailed statistics), possibility to
use multimedia content (images, audio-files, animations, etc.) and listen-and-
answer questions and finally, “session state” technique in order to be able to
recover after a broken connection or a user workstation failure, or even after a
server failure.

InterTest has been pilot used during the beginning of the 2004-2005
academic year, in automating the process of placing our new students into their

4

level of English Language proficiency and hence into appropriate English
language courses. During the previous academicyears, new students were taking
a paper-based multiple-choice English Placement Test (EPT) that was
subsequently marked by the English Language lecturers. With the newly
automated process, students are now taking on-line the EPT in the computer labs
and their tests are marked automatically by the InterTest software. Statistics
regarding the student results are instantly created by the system.

In this paper, we explain the InterTest system and report our findings from
its use in developing and using on-line the EPT. We also compare the newly
automated process of on-line testing with the manual process used so far and
address their advantages and disadvantages both from the point of view of the
facultyhtaff administering the process as well as from the point of view of the
students. In Section 2, we introduce the InterTest software. In Section 3, we
explain the Intercollege English Placement Test (EPT) and show how InterTest
was used to implement the new on-line version of the test, namely the NEPTON
test. In Section 4 we present the results of our survey amongst students and
faculty/staff with regards to NEPTON. Finally, we present our conclusions and
address our current and future work.

2. The InterTest Software

InterTest is a web-based multiple-choice assessment tool that allows the
creation, delivery and assessment of multiple-choicetests. These tests can either
be generated as paper-based tests or tests that are available on the web and can
be taken on-line. InterTest supports amongst others the following:

on-line multiple-choicetests management
0 adaptive multiple-choicetests

pen-and-paper tests (the system generates paper-based tests and answer-
sheets which can be scanned and be processed by he system)
0 sophisticated test-generation - assessment algorithm (questions can be
divided by levels and assessment can be programmed considering the levels

and types)
0 extended reporting capabilities: summary- details - question
0 possibility to use multimedia content (images, audio-files, animations, etc.),

for example: listen-and-answerquestions
0 “session state” technique in order to be able to recover after a broken

connection or user workstation failure, or even after server failure.
The InterTest interface showing the TestIQuestions Editor is given in Figure
1. The main functions of the tool as shown in the top horizontal menu are:
0 Item Editor for generating the questions and the tests

5

0 Slide Manager for programming the behavior of the system for adaptive
tests, allowing three levels of difficulty

0 User Manager for managing administrationprivileges of authorized users
0 Student Manager used if InterTest is to work as a stand alone application
0 System Setup to set up of levels, question types, language, etc.

The Questions Editor (QE) shown in Figure 1 allows the creation of on-line
and paper-based tests. For the on-line version formatting is done according to
HTML formatting rules. The QE includes a built-in web based HTML editor,
which provides basic fimctionality, including scripting in HTML codes. Figure 1
is part of a screen shot of the QE showing how an on-line question is created
using InterTest. We show how a test and the questions are presented to the user
through the Questionviewer (Figure 2). The Questionviewerinterprets the script
of each question and dynamically generates interactive components: radio
buttons, check boxes, drop-down lists, etc. retrieving data from the question
bank. Each question can contain more than one item as well. Responses can be
programmed by providing answers and weights. To validate the answer weights
are used. If one choice only is allowed then the correct answer must have a
weight of 1 and all other answers a weight of 0. If more than one choice are
allowed SUM (e.g. for questions like “Choose all correct answers”), the system
will consider the Sum of all the weights.

3. TheNEPTON

English is the language of instruction at Intercollege.Due to the wide range
of our students in relation to their English skills, we offer many classes to assist
them to acquire the required level of understanding in the target language. For
this reason we offer 4 language classes starting from beginners going up to
higher intermediate level, namely BENG-50, BENG-80, BENG-90, BENG-100
and 2 classes of academic English, namely ENGL-100 and ENGL-101. When
students register at Intercollege, they are required to take a placement test in
English in order to be classified in the relevant English Course. For this reason,
a paper-based English Placement Test (EPT) was created to facilitatethe process
of the placement of the students. This test consists of two components, one
including a set of 64 multiple choice questions in order to check the knowledge
of the grammar of English, and the second asking students to produce a 200
words essay in order to check the competence in completing a written task and
evaluate their expression. The distribution of the students in the appropriate
course is done after the evaluation of the two componentsby the lecturers of the
English Department. This method, despite its success for many years, has
demonstrated certain flaws. First of all it was an additional responsibility on the

6

Responses

Fig. 1. The InterTest Interface - The Questions Editor - Answers and Weights

lecturers. The weekly schedule designed to assign every day’s EPTs to a group
of 3 people worked but during particular points of the academic year (beginning
of the Fall or the Spring Semester, or during the summer) when lecturers had
already their weekly teaching loads, it was particularly difficult to finish
marking the placement tests. During busy times, lecturers had to spend a day in
order to complete the marking so that the results would be ready on the
following day for the students to be distributed normally in classes and to be
allowed to take other courses according to their academicpaths.

The increasing number of the students, the heavy workloads of the faculty
along with the need for improvement demanded a modification of the existing
system. So an on-going research started in order to create an archive of the
multiple-choice questions relating to the different levels, to create the database
and the software in order to make this task realistic and ready. This has resulted
in the development of the NEPTON test, using the InterTest software. NEPTON
allows the creation of various types of multiple-choice questions and tests, on-
line adaptive testing, management of administrative users, management of
students and detailed and summary reporting of results. NEPTON was put to use
for the first time during Summer 2004 in order to place students for the Fall
2004 semester into their English classes. Some adjustments relating to

7

organization, timetable arrangements, staff distribution were needed for the new
test to run smoothly. These adjustments were concerned with the availability of
labs and lab assistants, training of staff and the variant computer skills of
students. Students are presented the test using the interface shown in Figure 2.
They can move from question to question either using the navigation bar on the
top of the screen (showing the numbers of the questions available on the test) or
the (>, Next) button at the bottom of the screen, where they can also see the
remaining time for the test. Finally, they can review questions and change
answers with the system logging all actions. Before starting the test, an on-line
how-to-use tutorial is given to the students.

Choose an answer things

, .............If you can use the computer, you can do

0 lot5
C many

r much

C plenty
C too

Fig. 2 The NEPTON Test - Sample Question-Using Multiple-choiceAnswers

NEPTON maintains very useful statistics in detailed and summary form.
The details include for each student personal information, test date, results level
(essay, multiple-choice test, combined result and Final decision), time started,
time finished and duration of test. The summary show for each level (BENG-50,
etc) the number and percentage of students assigned to it. The statistics can be
sorted out by datehime of test.

8

4. The NEPTON Test - Faculty/Staff and Student Evaluation

The NEPTON test was in general enthusiastically accepted on behalf of the
students. After obtaining a date for the particular test they could take it and their
results were ready on the same or the following day. The test being adaptive,
required only the necessary time on behalf of the students, which meant that
students having little knowledge of the questions didn’t have to spend the time
to attempt and answer all of them. Their scores were printed and then the
invigilators attached their written document to be marked by the language
instructors. The English Language faculty members were also released from the
tediousjob of marking hundreds of paper based multiple-choice tests.

Changing the existing system inevitably caused a number of
limitations/problemsdue to the different nature of the system. To begin with, the
test has to take place in the computer labs; this restricts the number of students
to the number of the PCs available (our computer labs have a maximum sitting
capacity of 20) and the test is subject to possible hardware failure/problems.We
actually faced such a problem in one of our tests when a server failure occurred.
The students had to wait half an hour to continue their test after system
recovery. Furthermore, the test invigilation now requires at least two people in
each room; one person familiar with the NEPTON test to help students with
specific test questions and a lab assistant to deal with specific hardware/sofhvare
problems. This, is combination with the restricted size of the computer labs, has
increased the human resources needed for invigilation. Finally, the test
invigilators need now better training in order to deal with the on-line test.

We conducted a survey amongst the students to get feedback for NEPTON.
Figure 3 below (Y -> Yes, U -> Unsure, N -> No) shows the student responses
to a questionnaire answered by around 100 new students. The students were
generally happy with NEPTON. As the results show, only 5% of the students
were not familiar with computers and therefore the majority did not have any
problems in using computers and in answering the questions. Furthermore, the
answers show that students in general, believe in multiple-choicetesting and on-
line testing, although there seems to be some questioning as to the effectiveness
of NEPTON in placing them in the correct level of English.

9

Fig. 3. The Results of the Student Questionnaire

We also conducted a survey amongst the English Language faculty to get
feedback from their own perspective. The table below shows the faculty
members’ responses to the questionnaire distributed to them. The percentages do
not add to 100 due to the fact that some questions were not answered.
The main conclusions from above are that the English Language faculty believe:

1. that the NEPTON process is an improvement to the manual process
used so far, especially when it comes to the efficiency and effort
needed for producing student results

2. NEPTON may prevent more students from cheating
3. the essay part of the process cannot be eliminated
4. multiple-choicetesting seems appropriate for their classes
5. IntertTest should be considered for developing on-line testing.

10

choice testing for your classes?

Fig. 4. The Results of the Faculty Questionnaire

Conclusion
In this paper we have presented the InterTest web-based multiple-choice testing
software and addressed its use in automating the English Placement Test at our
College. This resulted in the development of NEPTON. We have also presented
the student and faculty members beliefs with regards to NEPTON specifically,
and on-line testing, in general. Our main conclusion in this paper is that the
NEPTON process is an improvement to the manual process used so far and that
the InterTest software is a very useful teaching/learning/assessmenttool that can
be utilized by faculty members at Intercollege to enhance the teaching and
learning environmentof the College.

11

References

1. Pouyioutas, P, Kalogerou, V & Christou, C (2005a) Using the InterTest
Web-Based Educational Software in Automating the English Placement
Test at Intercollege, International Conference on Methods and
Technologiesfor Learning, Italy, 2005,369-375.

2. Pouyioutas, P., Poveda, M., Apraxin, D. & Kalogerou, V. (2005b) The
InterTest Multiple-Choice Web-Based Software, IASTED International
Conference on Web-Based Education, Switzerland, 2005,436-441.

3. Pouyioutas, P., Apraxin, D., Ktoridou, D. & Poveda, M. (2004a) The
InterLearning Web-Based Educational Software, Proc. IASTED
International Conference on Web-BasedEducation, Austria, 595-600.

4. Pouyioutas, P., Poveda, M., Apraxin, D. & Kalogerou, V. (2004b)
InterLearning - A Comparison Analysis of Students’ Perspectives, Proc.
International Conference on Applied Computing, Portugal, Vol. 2,70-74.

5. Pouyioutas, P., Poveda, M. & Apraxin, D. (2004~S) tudents’ Evaluation of

the InterLearning Software, I dh World Conference on Educational

Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications, Switzerland, 2264-
2269.
6 . Pouyioutas, P., Poveda, M. & Apraxin, D. (2004d) Design, Development
and Evaluation of Web-Based Educational Software, International
Conference on e-Society, Spain, 267-275.
7. Pouyioutas, P., Poveda, M. & Apraxin, D. (2004e) The Impact of Web-
Based Educational Software: Off-the-shelf vs. In-House Developed
Software, International Journal of the Information Technology Impact,
3(3), 121-130.
8. Questionmark 2004. httu://www.questionmark.com/
9. WebCT Software (2004) httu://www.webct.com/

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WEBLEC: A FULL-SCALE LESSON MANAGEMENT SUPPORT

SYSTEM DEVELOPED BY UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

SATOSHI UCHIDA

Department of fndustrialEngineering and Management,
Faculty of Enginem’ng,KANAGAWA University
E-mail: [email protected]

UFU :http://www.inf.ie.kanagawa-u.ac.jp/

Abstract: This paper introduces a full-scale lesson management system
called WebLec that is currently used by several universities. Although
there are numerous similar systems, WebLec includes multiple features.
WebLec has been continuously updated and implemented over three
years by the educational staff of a university. In order to raise
productivity, a new database processing technique called an
Object-based Relational Database was integrated into the system.
WebLec has been used since 2002, and in the first half of 2004 the
system boasted 3,400 student registrants at Kanagawa University and
Shizuoka University, among others. The development techniques and
usage in several universities is discussed in detail.

Key Words: Lesson Management System,Web application, Object based RDB

1. Introduction
WebLec is an Internet-based system that provides class attendance
management, examination management, report submission, questionnaires,
and a web page creation function. WebLec was also developed for the
purpose of reducing a teacher’s office workload and preventing human
mistakes in a lecture presentation.
Although there are a number of similar systems currently on the instruction
market, WebLec boasts the following features.
(1) Even though university students developed the majority of the system,

WebLec is a professional product and can be practically applied.
WebLec 3.0 was used by several universities including Kanagawa
University. As of January 2004, about 3,400 students and 25 teachers in
50 classes had used the system.
(2) The opinions of both teachers and students were considered during the
development of WebLec. Because the development staff were also
WebLec users, the system is essentially the ultimate in
end-user-computing. WebLec is continuously updated, with a new
version released every year. WebLec 4.0 is the latest version, which was

13

14

released in January 2005.
(3) The development costs of WebLec are minimal because it is developed

primarily by university students as a graduate research project. In
addition, the annual updates are also created at a minimum cost. This
continuous development process in necessary to ensure a top-of-the-line
product.
(4)The project is implemented using Java Servlet and JSP (Java Server
Pages) technology developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. The database
was created using PostgreSQL. In order to enhance the programming
power and flexibility of the system, the author designed a mechanism
for the object database system in postgreSQL and implemented an
automated code generator into the system. This technology allows
university students to implementWebLec at a practical usage level.

2. Outline of WebLec
WebLec contains three subsystems: a university information management
subsystem, a teacher support subsystem, and a student support subsystem.

2.1 University informationmanagement subsystem
A WebLec manager registers university information such as the university
name, faculty names, department names, etc. in this subsystem. Each
university has its own regulations, including its university calendar and

holiday schedule, university time-table, and seat information for each
classroom. This type of information is stored and managed within WebLec.

2.2 Teacher support subsystem
In this subsystem, a teacher registers his or her specific information such as
the teacher name, e-mail address, etc. All information stored in the database
is converted to an encrypted message for safety reasons. A teacher registered
in WebLec can log into the system and register class information such as the
course schedule, course registration information, room information, and set
various permissions for a course.
The teacher can create a web page for a course, generate examination
questions, administer tests, and assign reports using WebLec. The teacher
also has the ability to administer a questionnaire.

2.3 Student support subsystem
In this subsystem,students register their own information, including student
IDS,names, e-mail addresses. All information stored in the database is then
converted to an encrypted message for safety reasons. Class registration is

15

performed over the Internet using WebLec. Teachers are capable of
maintaining an attendance register for each student. Therefore, students must
confirm their attendance information in the system. Students are also able to
take examinations, submit reports, and answer questionnaires over the
Internet.

JABEE, the Japan Accreditation Board for Engineering Education, is an
accreditation system for engineeringeducation in Japan that was established
on November 19, 1999. JABEE requires a minimum of 1,800 contact hours
between teachers and students. Thus, taking attendance is essential for
ensuring the required contact time.

3. History of Weblec
WebLec 1.0, which was a basic prototype system, was implemented in

May 2002. In September 2002, WebLec 2.0 was implemented and an
experimental system was deployed at Kanagawa University, Yokohama
campus. In December 2002, WebLec 2.1 was implemented and actually used
by the university. WebLec 2.1 was available to the Kanagawa University
teachers, and many teachers adopted this system. However, as the number of
students registered in WebLec increased, the performance of the system
decreased. Therefore, the system and its database processing system were
redesigned to solve this problem. WebLec 3.0, which employed these
improvements, was released in October 2003. In December 2003, the actual
WebLec 3.1 system had been implemented. After WebLec 3.1 had been used
for over a year, WebLec 4.0 was implemented in January 2005.

4. WebLec functions
WebLec contains the following functions: attendance management,
examination management, questionnaire management, web page creation,
and customization.

4.1 Attendance management
Teachers can define periods for attendance and lateness for their classes via
the Internet. Students must log into the WebLec system in order to record
their attendance at the beginning of the class. WebLec is capable of
outputting the seating list with student names and their attendance status, as
shown Fig. 2. A teacher can then use this list to identify the location of a
student.
In classroomswithout computers,attendance can be taken by distributing an
attendance card and a lateness card, which are output by WebLec for every
student. The cards have unique identification numbers and a student’s

16

attendancerecord can be retrievedby inputtingthe identification number into
WebLec after a lecture.

The List o f Attendance

Fig. 1 The list of attendance for each class

Based on this information, a teacher can readily obtain an attendance list for
each class in real time, and students with poor attendance records can be
identified.

4.2 Report submission management
A student can submit a report using WebLec by uploading the submission
file via the Internet. Teachers can specify the submission period, and after
accepting the reports, can grade and comment on the report via the Internet.
Students can then read the teacher’s comments using an Internet interface.
The system also generates the list of studentswho have submitted reports.

4.4 Questionnairemanagement
Teachers can administer questionnaires to a specific class or to all students
registered with WebLec. In addition, WebLec 4.0allows for the questioning
of students who are not currently registered. The questionnaire management
system also includes an analysis function, including factor analysis and CS
analysis. The analysis is performed automatically by simply clicking a button.

4.3 Examination management
Teachers can prepare multiple-choice test questions and administer
examinations in a specified period and classroom using WebLec. The
examination is carried out via the Internet, and the teacher can obtain a
variety of statistical information on the test results.

17

Unfortunately, there are a lot of potential problems when testing over the
Internet, and it is easy for a student to cheat on an examination compared to a
paper-based examination. In order to avoid this situation, the order of
questions is rearranged for each student in WebLec 4.0.This version also
includes an analysis function for an examination. A teacher can use this
function to improve the contents of an examination.

Kanasara Unircrsny Vohohama Campus Seal l i d
bury 18. 2006 T h u r d v Period 1 Computer Aided DericdTerhor: Salmrhi Uehida) Room: 21-111

4.5 Web page creation
A web page can be designed for a specific class, and files can be made
available for upload to students via the web page. The web page can also
include pictures. Teachers can also create a web page with the system even if
they don't know html coding.

4.6 Customization
WebLec provides the ability to customize a variety of information specificto

the university, including campus information, faculty and department
information, and timetable and classroom information.
5. implementationof WebLec
All members of the project group are university students,with the exception
of the author. Therefore, careful instruction is essential. This issue will be
discussed in detail in Chapter 6 . This chapter will discuss the implementation
technique and project structure, which is important because numerous
members of the development staff are replaced every year. Therefore, the
development environment must be consolidated. WebLec cannot be

18

implemented without using techniques that reduce the programming
difficulties. Because communication with the students is very important to
product development, a communicationsystem was created.

5.1 Object-based RelationalDatabase and its code generator
Consider an examination,for example.An exam containsvarious questions,
and each question could be a single-choicetype, a multiple-choicetype, or a
descriptivetype. Using this method, the system's data structureis too complex

for a university student to implement. So, instead, an Object-bused Relational
Database was designed to solve the problem. This technique can directly store
a data object to an SQL database. Fig. 3 shows the flow of the Object-based
Relational Database.

When the serialize function of the Java programming language is
employed, this process is not entirely difficult to implement. However,
because the serialization and deserialization program is slightly complex,
a code generator for this system was designed and integrated. Using the
code generator,the programmer only writes the class design specification.
Then, using the specification, the code generator generates Java source
code that defines the class, and then stores this information in a relational
database and later searches from this relational database.

5.2 Communication system with students
As the development of the system progressed, communication between

the teacher and students became increasingly important. In order to
communicate as quickly as possible, Sh@y Unit, which is a groupware
system for a teacher and students, was developed by the team's students.
Using Shifty Unit, a message can be sent to the forty-studentdevelopment
team, regardless of their locations. The message is sent to a cellular phone
as an e-mail and the person who receives the message can answer the
message directly using his or her cellularphone. This is very powerful tool
for timely communication.

19

hexadecimalconversion

I UserID 123 I I

User name “uchida”

Password “pass12345“

Nam “Satoshi Uchida”

Class object

1store

RelationalDatabase

4 Search

“ AB23F45C24085DAC

&data UserID 123
User name “uchida”
II Password “pass12345”

Class object

Fig.. 3 Object Serialization

6. Instructingstudents using an e-learning system
WebLec has been developed and improved by five students every year
since 2002. The WebLec program exceeds 100,000lines in Java and JSP.
Therefore, each student has to write more than 20,000 lines of program
code. However, most students have not had any experience writing
practical software, so instructing the students is very important. A Java
e-Learning system was developed to create an environment for studying

Java programming technology. The system includes a video lecture on a
basic introduction to Java programming that is available to the public on
the Internet as a video stream. The lecture is based on a primer for the
Java programming language. The video lecture consists of about 38 hours
video and a PowerPoint presentation containing about 5,000 slides. An
examination can also be taken upon registration. The test contains
approximately 850 questions on Java programming at four levels,

20

includingsuper-beginner,beginner, intermediate, and advanced.
No restrictions have been applied to viewing or listening to the Java

programming video lecture. It is rare in Japan for a video lecture for an
entire book to be made available to the public over the Internet.

The contents of the video lecture were arranged in detail before the
video was captured with students to ensure that people who want to study
can learn efficiently.The video lecture contains short five to eight minute
video clips to facilitate study.

The video lecture includes Chapter 13 of "An exhaustive introduction

to Java programming - basic course -" by Damp Publications.

33mm*7T-flbea3

Fig. 2 Screen shot of Java e-Learning system for Java programming

7. Conclusion
In recent years, the software development environment has become
remarkably powerful. This means that end user computing can become
even more realistic. This paper describes an attempt to develop a
web-based system by university students as a graduate research project.
Due to the low maintenance costs, advice from teachers and students can
be continuously integrated into updated WebLec versions.
The developed system has also proved a powerful tool for the developing
team students. Various video lectures on the Java e-Learning System,
CASL e-learning System, C e-Learning System, etc, are available. A
combination of video lectures and examinations is an effective means for
instructing many students at a time. More than 40 students work on the
development team, and it would be nearly impossible to adequately
instruct them without employing this e-Learningsystem.

8. Future work

Plans are currently in progress to combine the WebLec and e-Learning
systems. This will enable the teacher to understand the student study

21

situation in greater detail. In order for WebLec to be made available to a
larger market, the commercialization of WebLec is currently scheduled
by Educe Co., Ltd.

References

[l] Satoshi Uchida, “The Development of the web-based system for
supporting lecture,” the conference of information technology for
university instructions, Japan University Association for Computer
Education (September, 2002) (in Japanese)

[2] Satoshi Uchida, Naokazu Yamaki, “WebLec: A Full-scale Lesson
Management Support System And It’s Usage In Several
Universities,” Journal of Japan e-Learning Association, Vol. 7
(2004) (in Japanese)

[3] Satoshi Uchida, “An exhaustive introduction to Java programming -
basic course -”by Dempa Publications. (July, 2003) (in Japanese)

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ON OR OFF THE SLATE: UNIVERSITY LIBRARY E-RESERVE
SUPPORTS WEB-BASED LEARNING

OPHELIA CHEUNG
Ryerson University Library
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Ryerson University Library in Toronto, Canada, embarked on an E-Reserve pilot project
in 2004, providing electronic links to journal articles and scanned documents for course
readings. Insufficient time allowed by faculty for copyright clearance, excessive
copyright cost and the difficulty of achieving a single sign-on by users to access e-
Reserve in Blackboard, the University’s courseware, were the major issues. Despite
setbacks, E-Reserve continued to undertake innovativeprojects, using the new E-Reserve
module in Blackboard to integrate course readings with faculty course pages, utilizing
SFX open linking to connect citations to full-text articles, and experimenting with Web
streamingof videos in Blackboard.

1. E-Reserve in University Libraries

The Internet has increased university faculty and students’ access to a myriad of
resources outside the walls of the library. Traditional Library services, including
Print Reserve, are not flexible enough to meet the needs of the current group of
faculty and students, particularly with the increase in “distributed learning” in
universities. Like many other libraries, Ryerson Library has re-thought and
redefined its services in relationship to the educational needs of its users. An
electronic Reserve system, providing a virtual repository for copyright-cleared
digitized course readings, available remotely 2417, was a recent step to keep up
with student and faculty demand.

Ryerson University, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is a leading centre of
career-focused education, offering more than 40 undergraduate and graduate
programs, with over 20,000 FTE (hll-time equivalent students), and with an
ever-growing Distance Education (DE) department. E-Reserve service is
especially advantageous for DE students and Web-delivered courses. Users do
not have to come on campus during Library opening hours to borrow short-term
loan materials from Print Reserve, and worry about fines if they cannot return
by the due date or time allowed. Print Reserve keeps only a limited number of
copies for borrowing but E-Reserve offers multiple access and simultaneous
use.

23

24

E-Reserve has been in existence since the early 199Os, and an estimated
250 E-Reserve systems were in production in the United States in 1999.' In
Canada, and in the province of Ontario, the libraries we surveyed in 200213
were mostly in their third or fifth years of E-Reserve, but some did not go
beyond linking to full-text articles from licensed databases, due to the extra cost
and work of obtaining copyright permission for scanning documents. Ryerson
Library began e-linking in 2003 at faculty requests. New personnel and a new
administrative team structure allowed us to embark on a more ambitious E-
Reserve pilot project in 2004: In 2004, we became more proactive, checking all
reserve requests against our Library's subscribed databases and automatically
linking the citations to full-text articles wherever available. No duplicate back-
ups in paper format were kept in Print Reserve. We also, for the first time,
sought copyright permission for materials for which we did not have digital
rights (e.g. book chapters), before scanning them on E-Reserve.

When I took on the E-Reserve responsibility in late 2003, I conducted an
extensive research on E-Reserve operations in North America, including best
practices and case ~ t u d i e s .I~ was assisted by the Copyright Lead Hand
Technician, a newly created staff position for E-Reserve. We learned from
others that copyright and systems support were major concerns. The time for
copyright clearance ranged from weeks to months. Rights holders could be
difficult to locate. There were long waiting periods for responses, and
occasionally no responses. The average cost was Can $30 to $90 per item per
course per year. However, some publishers charged a few hundred dollars per
item. Who paid the cost - the Department, Library or students, was a major
decision. The choice of an E-Reserve system was another issue. Ideally, the
system should be user-friendly for students, flexible enough for the Library to
restrict access to a course or group, if required by rights holders, and robust
enough for tracking statistics. The lessons learned from other E-Reserve
operations helped us steer away from anticipated roadblocks but we were not
immune to new challenges, some of which forced us to re-assess the direction of
the pilot project.

2. Lessons Learned

2.1. CopyrightIssues

Although we emphasized on our Web site that we discouraged digital course
packs due to the cost and time for copyright clearance, the very first request
from DE, our targeted user group for the pilot project, was a course pack of 29
readings, mostly book chapters. The copyright cost would amount to
approximately Can $2,500 to digitize the chapters for use in three semesters.

25

Eventually, DE proposed seeking administrative and financial approval in the
following year for a special student levy to defray such cost. We had better luck
with subsequent requests. We only turned down a few faculty requests because
the copyright fees were too expensive for our small E-Reserve budget from
Library funds.

Almost 50% of the faculty E-Reserve requests were not completed. One
major reason was faculty had not allowed sufficient lead-time for seeking
copyright permissions. Some were mistaken in thinking that materials used in
an education setting were “exempted” from copyright. Some thought that the
permissions obtained by the University Bookstore to compile print course packs
for sale to students were transferable to digital course delivery. For those who
attempted to create their own links to library databases in their Web course
pages, they were not aware that the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of web
sites might break because they were not created to be “persistent” (also known
as stable, durable, constant or static URL). What we could have done better was
to step up our education of faculty users. We should have made sure they
understood fully the copyright implications-the time and cost involved, and the
alternatives available ( e g Print Reserve or print course packs). Our Web page
and FAQ may not be effective enough. We should tap the resources of faculty
listserv, faculty conferences, new faculty orientations, workshops by librarians
and promotion through subject librarians.

Another complication was created by our collaborative programs with other
academic institutions. Due to database licensing agreements, access is limited to
users in our university community. Some faculty would insist on posting
materials only for Ryerson students and asked other students in the collaborative
program to access the databases directly, if available at their home institutions.
Others abandoned the E-Reserve access altogether, which was unfortunate.
While we cannot do much with licensing agreements, we might be able to warn
faculty in advance of these complications so that they consider alternatives, such
as resorting to course packs.

2.2. System Issues

We had looked at how other libraries chose their E-Reserve systems! In the
end, we decided on utilizing the Millenium Media Management module in our
integrated library system to manage E-Reserve files. The module allows
libraries to share media files with its patrons (e.g. WORD, PDF, TXT,
Powerpoint), sounds, movies, HTML files, URLs and images (e.g. jpeg, gif,
tiff). Keeping E- Reserve part of the integrated library system has the advantage
of easier searching and transferring of data within the system, and staff training.
However, we had to compromise our local needs. The publisher codes in Media

26

Management have the function of tracking E-Reserve usage for the purpose of
paying royalties, if required. Nevertheless, to turn that code on, students on
campus will have to authenticate once before accessing library resources, and
twice if they log-on from off-campus through the proxy server. The code was
never used for the obvious reason of inconvenience to users, and we never
obtained usage statistics for E-Reserve access.

The Library authentication presented another obstacle to a single sign-on
for Blackboard users. E-Reserve was initially offered only via the Library
catalogue. Students could look up course readings by course codes or names of
instructors. However, DE courses were mostly delivered on Blackboard, a
courseware for faculty and students to deliver lecture notes, complete
assignments, conduct virtual discussions and share files and resources. DE had
repeatedly enquired why students accessing from home had to go through a
library authentication after they had logged-on to Blackboard with their
passwords. The same passwords were used for e-mail and lab accounts but not
for library authentication. The Systems Librarian in the Borrower Services
Team (of which E-Reserve is part) explained that single-sign-on is a complex
issue. Innovative Interfaces Inc. (111), our integrated library system vendor, has
made some progress, such as introducing a new External Patron Verification
package using LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) in the new Silver
release, which can be used to validate library patrons against an external LDAP
server. However, it cannot be used to authenticate in the reverse mode i.e.
Blackboard patrons could not authenticate against the Library’s patron database.
A workaround created by some libraries might involve the creation of PHP
scripts to link the student information system with a portal server, a web server,
and the Library server. Custom CPIP connections would be required and the
student information system might have to be compatible with either Oracle or
LDAP. Without significant support in programming and funding, it seems that
we might have to wait until 111, our systems vendor, develops its own solution to
link to the campus portal.

Meanwhile, faculty told us that students accessing from home had to log-on
several times to move between E-Reserve files. These students might have
closed their browsers or exited Blackboard unnecessarily, or used some older
versions of Netscape, not compatible with Blackboard. What we could have
done was to advise faculty in advance to link their Web pages to a
Troubleshooting Guide in the Library Web Page for tips on remote access from
home.

27

3. New Initiatives to Improve E-Reserve

Despite the above setbacks, we have made progress in E-Reserve. 33 documents
for 6 different courses were scanned in 2004 after clearing copyright, and 18
documents scanned in the first three months of 2005. Links to licensed
databases have gone up by 50%, from 316 links in 2003 to 474 links in 2004.
The Nursing Department, in particular, has switched from using print course
packs to E-Reserve, as they rely, almost exclusively, upon our licensed
databases.

In early 2005, less than a year since we started our pilot project, we
undertook other pilot projects to anticipate demands and improve E-Reserve
service. In January, we partnered with DMP (Digital Media Projects Office, the
University department providing assistance in the use and production of
multimedia technologies for e-teaching and e-learning), to test E-Reserve in the
new Blackboard release. Previously, for Blackboard faculty users, we e-mailed
them the durable links for incorporation in their course pages. In the new
Blackboard System, the Library will create links and upload reserve files into
Blackboard. DMP will still be the system administrator and provide training to
faculty wanting to create course pages to access E-Reserve from within
Blackboard. Integrating E-Reserve with Blackboard is undoubtedly convenient
for student users of courses delivered in Blackboard. The controlled access in
Blackboard also provides more efficient copyright control, especially if the
rights holders require restricted access to scanned documents. Some workflow
issues remained. As long as there are courses that are not Blackboard-based, the
Library has to maintain library catalogue access to E-Reserve files for non-
Blackboard users.

In April 2005, we tested another course using the new Blackboard release
and, in addition, employing SFX links, which are vendor-independent, to
connect citations to hll-text articles. SFX is the link server from Ex Libris. It
uses the OpenURL standard for interoperability between information resources
and allows for localization in an open linking environment. Apart from the
relative ease of using OpenURL Connector for locating the databases that
contain the journal citations and generating &Reserve links, we hope that the
central maintenance of SFX links by our Collections Team in the Library will
reduce the incidences of broken links, which leave students with only a citation
or an abstract when they want to see a full-text article. These were often caused
by changes in publishers’ activities (e.g. mergers and acquisitions) or journal
content in the aggregator databases. We used to make a direct link to one single
database, but SFX offers a menu of multiple database options, so users will have
more choice in the event of a broken link. The SFX screen will also provide a
Library branding presence in Blackboard. We will not lose the Library identity

28

entirely in the campus portal. We are not the first in integrating E-Reserve with
Blackboard but we may be a pioneer in the application of SFX links to E-
Reserve.

In April 2005, E-Reserve also worked with DMP to digitize videos for
streaming in Blackboard. The Audio Visual (AV) Librarian in our Borrower
Services Team is exploring a site license agreement with a major Canadian
distributor of educational videos for streamed content and the acquisition of the
digital rights for a streamed Nursing video series. If successful, the Web-
streaming solution in Blackboard will become a breakthrough in the delivery of
AV content, solving the chronic issue of faculty and students competing for
access, on-site and off-campus.

4. Conclusion

It has been a year since our E-Reserve project was officially launched. The
lessons we learned could be useful for other universities planning to start or
improve their E-Reserve operations. In the face of changes, we maintain that
the right direction to deal with them is to embrace them. Our team structure has
anticipated the need for amalgamation of expertise to meet the challenges ahead
- systems, copyright, multimedia, publicity and collaboration with diverse user
groups within the University. We are well positioned to cope with these issues,
central to the successful delivery of E-Reserve in its existing or a revised mode
in the future.

References

1. LU, S., 2001. A model for choosing an electronic reserve system: a pre-
implementation study at the Library of Long Island University’s Brooklyn
campus. Journal of Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery & Information
Supply, 12(2): 25-44.

2. CHEUNG, 0.and PATRICK, S., 2004. The gang’s all here: team-work and
collaboration facilitate E-Reserve for e-learning through the university
library. In: E-Learning in Corporate, Government,Healthcare, & Higher
Education ConferenceProceedings, pp. 539-542.
[E-Learn World Conference held in Washington, D.C., United States,
November, 2004.1

3. CODY, S.A., PFOHL, D. and BITTNER, S . , 2001. Establishing and
refining electronic course reserves: a case study of a continuous process.
Journal of Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery & Information Supply,
1l(3): 11-37.

4. PEARCE, L., 2001. Lessons learned: the development of electronic
reserves at the University of Calgary. D-Lib Magazine, 7(11). Online.
Available: http://www.dlib.org/dIib/novemberO1/pearce/l 1pearce.html/.

DESIGN AND IMPLEMENT OF THE WEB-BASED VIRTUAL
LABORATORY FOR ON-CAMPUSE CIRCUIT COURSES*

RONG Gut
Zhejiang University of Technologv,No. 6 District Zhaohui

Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310014, China

YABO DONG, MIAOLIANGZHU
Networking Center, Zhejiang University

Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310027, China

In this paper, some general considerations of virtual laboratory (VL) are reviewed. The
paper is to describe a web-based virtual laboratory for undergraduate circuit course,
which has been used in Zhejiang University and EastSouth University. The various
planning, design issues in this project will also be discussed. One of the major objectives
of this project is the client adopted flash client to enhance the students' learning
experience and provides significant impact on users' learning motivation. With the
support of this virtual laboratory, the students' uninfluenced learning and experiment
process can be carried out at any place of the world where Web access is available.

1. Introduction

Nowadays, the development and implement of Web-based education bloomed.
As the major application of Web-based learning, Virtual Laboratory (VL) can
be treated as an accessorial tool of real laboratory. Real laboratory and
experiments can reinforce the students' understanding of subject and developing
skills to deal with instrumentation and physical processes, while face-to-face
instruction help student to master concept.

There is no doubt that nothing will replace synchronous learning through
face to face interaction, but it is not always feasible for students to do

experiment uninfluenced'. *. Virtual Laboratory (VL) can enable students to

improve the skills before going to the actual laboratory, to learn breaking the

restriction of ordinary arrangement and enhance the instruction3''. Besides, the

* This work is partially founded by the National "Ten-Five'' Key Technologies R&D Project of

' China (2001BA 101A08-03).
Ph.D Student, College of Computer Science and Technology, Zhejiang University, China

29

30

VL resources can be shared by many institutions and students worldwide, which
can save much money.

So VL can effectively help to overcome the barriers imposed by the
traditional education by using an innovative combination of a new approach to
education and the application of new technologies

1.1. Review of Virtual Laboratory

Virtual Laboratory is a heterogeneous, distributed collaborative and
experimental environment, which allows students to work on a common group
of projects, to generate and deliver results using distributed information and
communication technologies.

'.The prototype of VL is Remote Access Laboratory (REAL) Computers

are connected to manipulate instruments, which could be remotely accessible.
When students log in and control these machines via the network, they are able
to control both the computer and the equipment. A video camera is used to live
broadcast what is happening in the physical world. It does not matter if the
student is in a nearby dorm room or on the other side of the world. The general
architecture of REAL is Client/Server(C/S) architecture.

With the development of simulation technology, REAL gradually replaced
by the Simulation-based Laboratory (SLab), which adopts pure-software
simulation components or software-supported common simulation hardware
named virtual instrument. The world-wide famous virtual instrument provider is
National Instrument (NI).Many VL system adopted products from NI are

'.installed in wide area6.77 With the emergency of Web technology, more and

more VL systems are transplanted on the Web platformg.With
Browse/Server(B/S) architecture, Web-based SLab systems adopt many new
technologies such as CORBA, PORTAL and using Virtual Reality (VR) or Rich

Client to enhance the instruction and learner's experiencelO,ll,12 .

1.2. GUIs to Enhance Learning Experience of SLab system

Graphical user interfaces (GUIs) are being increasingly used in the computer
aided education to provide users with a friendly and visual approach to enhance
learning experience.

In REAL system, using video camera to live broadcast the output of
instruments to user. But in SLab system, the output of simulation engine is
mainly in the form of binary data or ASCII, which can't bring user a visual
feedback. The most important value of the GUIs is that it can post-process the
results from the background simulation engine, and convert the abstract data

31

into visual form. A visual illustration of how results change as a function of

various variables, or parametric sweeps, reinforces the lessons learned in the

experiments. There are various technologies to build the GUIs of SLab system,

such as computer graphics, virtual reality and flash. And some successfbl SLab

systems have been developed and used in Web-based 14* 15.

The system addressed in this paper was about a virtual laboratory, which

has been used in Zhejiang University and EastSouth University for on-campus

analog/digital circuit instruction. The paper is structured in three parts. The first

part introduces the concept of virtual laboratory and review some related

technologies. The second part describes some issues about system architecture

and GUIs design. Finally, an implement and evaluation of this system is

discussed.

2. System Design

The VL system was developed by College of Computer Science and
Technology, Zhejiang University, who has developed the first VR-based
chemical virtual laboratory in 200 114.

2.1. ARCHITECTURE

Although VL system can be used in wide area, the common architecture can be
described in four layers: access layer, grid layer, supervision layer and resources
1ayerI6.

Access layer consists of tools which enable access to the laboratory
resources and the presentation of data.
Grid layer provides the services which we can use under distributed
environment, such as global scheduling and data transport middleware,
which connect user-side front-end to background service.
0 Supervision layer is in charge of local scheduling, resources monitoring and
user management.
Resources layer which consists of devices to experiment execution and also
the necessary software used by system.