All portfolio items

Abstract–This paper explores the significance of the advent of educational programming languages for the manner in which Computer Assisted Learning software is designed and produced. The notion of prototyping Computer Assisted Learning software in an educational sense through such languages is introduced. Particular consideration is given to the role of Logo in this context. Examples concerned with the development of foreign languages software and a general purpose modelling system are given.

This paper allowed us to discuss the effect of our tools on our practice - a difficult area for discussion in a multi-disciplinary team of educators, not all of whom felt comfortable with the tools of the trade.

Aim: To design the most effective uses of multimedia in higher education.

Reflection: The task of integrating the whole package of interactive design, pedagogy, educational software, supporting materials, contents and indexing, graphic design and desk-top publishing, CD-ROM mastering and finally manufacture taught me about the end-to-end process in designing educational materials.

I began working with David Riddle to assemble and produce a CD-ROM containing the tools for creating multimedia which were available in 1989. Later I supported a team led by David Riley to create a CD-ROM called 'Planet Earth: a Gaia Library" which provided materials for learning about James Lovelock's theories.

Reflection: I learnt through visiting the CD production plant how much cheaper and error-free the production process for CDs in comparison to audio-tapes. The implications of this cost equation and the direct access to large volumes of data made the CD-ROM the obvious choice for delivering educational materials opening new horizons in multimedia, interactivity and large data-sets and thus became my focus for the next five years before the internet arrived.

When I took the post of Senior Lecturer with Stephen Heppell in September 1990, I continued on the same project taking a leading role in the design and production of the CD-ROM packages and working on the Insights for Teachers and Parents CD-ROM in particular developing software and the overall design of the CD-ROM and its packaging. I advised and supported the other teams in the project from Coventry Polytechnic, the University of Cambridge and Keele University who provided substantial opportunity for developing thinking through the dialogue around our mutual design and production.

I prepared master CD-ROM 'disk images' and took them on magneto-optical cartridges to the headquarters and factory of Sonopress in Guterslöh in Germany. Part of the Bertelsmann publishing conglomerate, Sonopress were a leading manufacturer of Compact Disc content.

Many other products, papers and presentations were created under the publishing umbrella of this project.

Contribution: Working within a small team I helped design, collate, program and took sole responsibility for technical production of some of the earliest CD-ROMs developed for education. My part: 20% (with Stephen Heppell and others)

Originality, impact and importance: Our exploration of the educational design to discover the potential of new interactive multimedia on CD-ROM led to some of the first such products created for higher education in Europe. At the time I had to travel to a factory in Germany, since there were few facilities in the UK for manufacture and very few places we could prototype the CD-ROM materials. They were subsequently distributed worldwide with international publishing agreements. Each CD-ROM pioneered interactive and participative learning design in the years before internet. (Neesham, 1990)

From the prospectus:

Reflection: This was the first time I had full responsibility for the design and delivery of a complete module of 5 sessions at Masters level, which I delivered twice in 1988-89 and then again in 1989-90.

I had some preparation - I had also contributed to the Masters module 'Recent Developments: The Use of Computers in Education' over the previous five years with these sessions:

• 1984 'Hardware & Software Alternatives and Issues'
• 1985 'General purpose software across the curriculum - databases, modelling etc.'
• 1986 'Introduction to the course - What can computers do?'
• 1987 'Educational programming languages'
• 1988 'Modelling'

The teaching of this full module involved an introductory session with a presentation from me, followed in the next four weeks by student-led reading presentations from papers selected by me and a debate based on questons set by me and points raised by the students themselves.

Reflection: This practice was vital to the development of my own thinking in the following ways:
- pedagogically, at HE level, I could see that the students could collaborate to develop knowledge rather than simply listen to me - I was primarily a facilitator of learning rather than an authority;
- in terms of the course content, I was required to engage with social science paradigms and to build much wider ranging concepts of the system within which my practice was situated;
- my confidence increased as I discovered that I could perform at this level with good feedback from participants.

Abstract–This paper describes the benefits which might accrue from modelling as an activity for learners. Some approaches taken to teach modelling are discussed and criticised. the learner's purpose modelling is suggested to be critical in engaging them in this formal and theoretic field and it is suggested that presentation and communication of ideas in the context of project work may be appropriate. An analysis of parts of the modelling process is presented to highlight some of the hidden steps which appropriate modelling software may usefully expose. Finally some prototype software developed by the Integrated Modelling Project to explore these problems is described.

This paper enabled us to clarify an abstraction of the modelling process based on our experience and analysis of a wide range of software and teaching modelling in classrooms with young people and adults. It was the first 'outing' for an expression-evaluation model of learning, albeit in the narrow context of using software.

As well as saving money from meetings, the use of CIX was my first introduction to professional learning through online asynchronous debates.

From the paper:

The Integrated Modelling Project is a collaboration between King’s College London and the Advisory Unit, Hatfield in the United Kingdom.  The project proposes to undertake research and software development of the learning of formal modelling skills and concepts.  As a strategy to disseminate the software and research findings, the project is also developing applications of the software which are based in specific curriculum areas
A major focus of the research is to understand what are the conceptual problems associated with modelling in order to guide future software development.  Case-studies of uses of modelling in education, in a range of disciplines will be published to help teachers understand what modelling involves.
Modelling
The project conceives of modelling as the formal representation of a system of interacting elements.  The interaction may be quantitative or qualitative.  The computer can help the learner express their model by checking the syntax of model elements and relationships.  The computer also helps by executing the model which enables the user to test the model’s validity and to revise the model.  Simulation is the act of executing a model through a user interface.  The user as an influence on model behaviour is important and permits more extensive testing.
Developing models
Many modelling texts consider the overall process for modelling a system.  In most cases they do not consider enough detail or take the learners point of view.
In particular, I propose that there are several steps in the formulation of a model, which may not be undertaken serially.  These include identification of a system boundary and the system level, identifying elements, characterising individual elements, identifying relationships and characterising relationships.  Evaluation of a model may also have many sub-steps.
Software which can support these steps may well be more successful  for learners than that which hides them.
Presentation
It is also important to consider the purpose that a learner modeller has in mind when undertaking a modelling task.  Modelling is an abstract process which is not necessarily engaging for the majority of learners.
The Integrated Modelling Project considers that modelling should be seen as a communicative act for learners to present their ideas to their peers or teachers.  Picturing the whole system being modelled as a starting point may well prove a good introduction for some learners.  As a matter of principle it may be helpful if model elements are matched with graphic elements on the computer screen.

Reflection: Having previously used computer conferencing to organise collaboration for the Educational Developers Software Forum, it broadened my horizons to see the technique used to enhance collaboration between schools in a local area. I was very impressed with the interpersonal and social value that online communication could offer and how it could break down barriers between pupils from different schools.

Contribution: I had very little to offer beyond moral support and a critical view of online software, having experienced it for myself and applying what I had learnt about software design.

This project used the 'bulletin board' software called Caucus. The project was named Ebenezer after Ebenezer Howard, the architect of Letchworth Garden City and the garden city movement. The project was sponsored by the charity Education 2000.

Terms of Reference

This is an item copied from the sub-conference devoted to the steering committee's business, posted by Hilary Sepahy the project coordinator:

Item 5    25-MAY-90    12:38    Hilary Sepahy

Terms of Reference

At the Panel meeting on 23rd May we discussed the proposed terms of reference. A number of suggestions were made and it was proposed that we continue our debate here.  In the light of the discussion I have modified the original ToR as follows:

1. To advise on strategies for the implmentaton of conferencing in

curriculum delivery.

2. To advise on monitoring and evaluation of computer conferencing in schools and colleges.

3. To support in monitoring technical developments which may broaden access to the system and which will enhance performance

4. To consider and advise on how best to manage growth in the user

community.

5. To advise on publicity and support the dissemination of information

about the project.

In the discussion on ToR we included;

Need to expand horizons To help choose the best direction for future

developments

To influence curriculum and seek to develop and implement new

curriculum opportunities  ("extend boundaries of curriculum innovation")

Need for monitoring, how this may be achieved (action research,

headteachers to collect feedback, etc).

Please feel free to discuss, add to, refine or reword ToR  in responses to

this item.

Memory of Ebenezer

I have also copied the following account to give an idea of what Ebenezer meant to the students involved.

It is a posting at http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?itemid=4475317

The author, clearly a student at the time remembers 'Ebby', as it was informally called:

Monument (marnanel) wrote, @ 2001-05-28 11:58:00

ARRAY(0x2b4bf8ac0670)

Mood:

awed

in memoriam Ebby
This is EBENEZER in Letchworth

During the time of my GCSEs and A-levels (this would be 1989 to 1992-ish, I suppose) there was a charity called Education 2000 whose purpose was to increase the usage of computers in schools; they'd picked on North Hertfordshire as the area they were going to experiment in. To begin with, the practical upshot of this was buying each school a hundred or so RM Nimbuses. But then, suddenly... oh glory... then, there was Ebby.

Ebby. Two VAXen in Letchworth Town Hall, named EBENEZER and HOWARD after the founder of the town, a high-capacity network between there and all the secondary schools in Letchworth, Baldock and (for a while) Hitchin and Royston too... four or five terminals for each school (two for the library, one in the staffroom, one in the sixth-form area as a special privilege, one in a quiet room somewhere else)... a conferencing system running on them called Caucus... two dialup lines for students who were lucky enough to have machines with 2400 or even 9600 baud modems at home... all these were the Ebby.

Yet Ebby was more. It was the people who used it... the bizarre screen names, eventually clamped down on by admin, who gave a few weeks' grace period until they barred the change-name command, the announcements of this in school assemblies (who needs MOTDs?), the people, such as the ever-vivacious Helen Priestley, who never got around to changing and so were stuck with names like "THE HASH SMASH POT!!!!!" all the rest of their Ebby lives... it was a few thousand teachers and students learning how to exist in cyberspace for the first time, the Ebbyverse as we called it, the disembodiment of minds... it was the culture of emailing your friends who you'd see next period anyway... it was remembering people by their Ebby logins... it was the conferences, discussion boards with grand purposes and strong names... SCHOLAR2 the quiet hive of no activity... CHRISTIAN the atheist-versus-Christian flamewar where both sides were as indignant and insensitive as sixth-formers can get... PRATCHETT (was it?) where we discussed the writings of the great one, and someone worked out an address, fertile with percentage signs, which would send email out of Ebby onto another network that would forward to some sort of Internet gateway that would somehow get mail to Terry Pratchett's Demon account... it was the PHONE command, like talk on Unix, which let you talk in real time, which was banned and unbanned as regularly as clockwork... it was INTRO files, descriptions of a user, which usually ran to several tens of kilobytes and had pictures and pages of blank lines, every so often dropping in another random nugget of information... it was meeting up with people you knew from the same area and talking about Ebby even when you were offline... it was APHYSHELP, AMATHSHELP, ACHEMHELP, the forums where staff and students were supposed to discuss A-level difficulties and find solutions, and which were supposed to justify Ebby's existence, but in practice were so empty that your nervous exploring footsteps echoed around you when you ventured in from the bustling world outside... it was meeting people who wanted to know how to hack around with the registers of an EGA card to get the colour addressing properly which led to the assembler animation routines in Avalot working at all-- specifically, meeting one Cameron Grant from another school in the computer forums, who was a mentor to me in writing games, and collaborated with me on mailshotting US bulletin boards and magazines with the programs we'd written... it was sharing poetry, discussing The Mary Whitehouse Experience, it was being part of it all.

I'm blessed to have been a part of Ebby. May its memory be ever cherished.

THURMANTS3

HyperCard provided a fertile development environment for educational software, but gave no clear guide to how good design works. We wrote this set of HyperCard stacks as a self-study interactive guide to the major issues and to some ideas about appropriate pedagogy.

Aim: To develop a collaborative team approach to the design & development of new technology in learning.

I was employed primarily to carry out project duties to develop multimedia CD-ROM materials in the first instance, and over the next eight years the work developed into designing and developing software for primary children, for language learners and increasingly, young people developing multimedia for themselves.

Reflection: The real value of this job for my development was an increasing level of responsibility and a powerful combination of design, development, team leadership and teaching at a high level.

In addition to my software development and project duties, I was employed in the School of Education to teach Primary and Secondary B.Ed. student teachers about computers in education and some part-time Diploma work which grew into a set of Masters modules developed and delivered with Stephen Heppell in the evenings.

As our project scope and team expanded, I found myself more and more in a mentoring / leadership role with both internal colleagues and with external collaborators, and the internet and online community became central to our work.

Contribution: I was a designer, developer and technical producer of many projects, a lecturer in ICT in Education and a designer and  developer of a Masters level course. My part: 25% (with Stephen Heppell and others)

Originality, impact and importance: The Ultralab team was distinctive in its structure, ethos and practice, developed on values and principles of inclusion and participation. Its ethos was to directly change the world of education with its action-research innovations and thought leadership. Its work influenced national policy in the UK and throughout the world.

These are the course summaries:

417 Programming for HyperCard 2

General Description

Advanced view of HyperTalk, the in-built programming language of HyperCard with particular reference to developments in HyperCard 2.

Objectives  "At the end of the course the participant will…"

Know the statements and structures in HyperTalk, in particular the new features in HyperCard 2.  Be able to apply their knowledge of HyperTalk to a range of HyperCard applications.  Be able to debug scripts.  Be able to structure HyperTalk scripts for large-scale projects in HyperCard.

Contents

Introduction - summary of programming changes in HyperCard 2

Module 1 - HyperTalk programming

Module 2 - objects and messages

Module 3 - debugging tools

Module 4 - software engineering with HyperTalk

Teaching Methods

Leader-led, overheads and hands-on.

Participants

Support people.

Pre-requisites

Must have attended course 415 and 416 or have similar knowledge of HyperCard 1 and HyperTalk.

"Not intended for…"

Newcomers to HyperTalk, HyperCard.

Length /Location

One day, Apple Training Centre at Stockley Park.

Timetable:

Introduction

summary of changes

Module 1 - HyperTalk programming

incremental compilation

properties, functions, commands and messages

scripts can run in background

- coffee -

Module 2 - objects and messages

hypertext support - clickChunk, clickLine, clickText,

background supportshared text, don’t search

menus

user-definable message inheritance path

XCMDs, XFCNs, external apps and tools?

- lunch -

Module 3 - debugging tools

script editor

debugging - single stepping, variable watcher

- tea -

Module 4 - software engineering with HyperTalk

inheritance path

418 : Software development for HyperCard 2

General Description

Developing HyperCard stacks based on design principles and exploiting the full power of HyperTalk and extensions with HyperCard 2.

Objectives  "At the end of the course the participant will…"

Understand design principles and guidelines for Macintosh and HyperCard development and similarities with normal applications development.  Be aware of latest developments in HyperCard 2.

Contents

Introduction - summary of design changes in HyperCard 2

Module 1 - design principles

Module 2 - visual design implications

Module 3 - navigation design implications

Module 4 - database support

Module 5 - project management

Teaching Methods

Leader-led, lecture with overheads, demonstrations, case-studies and hands-on.

Participants

Support people and development managers.

Pre-requisites

Must have attended course 415 or have similar knowledge, desirable to have attended 416 and 417.

"Not intended for…"

Newcomers to HyperTalk, HyperCard.

Length /Location

One day, Apple Training Centre at Stockley Park.

Timetable:

Introduction

summary of changes

Module 1 - design principles

Module 2 - visual design implications

variable card size

multiple windows

styled text

- coffee -

Module 3 - navigation design implications

hypertext support

menu handling

palettes

- lunch -

Module 4 - database support

improved printing

marking and reporting

don’t search

- tea -

Module 5 - project management

THE FUTURE OF MODELLING

Richard Millwood

New Learning Environments

Anglia Higher Education College

December 5th 1990

INTRODUCTION

This paper is intended as an introduction to a session about the future of modelling. Modelling in this paper means the activity of producing a computer executable representation of some system and the consequent evaluation of that representation by, for example, using the model purposefully and comparison with a real (or imagined) system. The paper addresses the following questions in order to provoke discussion:

1 Why do we want to make modelling an activity for learners?

2 What are the computer based modelling techniques for classrooms in the future?

3 What modelling skills do students need?

4 How do students acquire modelling skills?

5 How should we assess modelling skills?

6 What further research is needed?

1 WHY DO WE WANT TO MAKE MODELLING AN ACTIVITY FOR LEARNERS?

A discussion of the future of modelling cannot take place without some preliminary thoughts on why we want students to do modelling. These thoughts may then guide us as new opportunities arise and research questions are posed. My thoughts (in order of importance) are as follows: Students should do modelling in order:

- to understand the basis for decision making in a democratic society;

- to increase their knowledge and understanding in a range of subject matters;

- to improve their ability to solve problems, take decisions and think about the problem solving process;

- to enable direct involvement as managers or politicians in the process of decision making and predicting outcomes;

- to understand, communicate and solve scientific and social problems as researchers.

Clearly not all students can become expert modellers, but this does not mean that they can know nothing of models or the uses to which they are put. This kind of understanding is perhaps most important for the majority and should occupy much more of our attention.

2 WHAT ARE THE COMPUTER BASED MODELLING TECHNIQUES FOR CLASSROOMS IN THE FUTURE?

Current modelling techniques are largely numerical, quantitative, based on mathematical calculus and use time as an independent variable, in other words dynamic modelling.

The future of computer based modelling techniques for classrooms might also include a range of different kinds:

- logical techniques such as those used in expert systems;

- techniques for ordering factors to support decision making;

- techniques of describing relationships between factors in a qualitative manner;

- techniques for relating variables based on position as an independent variable in one, two or three dimensions.

The above list is made from the point of view of kinds of models. It is also important to consider future modelling techniques in terms of a learner's progression and learner's knowledge and experience. There are techniques in modelling which do not relate directly to the kind of modelling, but are general to all kinds of modelling. For example:

"identification of the important factors"

or

"deciding what is cause and what is effect."

3 WHAT MODELLING SKILLS DO STUDENTS NEED?

In order to answer this question we could make lists of modelling skills which relate to types of model. For example, in dynamic modelling, the skill of making appropriate mathematical expressions. But there are also meta-level skills, such as maintaining a sense of an overall modelling process and how to carry on when "stuck". I believe that having skills in the latter category is essential for success, whereas more support can be gained from the computer for the skills of expressing models.

4 HOW DO STUDENTS ACQUIRE MODELLING SKILLS?

There are few explicit teaching programmes for "how to model". Often students are simply shown to finished models, taught some "toolkit" skills and left to get on with it.

In future we may improve on this state of affairs by:

- encouraging reflection on the modelling process;

- discussing case studies;

- extending teachers' understanding of the conceptual needs.

As before I believe it is essential that educators have a clearer picture of modelling at all stages and levels of thought employed in the construction and evaluation of a model.

5 HOW SHOULD WE ASSESS MODELLING ACTIVITIES?

Modelling is frequently an open ended activity. It is not clear when the student has come to a sensible finishing point, since by definition refinements are always possible. Nevertheless, we can look at three aspects of modelling activities in order to make assessments. On the one hand we can examine the outcome of such work by asking questions such as:

can a decision be made?;

can future patterns be predicted?.

Alternatively we can examine the process and development of a model and consider the student's methods and strategy. Finally we can ask the student to make self-evaluative reports on their work.

6 WHAT FURTHER RESEARCH IS NECESSARY?

It seems to me that we need to know more clearly what the range of techniques of modelling are, how they are employed and at what developmental stage can students be introduced to concepts in modelling. Research should be perhaps be directed at the following:

- learner's preconceptions of models if they have them;

- the ways in which expert modellers approach their task;

- the conceptual framework required for modelling at all levels;

- the teaching strategies currently employed where modelling is taught as a subject.

Abstract:

Introduction

This paper attempts to explain the place of multimedia and modelling in education by defining their rôle and significance, particularly from a social and cultural point of view, with reference to the Renaissance Initiative, a project involving five academic institutions in the UK supported by Apple Computer UK. This project has been developing multimedia materials on CD-ROM in the year 1989-90 which include resources on Shakespeare, Mathematical Calculus, James Lovelock's Gaia theory and Insights and Issues for Teacher Education. The project is continuing with a second phase in the year 1990-91, aiming at European social and cultural themes.

What is multimedia?

Multimedia is simply the organisation and conjunction by computer software of a range of media such as text, graphics, animations, sound and video. From a educational point of view, multimedia is an attempt to communicate ideas under interactive computer control, by presentation through more than one sensory channel at the same time.

What is multimedia for?

Multimedia techniques have been used for a range of educational topics, but particularly for cultural and humanities applications such as Shakespeare or In the Holy Land. It may also be valuable in scientific and mathematical contexts such as in the Visual Almanac and Motion materials. Multimedia can provide direct visual and aural material as a substitute for real experience or laboratory work. If used effectively, multimedia can clearly show the origins of materials and indicate that there are human authors by showing actual people talking. Multimedia therefore has as its main strength its power to communicate ideas directly.

What is modelling?

Modelling can also be a communicative activity, but through a symbolic medium. Modelling in this paper is defined as the activity of making formal, executable computer representations of real or fantasy systems. It is important that these models are formal and executable since this allows the computer to assist in the activity of modelling. The computer assists the expression of models through syntax checking and visual representations, but it also assists the evaluation of models by executing the model in order to understand its consequences. Models may be constructed with a wide variety of software ranging from the specific such as STELLA to the more general such as spreadsheets, Logo or Prolog.

What is modelling for?

Modelling is for all of the following:

• solving problems;
• predicting outcomes;
• supporting decisions;
• communicating understanding.

Clearly not all children can become expert modellers - it is an intensely theoretic and abstract process, but this does not mean that they can know nothing of models or the uses to which they are put. Children should be take part in the activity of modelling for the following reasons:

• to understand the basis for decision making in a democratic society;
• to increase their knowledge and understanding in a range of subject matters;
• to improve their ability to solve problems, take decisions and think about the problem solving process;
• to allow direct involvement as managers or politicians in the process of decision making and predicting outcomes;
• to understand, communicate and solve scientific and social problems as researchers.

How can modelling benefit from multimedia techniques?

This paper indicates how the activity of modelling can benefit from multimedia techniques. The primary benefits are as follows:

• Stimulus - The activity of modelling may be effectively stimulated by presenting problems to be solved, outcomes to be predicted or decisions to be made using multimedia with rich resources to explain the initial problem and to suggest important factors or relationships.
• Authorship - The idea that a model is the creation of some human being is often overlooked. Multimedia can help to strengthen the idea that an author lies behind any model, and that a model can be critically evaluated.
• Evaluation - Successful evaluation of a model depends on some experience of the phenomenon being modelled or some data to compare. Multimedia resources may be able to substitute for some of this experience or might present such data (which also has an author) in interesting ways.
• Combining direct images and sounds with symbolic forms - The symbolic forms in which models are usually represented rely heavily on the imagination of the modeller. Multimedia can combine the symbolic form with more direct images and sounds which may support the imagination.
• Understanding cultural background - Models are not created by authors in a void. Each author carries a set of assumptions and values which should be represented together with the symbolic form of the model. Multimedia can support this kind of presentation.

Conclusion

A major problem with many Information Technology activities is the notion that the computer knows some object truth. Authors often present ideas on the computer as though they are the computer's or that they cannot be challenged. Multimedia techniques, if used wisely, offer the possibility to show that the computer is a powerful medium of communication from human to human, rather than the source of knowledge, encouraging children to see the cultural and social diversity which lies behind that communication and which allows them to take part in tomorrow's society.