Singapore-MIT Alliance

The Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA) is a unique and ambitious advanced engineering degree program that combines an innovative distance-learning component with traditional on-campus learning. Founded in 1998 to promote global engineering research, SMA is a highly-collaborative effort that includes engineering faculty from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Nanyang Technological University (NTU). SMA has provided thousands of students with courses in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer science, aeronautics, astronautics, chemical engineering, materials science, and management through the most technologically-advanced distance learning facilities available.

SMA course offerings use a live lecture format delivered via videoconferencing with supplemental data content provided via an application sharing (T.120) link. Reference materials, homework assignments, lecture notes and readings, and encoded versions of all the lectures are available from a central website. In addition, the course server supports email lists and discussion groups.

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Performing Arts Panel and Jazz Combo Performance

A Manhattan School of Music Combo, coached by Justin DiCioccio, will perform during National Internet2 Day.

Manhattan School of Music—in collaboration with Columbia University—presented a jazz combo virtual performance over Internet2's Abilene Network as part of National Internet2 Day on 18 March 2004. The jazz performance was multicast live to more than 35 National Internet2 Day participation sites and also webcast live on the commodity Internet. Following the jazz performance, the National Internet2 Day featured a performing arts panel discussion, highlighting topics such as bringing connectivity into a theater or venue, producing remote master classes, presenting multi-site performances, and providing educational outreach in the arts and humanities. The panel was moderated by Ann Doyle, Internet2 program manager for Arts & Humanities Initiatives, panel presenters included:

Thomas Knab, Case Western Reserve University

Christianne Orto, Manhattan School of Music

Louis Brown, Manhattan School of Music

Tom Snook, New World Symphony

Benton Hess, Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester

Ramon Ricker, Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester

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University of Michigan Scanning Electron Microscope and Lehigh University Microscopy Course

For the past four years, a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) at the University of Michigan has played a key role in a “microcourse” taught at Lehigh University. Each year, The Lehigh Microscopy School attracts 100-150 engineers and scientists who receive instruction in a wide variety of microscope techniques. The attendees range from novice users to expert professionals who need to stay current on the latest developments in the field of scanning and analytical electron microscopy. These 4-5 day lecture/lab courses are taught by noted experts and course attendees receive instruction on SEMs and other state-of-the-art instruments. One of these instruments is the Philips XL30FEG SEM located in the Electron Microbeam Analysis Laboratory (EMAL) at the University of Michigan (UM). The Philips line of SEMS was one of the first to be completely computer-controlled, as opposed to the knob and switch “interfaces” on older instruments. Extending its usability via remote-control to an Internet wide audience resulted from the work of Dr. John Mansfield and collaborators. Mansfield, Manager of the North Campus EMAL at UM, explained, “Advanced networks provide the bandwidth and

Dr. John Mansfield describes his work in this QuickTime video clip.

Mansfield will be among the presenters in a special panel on teaching during the National Internet2 Day, an Internet2 virtual community event that will be netcast 18 March 2004.
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Bradley University Screenwriting Class

In order be competitive in the entertainment industry job market, university graduates need to know how the industry works from top to bottom before they even go to their first job interview. But, how do you expose your students to agents, writers, directors, producers, and other professionals in film and television? And, how do you do it from Peoria, IL? Dr. Jeffrey Huberman, Dean of the Slane College of Communications and Fine Arts at Bradley University, knew that advanced network technology could provide a solution. Explained Huberman, “In our college, we have an incredible number of graduates who head to California, and we now have alums in major studios as agents, writers, and producers. We provide students with an excellent education in video production, music composition, multimedia authoring, and many aspects of the entertainment industry. But, one of the things we don't provide is a course in screenwriting. We thought Internet2 might be the vehicle." During the 2003 academic year, eight Bradley students and eight students at California State University, Los Angeles (CSLA) had that opportunity. Huberman collaborated with Steve Rothman, a colleague at CSLA, to create the screenwriting course. Dr. Thomas Palakeel, associate professor of English at Bradley, taught the course accompanied by a series of agents, screenwriters, and creative and production executives who served as guest lecturers—brought live to the classroom via interactive videoconferencing. Through the use of advanced networking technology, students not only learned the ropes of writing a screenplay, they learned all the steps involved in bringing a project to production from professionals who are successfully managing careers in Hollywood.

Huberman will be among the presenters in a special panel on teaching during the National Internet2 Day, an Internet2 virtual community event that will be netcast March 18.

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Internet2 Commons Supports Distributed Collaboration throughout the Earthquake Engineering Community

The Internet2 Commons H.323 Videoconferencing Service plays a key role in supporting distributed collaboration throughout the earthquake engineering community. The NSF-funded George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) is a 15-year program that promises to transform the practice of earthquake engineering by combining physical experimentation, computational simulation, data curation, theory formulation and validation, high-performance computing, and education within a single framework. Fifteen different NEES equipment sites will be linked together in a national collaboratory called NEESgrid, allowing them to act as a single virtual earthquake engineering laboratory. When this system comes online in late 2004, Internet2's Abilene Network will provide backbone connectivity for the video, data, and control information that will be sent between sites.

The planning and coordination required to implement this system became a serious logistical issue among the geographically-dispersed NEES participants and regular face-to-face meetings were impractical for a group this large and distributed. Fortunately, key individuals within the NEES community had experience with point-to-point IP-based videoconferencing and agreed to adopt H.323 videoconferencing through the Internet2 Commons to support their distributed interaction. The first NEES videoconference hosted via the Commons was held in January 2002. Since this initial meeting, the NEES community has 2-4 videoconferences per month, averaging 30 attendees each, with participation sites ranging from New York to California. Thomas Finholt and Erik Hofer, both from the School of Information at the University of Michigan, Jerry Hajjar from the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Minnesota, and Andrei Reinhorn from the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York were the key proponents in introducing the Internet2 Commons to the NEES community. According to Hofer, Collaborative Systems Specialist, “Meeting face-to-face in this kind of remote environment has been a terrific success. The researchers got to know each other quickly, establish trust, and tackle issues that would only have been possible if we were in the same room together, a scenario that our budgets and schedules couldn't afford.” Finholt, who is Director of the Collaboratory for Research on Electronic Work at UM, added, “Internet2 promises to play a large role in enabling scientific discovery and improving engineering once NEES comes online, but has played an equally important role by enabling the advanced collaborative services to support the construction of NEES.” Finholt will be presenting on his work with NEES and interactive collaboration as part of a science and research panel during the National Internet2 Day, March 18. Finholt and Hofer are also among the co-authors of an article “The Internet2 Commons: Supporting Distributed Engineering Collaboration,” which appears in the January 2004 edition of Syllabus magazine.

MediaVision and Chemistry 105

MediaVision Courseware is an advanced research project produced by Instructional Technology and Academic Computing (ITAC) a division of Information Technology Services at Case Western Reserve University. In coordination with faculty, students, and administration, ITAC assists the development of emerging technologies and supports current technologies that enhance teaching and learning at Case. Through technology support and professional development, ITAC supports the University community in its endeavor to experience, explore, collaborate, and extend learning beyond its traditional bounds. Working with Chemistry 105, a large, lecture-style undergrad chemistry course, MediaVision is enhancing existing teaching methods with new multimedia learning content. Elements of the course include video recordings of lectures, review sessions, and homework assistance; MP3 audio recordings; and an on-line textbook. Lectures and review sessions of Dr. Ocasio’s Chemistry 105 course have been recorded; encoded for network distribution; classified, indexed and "published" to the web where they are accessed by students. Students can, for example, choose to replay an entire lecture or view only the portions of the lecture they would like to see based on the results of a key word search. Network-based delivery extends access to the multimedia materials both on and off campus, allowing all students to be “technological equals” and have the same experience, which is especially critical to CWRU commuting students. Plans are currently in the works to extend network-based delivery of MediaVision Courseware to AP chemistry students in high schools.

Evaluating student performance is an important goal of this project also, and the results have been impressive. After 20 years of tracking student performance using traditional teaching methods, the averages on the first two tests have historically been 72/73. During the first semester of Chemistry 105 using the MediaVision Courseware, scores for those two tests rose to an 81 average. When asked if the success of these multimedia materials will deter students from attending class in-person, Dr. Ocasio replied, “Its just another way to keep my door open to my students.” Wendy Shapiro, Director of ITAC added, “Faculty on our campus are very excited about using these technologies to supplement their teaching. Rather than attempting to provide a “one-application-for-all” approach, we work with faculty on a case-by-case basis to adapt our technology to their areas of expertise and for their particular teaching needs.” Shapiro and Mike Kubit, Manager of MediaVision, will be co-presenting on MediaVision Courseware and Chemistry 105 during the National Internet2 Day scheduled for March 18. Kubit added, “MediaVision Courseware illustrates how technology can not only improve the delivery of the course materials, it can improve the educational outcome as well.”