Update: Summer, 2000

With support from FIPSE (the Fund for Improvement of Post-Secondary Education), great progress has been made in extension of functionality and application of the Remote Collaboration Tool (RCT, the new name for this project). Some of the features that merit special note are:

1. RCT has been used extensively in second language acquisition courses such as intermediate Spanish at UC Davis and UC Santa Cruz; German at UC Santa Barbara; intermediate Japanese at UC Davis; and tests of RCT at several other institutions.
2. RCT has been used for virtual office hours in an Upper Division Computer Science class at UC Davis.
3. UNIX/LINUX client has been completed and is now in beta test mode.
4. A new security component has been design and tested and will soon be incorporated into the RCT package.
5. Demonstrations of RCT have been conducted worldwide, with a growing list of individuals and groups expressing interest in its use.

We continue to seek additional funding (our FIPSE grant is now on a fourth year no-cost extension, and we have received some additional support from the National Institutes of Health), and we are exploring ways in which RCT can become self-supporting.

We are rewriting the Server, greatly improving its robustness and extending it to LINUX systems. This project, which will take about six months, should result in a more stable server with modular design capable of accommodating the several features we hope to add this year. One of the most important new features proposed is the "Team" concept, which defines a group that remains active until removed, providing seamless continuity between synchronous and asynchronous connectivity, access to previous dialog, whiteboard and sound, and a comprehensive index of time-stamped changes made to various items reviewed by the Team.

With these additions, we believe that RCT will continue to be a leader in effectiv communication tools, and we hope to disseminate it widely in the year 2001.

Note: During Summer, 1998, The RCT research team has had numerous meetings, and is now meeting on a weekly basis as we prepare for the Fall Quarter. These minutes reflect actions, activities, and accomplishments of the RCT team during the last few weeks.

PC Client:

After an extended search for a programmer to adapt the PC Client for Windows-NT and compatible systems, we were able to identify a contract programmer with the requisite skills. No one with appropriate background was available on the Davis campus. The contract programmer, Uriah Barnett, began work on the conversion of existing PC client code early in August and expects to complete the stipulated changes by end of August. His progress to date (Aug. 17) is encouraging, and we look forward to receiving partially converted source code later this week. We will probably hire an undergraduate student programmer to continue the PC Client development work as soon as Uriahâs contract is completed.

New Additions and Major Changes to RCT:

Discussions of features needed or desired for RCT in the future led to definition of an extensive list of proposed enhancements and changes to the system. This list has been prioritized, and a schedule developed accordingly. The features to be included are grouped by major functionality below.

User Interface: Brian Kennedy has designed a completely new window for the interactive session displayed to users when they log on. This version requires an extensive rewrite of existing code, but will result in a significantly improved user interface. However, until the PC Client is brought up to conform with the current Mac client, it was decided to defer operational use of the new user interface. As a result, Brian has made some necessary enhancements to the current user interface. These features will be added to the PC Client as soon as it is ready for use, and Brian and the new PC Client developer will work on the parallel upgrade of both clients to the new user interface, with a goal of introducing this client in early 1999.

Content Link: A major component of the on-line course development requires a convenient link between RCT and course content of all types. Tim Leamy has modified the Administration module of RCT so that authorized instructors can define link names to course material and define the URLs that attach to those names. To access course material, a user clicks first on the CONTENT button, then selects the appropriate category, after which RCT goes directly to the selected URL, invoking Netscape if required. (The button name was changed from ETA, standing for expert Technical Assistance, to CONTENT since it was felt that this more accurately reflected the breadth of options now available in that area.

With the addition of a link to course materials, it will be possible to link to any kind of material present relating to a course ö text, graphics, animation, sound, and video ö anything that can be accessed via the Web. It will not be necessary to reinvent tools already available from other sources, or to adapt course content to any RCT-specific format. RCT team members are already generating the appropriate links to course material already on the web, and we will be able to rapidly link any new materials as they become ready.

Textpad Enhancements: Use of the textpad during the Spring Quarter indicated that a different approach should be adopted for transfer of control. After considerable discussion, it was decided to allow anyone in a group to obtain control if no one is in control. Once control is assigned, however, it can only be released by the person who has control. Another group member can request control, and that request will appear on the texpad screen, with a beep informing the current owner that a request has been made. Typing a message in the dialog box will likewise generate a beep on the ownerâs screen. While no system is perfect, this approach will allow reasonable sharing without unwanted loss of control.

This change has been tested with pairs, and needs to be tested in groups.

Sound File Time Extension: In response to requests from students, the parameter defining the length of time allowed for a single sound message has been increased from 12 to about 25 seconds.

Administration Changes: A feature has been added to the administration button in the RCT Home Page. When an individual logs on, the system displays a list of users currently on line, by courses. This feature will prove useful for development, but may also help instructors see who is on the system at any time. The Content feature has also been implemented so that instructional staff can very easily add the content label and link using the administration page.

Testing Changes in RCT

It is essential that the new features of RCT be thoroughly tested in the Language Laboratory well before the start of the Fall Quarter. In order to do so, the labâs Mac Operating systems need to be upgraded to 8.x. Jackie Kaminski agreed to schedule this upgrade as soon as possible, so that the RCT team can begin to test new features as they are ready for evaluation. It is hoped that the upgrade can be completed by the Aug. 21.

Evaluation of Spring Quarter Courses

The preliminary report submitted by Curt Acredolo on survey of the Intermediate Spanish students involved in the RCT study has been reviewed, and a number of corrections need to be made before the report is distributed outside the RCT team. Bob Blake and Curt will meet to discuss the report Aug. 18. In the meantime, the initial attitude survey results from the 21 students taking Intermediate Japanese has been collated, with almost universally positive responses from all students. A few constructive suggestions were made on the use of RCT and some on its operation, but the basic findings suggest that RCT provides an extremely valuable experience for students learning to write Japanese.

Design for Fall Quarter Course Surveys and Evaluations

Curt Acredolo and Bob Blake met to discuss class plans for the Fall Quarter. Some of the principal points made include the following:

For Intermediate Spanish only: the S-CAPE proficiency test will be administered as a pre-test, but not as a post-test.

There will be a graded pre-post composition test based on describing a picture: what the object is and does, etc.

Pre-and Post tests will be distributed hard copy, not electronically. Detailed content will be slightly revised.

Curt Acredolo will conduct random email interview of both RCT and control groups.

End of course evaluation will include a combination of questions from Springâs Japanese and Spanish questionnaires.

Revision of Class Assignments

The approximate schedule of tasks planned at this time for the Fall Quarter Intermediate Spanish will be as follows:

Week 1: only two days. No planned action.

Week 2: RCT orientation.

Week 3: Personality profiles developed on partner student.

Week 4: Use of sound description in object identification: Student A describes object, student B guesses object, writes up report for electronic submission.

Week 5: Password game: joint guessing of object based on multimedia clues. Textpad write-up of solution.

Week 6: Profile of native speaker

Week 7: Calendar project: A and B work with different calendars to identify joint activities.

Week 8: Thanksgiving: leave open.

Week 9: Apartment hunting game.

 The Japanese assignments will be defined shortly.

UC Davis Distance Learning Infrastructure

Vicki Suter, Information Technology Staff, has been assigned half time responsibility to coordinate development of the UCDavis Distributed Learning Environment Architecture and Development Project. Her duties will include surveying what is available on campus and efforts to coordinate and disseminate these tools. Since RCT is an infrastructure tool that directly relates to the project for which she is responsible, Vicki will join our RCT planning meetings. It appears likely that RCT will become a major component of the campus infrastructure in this environment.