“The fun they had”
                                                                                                                                     Asimov

Abstract

This paper presents an application level network service based on the TCP/IP reference model. Our service is made of both a new Cooperative Activity ConTrol Protocol (CACTP) and a new Application Program Interface. This service was used for the creation of an Interactive Multimedia Tele-learning Environment, which supports a virtual secondary school classroom where the children and the teacher join a synchronous class session in Internet/Intranet networks.
 

Introduction

Today advanced speed networks and multimedia technologies transform our planet into a global village. At the same time modern psychologists, following Vygotskyan studies stress the creative strength of cooperation [Dill-Schn95]. Those elements together stimulate the creation of the cooperative tele-learning environment. Our work is in this context and we, without forgetting asynchronous component, stress that children aged 9-12 need the synchronous component, which is missing in other educational environments [Turo95][Hiltz95]. Higher education is based on the concept of modules while children’s education is based on the concept of the class.
In a real classroom we may distinguish two kinds of fundamental activities: the synchronous activities like readings, examinations, debates and the asynchronous activities like homework and personal re-elaboration
The first one allows the unrolling of the lesson and the socialization with the other children while the second one allows the re-elaboration of treated arguments and individual study.
The environment we propose transfers the didactic activity from the traditional classroom to a network learning space-environment dissolving the spatial restrictions but guaranteeing the typical socio-cognitive contacts of a traditional classroom. In our classroom, for example, the restricted group of active pupils does not dominate the debates any more, all the children may express themselves liberally in an ask-and-answer debate. The one-to-one relation between teacher and e.g. a child with particular capacities can be established without disturbing the usual lesson. All activities can be timed according to the children’s capacities and organised in anonymous games that allow the timid child to find his role and to express himself.

In the first section we show our learning network cooperative model and we identify the functionality needed for the cooperation [Hilt-Wern97]. Moreover we show the general characteristics of our software. It is layered according to the internet model but we split the application layer into two levels: the upper level is the user Alunno (Pupil) and Insegnante (Teacher) application and the lower level is CACTP service that provides a network application protocol and an API for the upper level. Up to this time there has been no commonly accepted service, which encloses all facilities to support all mechanisms of cooperation types (collaboration, co-decision, coordination). We have identified the functions needed for the cooperation and we have used this in the upper layer where the client server application runs.
In the second section we show the communication model used in the upper level: a client server application that enables the teacher to monitor all classroom activities.
We suggest the employment of these instruments also in local networks, in order to improve the quality of didactics.
 

Cooperative Learning Network Model

In figure 1 we show the model which we have used to design and to implement the cooperative functionality of our virtual secondary school classroom. This model was inspired by [Schäll96] and defines the didactic units (the “commitments” of the Schäll model), Child, Teacher, group (“nodes”), Classroom interaction (“relations”), Didactic Unit / children Selection and distribution (“articulations”) which completely characterize a cooperative learning network.

                                                                Fig. 1
 
The didactic unit enables the teacher to prepare single and cooperative activities for the children. They develop a solution individually or cooperatively and send it to the teacher. We have used the HTML format for our didactics unit, both because this standard is very suitable for the distribution of data in the network and for its multimedia capability needed for secondary school classrooms. The implemented functionality allows the children to solve the homework assigned by the teacher outside the virtual classroom session. The didactic units may be distributed in the network for the management of the activities.

The child, the teacher and the group are “living” entities of the synchronous session of the virtual classroom. They take part in the didactic activities. A set of functions allows the creation of workgroups for cooperative activities through voting processes.

The classroom interaction component enables the people to attend the virtual classroom interacting through textual communication. We have implemented three kinds of communication: the open discussion, the group one (in a group or between groups) and the private one. The interaction between them is enriched by the possibility of exchanging multimedia resources in the synchronous session by the integration of the ftp service which is used as a vehicle for the distribution and the exchange of resources in the classroom. The use of this protocol is hidden from the users.
 
The teacher uses Didactic Unit / Children Selection and Distribution components to establish how the pupils interact, e.g. single vs. group activity, personal vs. anonymous activity.

For any of these four network components we have implemented a set of facilities, which is included in the application layer of the TCP/IP reference model.
To enhance the modularity and flexibility of our system the application layer was split up into two levels: the CACTP Application Service that provides the cooperative facilities and the User Application as shown in fig.2.
 

                                                                            Fig 2

Virtual Secondary School Classroom Network Architecture

The learning environment prototype consists of two applications: Pupil client and Teacher server that communicate through the one-to-many server based communication model shown in Fig. 3. This model has been used to implement the synchronous session in the CACTP Cooperation Service, which we find more suitable than an agent-to-agent communication model that guarantees a direct communication between children, because the (teacher) application can be enabled to monitor all information flows. It must be possible, for example, to expel an anonymous pupil who is behaving badly or to stop the sending of personal messages in case the receiving person does not appreciate them.
In the figure the arrows for direct communication are black and those for indirect communication are dotted gray.
Each client Alunno communicates directly with the server Insegnante through an assigned channel TCP/IP and with the other clients Alunno through the server.
 

 

                                                                    Fig 3

The client/server software contains five scenarios: Classroom Visualization and Connection Area, Discussion Area, Group Making Area, Educational Activities Area and Multimedia Resource Exchange Area. Through these areas the children and the teacher cooperate using CACTP functionality:
 

•  Didactic Unit facilities

•  Nodes facilities

• Classroom interaction facilities

•  The facilities of selection and distribution of the didactic unit

The facilities mentioned before are used by methods and events provided by the Application Program Interface. All API calls are listed in the following table:

 
 

CreateSession	SendMsgToGroup
CloseSession	SendMsgToPartner
JoiningSession	SendMsgToClassroom
LeavingSession	SendExercise
NewVotation	SendSolution
StopVotation	ConnectToResorceServer
TournOfChoice	DisconnectFromResourceServer
NewGroup	GetResourceFrom
SendMsgToTeacher	PutResourceTo

Conclusion

In this work we have defined and implemented a new network application service (CACTP protocol and interface API) for cooperative learning activity control in real-time environment that uses a TCP/IP transport level communication protocol. All the facilities of the Cooperative Activity ConTrol Protocol are incapsulated in a unique service which has been used for the implementation of user applications for our virtual classroom environment.
This environment gives an original atmosphere in the method of learning because it allows both synchronous and asynchronous activities. It enhances the group, the socialization of the children, but at the same time it allows them to reflect on their own. It is desirable to use our system within the four walls of an average classroom with a link to a child at home, which is naturally suffering from a sore throat! Or perhaps a link to the teacher who may not be present at school due to unforeseen circumstances. The virtual school, which we are proposing, has like every piece of software only potential characteristics: just like an empty classroom with desks and chairs awaits a teacher and pupils to make it come alive. Our class had a brief experience within the secondary school of Capannori (Lucca-Italy) and it still has to be experimented fully. We are certain that schools in the millenium will profit from tools similar to ours and that the “technological teacher” portrayed with surprising clarity by Asimov will not succeed, because he lacks the interpersonal relationships which the new tools allow us to maintain.
 

References

[Schäll96] Schäll T. "Workflow Management Systems for Process Organizations", Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Vol 1096, 1996

[Hilt-Wern97] Hilt V. Werner G. "A Model for Collaborative Services in Distributed Learning Environments", LNCS 1309 pp. 364-375, 1997
 
[Dill-Schn95] Dillenberg, P. & Schneider, D (1995). "Collaborative Learning in the Internet", Proceedings, Fourth Int. Conference on Computer Assisted Instruction, Taiwan.
[Hiltz95] Hiltz S.R. "Teaching in a virtual classroom"  International Conference on Computer Assisted Instruction ICCAI'95 http://www.njit.edu/njIT/Department/CCCC/VC/Papers/

[Turo95] Turoff M. " Designing a Virtual Classroom ", International Conference on Computer Assisted Instruction ICCAI'95 http://www.njit.edu/njIT/Department/CCCC/VC/Papers/