AVD-Merge Final Report

Theoretical background: An ontology for the organization of knowledge, both pedagogical and technical, on the use of AVD (Audio, Video, and Data) communications in educational settings, to be used as theoretical background for the design of the services and the user interface 2. Blended Learning educational methodologies aiming at maximizing flexibility in terms of time and location as well as the social aspect of education through increased face time. The methodologies combine in-class education, on-line learning, practical training, and video- conference based instruction. The methodologies are a step further from traditional distance teaching, which has a mixed reputation in terms of quality due to the lack of personal interaction. Products and services: 3. A knowledge base and related services organizing unstructured multimedia content on the use of AVD communications in educational settings for information discovery purposes. The purpose of the services is to disseminate information and know how on the use of AVD technology in technology education. The services are a supporting educational tool facilitating self-paced and learner driven learning and complement in-class teaching. The knowledge management infrastructure and services support the publication of ontology-based metadata descriptions, the publication and optional hosting of content, the dynamic and transparent generation of statistics on access of managed content, browsing of content of information consumers, and information discovery through ontology-based metadata searches. The knowledge base is supported through two interfaces: - For advanced users: ontology-based information navigation and discovery - For novice users: a portal with easy access to categorized multimedia content and related metadata 4. Multilingual learning management services, with the capability of supporting dynamically all European languages at the interface and metadata level. As per the work program, the AvdMerge project extended past work, executed in the context of the eCMS and NS-eCMS projects, through the support of dynamic multilingualism to already developed learning management services targeting learners, instructors, and administrators. The developed multilingual interface facilitates dissemination of educational content throughout Europe. The services are developed with under the open source model to ensure vendor independence and to maximize value for users. 5. Educational content: - Videos (over 60 in number) for the vivid presentation on the deployment of AVD communications in education. The videos are published through a video streaming server and are accessible through the knowledge base. - Train-the-trainer multimedia structured on-line courses on adapting instructional processes for taking advantage of AVD technology published through the learning management services. The on-line courses are built on top of the videos with the addition of informational explanatory text and images and are accessible through the learning management services and are available through the AvdMerge eLearning services. Course 1: Using video and video-conferencing in teaching (motivational course) Course 2: Basic video-conferencing equipment training Course 3: Become familiar with video-conferencing Course 4: Presentation techniques Note: off-line versions of the courses are also attached to this report, however the main outputs are the on-line versions.