Case Study: Web + DVD = The Elements of Education?
Marla Misek
March 2002 | In the laboratory and in life, the right (or
wrong) combination of elements can make or break an experiment. Over
the years, educators have tried many a gimmick to compel their
students to pay attention in class, to do their homework, and to
participate actively in the process of learning. Increasingly, those
same instructors are discovering that DVD has both the capacity to
house a tremendous volume of information and the allure to deliver
that information in a way that will attract and retain student
interest. Indeed, the relatively recent fusion of DVD and education
has resulted in a number of ongoing initiatives that seem poised to
revolutionize the ways in which educators teach and students learn.
One such experiment is the Physical Chemistry in Practice WebDVD
project currently underway at the Auraria Media Center (AMC) in
Denver, Colorado. Serving the Community College of Denver, the
Metropolitan State College of Denver (MSCD) and the University of
Colorado at Denver (CU-Denver), the AMC offers a full range of media
services, as well as consulting services in media design and
production, effective media use, distance education, and equipment
selection, to facilitate university faculty's instructional needs.
The foundation of the four-year project is the happenstance, but
symbiotic, collaboration between Peggy O'Neill-Jones, an associate
professor of technical communications at MSCD, and Gabriela Weaver,
an associate professor of chemistry at Purdue University.
Conceived in 1999 "as a way to provide third- and fourth-year
chemistry students with examples of actual, state-of-the-practice
laboratory research that utilizes the concepts they are learning in
class," Physical Chemistry in Practice began as a prototype DVD
featuring two videos of chemistry experiments, as well as
supplemental Web content, according to Weaver, who was an assistant
professor of chemistry at CU-Denver at the time. Her mission, she
says, was to create a teaching tool that "could be used as a
classroom media supplement to demonstrate real applications of the
science." Weaver also envisioned the DVD as a study aide that
students could use at home "to review concepts, read additional
material, and work on problems." She also saw it as an extension of
laboratory courses, particularly "in locations where the labs are
poorly equipped."
Enter O'Neill-Jones, who also serves as director of DVD.learn,
the official training center for Sonic Solutions' Creator,
Scenarist, Fusion, and DVDit! authoring tools and for InterActual
Technologies' Web-connected DVD software and player. As Weaver was
embarking on the development of her prototype--which had been funded
by the National Science Foundation (NSF)--O'Neill-Jones was
preparing to teach WebDVD courses at DVD.learn and researching ways
in which WebDVD "could enhance the teaching and learning process."
"It seems our paths crossed at precisely the right time,"
O'Neill-Jones recalls. "Through the AMC, Gabriela and I came across
each other's projects and realized how much they had in common."
After O'Neill-Jones had schooled Weaver in the benefits of WebDVD,
the two agreed to collaborate on an expanded project, which the NSF
again agreed to fund. The reworked concept is a WebDVD consisting of
10 independent modules that, says Weaver, "together will cover all
of the major topics discussed in a traditional physical chemistry
course, including thermodynamics, kinetics, quantum mechanics,
spectroscopy, and statistical mechanics."
Slated for completion in December 2005, Physical Chemistry in
Practice features content developed by Ball State University,
Purdue, the University of Northern Colorado, CU-Denver, and MSCD.
Weaver is serving as scriptwriter for the scientific content, in
conjunction with the scientists showcased in each DVD-Video segment.
O'Neill-Jones is authoring the project's WebDVD components using
Sonic Creator and InterActual tools.
According to Weaver, the WebDVD's video/animations section, to be
taped on-location at various research sites around the world, will
showcase research that is being carried out by the field's leading
scientists and engineers. "Each research project selected for the
DVD has a connection to a topic of social relevance," she explains.
"For example, the modules on the original prototype have connections
to semiconductor chips and to medical research on brain trauma." The
disc's animations component, to be designed and produced at the AMC,
"will visually demonstrate specific points and concepts discussed in
the videos," Weaver continues. "They will be edited into the video
content...and provided on the DVD in an a la carte menu. The theory
section will contain HTML- and Java-based material linking the
high-level research material in the videos to the concepts students
are learning in the classroom. Finally, the interactive problems
will be related to the research material in the videos, and will
include authentic data from the researchers' work for students to
analyze."
But why WebDVD, and why now? For O'Neill-Jones, a 20-year veteran
of media production, the technology was a natural choice. "As more
and more courses go online, technology has become an integral
component of the teaching and learning process," she explains. "One
of the areas that needs improvement is the rich media component of
online and classroom-delivered education. Streaming media is an
inconsistent way to deliver video, audio, and animation because the
quality of playback depends upon the user's set-up, bandwidth, and
other factors. WebDVD is the way to overcome the bandwidth issues
and to ensure consistent media playback. One of the goals of this
project will be to gather data and to assess the value of using rich
media sources in the classroom and their effect on the learning
outcome.
"Education is undergoing an incredible revolution," O'Neill-Jones
continues. "The educational model in which the student went to the
information is changing to one in which the information comes to the
student. Education is no longer time- and place-dependent. With this
change comes a need to re-think how the information gets to the
student and the quality of the medium that delivers that
information. Until `broadband for all' is a reality, WebDVD allows
students to view, experience, and learn from high-quality audio,
video, and animation by integrating dynamic content updates and
linking to a variety of interactive tools, such as databases, chat
rooms, and online testing."
Weaver also believes in the technology and its place in the
classroom, but is careful to set boundaries. "WebDVD can offer a
media supplement of high quality and bandwidth. For certain
applications, such as videos of chemistry reactions and experiments,
this is essential," she says. "WebDVD also provides a versatile and
interactive medium in which students can learn. However, it should
not--and probably will not--replace other methods of instructing
students."
O'Neill-Jones agrees that WebDVD's value is self-evident, but
that hurdles remain. "The biggest challenge we've faced so far is
selling the concept of WebDVD," she explains. "Producing the
prototype as a proof-of-concept and getting the NSF to fund it was a
big challenge. The next challenge will be ensuring ubiquitous
playback environments. For WebDVD to make it into the educational
mainstream, the playback needs to be easy, inexpensive, and
seamless."
Until then, the chemistry between DVD and the classroom will
continue to be tested and refined. "The optimal scenario [in the
future] is one that combines the benefits of one-on-one instruction,
collaborative student group work, lectures, media supplements (such
as video and animation), and interactive homework," says Weaver.
"Each of these educational models has its strengths, and no single
one should be expected to be everything to everyone."
