AUC Academic Conference 'From Virtual to Reality' The University of
Queensland 1996AUC Academic Conference 'From Virtual to Reality' The University of
Queensland 1996
Back to Home Page ...... by Presenter ...... by Paper Title ...... by Keyword
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Dr. Richard Dawkins, Oxford UniversityDr. Geoff Cumming, La Trobe University
Larry Tesler, Apple Computer Inc.
Prof. Michael D'Alessandro MD, University of Iowa
Prof. Jerome Durlak, York University
Jonathan Knowles, Apple Computer Inc.
Dr. Richard Dawkins, Oxford University
Abstract ................ Contact Details ................ Back to top of page
Profile:
Richard Dawkins is the first holder of Oxford's newly endowed Charles Simonyi Chair of Public Understanding of Science, and a Professional Fellow of New College, Oxford. He was born in Africa in 1941 where his father worked for the British Colonial Service. He was educated in England and did his degree at Oxford, followed by a doctorate under the Nobel Prizewinning ethologist Niko Tinbergen.
After two years on the Faculty of the University of California (Berkeley), he returned to Oxford, where he was successively a University Lecturer and ad hominem Reader in Zoology before taking up his present appointment in 1995. His most senior degree at Oxford is the D.Sc.
His books are The Selfish Gene (1976, 2nd Edition 1989); The Extended Phenotype (1982, 1989); The Blind Watchmaker (1986); River Out of Eden (1995) and Climbing Mount Improbable (1996). River Out of Eden held the Number One position in the British non-fiction best seller in 1995 and is contracted to be translated into 24 languages. The Selfish Gene and The Blind Watchmaker were both best sellers in their time and have been translated into all the major languages. In June 1996 Climbing Mount Improbable and the paperback edition of River Out of Eden appeared in the bestseller list at the same time.
Richard Dawkins appears frequently on British television and radio, and in 1991 was selected to give the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures for Children (televised by BBC). His prizes and awards include the Royal Society of Literature Prize, and the Los Angeles Times Literary Prize, both 1987 (for The Blind Watchmaker); the Silver Medal of the Zoological Society of London, 1989; the Michael Faraday Award of the Royal Society of London, 1990; and the (3 million Yen) Nakayama Prize for Human Science, 1994. The University of St Andrews awarded him an Honorary Doctorate of Letters, 1995.
He is married to the actress and artist Lalla Ward, and has an eleven year old daughter, Juliet by a previous marriage.
Abstract
BEYOND THE BIOMORPH
Dr. Richard Dawkins, Oxford University
With a few exceptions like the natural selection of antibiotic resistance in bacteria, evolution is too slow for humans to witness. The computer's great speed offers opportunities to demonstrate the power of the Darwinian algorithm - the nonrandom survival of randomly varying genetic messages - to produce dramatic evolutionary effects. 'Computer Biomorphs' represented an early step in this direction. A whole new field of 'Artificial Life' has taken off in the meantime. What can we learn from evolution in, of, and by analogy with, the computer?
Contact Details:
Richard Dawkins
Oxford University Museum
Parks Road
Oxford OX1 3PW
EnglandPhone: 1865 514 103
Fax: 1865 311 894Email: richard.dawkins@oum.ox.ac.uk
Back to Home Page ...... by Presenter ...... by Paper Title ...... by Keyword
Dr Geoff Cumming, La Trobe University
Abstract ................ Contact Details ................ Back to top of page
Profile:
For 20 years Geoff Cumming has studied educational uses of computers, with emphasis on assessing learning outcomes. His research projects have investigated children learning to read, logic programming in the classroom, intelligent learning environments, the learning of English as a second language, and the learning of statistical concepts. His work has been supported by the Apple Educational Foundation and the Apple University Development Fund. Recent work has been supported by the Committee for the Advancement of University Teaching. He is the father of three, a woodworker, house renovator and, like all true Mac devotees, a bicycle rider.
Abstract
Interactive simulations for understanding:
StatPlay and statistical conceptsDr. Geoff Cumming, La Trobe University
Authors:
Dr Geoff Cumming, La Trobe University
and Dr Neil Thomason, The University of Melbourne(Dr Thomason is in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science,
The University of Melbourne, Parkville 3052)Back to Index of Keynote Speakers
Summary:
The 'Virtual' is that for 30 years there have been grandiose promises that computers are just about to transform education. The 'Reality' is that they are now doing so, and are yielding important learning outcomes that have not been realised by traditional teaching approaches. The key to this exciting and immensely valuable advance is that the wonderful power of interactive computer-based simulations must be coupled with study and understanding of the cognitive processes that can be prompted by use of good software, and the cognitive changes that can result.
There is clear evidence, supported by the experience of just about everyone who has taught statistics, that many people do not have a good understanding of some fundamental aspects of statistics. Severe underestimation of sampling variability, and deep misconceptions about statistical significance testing are two notorious examples. These and other misconceptions are held even by many researchers, and have very severe consequences for the effective conduct of research. Traditional educational approaches have not worked.
Similar misconceptions in basic physics have been addressed successfully by teaching approaches centred on students' use of interactive simulations. In the StatPlay project, which is joint with Dr Neil Thomason of The University of Melbourne, we are developing interactive simulations designed to help learners achieve rich and correct understanding of fundamental concepts of statistics. Key features of StatPlay will be demonstrated. One of these is the heavy use of multiple representations, dynamically linked: a learner can interact with, for example, some numbers, a formula, and one or more graphical representations-all of the same phenomenon. The several representations all change together as the learner changes any one. This beautiful and natural linking could scarcely have been imagined before the computer, and offers wonderful educational power. It can lead to understanding that is the dream of any teacher, by combining understanding that is abstract and concrete, theoretical and intuitive.
Another central feature of StatPlay is the use of simulations that allow bridging between the single demonstration, and the abstracted, general case. In deterministic physics this bridging can be straightforward, but in statistics every single case is different because the underlying processes are inherently stochastic (based on chance variation). StatPlay allows the learner to investigate any number of single events, then to move intuitively to the case of infinitely many events.
StatPlay comprises microworlds, or playgrounds, that allow learners to work with Discrete Datasets, Continuous Distributions, Sampling, Confidence Intervals, and Statistical Significance Testing. It has been used by more than 2,000 students, and has been received very well by students and their teachers. Early assessments of learning outcomes have been positive. Demonstration of StatPlay will be used not only to illustrate the learning of statistics, but also to justify the main thesis of this paper: the key to exploiting the wonderful possibilities of powerful interactive software is to focus on what is happening in the learner's head.
Dr Geoff Cumming
School of Psychology,
La Trobe University,
Bundoora 3083Tel: (03) 9479 2820
Fax: (03) 9479 2443Email: psygdc@latrobe.edu.au
Back to Home Page ...... by Presenter ...... by Paper Title ...... by Keyword
Larry Tesler - Vice President of Internet platforms, Apple Computer Inc.
Abstract ................ Contact Details ................ Back to top of page
Profile:
Tesler, a PC-industry pioneer and Apple's chief scientist, has formed an organisation designed to ensure Apple's continued leadership as an Internet platform vendor.
Tesler's new role at Apple is as multifaceted as the Internet itself. He is responsible for research and development of products and technologies designed specifically for the Internet. In addition, Tesler will work with the company's other technology teams to ensure that their products provide the best-possible Internet experience. Tesler will also work with other Internet companies and standards organisations to increase the availability of ease-of-use technologies for all Internet users. Finally, he will help coordinate the many Internet-related platform activities currently underway throughout Apple.
"Larry Tesler is uniquely qualified to orchestrate Apple's Internet platform initiatives," said David Nagel. "During his fifteen years at Apple, Larry has led a number of teams in pioneering technologies that have made Apple platforms compelling and easier to use. With his expertise in Internet and user-experience technologies, his deep understanding of Internet issues, and his natural leadership within Apple and the computer industry, Larry will quickly move Apple's Internet strategy forward."
Mr. Tesler will oversee three organisations within Apple's worldwide research and development division: - Internet Products Business Development, which forges Apple alliances with other Internet companies around technologies, products, and standards; Internet Engineering, which develops Internet-specific products such as the Apple Internet Connection Kit, the Apple Internet Server Solution, and Cyberdog; and the Internet Program Office, which coordinates Internet-related technology projects throughout the company to ensure consistency with stated strategy and effectiveness of execution.
"Apple already is providing the best solutions for webmasters, webcasters and web surfers," said Satjiv Chahil, Apple senior vice president of corporate marketing. "Under Larry's leadership, we can expect our Internet technology initiatives to move forward aggressively and be closely aligned with our customers' needs and market trends."
Larry Tesler has been a vice president of Apple for more than nine years and its chief scientist for three. He was instrumental in the early development of Apple's user interface and media technologies. Among the groups and projects he has managed are the Advanced Technology Group, Newton, MacApp 1.0, HyperCard 1.0, and the Apple Internet Connection Kit. The Family Farm Project that he organised in 1989 to investigate component software led to the development of Apple events, AppleScript, and OpenDoc. He recently concluded a year-long assignment in Apple Internet Services.
Before coming to Apple, Larry conducted research at Xerox PARC in object-oriented programming, user-centered design, and desktop publishing. In his prior research at Stanford University during the early days of ARPANet, he developed one of the first document markup languages, PUB, an antecedent of the World Wide Web standard known as HTML. Larry is the author of several publications, including the widely cited article, "Networked Computing in the 1990s," which first appeared in Scientific American in September, 1991.
Abstract
The Wired World - Apple's View
Larry Tesler, Apple Computer Inc.
The rapid growth of the Internet resulted from many parties agreeing to standards that could be supported by all, so its development benefits the entire community. The rapid development of software and hardware supporting Internet standards has led to opportunities for deploying standards-based solutions that address campus computing needs, providing more services to more users while increasing flexibility and reducing installation and support efforts. Intranet client and server software ties together Internet and LAN products and tools, from desktop applications to corporate databases. Because these standards are cross platform, support of multiple operating systems is made possible.
Working with numerous partners, both commercial and academic, Apple is committed to adopting and contributing to Internet standards. Requests from universities in the early days of the Internet led Apple to be the first PC vendor to adopt a single TCP standard implementation. QuickTime has become the standard for multimedia information on the Internet. Preference for the Macintosh in the creation and publishing of content by the publishing and university community had resulted in half of all web authoring being done on Macintosh computers. The ease of set up and connectivity of the Macintosh has resulted in Macintosh users being twice as likely to be connected to the Internet than their overall numbers would indicate, and in the widespread adoption of Macintosh servers.
As with publishing, the Internet value chain includes creators of content (authoring tools), distributors (servers), and user (clients). As more robust tools are developed, the lines between these capabilities and roles are blurring, as the desktop publishing revolution has blurred the lines in the print publishing arena.
Apple is helping its customers in desktop publishing and media creation to extend their reach to the Internet. Mr. Tesler will describe Apple's role in developing technologies and promoting solutions that enable all members of the academic community to fully participate in the creation, distribution and use of the Internet's content and resources.
Larry Tesler, Vice President,
AppleNet and Chief Scientist,
Apple Computer, Inc.Phone: (408) 974-2219
fax: (408) 974-1794email: tesler@apple.com
Back to Home Page ...... by Presenter ...... by Paper Title ...... by Keyword
Prof. Michael D'Alessandro MD
Abstract ................ Contact Details ................ Back to top of page
Profile:
Michael P. D'Alessandro, M.D. (michael-dalessandro@uiowa.edu) received a B.S. in Computer Science and a B.S in Biology from Wayne State University and an M.D. from the Wayne State University School of Medicine. He completed a Diagnostic Radiology residency at the University of Iowa and is board certified in diagnostic radiology. He completed a pediatric radiology fellowship at Children's Hospital / Harvard Medical School and is currently an Assistant Professor of Radiology at the University of Iowa and is the Architect of the Virtual Hospital.
During medical school in 1988, he took a research elective at the National Library of Medicine in medical informatics and since then has been active in medical informatics research. He has also studied informally at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Laboratory and The Computer Museum in Boston. His research goal is to gain a deeper understanding of thinking and learning so he may be better able to design, create, and evaluate new computational tools that will help people learn new things in creative ways.
He is a co-director and co-founder of the Electric Differential Multimedia Laboratory.
Abstract:
The Virtual Hospital:
The Apprentice's AssistantProf. Michael D'Alessandro MD, University of Iowa
The Virtual Hospital is the University of Iowa College of Medicine's digital library and information integrator on the World-Wide Web. It is meant to serve as a place of medical enlightenment, education, and information for medical providers, students and patients around the world. It can be accessed by any computer connected to the Internet: in the medical school, in the library, in the hospital, and at home.
Medical education can be thought of as an apprenticeship. The medical apprentice is in constant need of easily accessible and authoritative medical information.
The Virtual Hospital is intended to serve as an "Apprentice's Assistant" throughout a physician's training. It does this specifically by serving as a digital health sciences library containing digital health sciences information from the University of Iowa Health Science campus, by integrating the various forms of digital information on the University of Iowa Health Sciences campus (Healthnet, Informm, OASIS), and by serving as a springboard to other Internet health sciences resources.
Michael P. D'Alessandro, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Pediatric Radiology
Architect, Virtual Hospital Project
University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics
Department of Radiology
200 Hawkins Drive,
Iowa City, IA 52242Email: michael-dalessandro@uiowa.edu
WWW:
http://indy.radiology.uiowa.edu/Providers/TeachingFiles
/PAP/TOC/MichaelHome.html
Back to Home Page ...... by Presenter ...... by Paper Title ...... by Keyword
Prof. Jerome Durlak
Abstract ................ Contact Details ................ Back to top of page
Profile:
Jerome Durlak is an Associate Professor in the Mass Communications Program at York University, Associate Director of CulTech and Research Director of the Intercom Ontario project. His degrees are from Notre Dame University, Stanford University and Michigan State University where he received a PhD in Communications Research. He has been the Director of the Communication Arts Programme in the Faculty of Education and Director of the Mass Communications Programme in the Faculty of Arts. He has done applied research and evaluation tasks as well as training programmes for international, federal, provincial and municipal agencies. He has also supervised large scale interdisciplinary research projects in Canada, theUnited States, and Latin America. He has also been a consultant to the Children's Television Workshop and Apple Computer.
Currently he teaches courses on communications policy and the social impacts of new communications and telecommunications technologies. He also directs the Interactive Multimedia Lab at the University and teaches the advanced Interactive Multimedia
Seminar in the Mass Communications Programme. From 1987 to 1990 he was the editor of Minds in Motion, a collaborative publication between York University and Apple Canada that explored leading edge software developments in Canada. He has written extensively on interactive media, communication networks, new communication technologies, machine mediated learning, computer gaming and simulation, distance learning and urban design. His recent publications include "The Effects of Information Technology on Large Urban Regions," The Changing Canadian Metroplis, Etd. by Frances Frisken, The Urban Institute, Berkeley, California, 1994, "Intercom Onario: A User- Centered Trial," IEEE Workshop on
Community, Princeton, 1995, "A Field Trial of Residential Multimedia Services", Multimedia to the Home, The Emerging On-Ramps. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, 1995 and Providing Information Highway Services in Residential Buildings, Canadian Housing and Mortgage Corporation, In Press, 1996.
Abstract
Collaborate, Create,
Construct, CommunicateProf. Jerome Durlak, York University
Beginning in the month of October, 1996 the residents of approximately 100 new homes in Newmarket, Ontario (which is about 50 kilometers North of Toronto) and selected students on the campus of York University will have to opportunity to take four university courses (Communication in Everyday Life, Infoways of Tomorrow, Interactive Media and World Wide Web Design, and An Introduction to Computer Technology) that will be delivered over the Intercom Ontario broadband network. Besides having symmetrical broadband Internet access to the World Wide Web (WWW), students will have the opportunity to collaborate using video telephones, video messaging and video conferencing from their desktop. The courses will delivered from a distributed server farm that delivers live video, CD-ROMs, and all relevant multimedia material to the desktop or a television set either to the residents in their home or to the university students at several computer labs distributed across the campus. The courses are being produced in a new broadband interactive media production centre which, if successful, will act as a prototype for other centres being planned for the campus. The production centre at CulTech is in turn connected via a broadband network to the Rogers Communication Centre at Ryerson University which has excellent video digitization facilities.
The course initiative is a collaborative venture between Bell Canada, Simon Fraser University, York University and the CulTech Collaborative Research Centre. The courses will integrate the Virtual-U educational toolset developed at Simon Fraser University as part of the Canadian TeleLearning Research Network and the VITAL-Varied and Integrated Teaching and Learning system developed by CulTech.
The broadband infrastructure initiative is part of the Intercom Ontario initiative. Intercom Ontario is a not-for-profit consortium of government, public, private, cultural and educational institutions collaborating in a four year pre-competitive trial budgeted at approximately $87 million. The objective of the trial is to determine what services the user community (including educational institutions) in Ontario wants, needs and will use in the emerging electronic superhighway; and which of the various means for delivering these services users prefer.
The Intercom Consortium, formed in October 1993 under the auspices of the CulTech is composed of over 50 institutions including the Alliance of Canadian Cinema Television & Radio Artists, Apple Canada, Bell Ontario, Bell Northern Research, Cabletron Systems Canada, Canadian Broadcasting Company, the CHUM group, Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency, Disus, Fore Systems, George Brown College, IBM Canada, Industry Canada, Ministry of Consumer and Commercial Relations, Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Recreation, Ryerson University, the University of Toronto, Seneca College, Silicon Graphics, SOCAN, The Toronto Star and York University.
Examples of other initiatives underway include:
1. New Partnerships with Business.
York University students are producing an electronic magazine under the auspices of the Toronto Star dedicated to the needs of university students.
2. New Partnerships Across Educational Boundaries.
Currently we have a new initiative with the North York School Board to share resources and mentoring. It is a joint project among an elementary school, a high school and University students to produce educational interactive media. The high school has excellent digital video editing facilities. The elementary school students have excellent training in designing 3D models. The University students have better design, research and programming skills. What happens when you get them all working together as a collaborative team?
3. Partnerships With Public and Private Institutions.
Canadian Learning Television (CLT) is a private company that has applied for a nationwide broadcast license to the Canadian Radio Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). CulTech and Canadian Learning Television have discussions underway to integrate their media and delivery systems with our media and delivery systems, and, most importantly, our content. If students are on campus they have access to an internal university Ethernet network where they can receive multimedia or multi-sensory information. Students who would like to take the course, but who do not have access to a fast network could take advantage of the facilities of CLT, not only to receive visual information, but a wide variety of course content. CLT would act as delivery mechanism, a distributor as well as a partner with York University. We have plans to develop course content together, and distribute the content in the most appropriate way to meet student needs regardless of physical location.
4. Partnerships With Learning Institutions In Different Provinces.
York University, the University of Calgary and Simon Fraser University all have rapidly growing Communications Programs with different strengths, but all have similar financial constraints. Interested members from those departments are now working together to design on-line courses from each institution, that students at each institution could take for credit.
Jerome Durlak
CulTech Collaborative Research Centre
Suite 230 York Lanes
York University
4700 Keele St.
North York, Ontario
Canada M3J 1P3Tel. 416-736-5405
Fax. 416-736 5405
Home 905 736 5405email: jdurlak@calumet.yorku.ca
Back to Home Page ...... by Presenter ...... by Paper Title ...... by Keyword
Jonathan Knowles
Abstract ................ Contact Details ................ Back to top of page
Profile
Before moving to Apple's Corporate headquarters in Cupertino, Mr. Knowles worked as an engineer for Apple while based at Caltech (the California Institute of Technology). While in southern California, he worked with Caltech, the School of Cinema-Television at the University of Southern California, and The Art Centre College of Design in the development of their respective media labs.
Known as the Product Manager for "Way Cool Technology", Mr. Knowles is part of Apple's QuickTime team. QuickTime is the multi-platform standard used by multimedia software tool vendors and content creators to store, edit and play synchronised graphics, sound, video, text and music in multimedia applications and on the Internet.
Before joining Apple, Mr. Knowles was one of the directors of research and academic computing at Harvey Mudd College, the science and engineering college of the Claremont Colleges in Claremont, California.
Apple Computer, Inc., a recognised innovator in the information industry and leader in multimedia technologies, creates powerful solutions based on easy-to-use personal computers, servers, peripherals, software, online services, and personal digital assistants. Headquartered in Cupertino, California, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) develops, manufactures, licenses and markets products, technologies and services for the business, education, consumer, entertainment, scientific & engineering and government customers in over 140 countries.
Apple Interactive Media Technologies
in Education Presentation AbstractJonathan Knowles, Apple Computer Inc.
Information technology advances include the use of multimedia throughout educational institutions. Similar to the impact that word processing and spreadsheets had on organisations in the 1980s, interactive media and collaboration technologies are impacting the 1990s.
As the company that first brought multimedia technology to desktop computers, Apple continues to deliver ground breaking new media technologies. Catch a glimpse of the future of multimedia!
Jonathan Knowles
Senior Product Manager,
QuickTime Technology
Interactive Media Group
Apple Computer Inc
MS 302-3KS
1 Infinite Loop
Cupertino CA 95014
United StatesPhone: 0011 1 408 974 3644
Fax: 0011 1 408 974 0581Email: Jonathan@apple.com
Back to Home Page ...... by Presenter ...... by Paper Title ...... by Keyword
