The multimedia webbased Learning/Teaching/Writing/Organising System of ESPACE

by S. Assem, Ch. Gottfried, P. Gruber, P. Habison, S. Haslinger, H. Oberhummer, and the ESPACE-Collaboration

Institute of Nuclear Physics, Vienna University of Technology,
Wiedner Hauptstr. 8-10, A-1040 Wien, Austria and http://www.espace-cd.net

ESPACE (European System for Particle and Astrophysics Cyber Education) is a European project hat supports up-to-date teaching using multimedia and the Internet. It is built on the combined expertise in didactic and pedagogy, programming and multimedia, and contents from partners in seven European countries (Austria, Finland, France, Hungary, Iceland, Netherlands, UK). The content delivered through ESPACE is primarily on the field of astronomy, astrophysics and the related nuclear and particle physics.

The main product developed in ESPACE is the Learning/Teaching/Writing/Organising (LTWO) system. This is a multimedia web-based system bringing together the different players in education: the author, the teacher, the student and the course provider. The basis of the LTWO system is a central database, where all content is stored in a hierarchical way. All of the above mentioned participants in the educational process can access this database over the internet, thus delays in the publishing process and most organisational overhead in multimedia projects is eliminated. A pupil can access the latest scientific results the moment after the author has released them. Furthermore, the classic roles in education blend are partially abolished easy access by providing to the learning elements and simple authoring tools. Therefore, the teacher can become the student and the student can become the teacher.


The Webfrontend of the LTWO-system

The basic building block of a subject is the learning element. Learning elements are assembled to form modules that cover one chapter each. Clusters of modules cover one chapter each. Each learning element contains a title, a learning atom (text of one to three sentences), a hyperlink, a media element (2D- or 3D-graphic, audio, video, animation), a learning activity (quiz, hands-on) and a multiple-choice question.

The different features of the LTWO-system will be demonstrated online using lessons and modules from a remote location.

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