LON-CAPA

an

Enabling Content and Assessment Tool(LearningOnline Network with CAPA)

Guy Albertelli, Gerd Kortemeyer, Ed Kashy

Michigan State University

Why LON-CAPA?

●To respond to several years of student and faculty feedback about what is needed in an online instructional tool●To provide a platform for further experimentation in IT for education●To build a community that will share, enhance and sustain the tool through Open Source development

What is LON-CAPA?

●A Distributed Learning Content Management and Assessment System●LON-CAPA stands for LearningOnline Network with a Computer-Assisted Personalized Approach.●Current version quite successful in providing pilot users with a common, scalable platform to assist in all aspects of teaching a course

"Distributed"

●LON-CAPA is built as a geographically distributed network of constantly connected servers

"Distributed": Domains

●The network is logically divided into domains such as "MSU", "FSU" or "Publisher X"●Domains limit the flow of user information●Domains can limit access to content resources●Domains limit the extent of user privileges

"Distributed": Users●Users can log into any machines in the network●Users can access courses/resources from anywhere on the network under one username●Users can have roles and associated privileges for any resources, data, and functionality on the network

"Distributed": Resources

●System ensures that only 1 authoritative resource exists●Other servers "subscribe" to the resource when they need it●When a new version is published all subscribed servers are notified of the update

"Learning Content Management"

●Allows instructors to create educational materials and to "share" such learning resources with colleagues across departments and institutions●Instructional content can be catalogued and placed into cross-institutional shared repository●Provides online tool to easily combine a variety of content together for presentation to students

● html, movies, images, individualized assessments, applets, simulations, other resource collections,...

"Individualized Assessment"

●Individualized problems: different numbers, different graphs, different options, …●"Classical" online homework types: multiple choice, option response, mix-and-match, string, etc ● Numerical, multicomponent numerical, physical units, symbolic math, individualized simulations●Combination of the above types●Adaptive immediate feedback●Multiple attempts

"Content Management": XML/MathML/HTML

●Supports display of symbolic math on standard browers (IE, Netscape, Mozilla)●Accepts mathematical standard input (LaTex)●Future safe with support for emerging standard (MathML)

"Content Management": Printing

●On the fly generation of compact pdf file student can download and printout ●The instructor can print the assignment whole class●Converts graphics as needed to optimize printing, (generates .eps files as needed from .jpg, .gif, .png, etc.)

Other Functionality•Content Revision Control•Document Upload (PowerPoint, Word, etc)•Online Contextual Help•Bookmarks•Student Annotation of Content•Extensive Statistics Generation•Spreadsheet for Grade Calculation•Construction Space with Problem Tools and Templates•Internal Email System•Feedback on Resource Quality, by Students and Instructors•Chatroom •Syllabus•Cummulative Calendar Tool

Who uses it? Students(“It”: CAPA, LectureOnline, LON-CAPA family)

Who uses it? Students

Who uses it? Courses

Who uses it? Faculty

How is it used?

●Material written by faculty teaching course or "re-used" from other faculty ●Homework in addition to "traditional" lecture and textbook●"Traditional"lecture, homework and textbook online●VU courses●AP courses●Prelab quizzes●In-class exercises

Can a non-commercial Open Source, Free Software system be

sustained? And how?

Chronicle of Higher Education

December 21, 2001BlackBoard is affordable for now …

(But) higher-education officials expect that courseware companies will raise their prices after creating a market for the software, and after seeing course-management systems become an indispensable part of the academic-computing infrastructure on most campuses. […]

As the company integrates more functions into Blackboard, its executives anticipate signing many more "$200,000-, $300,000-, and $400,000-a-year relationships"

Chronicle of Higher Education

December 21, 2001

(And) whatever the current faults of WebCT and Blackboard, many academic

administrators say they are preferable to homegrown systems. […]

Princeton developed its own course-management system, beginning in 1997. Two years later, the university decided to abandon its homegrown system in favor of Blackboard. Why?

Chronicle of Higher Education

December 21, 2001

"The problem with homegrown systems is you typically have one or two staff people who know how the system works, and those people might leave or decide to do something else," Mr. Goldstein [Director of Academic Services, Princeton] says. (actually talking about his own system)

Getting away from "homegrown"

Problem: "one or two staff people"

Remedies:●Collaboration with other institutions●Workshops for training●Conferences for disseminating best practices

Why LON-CAPA?

●Pros●LON-CAPA has no licensing cost. ●LON-CAPA is open-source GNU GPL, and can be adapted and enhanced by adopters●Sustainability assured by critical mass of adopters

●Cons●Currently a small (but growing) user community●Still in experimental mode (successful), trying to transition into production mode

Enlarging the user community

For broad user acceptance we need:●Professional redesign of the user interface●Build a user support infrastructure●Provide detailed documentation●Stimulate content creation

IT Projects Support

●Michigan State University (1992-Today) ●Software Development (CAPA, LOL, LON-CAPA)

●Sloan Foundation (1995-99)●Studying ALNs on campus

●Mellon Foundation (1999-2002)●Educational and Cost Effectivness

●NSF ITR (2000-2005)●Investigate Shared Online Content using LON-CAPA●Issues include: Sustainability, Dissemination, Feasibility, Content Standards, Quality/Access of Resources...

Conferences and Workshops

●First LON-CAPA meeting at MSU.●Second meeting at Florida State University with 56 faculty from 22 institutions.●Next meeting at Truckee Meadows Community College, Reno.●Two programmer Workshops (approx 20 participants) at MSU in Summer.

Current LON-CAPA Installations

Universities (department level)•Ohio University•SUNY Stony Brook•Florida State University•University of South Carolina•George Washington University•University of Central Florida•Michigan State University•University of Delaware

Outside United States•Simon Fraser University - Vancouver, Canada•University of Halle - Halle, Germany•University of Oldenberg - Oldenberg, Germany

More Information

www.lon-capa.org

Next user conference

Truckee Meadows Community College

Reno, Nevada

January 17-18 2003

Next Workshop Series

Michigan State University

June 6-7 & 9-11 2003