Brooklyn Builds New Online Teaching Tools


  • The Interactive Syllabus


    • "The Interactive Syllabus is a robust multimedia teaching and learning environment that operates within Blackboard, putting students directly in touch with the materials they are studying and giving them the opportunity to work both actively and reflectively." Sylvie Richards, Multimedia Specialist
    The advantage of the Interactive Syllabus is that it allows the instructor to incorporate audio, video, and text within his or her course site, with style and ease. Each topic in the Blackboard syllabus is accompanied by links to materials in these formats, providing students a rich multimedia learning environment. Because of its strong sensory approach to learning, the Interactive Syllabus is not without detractors: some faculty mistrust video and audio formats, likening them to computer games. Nonetheless, the Interactive Syllabus is both a powerful teaching tool as well as a successful device for interesting faculty in online learning, encouraging them to rethink their courses and incorporate appropriate non-textual material. Dr. Richards has demonstrated the Interactive Syllabus at several conferences.

  • The Blackboard Demonstration Courses

    • It is the Blackboard demonstration courses (built by Sylvie Richards) that make the Interactive Syllabus so exciting: they illustrate for the curious the use of audio, audiovisual, and other non-textual material as part of a course syllabus. There are currently six such courses on our Blackboard site, each targeted at a different discipline. The demo courses are open to anyone, including all CUNY faculty, and we post instructions for viewing them in the faculty bulletins. When these demos are viewed in a conference setting, audience interest and enthusiasm is truly remarkable:
    "Sylvie, thank you for passing this along--and your timing is impeccable. I have just been asked (literally moments ago) if I knew of anyone who had 'amazing' courses created within Blackboard who would be willing to send us a copy that we could then install on our demo server that is being built to be showcased at EDUCAUSE. We obviously would reference you and CUNY Brooklyn College (give you all the glory)." Peter E. Atsaves, Senior Manager, Client Relations, Blackboard, Inc.

    "I am very interested in having a look first hand at the work you have done on all these BB demo courses. Can you give me access please? That would be great." Fiona Littleton, E-Education Project Manager, School of Business, Blackrock, County Dublin, Ireland
  • The ICE (Integrated Content Environment) Project

    • Electronic learning platforms like Blackboard have gone some distance in reducing the amount of time required to build instructional Web pages: no longer must faculty learn to write code, work with HTML editors, or cobble together a variety of software packages in order to develop a multifunctional course site. However, faculty who want more than a "plain vanilla" site must still spend many hours learning to work with advanced auxiliary software packages. Furthermore, by themselves the e-learning platforms do nothing to streamline the process of building course sites by allowing faculty to share the materials they have developed. But suppose...
    There were a tool that simplified the process of working with complex multimedia content, thereby increasing the number of faculty developers who integrate dynamic content with their course sites?

    This same tool made identifying and sharing course content an easy, simple process?
    At Brooklyn College, we have found a solution to the problems outlined above. Here, already well under development, is an exciting new tool, ICE--the Integrated Content Environment. We have completed a draft proposal for FIPSE funding and await spring 2002 FIPSE guidelines. The ICE project was conceived by Sylvie Richards, its talented architect.

    What is ICE?
    ICE is a multimedia authoring tool that enables faculty to bring together text, audio, video, images-even quizzes-related to any topic, without the need to learn complex software authoring tools.
    What about plug-ins?
    A browser-based tool, ICE contains the latest versions of all players and viewers required to see, hear, and interact with the multimedia materials faculty develop. Novice developers need never worry about which player is appropriate for the content they want to use: instructors simply drop images, text, video, or audio into their ICE cubes, and the ICE tool does the rest by recognizing file extensions and making the proper associations. Students are freed from the time-consuming, often confusing, tasks of downloading and upgrading plug-ins.

    On what platforms does ICE run?
    ICE is a cross-browser, cross-platform, cross-learning platform product: it works equally well:
    Within Internet Explorer or Netscape
    In a Windows environment or on a Macintosh
    Within any electronic learning platform (Blackboard; WebCT) or outside of such a platform
    How are ICE cubes stored?
    Individual ICE "cubes" or content modules are stored by faculty developers in a "freezer" (a server) in searchable discipline-specific ICE "trays." Faculty can also check the freezer for existing trays and cubes, searching by topic or discipline, and incorporate these into their course sites.

    Furthermore, ICE is designed to conserve desktop "real estate": the cubes and trays never leave the freezer/server. Instead, each time a student views a cube on a faculty course site, the PC's screen serves as a window looking into the freezer/server.

    How does ICE prevent redundancy?
    The ICE data entry mechanism prevents the duplication of any item that has already been stored in the freezer: if the text of Kipling's Gunga Din already exists in an ICE cube, the next person who attempts to enter that poem as part of a cube receives a message that the text is already available in another tray, and a mirror text has been created for use in the new cube. Thus, Gunga Din can find its way into an ICE cube for a study of Kipling in a literature survey class, and also become part of a cube on British imperialism that forms part of a history course. This elimination of redundancies streamlines information storage, at the same time allowing multiple users access to a single entry.

    Can ICE cubes be altered?
    By default, ICE cubes are frozen: that is, their contents are locked. Thus, a faculty member creating or using a cube is assured that its contents cannot be altered by someone else. If an instructor wishes to use some, but not all, of the material in any cube, she or he can create his or her own cube, some of whose content may mirror existing cubes.

    How will ICE be marketed?
    We plan to build and market two versions of ICE: The Enterprise Edition (for sale to institutions), and ICE-Lite (for sale to individuals).
    ICE: The Enterprise Edition : The college or university that licenses ICE receives software for creating cubes, trays, and the SQL database/freezer. The licensee also gets free access to all cubes/content developed at Brooklyn College, as well as the Interactive Syllabus [another tool developed at Brooklyn College; see below] and documentation. Training and consulting support can be purchased for an additional fee.

    ICE-Lite: Where an institution does not license ICE, an individual faculty member may choose to do so. For a substantially lower price, he or she receives the software necessary to create cubes and trays, as well as an Access (versus SQL) database to be used as the freezer. Access to cubes will be limited to a given number of students. The faculty member will not have access to the cubes/content developed at Brooklyn College. The Interactive Syllabus and documentation will also be supplied.
    What other benefits does ICE offer?
    ICE also presents institutions with a range of more subtle opportunities. It helps academic institutions to "scale out" or expand the impact of quality instruction. Many colleges and universities make significant use of teaching assistants and part-time instructors. Imagine the benefits that accrue to students and learning when senior, experienced faculty create cubes and trays that adjuncts and TAs (often hired at the last moment, just before the semester begins) can use in their teaching. ICE also promotes interdisciplinary study. Imagine this scenario:
    A faculty member in the Music Department teaching an introductory music appreciation course plans to use Mozart's Don Giovanni. He begins building an ICE cube, using audio from the opera. Next, he drops text, graphics, and full-motion videos of performances into his cube. When complete, the module is archived and accessible to other faculty developers through a searchable database or freezer on the University's Web site: it can easily be integrated into other courses.

    Later, someone teaching a course on Women in Music wants to begin building a course site. She logs onto the University's Web site and checks the freezer for trays and cubes that are available. To integrate an existing cube (like this one) with her course site, she clicks on the subject menu, selects it, and drags/drops it into her course site.

    That same semester, a faculty member from the English department also uses this ICE cube: he wants to construct a site for a literature survey course in which the Faustian legend is a recurring theme. Additionally, he builds some cubes of his own (which academic IT staff store and index), contributing new materials that further the freezer/database.

    The Don Giovanni ICE cube will have many more uses during its lifetime: someone teaching art appreciation reaches the classical period and decides that her students need a solid understanding of the cultural life of the time--not just art, but music and theater as well. She uses the Don Giovanni site as part of achieving her goal.
    In the spring 2002 we will seek grant funding for further development of ICE.