Richard Hsieh initiated the development of Hercules which is an interactive database in Mechanics. Hercules is based on the WWW Internet technique. Its course information stretches to students from all Schools from the Royal Institute of Technology. An electronic feature allows communication between Hercules users and the Mechanics teachers around the clock. URL address: http://www.mech.kth.se/hercules
SISYFOS
Researcher: Göran Karlsson, Ian Cohen, Christer Nyberg, Richard Hsieh
Sponsors: (The Swedish) Council for the Renewal of Undergraduate Education
Interactive hypermedia use will lead to an epistemological quality raising since in that way students independence in planning, knowledge acquisition and problem solving might be facilitated and since at the same time tutorial supervision and guidance can be included. Hypermedia have possibilities to provide students with large information quantities. With network interfacing learning can take place independent of time and place and individualised education will be possible. Combined with CMC (Computer Mediated Communication) and educational software the student has a tool for life long education within a virtual classroom.
The aim of SISYFOS is also to cooperate with other environments and projects within and outside Sweden to (i) create efficient production environments; (ii) disseminate information about the potential of computer aided learning (CAL) for higher education; (iii) inform about the project development work; (iv) evaluate and disseminate information about existing software.
This project is carried out in cooperation with scientists at Dept. of Physics at KTH and scientists at the universities of Lund and Växjö in Sweden. 1994/95 has been the last project contract year but an extension of it continues since 1994/95 in the project FLIP - Flexible Learning in Physics and Mechanics which also includes scientists from University of Stockholm (Department of Physics) and University of Plymouth, UK.
The status of SISYFOS has been uncertain due to local problems at the University of Lund (the base for the project leader). Moreover clear distinctions to other projects (especially FLIP) have then not been possible to maintain: Activities which during normal circumstances should have been financed within SISYFOS has then been credited other projects or have been performed in other informal ways.
At the end of this activity year I can report the following activities which have taken place or will take place during summer of 1995. These activities could have been fully or partly planned within SISYFOS:
1. Use of Interactive Physics in education: Christer Nyberg has used the program in his teaching at the same program. Also Nicholas Apazidis has used the program in his teaching at the program of Civil Engineering and Richard Hsieh has used it at the Materials Science and Technology programme. It is also used during the mechanics summer course.
2. Workshops for approx. 40 high school teachers and school librarians in Stockholm and 5 workshops for approx. 100 KTH faculties and Ph.D. students about Internet use.
3. Richard Hsieh has in his teaching at the Materials Science and Technology programme collected information in a special data base Hercules for World Wide Web (WWW). Here curricula, home assignments, mid term tests, etc. are collected. Questions to the teachers from the students can be sent via WWW. Of course also direct email can be used between teachers and students and between students themselves. The course responsible also sends information to the other teachers of the course via email. The data base address is http://www.mech.kth.se/hercules/. This initiative has been taken up by several other faculties at the department in their teaching.
Publications: 85
FLIP-Flexible Learning in Physics and Mechanics
Researcher: Göran Karlsson, Ian Cohen, Richard Hsieh
Sponsors: (The Swedish) Council for the Renewal of Undergraduate Education and KTH (central support and Mechanics and Physics departments)
FLIP is a two year project in conjunction with Department of Physics at KTH, Department of Physics atStockholm University, Department of Mechanics at the Unviersity of Linköping, and Department of Mathematics at University of Plymouth, UK. The main intention is to (i) incorporate interactive computer programs in the existing courses; (ii) develop a Learning Center in the teaching program at KTH; (iii) introduce the international computer network as a tool for special assignments and in project work; (iv) develop and introduce new forms for student examination.
At KTH a special room has been furnished and equipped with 5 PC having Internet connectivity. This is the embryo for the Learning Center. CUPS (Consortium of Upper Physics Software), Optics software from State University of Moldova, and Interactive Physics have been installed on these computers.
Several of those active in FLIP are engaged in the implementation of multimedia applications at the Physics Center of Stockholm.
At KTH and Stockholm University 6 FLIP seminars and workshops have been arranged during the year. Two workshops have been arranged at "Politechnica" University of Bucharest and one at Czech Technical University in Prague.
MoldNet
Researcher: Göran Karlsson
Sponsors: The Open Society Institute (The Soros Foundation), USA
Current situation shows that practically it does not exist any real connectivity to global Internet in the republic of Moldova. Few nodes are established using RelCom services with dial-up connections to Moscow. A 9600 bit/s expensive asynchronous leased line connection is also established between Republican Center of Informatics (RCI) in Chisinau and Romania National Commission for Informatics (ICI) in Bucharest. Few users have access through such a connectivity and it can only provide Internet Mail services.
The situation in Moldova today is similar to the situation in Lithuania 1992. It does not exist any real infrastructure from Moldavian Telecom providing digital services for making leased line modem connections. The only way is to rent or use own cables between different campuses/universities or to build up a metropolitan infrastructure in Chisinau based on radio modems.
For connection to Internet we have proposed a VSAT connection at the Soros Information Center in Chisinau with a direct connection to NORDUNet via UNINETT at Oslo University in Norway. A 64 kbit/s channel with Dynamic Multiplexing to INTELSAT can be provided by Taid=E9 Network in Lithuania which currently presents cheap connections (20 kUSD/year) for academic and non-profit research networks in Europe.
A main network operation center with high qualified Internet working staff should be established in Chisinau (with the satellite dish antenna). Leased line and radio-LAN modems connectivity must be established to State University of Moldova, Technical University of Moldova, Academy of Economical Studies, State Academy of Sciences, and RCI; all situated within the Chisinau metropolitan area. Extensions to other cities/towns outside Chisinau must wait until this metropolitan network has come into operation and require future studies. High speed modem based dial-up SLIP/PPP services will, however, be installed at two of the above mentioned campuses.
The Soros foundation has the necessary 150 kUSD to cover the costs for antennas, routers, repeaters, modems, and cables forming the metropolitan infrastructure. However, internal campus based LANs, PCs to connect to these LANs and personnel training and salaries must be financed in other ways, hopefully with assistance from Digital Equipment AB.
A similar solution is on its way for Romania with nodes at Soros Information Centers in Bucharest, Cluj, Iasi, and Timisoara.
Establishing an information system and distance work network
Researcher: Göran Karlsson
Sponsors: NUTEK
A national information system (FirstClass BBS from SoftArc Inc.) has been set up at KTH and telephone and Internet connections to similar systems in the other Nordic countries, to the central Nordic server in Nyköping and to the Open university in UK has been established. Similar connections are under configuration to Swedish nodes. The goal is to facilitate efficient information flow between all involved parties within the DELTA project NORDIC Information Broker Initiative. The network will also be set up and configured so it will be capable to function as a distance work arena for different grouping within the NORDIC project and thereby reduce the travel time or meetings among project staff as well as for other involved parties. The system also include fax/voice processing of client interfaces. Due to the developing Internet interface of FirstClass new interfaces information systems (Gopher, WWW, WAIS) will be added during the course of the project.
This project is Work Package 5A of the DELTA project (within the 3rd framework programme) NORDIC Information Broker Initiative: The intention of the project is to develop, through a concerted action programme within the Nordic countries, national and regional nodes for DELTA-related information brokerage and partnership support. The project also aims at facilitating information dissemination and experience exchange through seminars, workshops, and information exchange events on on-going DELTA initiatives. Within the project several educational software houses, UETPs (University Enterprise Training Partnership within the COMETT programme) and information broker companies participate.