LEVERAGE
LEarn from Video Extensive Real Atm Gigabit Experiment

Report on User Trials (2): Deliverable DWP233

A zipped version of this document can be downloaded here.

Abstract :
This deliverable reports on the second user trial of the LEVERAGE system which took place during January, February and March 1998 at the University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK, and the Institut National des Télécommunications, Evry, Paris, France. A brief description of the system from a user's point of view provides some background for readers not familiar with the system and the rationale underlying its design and implementation.

The evaluation of the system itself falls into two main parts:

  • the functional evaluation is concerned with the performance of each element as well as that of the system as a whole.
  • the pedagogical evaluation tries to gauge how effective the system is in supporting a collaborative learning environment and includes a comparison of the results from the first trial involving native speakers of English and the second trail involving native speakers of French and English.

It is the main purpose of this document to provide input into the next phase of the process of formative evaluation accompanying the design, implementation and trialing of the system over a period of three years and three user trials.

Authors: C. Zähner, A. Fauverge, J. Wong, K. Maillet, F. Yanes, T. Chahed, C. Egert and C. Schuller
Date: 28/05/98

Contents:

  1. INTRODUCTION
  2. THE SYSTEM
      2.1 The first Trial
       2.2 The second Trial
  3. FUNCTIONAL EVALUATION
      3.1 Local Installation
        3.1.1 The system in Cambridge
        3.1.2 The system at INT
      3.2 Workstations
      3.3 The software
      3.4 The session manager/session desktop
      3.5 Audio/video conferencing
      3.6 Video-recording
      3.7 Data-conferencing
      3.8 E-mail
      3.9 Shared work space
      3.10 HTML Documents
      3.11 Glossary
      3.12 Dictionary
      3.13 Access to audio and video resources
      3.14 Exercise module
      3.15 The system from an administrative point of view
        3.15.1 General aspects
        3.15.2 The servers
      3.16 Summary
  4. PEDAGOGICAL EVALUATION
      4.1 Can network-based learning be effective in general?
      4.2 How well is network-based learning suited to the language learning domain?
      4.3 How well does a task-based approach work in a networked environment?
      4.4 How appropriate is the specific design of the LEVERAGE system?
      4.5 How well is each module of the system suited to the overall objective?
        4.5.1 Means of synchronous communication
        4.5.2 Means of asynchronous communication
        4.5.3 Resources
  5. CONCLUSION
  6. APPENDIX
      6.1 List of evaluation data held at Cambridge and INT
       6.2 Questionnaires
        6.2.1 Initial Questionnaire - Cambridge
        6.2.2 Initial Questionnaire - INT
        6.2.3 Final Questionnaire - Cambridge and INT
        6.2.4 Final Questionnaire Responses - Cambridge and INT
      6.3 Final Interviews
        6.3.1 Questions for the Final Interview
      6.4 Statistical Data
        6.4.1 Http server log files - Cambridge site

LEVERAGE home page
Last updated 19th November 1998
E-mail: leverage@cilt.org.uk