## Rensselaer WebPress

## Rensselaer Strategic Initiative Proposal (Accepted)

Participants:
Mark Holmes, Project Links PI and Chair, Department of Mathematical Sciences
Robert Spilker, Project Links PI and Chair, Department of Biomedical Engineering
William Boyce, Project Links Executive Committee and Professor of Mathematical Sciences
Kenneth Connor, Project Links Executive Committee and Professor of ECSE
Pamela Kott, Project Links Technical Manager (key contact person: x2917, kottp@rpi.edu)
Bryan Tracey, Project Links OnLine Production Manager

This proposal requests funding in the area of Technological Entrepreneurship in order to develop a unique and innovative electronic publishing system, tentatively named Rensselaer WebPress, for world wide web based interactive learning materials. In the short term, this publishing system will expand upon the tools being developed under Project Links for the immediate benefit of other Rensselaer web based educational multimedia projects. The availability of these expanded tools will enable developers to bring interactive curricular materials to students more efficiently. Ultimately, the publishing system can be positioned to provide an income stream which can enable curricular developments of these and other educational projects at Rensselaer to become self-sustaining.

The Opportunity

The web offers tremendous potential for delivery of interactive learning materials. Educators as well as commercial and university publishers have recognized this and are developing course materials for distribution via the web. At Rensselaer, there are numerous efforts underway for developing materials for the web, the largest of which is Project Links.

Project Links has determined that, in order to develop and maintain course materials for the web, it is imperative to have a set of tools that:

Streamline faculty efforts in developing course content;

Publish course materials on any hardware platform;

Promote student interactivity and exploration;

Provide a level of standardization (common look and feel).

After extensive research, Project Links has not found tools that meet these requirements today. Consequently, a set of publishing tools is being designed and developed as part of Project Links. The tools comprise an editor, for efficiently designing and developing course content; a publisher, necessary to process the materials and place them on a web server in a customizable format; documentation providing recommendations on options for applying the tools to developing various types of course materials; documentation describing how to customize or create new templates for interactive "objects." These publishing tools are unique in the marketplace because:

They are Java-based and so are platform-independent for developers as well as students;

They conform to non-proprietary standards such as JavaBeans and so are positioned to be useful individually as plug-ins to other products;

They contain a base set of templates for creating interactive "objects" such as simulations and quizzes, providing content creators with functionality without having to do any programming;

The set of templates is customizable and expandable for any new purpose that may come from developing content for courses ranging from Literature to Management to Engineering Electronics.

They are scalable from a large, collaborative project such as Project Links, down to a single course.

They enable content to be upgraded with respect to rapidly advancing web technologies; for example, the tools can display math notation today yet literally at the push of a button, our web pages could be updated with Math HTML as soon as it is implemented by Netscape and / or Microsoft's Internet Explorer.

The publishing tools are enablers for Project Links and, as such, are being built specifically for the project. However, the leaders of Project Links recognize the uniqueness of these tools in the web publishing market and the potential to enable other web content developers to save time and money developing similar tools.

There are at least five projects, on campus and off, that have expressed an interest in having access to the publishing tools described in this proposal. The Pre-College Initiative Project is developing materials for high-school advanced placement courses. In the next year or so, they will be developing new course materials in subject areas such as calculus and physics. The Sloan Foundation Project proposes to develop math, chemistry, physics and computer science course materials for delivery via the web. An ERC in simulation-based engineering, submitted through SCOREC, and a Whitaker Foundations Special Opportunity Proposal submitted by the Department of Biomedical Engineering contain significant web based educational components which would be developed using the tools we are proposing. Off campus, Portland State is working on a FIPSE project to test the effectiveness of educational technology in terms of student outcomes in large classes. The next phase of the project will move to self-paced modules on the web.

Plan

With Strategic Initiative funding, the Rensselaer WebPress project will embark on a one-year plan. The first task will be to evaluate the market for these unique web publishing tools. The evaluation will include not only projects that have already expressed interest in the tools, five of which are mentioned above, but also other NSF projects, non-NSF projects, commercial and university publishers, and educationally oriented web content developers.

We will use the market information to plan a general, commercial release level of the publishing tools. To implement this plan, we will require experienced Java programmers, individuals respected in the area of cognitive and user interface design, as well as a graphic designer capable of producing professional quality electronic graphics. With the leadership of Pam Kott and Bryan Tracey, we feel that we can hire and manage students who will fulfill these project requirements. To help with market research, we will hire two graduate-level students from Rensselaer's Management of Technology program; for the design work, we will hire students from the EMACs program, Arts Department, and/or LL&C Department; for the programming work, we will hire students who have completed the Java, Math and the World Wide Web (65-4962) course.

In addition, we will provide documentation which will help faculty use this publishing system to its fullest potential. The documentation is to include help, course design recommendations, and information regarding how to customize and extend the publishing tools to meet the needs of any particular course material developers.

Lastly, we will provide an evaluation of the success of the Rensselaer WebPress project. The report will include a survey of Rensselaer faculty who have used the WebPress tools, including their satisfaction with the tools and estimated cost / time savings during course development; a survey of their students' satisfaction with those course materials; a report of the number and type of projects outside the Institute which adopt the WebPress tools; and a similar satisfaction and cost / time savings survey for those projects outside Rensselaer.

Strategic Advantage to Rensselaer

The publishing tools being developed under Project Links present an opportunity for Rensselaer to leverage existing tools for its own benefit. There are three principal advantages to Rensselaer:

1. Free license for Rensselaer faculty to use the authoring tools for course content development. These tools would provide the Rensselaer community with a vehicle for efficiently developing interactive learning materials for courses as well as by centers such as the proposed Academy of Electronic Media Development and Utilization (AEM) and the CIUE. Faculty will save time developing interactive course materials by using these publishing tools rather than building web pages using word processing software or conventional web-page authoring tools. The time savings is likely promote development of new studio courses, which are well-known at Rensselaer as a more efficient mode of instruction.

In turn, students will benefit from interactive course content that is developed by Rensselaer faculty. It is well documented that the hands-on approach is popular with students as well as potential students and their parents. It is also well documented that students learn best when they can explore and construct knowledge rather than listening and watching lecturers.

2. Enhance Rensselaer's reputation and leadership position in interactive learning. Rensselaer is internationally recognized as a leader in interactive learning. With past achievements such as the prestigious 1995 Theodore M. Hesburgh Award, the 1995 Boeing Outstanding Educator Award, and the 1996 Pew Leadership Award, there is significant attention focused on our initiatives in interactive learning.

The Rensselaer WebPress project will result in a new and innovative way of developing interactive course materials for web delivery. Both the project and the final products can enhance Rensselaer's leadership position in interactive learning by being one of the first, if not the first, web publishing systems of its kind. In addition, the publishing tools as well as course materials developed using them will bear the Rensselaer WebPress name. Of course the WebPress tools will have the advantage of being associated with Rensselaer and are likely to receive national and international visibility.

3. Potential that the publishing system will benefit Rensselaer financially. While there's no guarantee that this publishing system can generate revenue in the web publishing market, the participants in this project have every intention of working toward this goal. Provided with Strategic Initiative funding, we feel the importance of sharing any profits with Rensselaer.

It's premature at this time to propose any kind of percentage or dollar value since there is no business entity. Any kind of business venture will require additional venture capital, causing any revenue to be distributed among multiple venture capitalists. We have met with RenTEC to discuss the issues related to becoming a profitable business entity. Following the market evaluation, we plan to work closely with RenTEC in establishing Rensselaer WebPress in a public market.

In addition, the Rensselaer WebPress project will use resources from multiple disciplines across Rensselaer schools in its first year. In subsequent years, it's possible that the WebPress tools will have an impact on every academic department in the Institution, and potentially any of the 12+ interdisciplinary research centers, and be available to contribute to the advancement of other Strategic Initiatives projects.

Deliverables

Market Evaluation September 30, 1997

WebPress Publishing Tools: Editor, Publisher and Documentation July 1, 1998

Evaluation of Rensselaer WebPress Project Success July 1, 1998 Budget Estimate

Request from Strategic Initiatives Committee $37K

$10K for graduate-level management students to research market

$16K for student Java programmers to enhance Project Links tools for a broader environment

$1K for software to support Java programming activity

$7K for graduate-level communications or EMACS students to apply cognitive design research to these tools

$3K for arts students to create original, professional-quality graphics

Cost-Sharing by Other Groups $53K

$15K from Project Links funding in support of project dissemination

$30K of salaries of existing Project Links personnel toward project management

$8K of computer hardware and software from ECSE department to support student programming activity

Additionally, we have provided the Java course students with class projects that are key pieces of the publishing system. We estimate that this work is the equivalent of 10 full-time summer student hires.

Total Budget Estimate $90K