The Adaptive Multimedia Education Enabler, or AMEE, is a family of computer products designed to provide universal access to distance learning opportunities. AMEE is a single interface which will provide a common bridge between course providers of distance education and the many types of computers in community learning centres and peoples' homes.
AMEE will provide:
The operation of AMEE will be effectively transparent to the user. The suite of applications that make up the interface will make distance learning services available on the Internet, through the user friendly programs currently available for browsing the World Wide Web.
Keywords: Distance Education, Enabling Systems,
WWW Support Systems
The Adaptive Multimedia Education Enabler, or AMEE, is a family of products that will move us significantly closer to the vision of open, integrated access to distance learning opportunities. This project is an exciting challenge for learners, communities, course providers and technology developers that demonstrates the value of the information highway as an educational thoroughfare.
AMEE is being created by consortium led by Telus with partners including the Alberta Research Council, Alberta Vocational College -- Calgary, The Banff Centre for the Arts, Canmore Collegiate, ISA (Integrated Systems Applications) Corp., Morrin School, TRLabs, The University of Alberta, The University of Calgary. The consortium is funded in part by CANARIE (Canadian Network for the Advancement of Research, Industry and Education) and has support from a number of other organizations. Consortium members have pooled resources to fill a significant gap in the delivery of distance education. AMEE is a single interface which provides a common bridge between distance education course providers and the many types of computer in community learning centers and in peoples homes.
AMEE will provide:
The AMEE suite of applications will provide value added enhancements to the Internet. The operation of AMEE will be effectively transparent to the user, being an extension of the World Wide Web browser paradigm.
Three different groups of users will utilize AMEE, and each will be able to perform different tasks and will be provided with a different user interface.
The Individual Learner
An Individual Learner User Interface will provide a common, integrated front end to both existing and newly created tools. The individual user will be able to:
The Course Provider
The Course Provider will be able to define a course, manage the content and workflow of a course, set up course delivery parameters and manage the ongoing activities of individuals and groups of learners. A Course Provider User Interface, similar in design to the Individual Learner User Interface will allow the course provider to:
The Community Access Centre
The Community Access Center will serve the learning needs of many students, hence the Community Access Center User Interface will provide mainly administrative tasks:
The primary deliverables of the AMEE project will be a family of products that will provide distance learners with the ability to access a wide variety of instructional materials across heterogeneous communications systems. Beyond the commercial potential of its products, AMEE is really a complete framework for enabling distance education.
Figure 1 provides a pictorial overview of the AMEE World. AMEE utilizes the Internet for electronic transfer of materials and SneakerNet (or some commercial carrier of physical goods (e.g., Canada Post) to deliver those materials that may not be in a digital form. The AMEE Central Adaptive Multimedia Switch (AMS) contains the database that provides links between courses, authors, educational institutions, corporate training centres, students and Community Access Centres (CAC). Thus a student can register at a CAC, browse courses from a number of institutions, enroll in a course, schedule resources (e.g., a multimedia personal computer, a video clip which requires gigabytes of storage, a large print job) and study. Equally, if the material the student is learning does not need the resources available at the CAC, the student could continue the course using their personal computer at home.
An institution offering a course simply adds a pointer (URL) to the course index that is stored in the AMS. CACs can see those courses and add them to their list of offerings. When a student enrolls in a course, certain information is collected for use by the CAC, then the student is passed on to the appropriate institutionÃs on-line registration system. Similarly, private course developers, corporate trainers and anyone wishing to provide courses can register a course with the AMS.
The architectural model of the AMEE framework comprises of five
layers illustrated in Figure 2.
Figure 2 -- The AMEE Architectural Framework
The entire project, from system design to field trials, is scheduled for completion by the end of 1996, with the final product slated for implementation in 1997. You are welcome to examine the AMEE prototype system which is available through the AMEE home page. A demonstration student user type is available on the University of Alberta CAC (choose Community Access Centres, then choose University of Alberta). You will be presented with a screen similar to that shown in Figure 3: The CAC Student Interface. You will be able to browse courses, enroll in course, schedule resources, etc. If you choose "Enter Account" the UID is guest and the password is guest (yes - it is case sensitive).
AMEE bridges a significant gap in the delivery of distance education by providing a seamless connection between learners and content providers. It is a major step towards providing a useful ubiquitous education to students wherever and whenever they wish to study.
| T. Craig Montgomerie, Ph.D. | Tom Keenan, I.S.P., Ed.D |
| Division of Technology in Education | Dean, Faculty of Continuing Education |
| 3-104 Education North | The University of Calgary |
| University of Alberta | Calgary, Alberta |
| Edmonton, Alberta | Canada T2N 1N4 |
| Canada T6G 2G5 | |
| Phone: (403) 492-3667 | Phone: (403) 220-5429 |
| Fax: (403) 492-3179 | Fax: (403) 284-3948 |
| E-Mail: craig.montgomerie@ualberta.ca | E-Mail: keenan@acs.ucalgary.ca |
N.A.WEB 96 - The Second International North America World Wide Web Conference http://www.unb.ca/web/wwwdev/ University of New Brunswick.