EARTHED ONLINE: OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE SUPPORTING ACTIVE LEARNING

EarthEd Online is an ongoing project to create integrated open source software that supports online or hybrid online/live earth science courses. The software has been authored with Macromedia Director, a powerful multimedia authoring system that supports Macinosh and PC clients. It has been designed to support student engagement with real earth data and the process of science. Supported activities range from the lowest cognitive levels (multiple choice quizzes, auto graded answer entry) to the highest cognitive levels (thought questions, writing and peer review). Assignments and other configurations are specified by the instructor through an instructor’s interface. A shared problem and assignment library is available to all instructors using the system. The library is augmented automatically as instructors add new problems and assignments. for their course

Current efforts are directed toward refining and documenting the API that allows programmers to add new modules that can be connected to the core tools. The existence of a core toolset frees developers to concentrate on innovative new content. The system is currently integrated with the “Our Dynamic Planet” CDROM (data relevant to plate tectonics), “Marine Virtual Explorer”CDROM (a virtual exploration of the East Pacific Rise), “Global Ocean Data Viewer”(World Ocean Atlas), and a multi-user online version of the Fishbanks game (sustainability and “Tragedy of the Commons”).

The software, in its current configuration, is delivered on a CDROM. Upgrades are downloaded and automatically installed over the internet. Access to the initial installation over the internet is feasible, although not implemented at this time.

The software has been developed over a period of ten years and implemented in an Introductory Oceanography class at UCSB. For more information, please see: http://oceanography.geol.ucsb.edu/~gs4/Index.html