THE SPACE OF TELE-EDUCATION:

From the small to the large and from the single to the multiple

 

Dimitri Papalexopoulos

Architect,

Ass.Prof. N.T.U.A.

 

  

 

The structure and consistency of the space of tele-education was the central theme of a pilot project at the Faculty of Architecture of the National Technical University of Athens (February – April 2001) (http://www.ntua.gr/archtech/teleducation/)

 

A working group of architects, postgraduate students and graduate students, coordinated by ass.prof. Dimitri Papalexopoulos (with the participation of Eleni Kalafati and with Christos Aposkitis as information engineer)  had organised  a pilot 6 hours tele-education lesson on architecture, including 3 teleconferences. As it was be one of the first tele-lessons in Greece, it will serve as an example to evaluate and diffuse. We prepare the lesson in collaboration with the Network Management Center of NTUA, in their remote training and mumtimedia rooms .

The group worked on the questions raised by  design of the tele-education space

 

Four tele-conference lectures were given in parallel by:

 

Patrick Sibenaler, ETHZ Wednesday May 2, on "teleducation programs",.
Maia Engeli, ETHZ Friday May 11, on "ETH World Competition Results".
Spiro Pollalis, CDI, Harvard, Wednesday May 16, on "Issues of managing projects: lessons learned from abroad".
Jeff Huang, CDI, Harvard Tuesday May 22, on "hybrid building and the Swiss House".

 

 

As an output, we had propositions froM the team,  dealing with three major themes:

  1. The virtual classroom
  2. The linking space of tele education
  3. The global info space of tele education

 

(texts and images selected by dp, full version at http://www.ntua.gr/archtech/teleducation/)

 

1.The virtual classroom:  the teleducation space and classroom

The classroom in the future university will resemble to, but also differ from conventional classrooms. It will still be the place that several people (students and professors) physically meet, but it will also be one node of a network connecting remote working groups. Different spatial scenarios of classrooms lead to different scenarios of education and vice- versa. The projects presented were:

 

 Information x-change by Elsa Chryssochoides:

 

“Tele- education, and the new technological means classrooms in the future universities are going to be equipped with, will change the teaching procedure and, specifically, the relationship between students and teacher and the way information is acquired. In contemporary schools of architecture, the traditional hierarchical model of education, with the professor being the basic or only source of knowledge/information and the students being the inactive receivers of the incoming information, is already about to be fully replaced by a non- hierarchical model, with students being active researchers/producers and the professor being a coordinator of their collaboration.Tele-education enhances non- hierarchical models of education. Having as their basic characteristic the constant flow/ exchange of information, these models prescribe the very space the procedure of education generically takes place in, i.e., the classroom. Consequently, the studio-classroom is conceived as a dynamic landscape, continuously transforming according to the constant flow and exchange of information”.


 Kaleidoscopic perspective by Iris Lycouriotis:

“These first two diagrams show two distant physical spaces that are not connected yet (1) or are about to be connected (2) through tele-communication systems. The grid refers to the virtual global network these sites are virtually sited on.

A connection is actualized (3). Let us imagine that these two sites are two simple rooms with an active camera and a screen placed in them. Their connection is happening through their mutual tele-transmission. If we stand in one of these two rooms we can take a glimpse of the other. Actually it is like we stand in alarger two-room area, only this two-room area does not exist in physical condition. It can be formed as a virtual entity. The thick white line (4) encircles the intersected areas. This notation gives us a diagrammatic idea about the formation of the two-room virtual area. With the same white line we note the 'common' virtual part of these two physically separeted, but virtually intersected areas.

The screen is actually (5) a virtual door that separates or connects two different rooms. A door is supposed to generate some movement. As it opens it occupies an area. Its very position is of great importance not only in the case of the two connected rooms but to the general plan of the 'house'”.

 


The problem of interactive relationship by Dimitris Pavlou & Katerina Kouroumali:

The question is how can such a vivid and rich in interaction relationship be reestablished in the terms of teleducation. In other words, how can the actual technological means - and accordingly the structure of teaching – be upgraded or specialized to meet such complex demands of communication, as those described above, in the case of either the professor or the student not being physically there (telepresence). Jaron Lanier, for example, points out that cameras cannot assure proper eye contact or full perception of the individual’s location in space and this is a matter that can hurt the interaction between the parts engaged in a teleconference. On the other hand, one should give some serious thought on what scenario of teleducation and which technological means can form the analogue of the professor and the student working together on a piece of paper.

 

 

 

2. Linking space
The tele-education space has some special characteristics as: synchronous- asynchronous, spatial-antispatial (hyperspatial?), corporeal-incorporeal, etc. The question is how, by taking advantage of these special characteristics, the linking space could function as a model space for tele-education in architecture. The projects presented were:

 

N-dimensions narrative by Sonia Tzimopoulou:

“The information space is considered as a mesh  > >  interconnecting lines are data flow  > >  the participants may be individual points  > >  on external stimuli, an attractor creates a ripple  > >  this can produce a variety of reactions, from a calm and isotropic flow to unsettled condition even resulting in chaos “.

 


Infoflow by Vicky Nakou

“In a tele-education system exists a designedly way of thinking and communicating, that is both different from scientific and scholarly way of thinking. A drawing communicates through its analysis of a particular subject. The tele-education relies on a prolonged look while the drawing instantaneously. All the points define the potential students that can be seen by any of the people in the tele-education space. Each point is a node”


Nodes by Niki Plevri

Since, all connections are completed, we hane the creation of space (horos), according to the Grek etymological meaning of "limit the chaos".

 

This diagram displays the potential space for tele-education.

 

This virtual space changes every time that a new "red" point is added or another is deducted. The different "final" shepes produced by connection status each given moment can also be encircled.

 


Interference patterns by Panajotis Michalatos

 

“I am proposing a metaphoric scheme for the interactions that take place among the members of a group connected with other groups via a surface of intersection-interaction-recording (the light horizontal band)

the group forms a liquid space where each particle (small white squares) can emit and receive waves (events, messages, stimulation) .

these wave-like disturbances spread. When they reach other particles they stimulate them so that they emit more waves and at the same time alter their position slightly. So the density, the distances are not constant rather they change in an approach-to-source or keep-a-distance manner. Distance here can be more than just a measure in a metric space. It can be the "distance" that measures the difference in the way people approach the common object. The measure of differences in character and mentality, how close the individual feels to other individuals. Of particular interest are areas where a high density occurs and so a higher activity. If things become overcrowded the result is noise the limit case of maximum diversification that results in homogenisation. The individual events are not clearly distinguishable.

All events are projected/recorded on the surface of intersection (dark vertical stripes on the broad light band). There they form interference patterns with the recorded events from other spaces of other groups (represented by faint light bars on the surface of interaction that change continually). So this common surface is the public place where public events actually happen. There are also such (mental) surfaces intrinsic to each member but they have an intimate and not a public character. Thus the process is self-similar, from the scale of the group of subjects intrinsic to each individual, to the intersubjective interactions among individuals, and over to the interactions among groups and groups of groups.

on certain occasions or continually (here if u click on the surface of interaction) a uniform wave (event) is produced by the surface of interaction that sweeps the whole space and generates secondary events-reactions.

there is also the possibility of producing point events anywhere in the space (here by just clicking), a kind of event with no apparent cause internal to the group. (may be of external origin) in rare occasions (here randomly and rarely) members of the group can produce spontaneously events.

without stimulation the group dies. Stops producing, something that happens when the common aim (reason of existence) is accomplished or members lose their interest. That seems to be the fate of every collectivity the transmit/receive scheme is a way”.”.of keeping connections alive (PING/PONG).

 

 

3. the global info space

Tele-education affects current educational programs and university' s space.
We consider as a fact that university is changing through new web technologies. Its global info space (web sites, web tools, networking) is evolving. The University could be seen as multi layered surfaces of information. The projects presented were:

Shift-inf by Athina Stavridou

 

With almost nothing but a few screens most of the places are changing into hybrid places as the digital is mixed with the physical.
Screens that are so useful for tele-education are not boundaries that separates two or more places but interfaces that allow each side to communicate continuously constructing other realities beyond ours.
Tele-education passes through them like lines of communication, like "lines of flights". These lines have no specific path or speed.
It is like if these lines of communication could expose us to unknown zones. They are transformable spaces that let the virtual make its appearance.
Tele- education acts in the middle of things, in our case in the middle of the surfaces, in the intersection of stratas and the flow of information. She translates or better modifies the architecture's educational program that till now is based on two learning methods: a. Lessons as lectures, where the professor sets the main questioning and theme and the students attend.
b. Lessons that need collaboration between every part: professor, students, out-collaborators, etc., for the production of a common project.
Tele-education slips into this program, over the existing university's structure. It is not something exterior to it. It complements in such a way that is actually changes it. It manages to alter the program from within, allowing each university's member to communicate not only with each other but also with members of another university.
Tele-education acting in-between creates a virtual space that appears only when someone decides to communicate, to be with others. In this space one can trace the signs of others, using special designed data-bases, move forward and back into the information, enter virtual spaces of another university, and not only, or leave his projects for visiting or criticizing. Classrooms, labs and public places are changing.

 

 


Information spaceframe by Katerina Charalambidou

Hybrid is the result of the crossbreed of two different species. The traditional classroom that appears as a node of a whole network of exchanging information is a hybrid classroom. The physical-real environment incorporates new technologies, which allow the virtual presence. Real-physical/virtual-anti-spatial, synchronous/non-synchronous create a new reality of co-existence, create the space in-between.

The hybrid teaching environment is seen as a space truss of information spread all over the physical environment interconnecting it with the virtual one. Nodes are either the physical or the virtual points of gathered information (classes appropriately equipped for tele-education-physical space- or sites of universities which offer a variety of informations and possibilities-virtual space) and bars (truss bars) describe the connections between them, the flow of information. The dynamic of this scheme is obvious. Each moment the shape can change but the logic behind the scheme remains the same. The changeability and the transformation is the new prospective of a rather stiff and stable existent system.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a result, an discussion is opened, dealing with the following issues:

 

VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY
Having assumed that by the term "virtual university", we are not talking about an open on- line university, where students never physically meet, but about institutions, that, by taking full advantage of the latest digital technologies, are interconnected and belong to a common environment, we are interested in examining how their dual character (virtual and real) is formed. The issues under discussion deal both with physical and digital space. In order to make things more specific, we focus on the future school of architecture and the education of architects in the information era.

 

TEACHING PROCEDURE
How do tele-education and the new technologies affect the teaching procedure? What is the role of the professor? Is it limited down to being a mere coordinator of media? Does he/she have control over the incoming information? What is the preparation needed before- and the editing needed after each class? Since each class/studio is video recorded, archived and accessible at any time from students, issues of "uniqueness" as well as of "memory" are raised

 

LEARNING PROCEDURE
How do tele-education and the new technologies affect the learning procedure? What is the role of the students? How are personal relations affected? How is the collaboration between remote groups of students? How do students manage to handle and edit the vast amounts of information? How is intellectual property protected?

 

DESIGN PROCEDURE
How are the various parts of the design procedure, specifically, affected? Related issues to be explored: 1.Co-operation with other institutions such as museums and art galleries. Virtual visits to physical sites, cities, archeological ruins, monuments as well as architectural offices. Access to web sites for enhanced research.2. Interactive and multimedia tools. (Vrml, animation,video/audio,3Dgraphics etc). Interacting with users and objects in a unified environment. Possible access to and manipulation of the objects and their content

 

VIRTUAL-FLUIDE SPACE
Virtual- fluid space as a connecting network. Flow of information. How is public and private formed in virtual space?

 

PHYSICAL SPACE
Physical real space. Network of classrooms vs. a unified classroom-studio entity. Relevant scenarios of tele-education. How is the ideal classroom like? How is equipment integrated in already existing classrooms? What are the transformations in physical space? What is the minimum equipment needed for a classroom to be "tele"?

VIRTUAL – HYBRID AND THE TENSION BETWEEN DIAGRAM AND ABSTRACT MACHINE

GENERAL ISSUES
Globalization- global village.
Collective intelligence.
Virtual communities, smart communities. ·
Publicity, protection of intellectual property. ·
From e- learning to e- business.
From the virtual school of architectural to the virtual