Joze Rugelj

Steiner Tree Based Distributed Multicast Routing in Networks

The problem of routing multicast connections in networks is often viewed as a minimum Steiner tree problem in graphs, with additional constraints raised by the specifics of the communication network environments.

Teaching with electronic collaborative learning groups: report of the ITiCSE'99 working group on creative teaching of electronic collaborative learning groups

The integration of technology and collaborative groups has seen the development of electronic collaborative learning groups.Technology supports collaborative learning by allowing collaboration between distributed participants replacing face-to-face meetings. Technology also provides access to supporting tools and methods such as libraries, chat-rooms, and meeting protocols.One major benefit of using electronic collaborative learning groups is the ability to provide for the uniqueness of each student in a group. However, managing electronic collaborative learning groups is not simple, and the role of the teacher changes from knowledge provider to facilitator. This has implications for the amount of technical support that the teacher may require.

Competence based joint study program on advanced networking technologies for blended learning

European Study Program for Advanced Networking Technologies (ESPANT) is a two semester study program, jointly developed by higher education institutions from Belgium, Finland, Portugal, Spain and Slovenia. It will support students in developing competences to cope with difficulties which are encountered in real world networking configurations. As this study program is designed for students from all over Europe and is run by partners from five European countries, it has to be implemented by means of blended learning activities, i.e. as a combination of traditional face-to-face instruction with student and staff mobility as well as independent learning in virtual learning environment, implemented by means of information and communication technology.

COMPARING EFFICIENCY OF WEB BASED LEARNING CONTENTS ON DIFFERENT MEDIA

The purpose of the research was to find out what kind of multimedia learning materials gave the most efficient and effective results with regards to learning time and knowledge gained. Different web based learning materials were used as regards presentation mode: static pictures, animations with online text and animations with narrated text. Although the research results showed that learners from WBL contents with static graphics learnt less time than learners from animations, we did not find significant differences in learning time between experimental groups. However, we proved significant differences between three experimental groups in terms of gained knowledge. The learners using learning materials with static graphics performed worse than learners using materials with animations. Furthermore, we did not prove significant differences in gained knowledge between groups that learnt from audio animations and the animations with online text.

Comparing Learning Results of Web Based and Traditional Learning Students

Appropriately designed web based learning materials are thought to be more efficient than traditional ones because of interactivity and multimedia, which enable clear explanations, motivating design, active learning, instant feedback and other advantages. Our research question is whether students achieve better learning results if they learn from web based learning materials than from traditional ones. Although the research results show that students spent less time learning from traditional learning materials than students learning from web based learning materials, the differences of learning times were not significant. However, we proved significant differences in terms of gained knowledge. The students using web based learning materials performed significantly better than students using traditional learning materials.

Rerouting of multicast connections with quality-of-service constraints

In the long-term operation of any real network that supplies multicast capability, the fixed routing algorithms provide solutions that are only temporarily efficient, due to the dynamic nature of the network environments. We study the problem of re-routing multicast traffic that meets the quality-of-service requirements of real-time, distributed multimedia applications. In particular, we assume that multicast communication depends on bounded delays along the paths from the source to each destination. We present a technique for modifying a multicast tree under an end-to-end delay constraint that is cost-efficient and which flexibly manages load in the network. The constrained Steiner tree improvement technique in directed graphs makes use of a strategy for providing an end-to-end delay guarantee by apportioning it locally for each link. It has been purposely designed to meet the requirements for distributed implementation in asymmetric networks.

Computer supported multimedia environment for the support of long-distance collaboration in medicine

Medicine is heavily dependent on computer supported systems that have become integral to the diagnosis and treatment of the disease. At the same time, the need for all kinds of collaboration grows. New technologies promise the ability for teams and individuals to conduct collaborative work using teleinformatics resources through electronic interaction in virtual distributed laboratory spaces called also collaboratory. A collaboratory is designed to enable close ties between the collaborating partners, to accelerate the development and dissemination of basic knowledge, and to minimize the time lag between diagnosis and corresponding treatment. The paper presents the architecture of our collaboratory and some basic teleinformatics tools for the support of collaboration which were selected in the preparatory phase of the project.

Advanced Networking Technologies Study Programme: A Design Based on Competences

In this article, authors present the objectives of the EU ERASMUS CD project: European Study Programme for Advanced Networking Technologies (ESPANT). Major novelties in the development of one year curriculum long and lifelong learning oriented are discussed. The competences design aspects are described and a Syllabus contents presented as a crucial methodology to develop the ESPANT innovative teaching approach. In ESPANT, training has place in a realistic, real world environment rather than an artificial lab setup where operational competences rather than the reproduction of theoretical details play a central role. Flexibility of the Teaching/Learning paradigm is guaranteed by implementing educational novelties such as e-learning, video conferencing and distance learning.

Intelligent agent for knowledge tree administration

Knowledge tree is a list of pointers to applicable documents WWW pages or other information resources together with the tools that are needed for interactive construction of trees by users. It is in fact virtual multimedia textbook and as such represents appreciated high quality supplement to the existing learning materials. One of the important characteristics of virtual textbooks is. their ability to change dynamically and to comprise new learning materials as soon as they appear in the Web or anywhere in the cyberspace. For these reason, knowledge trees need to be maintained regularly to avoid unpleasant surprises. We upgraded knowledge trees with an intelligent agent that can automatically verify the validity of links; when changes are detected in the document or referenced document is not found after several attempts, the link is marked and administrator can take appropriate measures. But the agent can take even more active role in the tree maintenance process: it can be upgraded to look for new materials to be added to knowledge trees. Documents gathered in knowledge trees, or more precisely links in the documents, represent starting point for our agent when we activate it to extend the existing knowledge tree. The agent checks whether the documents pointed to by these links tit into knowledge tree. There are some parameters to be set before its exploration starts. One of the most important parameters is depth of searching. Agent can follow certain link and recursively links from the document, pointed to by the original link. The value of this parameter have to be selected carefully as the number of links can grow exponentially. Other parameters that can be set for the agent are specifications about the types of links not to be followed during a search for new materials, specifications of links that should always be followed and intermediate cases where decisions are taken according to some specific settings.