Dissertation

I
Computer Aided Teaching in Sri Lanka
Name : A. R. M. S. Livera
Registration No. : R012948
Index No. : 0129488
Supervisor : Mrs. Damayanthi Perera
Date of Submission : November, 2004
This dissertation is submitted in partial fulﬁllment of the requirement
Of the Degree of Bachelor of Information Technology (External)
Of the
University of Colombo School of Computing

II
Declaration
I certify that this dissertation does not incorporate, without acknowledgement any material pre-
viously submitted for a Degree or Diploma in any university and to the best of my knowledge
and belief, it does not contain any material previously published or written by another person
or myself except where due reference is made in the text. I also hereby give consent for my
dissertation, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter library loans, and for the
title and summary to be made available to outside organizations.
Date: 10/11/2004
………………………..
A. R. M. S. Livera
Countersigned by:
Date: 10/11/2004
………………………..
Mrs. Damayanthi Perera

III
Abstract
e-Learning is a most used and a misused concept in today’s e-based world. Many or-
ganizations are changing their training plans to include some automated teaching tools and
methods. But is e-Learning is as effective as it seems ? It can work solely or it needs some
other methods of help ? It is now a common knowledge that only a few percentage of students
and trainees were successful in using only e-learning to master their lessons. The most suc-
cessful method will be to use a hybrid method or a blended learning model. One methodology
of blended learning model is Computer Aided Teaching (CAT). It uses computers for teaching
as opposed to computers doing teaching as in n the e-Learning model. This project studies the
particular educational theories and psychological perspectives about education. It explores the
current trends in e-learning systems and why it is not useful to use it solely. Also it identifies
the new trends and advantages in CAT systems. Current teaching methods and tools are ob-
served and their advantages and disadvantages are asserted. By combining these studies it tries
to discover how we can maximize the advantages of the current methods and minimize the
disadvantages by using a computer aided teaching system. The author will try to find how we
can introduce CAT systems to Sri Lankan school curriculum successfully by building a CAT
system to teach advanced level organic chemistry. The final product will be a extensible CAT
software suitable for use in Sri Lankan schools.

IV
Acknowledgements
I would like to use this opportunity to express my sincerely thank to Mrs. Damayanthi
Perera for her assistance and constant motivation in guiding me throughout this research. I am
very grateful to her for providing me with this facilities that made this work possible. I owe
a sincere thank to the Principal, all the teachers, students and staff at Joseph Vaz College, my
Alma mator.
I also like to thank all the people who visioned and participated in Bachelor of Informa-
tion Technology external degree program, specially Prof. R.Samaranayake.
Special thanks is also due to my friends and many people who have both directly and
indirectly made this work possible.
A special thank goes to Malika Livera, my sister and Shalika Rathnayaka, my ﬁancée
who have always supported all my endeavors with maximum enthusiasm.
Last but not the least thank you to my parents who were always there for me, showing
the way.

V
Contents
Declaration II
Abstract III
Acknowledgements IV
Contents V
Figures List VIII
List of Acronyms IX
Introduction 1
1.1 Problem Speciﬁcation 2
1.2 Project Aims and Objectives 2
1.3 Limitations 2
1.4 Requirements 2
1.5 Project Summary 3
Human Education 5
2.1 The Evolution of Current Education System 5
2.2 Early Educational Practices 6
2.3 Jean Piaget and Cognitivism 6
2.4 Ivan Pavlov and Classical Conditioning 7
2.5 Thorndike and the Law of Effect 7
2.6 Skinner and Reinforcement 7
2.7 Educational Perspectives : Teaching and Learning 8
2.8 Current Conclusions on Education 8
e-Learning 10
3.1 An Introduction to e-Learning 10
3.2 The unique capabilities and advantages of e-Learning 10
3.4 Teachers’ Role in e-Learning 11
3.5 The Global Stance of e-Learning 12
3.6 Factors supporting successful e-Learning 13
3.7 Drawbacks to the e-Learning paradigm 13
Technologies Driving e-Learning 14
4.1 Technical Infrastructure for e-Learning 14

VI
4.2 Content Storage Layer 14
4.2 Content Retrieval Layer 15
4.3 Content Presentation Layer 16
4.4 Future Technologies 17
Blended Learning 18
5.1 Deﬁnition of Blended Learning 18
5.2 Advantages of blended learning. 18
5.3 The acceptance of blended learning 19
Current Teaching System in Sri Lanka 20
6.1 Global Education Position of Sri Lanka 20
6.2 Current Teaching Method 21
6.3 Traditional visual material presentation methods. 22
6.3 Drawbacks of the Current Systems 23
Proposed Teaching System 25
7.1 Proposal considerations 25
7.2 The proposed CAT system 25
7.3 Prerequisites for the proposed teaching system. 26
7.4 Proposed Teaching System 26
7.5 Content creation considerations. 26
7.6 Future Developments 27
System Analysis 28
8.1 System Analysis Methodology 28
8.2 Requirements 28
8.3 System Scope 28
8.4 System users 29
8.5 Technical Requirements 29
8.6 System Use Case 30
Design 31
9.1 System Designing Methodology 31
9.2 Design Considerations 31
9.3 Class Diagram 31
9.4 User Interfaces 33

VII
Implementation 34
10.1 System Programming Language 34
10.2 Data ﬁle format 34
10.3 Libraries used 34
10.4 Implementation Description 35
10.6 System Limitations 36
10.7 Exceptions 37
Testing 38
11.1 Unit Testing 38
11.2 System Testing 39
11.3 User Acceptance Test 40
Evaluation 42
12.1 Variations from the project proposal 42
12.2 Project Evaluation 42
12.3 Project Achievements 43
12.4 Project Deﬁciencies 43
Conclusions 44
13.1 Conclusions 44
13.2 Further Work 44
Bibliography 45
Appendices 48
A. Useful Resources 48
B. User Documentation 49
C. Source Code 54

VIII
Figures List
Figure 4.1a - Infrastructure of an e-Learning System 14
Figure 6.1a - Literacy rate comparison 20
Figure 6.1b - Educational expenditure as a percentage of national gross product (GNP) 21
Figure 8.6a - System Use Case 30
Figure 9.3a - Class Diagram 32
Figure 9.4a - Default Layout 33
Figure 9.4b - Other Layouts 33
Figure 11.2a - System Testing Results 40

IX
List of Acronyms
AWT Abstract Windowing Toolkit
CAE Computer Assisted Education
CAI Computer Assisted Instruction
CAL Computer Assisted Learning
CAT Computer Aided Teaching
DVD Digital Versatile Disk
FTP File Transfer Protocol
GIF Graphic Interchange Format
HTML Hyper Text Markup Language
HTTP Hyper Text Transfer Protocol
ICT Information and Communication Technologies
IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
IMS Instructional Management System
JMF Java Media Framework
JPEG Joined Photographic Experts Group
LOM Learning Object Model
MPEG Motion Picture Experts Group
PNG Portable Network Graphics
RAM Random Access Memory
ROI Return On Investment
SDK Software Development Kit
SSL Secure Socket Layer
SGML Standardised, Generalized Markup Language
VGA Video Graphics Adapter
UML Uniﬁed Modeling Language
WWW World Wide Web
W3C World Wide Web Consortium
XML eXtensible Markup Language

1
Chapter 1
Introduction
In recent decades advances in technology have made significant changes in human life
and behavior. Changed areas includes but not limited to food, travelling, entertainment, health
and education. Among these things the major factor concerning evolution and advancement of
our species is education. As John Crocker at Disney Online puts it “Rapid changes in science
and technology are creating a dynamic world that requires individuals with nimble minds and
the ability to master thinking and learning skills” (Crocker, 2003).
Education occurs in most life forms in various ways. Animals ‘learn’ what is OK and
what is dangerous. Education or learning is crucial for the survival of the animals. Natural
selection simply means unadapted or not-learning species will be filter out while the learners
survive. As for today education in humans is a greatly developed and a used concept in various
forms of human life. It has been a long journey fro the wild apes who taught their offspring how
to use tools for catching termites to human children well under 5 years learning how to count
using a multimedia software in a digital computer.
In our age information technology has become a crucial component of our daily lives. A
most influenced area has been education. We are talking about e-Learning, Computer Assisted
Instruction (CAI), Computer Assisted Learning (CAL) and Computer Aided Teaching (CAT).
But are these concepts are clearly defined and effectively used ? Can they eliminate the
traditional teaching methods ? The author explores these areas trying to find some answers.
Also the author will explore the new trends in these areas.
Living in a global village and talking about globalization are we as a country ready for
the actual realities of a electronic world ? Talking about education we can say we have a lit-
eracy rate of 92.5%. But are we ready or do we have any plans for a global education ? At least
starting from now how can apply new trends in Educational Information Systems (EIS) to our
countries educational system according to our economy ? The author is exploring these areas
and provides some suggestions.
As a third world country we lacks proper infrastructure and resources to maintain a full
developed education system. But we can improve the current system using new technologies
and maximizing the usage of available resources. The author tries to develop an extensible
Computer Aided Teaching (CAT) system that suits this necessities.
For building this system the author first observes the current teaching systems and tools

2
to find their advantages and disadvantages. After these studies the author created a proposal
for a new teaching system. To support this teaching method the author created a CAT system
which is extensible and platform independent. This system was designed to be flexible, easy to
use and cost-effective.
1.1 Problem Specification
Education is rapidly changing in the world. Everyday new technologies are being in-
troduced and used. Use of computers for education is one area. But every method is not
maximally successful. We have to identify what are the most successful methods. Sri Lanka’s
education system is still using older but nevertheless effective methods. It can be improved
using new technologies. This research will try to identify how we can do that by researching
about the above mentioned topics and finally developing a CAT system for use in Sri Lankan
schools.
1.2 Project Aims and Objectives
* Study about Educational Psychology and Theories
* Study about the advantages, disadvantages and new trends in e-Learning methods.
* Study the Sri Lankan education system and identify the advantages and disadvantag-
es.
* Identify how we can improve Sri Lankan education concerning these studies.
* Develop a Computer Aided Teaching System using suggested improvements.
1.3 Limitations
* The information regarding Computer Assisted education methods will be regarding
using foreign countries data because currently in Sri Lanka any information is unavail-
able.
* The observations of current teaching methods in Sri Lanka was done in an advanced
level organic chemistry class. Other settings may vary slightly.
1.4 Requirements
System Requirements
* Should use standardized techniques and formats.

3
* Must be cost effective.
* Must run on legacy systems without minimum modifications.
* Must run on a variety of platforms.
* Should be able to handle a variety of media components.
* Must be expandable to match growing needs.
* Presentation components should be system independent.
User Requirements
* System should be easy to learn and use.
* Should concentrate on presented components rather than system.
* Should be well documented for usage and component creation.
* Should be able to present widely available presentation components.
1.5 Project Summary
The project concentrates on how we can improve Sri Lanka’s education system using
current technological advancements in education systems. Particularly in Computer Assisted
Education systems.
The first chapter gives an introduction about the whole project. It identifies the problem
specification and project goals and objectives. It introduces project limitations. Also system
and user requirements of the project are presented.
The second chapter is about human education. It provides a brief history of the evolu-
tion of the current education system. Then it presents a study about the psychological theories
about human education. Also a review of the current education trends is presented. At the end
of the chapter a summarized conclusion about how the human education should be proceeded
is presented.
The third chapter presents the results of a study about e-Learning. It presents the ad-
vantages and drawbacks of the e-Learning. It also discovers the current status of e-Learning
in global market. The role of the teacher in the e-Learning is discussed. And the factors that
support a successful e-Learning implementation is provided.
The fourth chapter explores the technologies that facilitates e-Learning. It presents the
necessary technical infrastructure for a e-Learning system. It also presents a brief summary of
the future technologies concerning e-Learning.

4
A study about blended learning systems is presented in the ﬁfth chapter. It discuss why
blended learning is looked as a more suitable approach to learning. Also the current global ac-
ceptance of blended learning methods is presented.
Sixth chapter presents a study about the Sri Lankan Educational system. It presents Sri
Lanka’s current global position in education. It also presents a observation result of current
teaching system and methods. Analyzing these results it presents the drawbacks of the current
system.
A alternative to the current teaching system method is proposed in the seventh chapter.
It provides a detailed explanation about the proposed teaching system. It also explains how this
new system can be used to minimize the drawbacks of the current system. It propose a CAT
system for aiding the new teaching system. And a brief about how the propose can be devel-
oped in the future.
The eighth chapter presents the analysis stage of the CAT system. It presents the analy-
sis method, system requirements and system scope. Analytical view of the system is provided
through a use case diagram.
The ninth chapter presents the system design. System designing methodology is dis-
cussed. It presents the system design considerations, system class diagram and user interfac-
es.
The implementation of the CAT system is presented in the tenth chapter. It explains
about the selection of the programming language and system data formats. It presents the li-
braries used. The system implementation and system limitations have been described. Excep-
tion handling of the system is also presented.
The eleventh chapter presents the testing procedure of the system. Unit and system test-
ing methods and results are presented. User acceptance test and it’s results are also explained.
In the 12th chapter the author presents a critical evaluation about the project. It presents
the variations from the original project proposal. It also discuss about the project achievements.
It also presents the deﬁciencies of the system and how the improvements could be done.
In the 13th chapter the conclusions about the project is presented. Also how these CAT
system and teaching system can be developed in future work is presented.

5
Chapter 2
Human Education
2.1 The Evolution of Current Education System
Well before the invention of reading and writing, people lived in an environment in
which they struggled to survive against natural forces, animals, and other humans. To survive
they developed skills that grew into cultural and educational patterns. For a particular group’s
culture to continue into the future, people had to transmit it, or pass it on, from adults to chil-
dren. The earliest educational processes involved sharing information about gathering food
and providing shelter; making weapons and other tools; learning language; and acquiring the
values, behavior, and religious rites or practices of a given culture.
Through direct, informal education, parents, elders, and priests taught children the skills
and roles they would need as adults. These lessons eventually formed the moral codes that gov-
erned behavior. Since they lived before the invention of writing, preliterate people used an oral
tradition, or story telling, to pass on their culture and history from one generation to the next.
By using language, people learned to create and use symbols, words, or signs to express their
ideas. When these symbols grew into pictographs and letters, human beings created a written
language and made the great cultural leap to literacy.
In 3000 BC Egypt priests in temple schools taught not only religion but also writing,
sciences, mathematics and architecture. Beginning in about 1200 BC Indian priests taught the
principles of ‘Veda’, the sacred text of hindunism as well as science, grammar and philosophy.
Formal education in china dates to about 2000 BC. Starting in about 400 BC Greeks education
focused on the study of philosophy while the Romans education focused on war, politics and
civil administration. A noteworthy factor is in most cultures only the male rich were educated.
Occasionally some cultures let women take limited education as in Sparta, where girls receive
education but it was almost exclusively athletic training to prepare them to be healthy mothers
of future Spartan soldiers.
In the 11th century medieval scholars developed Scholasticism, a philosophical and
educational movement that used both human reason and revelation from the Bible. The famous
universities of Paris, Salerno, Bologna, Oxford, Cambridge and Padua grew out of the Scho-
lastics-led intellectual revival of the 12th and 13th centuries. The name university comes from
the Latin name universitas, or associations. They offered degrees such as liberal arts, theology,
law and medicine.

6
In Renaissance on the 14th century, scholars became more interested in the humanist
features - that is the secular or worldly aspects - of Greek and Latin classics. Humanist educa-
tors designed teaching methods to prepare well-rounded, liberally educated persons (Gutek,
2004).
2.2 Early Educational Practices
Starting from 19th century educators shape modern educational practices with various
theories. A pioneer was swiss educator Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi. Pestalozzi developed the
following principals.
1. Begin with the concrete object before introducing abstract concepts.
2. Begin with the immediate environment before dealing with what is distant and re-
mote.
3. Begin with easy exercises before introducing complex ones.
4. Always proceed gradually, cumulatively and slowly.
German philosopher Johann Herbart said knowledge should create an “apperceptive
mass” - a network of ideas - in a persons’s mind to which new ideas can be added. Based on his
work his followers designed a ﬁve-step teaching method:
1. Prepare the pupils to be ready for the new lesson.
2. Present the new lesson.
3. Associate the new lesson with ideas studied earlier.
4. Use examples to explain the lesson’s major points
5. Test pupils to ensure they had learned the new lesson.
2.3 Jean Piaget and Cognitivism
Piaget, Jean (1896-1980), was a swiss psychologist who studied epistemology (the na-
ture and limits of human knowledge). He can be mentioned as a pioneer in cognivitist approach
to education. Cognition refers to the process of knowing, and cognitive psychology is the study
of all mental activities related to acquiring, storing and using knowledge (Foley, 2004).
Piaget stated that children, by exploring their environment, create their own cognitive,
or intellectual, conceptions of reality (Gutek, 2004). He proposed that letting children discover
things themselves - ‘discovery learning’ - was a much better way to progress than learning of a

7
passive kind - children having facts talked at them (Davies & Houghton, 1995).
2.4 Ivan Pavlov and Classical Conditioning
Pavlov, Ivan Petrovich (1849-1936), Russian physiologist and Nobel laureate, best
known for his studies of reflex behavior or conditioning. Reflex means an involuntary response
to a stimulus by the animal organism.
Pavlov’s conditioning theory states that reflexes, once conditioned, may act as the stim-
ulus for another response, and so on, until chains of reflexes build up into complicated patterns
of behavior (Davies & Houghton, 1995). Or learning is this conditioning of reflexes that leads
to future response patterns.
2.5 Thorndike and the Law of Effect
Thorndike, Edward Lee (1874-1949), was an American psychologist and educator who
studied learning. He conducted simple experiments using animals for creating his theories.
Thorndike proposed that the most important cause of learning concerns the consequenc-
es of a behavior. For instance, if you obtain something that pleases you after you have behaved
in a certain way, then you’ll link that behavior for as long as it keeps reproducing pleasure. He
showed that teaching an animal any behavior is easy to achieve is they are rewarded, or ‘re-
inforced’, for doing it. He called this principle ‘law of effect’, and he believed that it explains
even complex human learning (Davies & Houghton, 1995).
2.6 Skinner and Reinforcement
Skinner, Burrhus Frederic (1904-1990), American psychologist, was a pioneer in the
programmed instruction, a teaching technique in which the student is presented a series of or-
dered, discrete bits of information, each of which he or she must understand before proceeding
to the next stage in the series. The process involve
1. Identify objectives
2. Arrange subject matter into logical sequences
3. Prepare and test instructional programs
4. Implement, test and revise.
Skinner’s work is directly related to and inspired from Thorndike’s law of effect. Skin-

8
ner used the word ‘reinforcement’ to refer to the consequences of behavior. He proved that the
varying ‘reinforcements’ with varying aspects leads to varying behavior. These aspects were
positive/negative, primary/secondary and time schedules. He stated that learning depends on
these conditions of reinforcements.
2.7 Educational Perspectives : Teaching and Learning
The Educational process can be viewed in two perspective. The first one being the
teacher’s and the second one being student’s. These can also be viewed as traditional and pro-
gressive methods.
The first method is concerned about how the teaching can be done effectively. This
view assumes that the student has to be filled with knowledge rather than the student acquiring
the knowledge. This was described by Charles Dickens in Hard Times as seeing them as: “little
vessels arranged in order, ready to have imperial gallons of facts poured into them until they
were full to the brim”. This is called a ‘behaviorist’ approach and supported by findings from
Pavlov, Thorndike and Skinner (Davies & Houghton , 1995).
The second method is learner centered or can be viewed as a progressive model. In
this method the student do the learning, the teacher is there only to facilitate the learning or to
“show the path” as the Chinese Tao says. This is the most used method in e-learning and other
distant learning activities. This view can be stated as ‘cognitivism’ and supported by cognitive
psychology. Mainly from works of Piaget (Davies & Houghton, 1995).
But concerning the results of both approaches it is obvious that human education must
contain both of these aspects to address the needs of all students. There can be some students
who mostly benefits from either method. But majority seems to benefit from both approaches.
2.8 Current Conclusions on Education
Based on these theories, findings of cognitive sciences and educational psychology
several assumptions about how these theories can be applied to the current education has been
made by various educators. One of them is Dr. Will Thalheimer, PhD, Principal Researcher at
Work-Learning Research. As Thalheimer (Thalheimer, 2003) presents them:
1. The ultimate goal of instructional design should NOT be to create learning, per se, but
to create in each earner the ability to retrieve information from memory. Specifically,
learners need to be prepared to retrieve the right information at the right time when

9
faced with their real-world, on-the-job performance situations.
2. Given that our ultimate goal is to enable retrieval of learned information, it makes sense
to provide learners with practice retrieving information from memory.
3. When retrieval practice utilizes real-world decisions set in realistic on-the-job contexts,
it is especially effective at promoting spontaneous remembering on the job.
4. The ability to retrieve information from memory can be improved in three ways, (1)
increasing the strength of original learning, (2) minimizing the amount of forgetting,
and (3) improving the likelihood that cues in the performance situation will trigger
spontaneous remembering.
5. Because learners forget and because they sometimes develop misconceptions, feedback
is needed to provide correction. Feedback should (a) provide just enough information to
correct the misconception that has surfaced (b) be delayed when logistically possible,
and (c) be focused primarily on incorrect answers and inadequate responses. 6. Provid-
ing meaningful repetitions is arguably the most important learning factor. It helps learn-
ers absorb information they initially missed, relearn information they forgot, and enrich
and strengthen information they previously learned. Spacing repetitions over time is
particularly effective in enabling long-term retrieval.
7. Interesting information, graphics, and stories can actually distract learners from the key
learning points. All information should be directly relevant to the points learners need
to learn.
8. Learning objectives and pre-questions can help learners to focus on the most important
aspects of the learning material. Unfortunately, today’s typical learning objectives are
too broadly constructed and are presented to learners too long before learning begins.

10
Chapter 3
e-Learning
3.1 An Introduction to e-Learning
As a prologue John Crocker at Disney Online predicts that: “The school of the future
may look more like a theme park or interactive museum than the traditional school class room.
Simulators may transport students to new or past worlds, and even undersea adventures. Ac-
tive learners may explore various themes and disciplines alone or with other students in their
school or around world (Crocker, 2004)”. Still we’re very far from here. But the bottom line is
“Computers are making and will make education more effective and entertaining than today.”
e-Learning can be taught of as using information and computer technology to facilitate educa-
tion. Or it includes computer based learning, web based learning, virtual classrooms and digi-
tal collaboration and uses (Eklund et.al., 2003)”
The main difference that e-Learning will bring is, it tries to eliminate the shortcomings
of traditional learning practices with all available resources. The developers on a CATT pro-
gram for mathematics in Canterbury University, New Zealand comments: It is not meant to be
a text book. But includes teaching and learning approaches developed working with these types
of students. Typically, in our experience, beginning students find it difficult to learn with from
typical college textbooks (Broughton et.al., 2004).
3.2 The unique capabilities and advantages of e-Learning
When considering the capabilities we’re almost considering the teaching potentials of
information and communication technologies. Today’s computers are multimedia devices and
our communication medias are also fast becoming multimedia.
From 15th century when Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press our main
learning media has been books. But today we have e-Books and we can hold a library in a
computer. Gutek draws an analogy between books and the computer : The computer as hy-
pertext, as symbol manipulator, is a writing technology in the tradition of the papyrus roll, the
codex, and the printed book. The computer as virtual reality, as graphics engine, as perceptual
manipulator, belongs to and extends the tradition of television, film and photography, and even
representational painting (Gutek, 2004). The main capability of e-learning is that it can pres-
ents a variety of media in a cost effective and selective manner. Researches have found that,
other conditions being equal, more learning occurs when information is received simultane-

11
ously in two modalities. Furthermore teaching is enhanced when material is organized and that
organization is evident to the student.
Contrast to class room lessons that follows a sequential lesson order and a fixed time
frame, in a e-learning system the student can learn at his own pace. Using e-learning we can
enforce Piaget’s cognitive learning.
Also unlike printed medias e-Learning components can be designed to respond imme-
diately. For an example an electronic question paper can mark out wrong answers immediately.
Designing a programmed instruction machine invented by skinner will be a breeze.
Also there is noted factor about learners expectations and life styles. With the increasing
penetration of the computer and it’s applications to e-commerce, a generation of young users
is growing up with the computer having always being a part of their life (Eklund et.al., 2003).
It is common knowledge children like some medias of learning more than others. Engaging
students emotionally can lead to deep learning that is transformational, and that prepares indi-
viduals to think and learn (Crocker, 2004).
3.4 Teachers’ Role in e-Learning
The teachers role is changing as a classical provider of knowledge. The rise of
cognitivism as the dominant ‘post-modern/post-behaviourist’ learning theory and the recog-
nition of the importance of the social context for learning is changing curricula and teaching
practice (Eklund et.al, 2003). But teachers will play an ever-increasing and important role as
guides and nurtures. They will be more empowered to monitor student progress and serve as
guides in finding the best learning path and content and delivery for their students (Crocker,
2004).
It is noted that teachers were often not willing to move from a face to face model of
delivery to fully online, even when it had clear advantages in terms of market reach. This is
because they regarded Toolboxes as alternative sources of content, which were useful to aug-
ment their existing materials and delivery. Using the Toolbox as a secondary resource allowed
the teacher to become accustomed to the content of the Toolbox and gradually introduce it into
their delivery. In other words, the ICT-experience of the teacher and their confidence with using
new technologies were factors in choosing the delivery approach (Eklund et.al., 2003).
Also teacher training and the ICT competencies of beginning teachers are improving as
older teachers are retiring, making way for those who have undertaken training and are more

12
familiar with new technology (Eklund et.al., 2003).
3.5 The Global Stance of e-Learning
The e-Learning market place has been expanding and is predicted to grow significantly
over the coming years. But it is common in the literature to characterise the current state of e-
learning is in a phase of consolidation.
Just as business was forced to re-examine business models for software development following
the dot-com boom and bust, it is now no longer popular for futurists to make outrageous claims
about the proliferation and transformation that e-learning will bring (Eklund et.al, 2003). The
following data is an extraction of a research conducted by Australian National Training Author-
ity. For more information (Eklund et.al., 2004)
A survey of the European e-learning market completed in 2002 through the European
Training Village web site at CEDEFOP (European Centre for the Development of Vocational
Training), found that pure e-learning and blended learning accounted for a quarter of the time
users spent in training. Further the report found that e-learning accounted for 30 % of training
capital expenditure and just over 22% of expenditure on content and services. A benchmarking
survey of e-learning within business organizations in Canada and the USA in 2001 found that
43% of businesses involved in the survey were in the process of implementing e-learning or
had already done. 33% of businesses were planning to implement e-learning within the next
three years. A report on the e-learning training market by Screen Digest estimates the corporate
market in the US at $3.5 billion, and $5 billion globally pointing to a $50 billion market by
2010.
A survey by IDA Singapore covering Singapore, India, Hong Kong, Korea, China, Tai-
wan, and Australia with snapshots of Malaysia and Japan, examining revenues and expenditure
from e-learning by individuals, governments, corporations and academic institutions, estimates
that the e-learning revenue of Singapore in content, services and technology provision will
grow from $46.4 million USD to $106.4 million by 2005. Growth in Korea and Taiwan is
expected to catch up quickly. The largest growth is predicted to be in provision of content for
e-learning.
Statistics for the Australian market are difficult to find, But it is estimated that the
e-learning market in Australia will be worth US$65 million by 2005, growing at an annual
compounded rate of 22%. The reasons behind the relative maturity of the Australian e-learning

13
market include the standardization of language with relatively few language barriers within the
country, a top-quality infrastructure, national as well as state governmental support, a condu-
cive sociological culture that supports all types of learning, and a widely-dispersed population.
While IT e-learning dominates the Australian e-learning market at present, non-IT e-learning,
which may be vertical-industry-specific, function-specific or soft-skills-related, may grow to
be on par with IT e-learning in the next 5 years (Payne, 2002).
3.6 Factors supporting successful e-Learning
As a part of survey conducted by Australian National Training Authority several factors
were identified as the key success factors of e-Learning practices (Eklund et.al, 2003).
* An enthusiastic teacher(s)
* Local support from, and direct access to, an ICT-experienced teacher/mentor
* Significant institutional support in the form of relief time and/or encouragement
* An implementation appropriate to the local environment, often a sensible or conserva-
tive implementation that allowed the teacher(s) the opportunity to review the imple-
mentation and discover its value as a learning aid
* Positive initial experiences with the implementation at the installation phase.
3.7 Drawbacks to the e-Learning paradigm
The main drawback is that users are still not accustomed for the e-Learning
paradigm. This includes organizations, teachers, and learners. Many organizations are hesitant
about the use of e-learning due to failures, either real or perceived, within other organizations;
and also because of a lack of knowledge and understanding of the possibilities (Eklund et.al,
2003).
Also when e-Learning is used in educational institutes time constraints on teachers and
issues with integrating e-Learning into the curriculum were cited as the main reasons for not
using it. Overall, teacher training was found not to provide future teachers with the kinds of
experiences necessary to prepare them to use technology effectively in the classroom (Eklund
et.al, 2003).
Another drawback is technical constrains. The major has been the inadequate technical
infrastructure in educational institutes. This doesn’t seems to be a factor in corporate sector.
Also the whole system is suffering from a lack of standardization.

14
Chapter 4
Technologies Driving e-Learning
4.1 Technical Infrastructure for e-Learning
Technology provide exciting opportunities to rethink our system and process for learn-
ing. New discoveries into how our mind operate challenge our assumptions about what consti-
tutes and effective education. Combining and advancing technology with unfolding knowledge
about how we think and learn can fuel a revolution in new forms and methods that combine
emotional connections and active participation in the learning process. Fusing seemingly des-
perate areas of entertainment, technology and cognitive science can power imaginative new
approaches to learning, and thus prepare people for our rapidly changing dynamic world. “All
the world is a stage” may be appropriate description for the actors in a drama that captivates,
inspires, and changes students (Crocker, 2004).
e-Learning is based on educational content materials. From storing these contents to
presentation of them to the students a technical infrastructure is needed. There are several lay-
ers of infrastructure for an e-learning system.
Figure 4.1a - Infrastructure of an e-Learning System
4.2 Content Storage Layer
A wide range of storage media has been around since the beginning of the e-Learning
paradigm. e-Learning content is mostly multimedia. Multimedia ﬁles are huge when compared
to normal text based ﬁles. Also multimedia retrieval is a process requiring higher data transfer
rates. And when concerned with educational materials they have to be cost effective to be used
by most. When concerning e-Learning the main factors affecting storage medium selection is
1. Low Storage Cost
2. High Retrieval Speed
Content Storage
Content Presentation
Content Retrieval

15
3. High durability of the medium
Concerning these factors optical media seems like a logical choice (Stallings, 1999).
This is a good for an isolated computer system such a home computer. The low-end choice is a
compact disk (CD) which can hold up to 700 Mega bytes. The high-end medium will be a DVD
disk which can hold up to 17GB of data in double-sided, dual-layer format(Tanenbaum, 2001).
Both of these mediums are cost effective and has enough data transfer speeds for multimedia
applications.
But when in a networked system such as a large educational institute or a remote edu-
cation system as a distant learning center, a magnetic disk media will be more appropriate. An
low-end server containing EIDE hard disks which can hold up to 250MB or High-end server
with a RAID system (Stallings, 1999).
4.2 Content Retrieval Layer
This layer can be broken into two parts. One part being the operating system handling
the file system and the other being the network which transfers data between the remote sys-
tems.
Concerning the operating system any one with a standard set of system services and a
graphical user interface will be technically sufficient. But it will be very flexible to build the
e-Learning system using a widely supported and used operating system. Using an obsolete or
legacy operating system will greatly reduce the standardization and circulation of the system.
When the network layer is concerned regarding the retrieval of e-Learning content
only two aspects of the networks should be evaluated. The first thing is data transfer rate of
the network. As discussed earlier regarding storage media, multimedia retrieval places heavy
demands on data transfer rates. Although network technologies exist that can support Giga
bytes of data transfer rates, most consumers still use dial-up internet connections or 100Mbps
local area networks (Tanenbaum, 2001). Networks using 10Mbps still exist. So if a e-Learn-
ing strategy is planned to be implemented over a network, network speed must be taken into
consideration.
Regarding security it will be appropriate to use a secured connection when transfer-
ring contents such as SSL whenever possible(Garfinkel & Spafford, 2002). Although it will be
highly unlikely to someone to intentionally intercept or interrupt a transfer session, modifica-
tion or fabrication may be a possible threat, Also there exist the possible threat of viruses and

16
worms (Pﬂeeger & Pﬂeeger, 2003).
4.3 Content Presentation Layer
This is the user interactive part of the e-Learning system. This layer can be implement-
ed in three ways.
1. Web Browser based
2. Using proprietary authoring systems
3. Custom presentation system
Although all of these systems have different strengths and drawbacks, one method may
prove better than the other regarding a particular implementation.
Web Browser based
In this method the content is displayed in a web browser probably in HTML format.
The main advantage of this method is, it doesn’t requires any additional software. Almost
all computer systems have web browsers these days. Also a web based system is easier to
deploy over a network such as Internet.
The disadvantages are deliverable contents may be limited by the size or type regarding
browser and network limitations. Also there may be some security concerns.
Proprietary authoring systems
This can be regarded as the most convenient way for creating presentation systems.
Mostly these programs have customizable templates that can be used for creating content
rich presentations quickly. Also adding interactivity to these programs is easy comparing
other methods.
The disadvantages are these tools can be costly. Also most of these tools are only avail-
able for Windows platform. Sometimes this software have to be installed prior to using the
e-Learning system, making distribution complicated.
Custom Presentation System
In here the developer has the total control over the system. System can be customized
and extended as the developer intends.
The disadvantages are only a competent software developer can develop and maintain
such a system. Also contrast to a industry standard proprietary systems, there can be perfor-

17
mance degrades and unnoticed software bugs. Sometimes developer tools can be costly.
4.4 Future Technologies
“And she had a picture book which had cost the half of a kingdom. Oh, these children
were happy...”
The Wild Swans by Hans Christian Anderson, 1938
Imagine a “picture book which cost half the kingdom”. I have an idea of what that
might be, I believe it is a big part of the bright future of our medium. Whether it’s the most
miraculous laptop you can imagine, or digital implants as ubiquitous as tattoos, the options for
future interactive media creation and disbursement are awesome, and of course, troublesome
(Wilson , 2003). This is how a an author feels about the future of the multimedia systems. Be-
ing a multimedia system e-Learning technologies also will be in a very advanced state in near
future.
Current researches in optical technologies provide enough data to conﬁrm that tomor-
rows data storage and transfer, will almost be done using light and optic technologies. Also
researches about multimedia operating systems and multimedia networks (Tanenbaum, 2001)
brings hope to the future of e-Learning systems. As for the software standards are being intro-
duced and reﬁned by standard bodies like W3C, IEEE and IMS that soon there will be compat-
ible presentation systems which can share educational content between them.

18
Chapter 5
Blended Learning
5.1 Deﬁnition of Blended Learning
In Smith (2001) blended learning is described as ‘a method of educating at a distance
that uses technology (high-tech, such as television and the Internet or low-tech, such as voice
mail or conference calls) combined with traditional (or, stand-up) education or training.’ This
can be stated as using traditional teaching methods with e-Learning.
Blended learning allows for a range of teaching and learning practices to be combined
into a custom made learning experience for each individual learner. The term has come to
describe a well thought-out combination of e-learning and other training methods - the future
trend will use the concept of blended learning more effectively - proactive blending, which
means ’taking into consideration the strengths and weaknesses of technology-mediated learn-
ing’ (Brodsky, 2003).
5.2 Advantages of blended learning.
Blended learning can be used to eliminate most of the drawbacks in e-Learning and
traditional learning systems. It can be thought of as a hybrid of best of the two worlds.
In a blended learning method users can be gradually introduced to e-Learning methods
while they kept using the traditional methods. Transition can be almost transparent. Also teach-
ers with traditional experience can regard the e-Learning as a high-tech tool, not as a enemy
trying to replace them. Students will adapt to this new change in their curriculum almost enthu-
siastically, concerning their admiration of the new technology.
Curriculums changes maybe almost unnecessary. The suitable parts in the current cur-
riculums can be move to e-Learning practices avoiding the risks and implications on curricu-
lum changes.
Cost constraints can also be dealt with in this method gradually. Major investments
will be unnecessary due to the fact that mostly the same methods will be at use in the begin-
ning. e-Learning methods can be gradually expanded as it suits the ﬁnancial settings and user
requirements.
When technical factors are concerned in a blended learning environment there’s a high
potential that right technical infrastructure will be selected, because of the process progresses
gradually. Otherwise in a full implementation of e-Learning, if inconsistencies with the envi-

19
ronment are identiﬁed after the implementation it won’t be easy to adjust it to the environments
without major system changes.
5.3 The acceptance of blended learning
A number of sources have recently cited the growing trend to blended learning that is,
incorporating the use of ICT into the instructional process to augment rather than replace face
to face delivery (Eklund et.al, 2003). This is duly to the fact when used solely e-Learning sys-
tems had not been very successful.
Martyn Sloman and Mark Van Buren refer to recent research into e-learning in Fortune
500 companies both in the US and the UK. The survey showed that 62% of Learning Technolo-
gy initiatives were not successful: only 1 out of 4 learners were satisﬁed (Eklund et.al, 2003).
Blended learning has been successful because it commonly emerges as a delivery tech-
nique from a process of planning and analysis, that has been described as ‘bulletproof’ (Troha,
2002). There is also evidence to show that it is a learning design implicit in many success
models. In an analysis of a two-year empirical study, (Barbian, 2002) concludes that blended
learning methods ‘boost employee productivity over single-delivery options’. Advocates of
blended learning maintain its success is due to it combining successful elements of traditional
and technology-enhanced delivery (Zenger & Uehlein, 2001) and this is leading to a height-
ened awareness of its value (Eklund et.al, 2003).

20
Chapter 6
Current Teaching System in Sri Lanka
6.1 Global Education Position of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is a moderately literate country. Having various ethnic groups and languages,
it still maintains it’s educational status regardless of the impact from the ethnic war and the
economic crisis.
Following diagrams displays a comparison between some countries and Sri Lanka. In-
dia is selected because it is the neighboring country of Sri Lanka. China is selected being the
country with a fastest economical growth rate. And Australia is selected being the country with
the most matured e-Learning market (Eklund et.al., 2003). The data were gathered from
Microsoft Encarta Reference Library DVD 2005, from Microsoft Corporation.
Figure 6.1a - Literacy rate comparison

21
6.2 Current Teaching Method
The teacher is conducting a course. In our perspective the course is Advanced level
organic chemistry. It consists of various lessons that must be taught on a sequential order. The
lessons are consists of various concepts of organic chemistry. The teacher uses a variety of
visual materials to present this lesson contents. Some of them a re diagrams, equations, illus-
trations and models. The teacher can use a variety of methods to present this materials. These
materials when presented using some method are named visual aids in teaching.
The teacher will teach the lesson by presenting this visual materials and narrating the
lesson. For an example the teacher can show a illustration of a molecular structure and describe
about it. Students can ask questions for clarifications. When answering this questions the teach-
er may present further materials for further clarifications. For an example if a student asked
about an equation the teacher can draw several examples of that type of equations and explain
them. Meanwhile the teacher may ask some questions from students regarding the current les-
son while presenting some material, to verify that students have got the lessons correctly.
When doing practical students are separated into groups. First the teacher show them
how to do the practical. And these groups do the practical on a one for group basis. After the
practical students are recording the practical steps and results of the experimentation.
The verification of the knowledge is done through a series of exams. Student progress
Figure 6.1b - Educational expenditure as a percentage of national gross product (GNP)

22
is tracked through the examination results.
6.3 Traditional visual material presentation methods.
Drawing boards
This class includes black boards and white boards. In this method the teacher
uses some kind of marker to draw or write on a board visible to the students. After ex-
plaining what is present on the board the teacher can erase the contents on the board and
use it again for another explanation.
The advantage of this method is the teacher can present inﬁnite number of ma-
terials as long as he/she can draw them on the board. Also he/she can made changes
in the material instantly. If there were some errors on the illustrations he/she can ﬁx it
quickly.
The disadvantages are illustrations cannot be drawn 100% accurately in a prac-
tical setting.Also the complexity of the illustrations will be limited considering the time
it will consume to draw it. The illustrations are not permanent.
This method can be viewed as a on-site visual material creator. It will be most
usable for things that can be quickly rendered and expressed and also for things which
don’t requires a long lifespan. Also this is useful for providing examples for a con-
cept.
Pre-drawn Illustrations
These are printed or hand drawn renderings of some concepts or a object. For an
example an illustration showing human blood circulatory system in a biology class.
The main advantage of this method is the ability to show complex renderings of con-
cepts accurately. Also these things can be use repeatedly for many classes.
The disadvantages are creating these illustrations can be time consuming and
costly. They requires some artistic talent to be created apart from the subject knowl-
edge. Also they can’t be changed easily.
Practical Demonstrations
This can be considered as the oldest and simplest method of teaching. The pre-
historic man has to teach his offspring how to hunt so he let them participate in the hunt

23
and watch how it is done. In this method the teacher explains an concepts by doing it
and showing the results to students. Such as showing a test to determine the presence
of acids and bases in a solution using litmus paper. The students can learn the way to
do the thing for them selves and also they can learn the results. Such as acids turn blue
litmus red or bases turn red litmus blue. Note the ancient saying “seeing is believing”.
The main advantage is students see the ‘real’ things in ‘real’ time. This can be consid-
ered as the easiest way to explain something. Also the teacher can make sure students
get the concept directly.
The main disadvantage is in most situations this is impossible. This is the reason
for the inventing of other teaching methods. For an example it is not possible a methane
molecule to a advanced level student in a school class room. Also in possible situations
doing some things practically may be dangerous or costly.
Models
This is also a very effective method of concept presentation. In this method you
create a model of things you cannot show practically or explain clearly. For an example
a model of a methane molecule using some spheres and cylinders representing atoms
and bonds. Or some statistical data into a model for better visualization.
The advantages are the students can get a closer idea about how a thing works or looks
like in real life. Also in a case of a 3 dimensional model they can see the model from
different perspectives and get the idea more clearly.
As in the illustrations method creating models is not a easy task and maybe
costly.Also the creator have to be very careful about the aspects of the model like scales
and colors. For an example if one bond in a methane model is longer than others that
model is wrong.
6.3 Drawbacks of the Current Systems
A most notable factor is that about 95% of the time teachers’ are only using the black
board and the narrative to communicate the lesson to the students. Students are in a very pas-
sive mode. They listen to what the teacher is saying and write down what teacher asks them to
write down in their books. Occasionally some student may raise a question, for clariﬁcation of
some fact. But it is noted that these are always a same set of students, apart from this group no

24
one utter a word relating the lesson. When concerning the educational theories we can see this
mode as related to Skinner’s reinforcement theory (Davies & Houghton, 1995). Earlier in this
research, it is showed that also some students may beneﬁt from this, it is not suitable for all of
them.
Also when doing the practical the same active students mentioned above are noted to
be doing the practical. Others simply watch what they’re doing. Also because of the economi-
cal factors concerning the materials used for practical it is not possible to let everyone do their
practical.
As for the exams it seems as most students are just learning for the exams. Like dogs
(not used as a derogatory term) in Pavlov’s experiments (Davies & Houghton, 1995). They
learn at these classes to ‘pass advanced level exams’. Based on the studies presented in this
paper about human education this can be viewed as almost a negative aspect.

25
Chapter 7
Proposed Teaching System
7.1 Proposal considerations
When creating this proposal for the Sri Lankan schools a number of considerations
about the local teaching environments has been made. Because of the unavailability of data
regarding e-Learning in Sri Lankan society some of the authors assumptions may be misguid-
ed.
The first thing to consider will be about the teachers. Although the data seems to be
showing there are sufficient teachers for the schools (28 students per teacher, primary school-
1997) it is a well known fact that this true for only the urban areas. Majority of the Sri Lankan
teachers are not computer literate. Although there has been some government programs to up-
lift the situation most of them are still untouched. Besides some of them are monolingual to a
greater extent. They are accustomed to the traditional teaching style, that some of them merely
reads the text in the lesson for students to copy down.
The students shows a great enthusiasm about the technology. But most of them are been
accustomed to a passive learning style. As mentioned earlier in this paper they’re examination
centered. Apart from the contents in their school syllabus they hardly seeks knowledge. It was
noticed that even in the libraries they mostly do their class room work. The authorities has de-
veloped a student assignment system, but it doesn’t seems to be much effective.
The schools doesn’t have necessary technological infrastructure. There are rural schools
who doesn’t have electricity. Only few of the urban schools have computers. The schools who
have computers have them located in one room, normally well protected from students. The
computer systems in most of the schools are not up-to-date machines but rather obsolete ones.
As an example the subject school even had 8086 personal computers and IBM PCjrs with
‘Chicklet’ keyboards, machines with great antique values. The most average systems they had
was Intel® Celeron® 400MHz machines.
7.2 The proposed CAT system
This system will be a small program capable of loading course details from a file. After
opening this file it will display a description of the course and a list of lessons available in this
course. After selecting the desired lesson, the program will open that lesson and display the
contents of that lessons initial screen. The user of the system can navigate through the contents

26
in this lesson using the lesson navigation controls. At any moment teacher can switch the les-
sons by selecting them from the lesson list.
The system should be capable of displaying a variety of media components, including
formatted text, images, audio clips, video clips and interactive 3D content. The course and les-
son files will be easy to edit text files.
Also the system should run on a variety of platforms.
7.3 Prerequisites for the proposed teaching system.
In order to evaluate the proposed system the following prerequisites conditioned must
be satisfied. Apart from the normal class room arrangement there must be a computer system
available to the teacher. With the configuration mentioned in the ‘Analysis’ chapter under the
topic ‘System Requirements’. This system is should be loaded with the proposed CAT software
and the appropriate course file should be been opened.
7.4 Proposed Teaching System
This teaching system is based upon the above mentioned considerations and the results
of the studies presented here. It can be viewed as a blended learning system. It uses some con-
cepts from Skinner’s programmed instruction concept. Also it facilitates the Piaget’s coginitiv-
ism principles.
The teacher is explaining the lesson using the materials presented in the CAT system.
From time to time he/she can use the black board for further examples and verifications. The
lessons are progressing in a predefined compartmentalized order. The displayed content should
be in the most effective format suitable for the current topic. For an example when teaching
about a molecule the displayed content should be a rotatable three dimensional model of the
molecule.
7.5 Content creation considerations.
When designing the contents for the system, the designer should consider the following
factors to make the maximum usage of the CAT system and the proposed teaching system.
Contents displayed for a particular topic should be strictly related to the topic. A good
rule will be not to include the same content for several topics. Also the content should be pre-
sented in the maximum effective format, from text, audio, video or 3D models. This will let

27
the student use her own imagination and knowledge to interpret the content without teacher
explaining everything, thus making use of the Piaget’s coginitivism.
The content flow has to be in contrast with the lesson progress. Teacher shouldn’t navi-
gate through the contents to find the appropriate content. This facilitates the compartmental-
ization of knowledge and linking of the known facts. Thus increasing the learning capacity
and enforcing the memorization of the learned topics. This factor makes use of the Skinner’s
programmed instruction concept.
7.6 Future Developments
After enabling this system and evaluating the results the teaching method can be ex-
tended to integrate more e-Learning concepts, thus extending the educational value.
One scenario will be to extend this CAT system to contain quizzes and to provide in-
stant feedback for the answers. Then this modified system should be installed in the computers
of the school computer room. From time to time as a revision students can use this system in
the computer lab to refresh and test their knowledge on the subject.

28
Chapter 8
System Analysis
8.1 System Analysis Methodology
The author used a Discovery Prototyping as the system analyzing method (Whitten &
Bently, 1998). The author created a prototype using HTML, Java applets and Macromedia
Shockwave 3D. The prototype was put into use as a teaching tool and the results were ob-
served. The prototype was reﬁned and tested three times before the designing of this system.
8.2 Requirements
System Requirements
* Should use standardized techniques and formats.
* Must be cost effective.
* Must run on legacy systems without minimum modiﬁcations.
* Must run on a variety of platforms.
* Should be able to handle a variety of media components.
* Must be expandable to match growing needs.
* Presentation components should be system independent.
User Requirements
* System should be easy to learn and use.
* Should concentrate on presented components rather than system.
* Should be well documented for usage and component creation.
* Should be able to present widely available presentation components.
8.3 System Scope
The system scope is a advanced level organic chemistry class or a chemistry lab. The
typical setting is a class containing
* A organic chemistry teacher.
* 10 to 15 students.
* Some teaching materials.

29
8.4 System users
Primary system users or direct users will be advanced level organic chemistry teach-
ers with a minimum level of computer literacy. They have learned and taught using traditional
methods. But mostly they will be bachelors degree holders. So they can be trained for the sys-
tem easily.
The secondary set of users are the students who uses this system for their studies. They
learns organic chemistry for their advanced level examinations. They are accustomed to current
methods of teaching, and mostly will be in a passive learning mode.
8.5 Technical Requirements
Hardware Requirements
Intel Pentium II / Intel Celeron/AMD K6 Processor
128MB RAM
8MB VGA Memory
10MB Hard Disk Space
(Additional disk space is required for course contents.)
CD ROM Drive (For Installation)
Minimum 15” 1024X768, 16bit color display.
Keyboard
Mouse or other Pointing device
Software Requirements
MS Windows / Linux/ Solaris
Java Runtime Environment 1.4 or higher
Java3D Runtime 1.3.1 or higher
Java Media Framework 2.1.1 or higher
Starﬁre Research 3DSInspector 1.3 or higher

30
Figure 8.6a - System Use Case
8.6 System Use Case

31
Chapter 9
Design
9.1 System Designing Methodology
Considering the analysis results the system should be easy to use and extensible. Con-
sidering the alternatives it is observed that an Object Oriented Design will be appropriate.
Object oriented systems are easy to manage and extend. Also a CAT system can be better de-
scribed as a collection of objects, such as presentation objects, navigator objects and content
retrieval objects. So the system uses an object oriented approach.
9.2 Design Considerations
* System should be easy to use and learn.
* Proprietary content should be accessible.
* It must be extensible.
* It should be platform independent.
* Should use standardized tools and methods.
* Must be cost effective to use and develop.
9.3 Class Diagram
The following UML class diagram presents the identiﬁed system, objects there attri-
butes, methods and interactions (see next page).

33
9.4 User Interfaces
The cat system uses 4 different layouts to allow the display of different media combina-
tions. The contentMode property of the content class holds the layout.
Figure 9.4a - Default Layout
Figure 9.4b - Other Layouts

34
Chapter 10
Implementation
10.1 System Programming Language
According to the analysis our system must use an object oriented approach. Also the
chosen programming plat form must be :
* Well documented for the ease of extending and modifying the system.
* Well supported by major software and hardware facilities.
* Follows strict security rules for the safety of the users.
* A well developed language with a wide range of applications including multimedia and
networking.
* A standardized language that is evolving.
* Should be platform independent and web enabled.
Considering these factors from a wide range of object oriented languages such as C++,
C# and Visual Basic .Net, Java was selected as the most suitable language for the system.
Refer to the appendices for the full code.
10.2 Data file format
As a CAT tool the system should be able to load different lessons from files. So a file
format is required for this task. It should be an extensible, platform independent, and a standard
format. It should be easy to learn and edit.
Considering this factors XML was selected as the suitable file format. It is easy to use
and extend. And it has well established standards.Also it is easy to use. Refer to the appendices
for the Data Type Definition (DTD) and sample XML files.
10.3 Libraries used
Java SDK
For developing this system Java software development kit (J2SDK), version 1.4.2_04
was used. It comes with default libraries, debugging tools, compiling tools and a runtime
environment. Available for Windows, Linux and Solaris from Sun Microsystems (http://
www.java.sun.com)

35
Java3D Libraries
For accessing and presenting 3 dimensional contents Java3d libraries have been used.
This is an platform dependent implementation. But libraries exists for Windows and Solaris
from Sun Microsystems (http://www.java.sun.com). For other platforms such as Linux and
Irix libraries available from the http://www.j3d.org.
Java Media Frame Work
For accessing and playing multimedia components Java media framework has been
used. It can play various kinds of multimedia formats including, but not limited to Wav,
MP3, MPG and AVI. Libraries are available for Windows, Solaris and Linux from Sun
Microsystems (http://www.java.sun.com)
Starfire Research’s 3DSLoader/3DSInspector
These libraries are used for parsing Discreet’s 3D studio files (.3ds) into Java3D scenes.
This is developed by John Wright, Starfire Research. All rights are reserved by the au-
thor, John Wright, and Starfire Research. This libraries are platform independent and run
on the Java3D libraries. Available from http://www.starfireresearch.com/services/java3d/
inspector3ds.html.
10.4 Implementation Description
The system uses course and lesson files for storing data, both are being XML files. And
these XML files contains information about the contents to be presented, such as movies and
images. These information consists of a alternative text, media location and media type.
The system is executed using the Java runtime environment and the above mentioned
libraries. When executed the main user interface is displayed and default test content is loaded.
If a valid course file name is passed as an argument that file is loaded instead of the test file.
This test files can be used to verify that the system is working properly.
Using ‘Open Course’ in the file menu users can load the course files they want. When a
course file is loaded the lesson titles included in the course are loaded into the left hand panel
named as lessons (see user manual or Figure 9.4a at page 32). A course description as saved
in the course file will be loaded and presented to the user. User can select any lesson from the

36
lesson panel and the system will read the data from the particular lesson xml file and present
to the user. User can navigate through the lesson contents using the navigation buttons in the
bottom of the user interface.
10.5 Supported Content Formats
Text
System supports plain UTF-8 text and HTML formatted text.
Images
System supports JPG and GIF images only. Other formats are excluded due to the file size
and compatibility reasons. GIF animations are supported.
Media
System supports AVI, MPG, MOV, WAV, MIDI and MP3 formats.
3D Content
In this implementation system supports only Discreet 3D studio file format (3ds). Textures
in these files are rendered as it is.
10.6 System Limitations
Full screen only
Because the system uses Java languages Fullscreen API it cannot be used in a windowed
mode. This is due to the reason that if used in windowed mode without full screen, the com-
ponents may not displayed correctly in computers with low video capabilities. The user can
minimize and maximize the system as any regular application.
3D Content Size
System will not display 3D contents larger than 500KB correctly. Sometimes the system
may crash if tried load complex models larger than this.

37
Content Locations
System always searches for the course contents relative to the course file path. Absolute file
paths cannot be used presenting file names.
10.7 Exceptions
System will handle runtime exceptions on it’s own. The following is an explanation of
the possible and handled exceptions.
Invalid or corrupted course xml file
The system will display a GUI error message informing to the user there was an error load-
ing the xml file. The test course included in the system will be automatically loaded.
Invalid or Missing lesson file.
The system will display an console error message and stay on the previous loaded con-
tent.
Java3D libraries missing
The system will display a label stating that the Java3D libraries are missing at the particular
location where the 3D content should be on the user interface.
Media file load errors
The system will display a label stating that the media file is missing or cannot be played at
the particular location where the media content should be on the user interface.

38
Chapter 11
Testing
11.1 Unit Testing
The author developed a series of test classes that facilitates individual testing of the
individually functional system classes.
courseAdapter class
This class was tested individually using a test class that can be executed. The test class
takes an xml file name as a argument and tries to process the XML file using the course-
Adapter class. Every step and result is displayed in the console.
jtContent class
This class was tested individually using a test class that can be executed. The jtCon-
tent class was slightly modified to by enabling a constructor accept an String for the
ContentText and a jtMedia object for contentMedia1 and contentMedia2, instead of the
constructor used in the system that accepts a Node instance as the parameter. The results
of the test class is displayed in the console.
jtMedia class
This class was tested using the same test class used for testing the jtContent class. A
new constructor was added that uses 3 String variables for alt, src and type variables,
as opposes to the constructor used in the system that accepts a Node instance as a argu-
ment.
JTutor class
This class was tested as a user interface only implementation to ensure that the user
interface behaves as expected. Output statements were added to the event handling
procedures to display the event and the event source in the console.
MediaPanel class
This class was tested using a test class that extends JFrame. The MediaPanel class was
modified to include a constructor that accepts String variables for media description,

39
media type and media file. The test class created an instance of the jtMedia panel with
the above parameters, and display the resulting media panel in a JFrame.
Lesson class
A test class was created that use a lesson xml document as a argument. The test class
created an instance of the Lesson classed with the root node of the passed xml file as a
parameter. The methods in the Lesson class was executed using the test class and the
results were displayed in the console.
jtMediaPlayer class
This class was tested using a test class that extends JFrame. This test class accepts a me-
dia file name as a argument and create an instance of the jtMediaPlayer with the passed
argument. Then displays the resulting jtMediaPlayer instance in a JPanel.
jt3DLoader
This class was tested using a test class that extends JFrame. This test class accepts a 3d
studio file as a argument and create an instance of the jt3DLoader with the passed argu-
ment. Then displays the resulting jt3DLoader instance in a JPanel.
11.2 System Testing
For system testing the author created a test course that contains various types of content
and tests various aspects of the system using these contents. That test course is integrated into
the system and loaded every time the system is started without a valid course xml file as a argu-
ment, when the loading of a course file fails, and when the user selects the ‘Load Test Course’
option from the file menu. The following aspects of the system were checked.

40
Test Topic Tested Action Result
File Loading
Course xml file Passed
Lesson xml file Passed
Navigation
Lesson Navigation Passed
Content Navigation Passed
Menu Navigation Passed
Layout Switching
Layout 0 Passed
Layout 1 Passed
Layout 2 Passed
Layout 3 Passed
HTML Display
Headings Passed
Text Attributes Passed
Colors Passed
Super/Sub Scripts Passed
Numbered List Passed
Bulleted List Passed
Alignments Passed
Image Display
Load GIF files Passed
Load JPG files Passed
Image Scale
(Landscape)
Passed
Image Scale
(Portrait)
Passed
Image Align
(Horizontal)
Fail
Image Align
(Vertical)
Passed
Video Playing
AVI video Passed
MPG video Passed
Audio Playing
Wav Audio Passed
Midi Audio Passed
MP3 Audio Passed
3D content
Content Loading Passed
Content Rotation Passed
Figure 11.2a - System Testing Results
11.3 User Acceptance Test
Testing Environment
A organic chemistry class with a single personal computer with the system installed.

41
Users
A organic chemistry teacher and 27 students.
Test procedure
The teacher used the system as a teaching aid in the class room for support the teaching.
She explains the lesson and use the system for showing the concept she is explaining when
it is available in the system (as a image, movie or 3D content). Also she uses the blackboard
for explaining contents that were not included in the system.
Results
Teachers Response
* The system is a good tool for teaching.
* It reduces the time spent for a particular concept.
* Provided content amount is not enough, needs more contents.
* The system can keep students’ attention.
* Can only be used for the children who is near the system, when the children are at a
distance they cannot see the contents well.
Students Response
* The way the contents are presented helps to understand them better than traditional
methods.
* Only the students physically near the system can beneﬁt from the system.
* Not enough contents are provided.
* System seems to be slow sometimes.
Conclusion
The system is functioning properly and as expected. System is sometimes perform
slowly but at a acceptable speed. Also usage can be improved using a large monitor or a
projector. The system should include more contents covering as much as possible in the
student syllabus.

42
Chapter 12
Evaluation
12.1 Variations from the project proposal
The main variation from the project proposal is the proposed system was a HTML
based organic chemistry teaching system. But the final system is a CAT system which can read
various courses with different multimedia contents.
The system was created using the Java language and several Java libraries, and not with
HTML using some plugins for multimedia contents as proposed.
12.2 Project Evaluation
The project presents a study about human education in a generalized and a summarized
way. Only the basic principals are being presented. They mostly present generalized theories
deduced from conducting experiments on animals rather than humans.
In the study about e-Learning the author presents data and facts gathered from various
sources. But all of them are foreign sources. The effectivity of these data on the local field
cannot be predicted. Also the data about the blended learning methods suffer these from weak-
nesses.
The study of the current teaching methods are conducted in a observatory way. If a data
gathering was also conducted it will be useful, recognizing the disadvantages. But this method
also seems rather successful concerning the results.
The proposal for the new teaching system hardly seems as a new system, apart from the
addition of the CAT system as a teaching tool. This can be considered as a very primary level
blended learning system.
The developed system is designed concerning the presentation and extendability. It also
concerns about platform independendency. So it is developed using the Java language which is
extendable, easy to use and platform independent. But not as efficient as native code written in
C or C++.
It can present various types of popular media. These will be sufficient to presents many
courses effectively. But addition of more media types will be clearly an advantage.
Most error messages are displayed in the console rather than in the GUI. Also these are
very technical type error messages an average user cannot understand. It will be more appropri-
ate to display these messages in a least technical way in the GUI using a appropriate method.

43
Custom courses can be created and used in the software. But the only way to this will
be to edit the xml files manually and gather the contents into one location accordingly. It will
be more user friendly if a GUI tool was available for the course creation.
12.3 Project Achievements
The main achievement of this project was the development of new teaching system
proposal by identifying the deficiencies in the current teaching system. It also identifies that a
blended learning approach is more suitable and effective than a pure e-Learning approach.
The other achievement is the development of the extendible CAT system, which can be
used to teach custom courses rich with multimedia contents.
12.4 Project Deficiencies
The main project deficiency was that this system only concentrate about a very limited
observation data. The observation and data gathering is done only in one a advanced level
chemistry class. All the conclusions are based on these data only. So the observations and
analysis cannot be stated as 100% accurate for all the other situations. The solution for this will
be to gather data from several level of classes teaching different lessons. It will be much better
if this is done in several schools across different areas in Sri Lanka.
Also the data for the e-Learning and blended learning data is based on foreign countries,
which most of them are being developed countries. So the approach and proposed solution may
not suit well to Sri Lanka. The only way to know will be to conduct a detailed research using
the proposed system to find it’s efficiency.
The project uses Java language to develop the CAT system. It is not efficient as C/C++
in the performance issues. But concerning the platform independency and extendability the
author wasn’t able to find a better approach.
Also a way to create custom courses is not supported within the application. The only
way is to create courses by gathering contents manually and creating xml files appropriately.
This a very labour intensive and error prone task, a single misplacement of a comma can ren-
der the whole course unusable. A visual tool to gather and create course files will be very ef-
ficient.

44
Chapter 13
Conclusions
13.1 Conclusions
e-Learning is a fast developing and an powerful way for education. But a more effec-
tive method will be a blended learning approach. The current traditional teaching system in Sri
Lanka has some deﬁciencies, that can be eliminated using a blended learning approach.
The proposed teaching system is a feasible way to introduce the advantages of new
educational methods to the current system. Although it needs several paradigm shifts and a
technical infrastructure, it can be implemented in Sri Lanka. And the educational system will
beneﬁt from using it.
The developed CAT system is a useful and a extendable system, but it can be improved
in many ways. Further work is needed for improvements.
13.2 Further Work
The data concerning the educational systems and e-Learning has to be done in a more
broader scale. Also the analysis of the current teaching system can be broadened. The resulting
data can be used to improve the teaching system proposal.
After the implementation of the new teaching system, the next step will be to develop
this CAT system to include quizzes that students can participate. This system can be installed
in the computers of a school computer lab. Then from time to time the students can visit the lab
and use the software. So they can refresh their memory and participate in the quizzes that are
corrected instantly and provides instant feedback. Also the students progress can be tracked in
this way.
Another improvement will be to improve this software to retrieve content from a net-
work location or a url. So the systems can use contents is a central server.
Apart from the supported media, new media formats should be supported. A important
improvement will be to let the users load the Java classes as media objects, or plugins. So the
users can have interactive applications inside the CAT system. For a example in a chemistry
course a Java applet can be included to calculate molecular weights.

45
Bibliography
Bolter, J.D. (1999) Degrees of Freedom, Georgia Institute of Technology.
Online : http://www.lcc.gatech.edu/~bolter/degrees.html#introduction
Accessed on : December, 2003.
Brodsky, M. (2003) E-Learning Trends, Today and Beyond
Learning and Training Innovations Magazine
Online : http://www.elearningmag.com/ltimagazine/artice/articeDetail.jsp?id=56219
Accessed On : June, 2003.
Broughton, B. , Chacko, E. & Lim, L.L. (2004) Computer-Aided Teaching and Testing
Online : http://www.canterbury.ac.nz
Accessed on : August, 2004.
Crocker, J. (2004) Active Learning Systems
ACM Computer in Entertainment, Vol 1, No 1, October 2003, Article 05
Online : http://www.acm.org
Davies, R., Houghton, P. (1995) Mastering Psychology
2nd Edition, Macmillan Press Ltd, London.
Eklund, J. , Kay, M. & Lynch, H. (2003) e-Learning: emerging issues and key trends
Online : http://flexiblelearning.net.au/research/2003/elearning250903final.pdf
Accessed On : September, 2004.
Foley, M. (2004) Cognitive Psychology
DVD : Microsoft® Encarta® Reference Library 2005. © 1993-2004 Microsoft Corporation
Garfinkel, S. & Spafford, G. (2001) Web Security, Privacy and Commerce
Second Edition, Shroff Publishers and Distributors Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai.

46
Gutek, G. (2004) History of Education
Jaworski, J. (1999) Java 2 Unleashed
First Edition, Techmedia, Delhi.
Nakhimovsky, A. & Myers, T. (2000) Java XML Programming with Servlets and JSP
First Edition, Shroff Publishers and Distributors Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai.
Newsam, P. (2004) Teaching and Learning
Pﬂeeger, C.P. & Pﬂeeger, S.L. (2003) Security in Computing
Third Edition, Pearson Education (Singapore) Pvt. Ltd., Delhi.
Smith, J.M. (2001) Blended Learning An old friend gets a new name
Online : http://www.gwsae.org/executiveupdate/2001/march/blended.htm
Accessed On : May, 2003.
Stallings, W. (1999) Computer Organization and Architecture
Fourth Edition, Prentice-Hall of India Private Ltd., New Delhi.
Tanenbaum, A.S. (2001) Modern Operating Systems
Second Edition, Addison Wesley Longman (Singapore) Pvt. Ltd., Delhi.
Tanenbaum, A.S. (2001) Computer Networks
Third Edition, Prentice-Hall of India Private Ltd., New Delhi.
Thalheimer, W. (2003) E-Learning and Blended Learning: Secrets from the Learning Research,
Online : http://www.work-learning.com/article_Blended_E-learning_Secrets.pdf
Accessed On : September, 2004.

47
Whitten, L.W. & Lonnie D.B. (1998) System Analysis and Design Methods
Fourth Edition, Galgotia Publications Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi.
Wilson, L. (2003) Breaking into the Universe : Computer Science as Interactive Entertainment,
ACM Computer in Entertainment, Vol 1, No 1, October 2003, Article 04
Online : http://www.acm.org

48
Appendices
A. Useful Resources
Following is a list of useful web resources to study about the subject matters.
1. e-Learning Guild web site
This is a useful site about e-Learning and e-Learning technologies
http://www.elearningguild.com
2. Work Learning Research web site
This is also a useful site about e-Learning and e-Learning technologies
http://www.work-learning.com
3. W3C web site
Useful site about e-Learning, standards, XML and web technologies.
http://www.w3.org
4. Flexible Learning Group web site
This is also a useful site about e-Learning and e-Learning technologies.
http://www.flexiblelearning.net.au
5. Java developers’ web site
This is the official web site about the Java language and technologies.
http://www.java.sun.com
6. j3d.org web site
This is a unofficial site containing Java3d resources.
http://www.j3d.org
7. SourceForge web site
This site contains free tools and resources for developers.
http://www.sourceforge.net

49
B. User Documentation
JTutor User Manual
Introduction
JTutor is a presentation program designed as a Computer Aided Teaching System. It is
intended to be use that way but it can be use for other purposes, such as a multimedia presenta-
tion, HTML help browser, 3d model browser, etc. It uses pure Java implementation so it should
be run on every Java supported platform.
System Requirements
Hardware Requirements
Intel Pentium II / Intel Celeron/AMD K6 Processor
128MB RAM
8MB+ VGA Memory
10MB Hard Disk Space
(Additional disk space is required for course contents.)
CD ROM Drive (For Installation)
Minimum 15” 1024X768, 16bit color display.
Keyboard
Mouse or other Pointing device
Software Requirements
MS Windows / Linux/ Solaris
Java Runtime Environment 1.4 or higher
Java3D Runtime 1.3.1 or higher
Java Media Framework 2.1.1 or higher
Starﬁre Research 3DSInspector 1.3 or higher

50
Installing JTutor
1. Install Java Runtime Environment or Java SDK. You can download it at http://www.
java.com. Refer to the above URL for more installation instructions.
2. Install Java Media Framework . Download at http://www.java.sun.com. Refer to the
above URL for more installation instructions.
3. Install Java3D libraries, Download at http://www.j3d.org. Refer to the above URL for
more installation instructions.
4. Download the Starfire 3DSLoader from (http://www.starfireresearch.com/services/
java3d/inspector3ds.html). Copy the StarFireExt.jar to (Java installation dir)jrelibext
directory.
5. Copy the jtutor.jar file to anywhere you want.
Special Note for Windows users
Downloading Java3D OpenGL libraries is recommended. But if your video card doesn’t
support OpenGL there is no choice but to download DirectX drivers, please refer to ‘Run-
ning JTutor’ - With DirectX Java3D libraries section.
Running JTutor
Normal Startup
At the console or command prompt, change to the directory where you have the jtutor.jar
file. Then enter
java -jar jtutor.jar
Open Course File
file. Then enter
Windows :
java -jar jtutor.jar (CourseFile Path)(CourseFile Name).xml
Linux :
java -jar jtutor.jar (CourseFile Path)/(CourseFile Name).xml
On Windows

51
Locate and double-click the jtutor.jar ﬁle in Windows Explorer or My Computer
With DirectX Java3D Libraries
ﬁle. Then enter
java -Dsun.java2d.noddraw=true -jar jtutor.jar
This is to disable the DirectDraw acceleration in java 2D. If not when using the 3D compo-
nents the application will crash.
JTutor User Interface
Jtutor
File Help
Lesson 1
Start Previous Next End
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Lesson Title
molecules that contain a functional group composed of three pairs of doubly
bonded atoms (usually all carbon atoms) bonded together in the shape of a
regular, planar (flat) hexagon.
Menu Image Title 3D Content
Lesson List Navigation Buttons Lesson Text

52
Basic Usage
Opening a course file
JTutor course files are in XML (eXtensible Markup Language) format, so they have a
.xml extention. Usually JTutor courses have several content directories such as lessons and
media. In order to successfully use a course file you need all the files that come with the
course.
To open a course select File from the menu and click Open course. The navigate to the
directory where you copied the course files. Select the .xml file in their and click open.
JTutor will display a description of your selected course.
Selecting Lessons
After you have opened a course file JTutor will display the available lessons in the left
side panel. Click any topic you want and JTutor will open it.
Navigating Lesson
On the bottom you can see navigational buttons. Click the button with the label indicating
the direction you want to move.
Playing Audio and Movies
When movie or a audio is available JTutor will indicate a control like below in a media
area. Click the appropriate buttons.
FramesPlay Media Slider Media Info

53
3D Content Rotation
When you see a 3 dimensional image you can rotate it. Move your mouse into the media
area and drag it in the desired direction to rotate.

54
C. Source Code
JTutor.java
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.filechooser.FileFilter;
import java.io.*;
class JTutor extends JFrame
{
//***************************************************************
// Create menus.
//***************************************************************
//File Menu
JMenu fileMenu = new JMenu("File");
JMenuItem fileOpen = new JMenuItem("Open Course");
JMenuItem fileOcta = new JMenuItem("Open OCTA");
JMenuItem fileTest = new JMenuItem("Open Test Course");
JMenuItem fileExit = new JMenuItem("Exit");
//Help Menu
JMenu helpMenu = new JMenu("Help");
JMenuItem helpAbout = new JMenuItem("About");
//Menu bar.
JMenuBar menuBar = new JMenuBar();
//Declare command button arrays for lesson and content navigation.
JButton[] lessonButton;
JButton[] contentButton;
//Declare lesson button panel components.
JPanel lessonButtonPanel;
JScrollPane lessonButtonView;
//Declare panel labels.
JLabel lessonLabel;
//The label displaying the current topic.
JLabel topicLabel;
JEditorPane htmlPane ;
JPanel mediaPanel1,mediaPanel2;
JSplitPane mediaPane, contentPane;
//The main layout pane for the app.
JSplitPane main = new JSplitPane();
//Declares the course adapter.
courseAdapter course;

55
//Declares the course XML file.
File courseXML;
//Declares the course path containor.
File coursePath;
//The test course name.
final static String testCourse = "test case/test.xml";
public JTutor()
{
//JTutor created without a file name parameter.
//Open the sample course.
this(testCourse);
}
public JTutor(String fileName)
{
//*************************************************************
// setup the frame for handling the app.
//*************************************************************
super("JTutor");
//Closing this window exits the application.
setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
//Dont't let the user resize the window.
setResizable(false);
//Sets the frame icon.
setIconImage(new ImageIcon("icons/frame.png").getImage());
//setup the menu
menuSetup();
//Attach the menu bar to the frame
setJMenuBar(menuBar);
//*************************************************************
// Create the content pane.
//*************************************************************
//Create the html panel.
htmlPane = new JEditorPane("text/html","");
JScrollPane htmlView = new JScrollPane(htmlPane);
//Create the media pane.
JPanel imagePanel = new JPanel();
JPanel mediaPanel = new JPanel();
mediaPane = new JSplitPane(JSplitPane.HORIZONTAL_SPLIT,
imagePanel,mediaPanel);
mediaPane.setResizeWeight(0.5);
mediaPane.setOneTouchExpandable(true);
//Setup the content pane.

56
contentPane = new JSplitPane(JSplitPane.VERTICAL_SPLIT,
mediaPane, htmlView);
contentPane.setResizeWeight(0.5);
contentPane.setOneTouchExpandable(true);
//Setup content buttons panel.
String content[] = {"Start","Previous","Next","End"};
JPanel contentButtonPanel = new JPanel();
contentButtonPanel.setLayout(new GridLayout(1,content.length));
contentButton = new JButton[content.length];
contentNavigator cn = new contentNavigator();
for(int i=0;i<4;i++)
{
ImageIcon cicon = new ImageIcon("icons/"
+ content[i] + ".png");
contentButton[i] = new JButton(content[i], cicon);
if(i>1) contentButton[i].setHorizontalTextPosition
(AbstractButton.LEADING);
contentButton[i].addActionListener(cn);
contentButtonPanel.add(contentButton[i]);
}
//Setup topic panel.
topicLabel = new JLabel("<html><h2>Topic</h2></html>",
JLabel.CENTER);
JPanel topicPanel = new JPanel();
topicPanel.add(topicLabel);
//Create the content panel with content pane and content
//butons.
JPanel contentPanel = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
contentPanel.add("North",topicPanel);
contentPanel.add("Center", contentPane);
contentPanel.add("South",contentButtonPanel);
//*************************************************************
// Create the main layout.
//*************************************************************
main = new JSplitPane
(JSplitPane.HORIZONTAL_SPLIT,lessonButtonView, contentPanel);
main.setOneTouchExpandable(true);
getContentPane().add(main);
//Open the passed course file.
openCourse(fileName);
}
public void menuSetup()
{
//Setup event handler for nmenus.
menuListener ml = new menuListener();
fileOpen.addActionListener(ml);
fileOcta.addActionListener(ml);
fileTest.addActionListener(ml);

57
fileExit.addActionListener(ml);
helpAbout.addActionListener(ml);
fileMenu.add(fileOpen);
fileMenu.add(fileOcta);
fileMenu.add(fileTest);
fileMenu.addSeparator();
fileMenu.add(fileExit);
//Create Help menu.
helpMenu.add(helpAbout);
//Create menu bar.
menuBar.add(fileMenu);
menuBar.add(helpMenu);
}
public void setLessonPanel(String[] lessons)
{
//*************************************************************
// Create a panel for lesson Buttons.
//*************************************************************
//Create a Label with an image for the lesson panel.
ImageIcon icon = new ImageIcon("icons/lessons.png");
lessonLabel = new JLabel("Lessons", icon, JLabel.CENTER);
lessonLabel.setVerticalTextPosition(JLabel.BOTTOM);
lessonLabel.setHorizontalTextPosition(JLabel.CENTER);
lessonButtonPanel = new JPanel();
lessonButtonPanel.setLayout
(new GridLayout(lessons.length+1,1));
lessonButtonPanel.add(lessonLabel);
lessonButton = new JButton[lessons.length];
lessonNavigator ln = new lessonNavigator();
for(int i=0;i<lessons.length;i++)
{
lessonButton[i] = new JButton(lessons[i]);
lessonButton[i].addActionListener(ln);
lessonButtonPanel.add(lessonButton[i]);
}
lessonButtonView = new JScrollPane(lessonButtonPanel);
main.setLeftComponent(lessonButtonView);
main.setResizeWeight(0.2d);
main.setDividerLocation(0.2d);
}
public void openFile()
{
//Create a file chooser for selecting a course file.
JFileChooser fileChooser = new JFileChooser();
//Set the xml file filter.
fileChooser.addChoosableFileFilter(new fileFilter("xml"));

58
fileChooser.setAcceptAllFileFilterUsed(false);
//Show the file dialog and get the result.
int returnVal = fileChooser.showOpenDialog(this);
//If user clicks the open button in the dialog.
if (returnVal == JFileChooser.APPROVE_OPTION)
{
//get the user selected file.
String fileName =
fileChooser.getSelectedFile().toString();
openCourse(fileName);
}
}
public void openCourse(String courseFile)
{
try
{
//Creates a new file using passed file name.
courseXML = new File(courseFile);
//get the courses path.
coursePath = courseXML.getParentFile();
//Creates a new course adapter object with
//the selected file.
course = new courseAdapter(courseXML.getPath());
//load the lessons in the course file and add
//display them in the ui.
//(on lesson panel buttons)
setLessonPanel(course.getLessonList());
//load and displays the description of the course.
loadContent(course.getDesc());
//set the topic label to "Course Topic - Author"
topicLabel.setText("<html><h2>" + course.getTitle()
+ " - " + course.getAuthor()
+ "</h2></html>");
}
catch(Exception e)
{
//Something went wrong, course cannot be loaded.
//Show an message box containing the error.
showError("Error","Course load failure!");
openCourse(testCourse);
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
public void showAbout()
{
ImageIcon icon = new ImageIcon("icons/frame.png");

59
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(this,
"The eXtensible Java Tutorn" +
"See jtutor.pdf for more information.n" +
"<html>supunlivera@yahoo.com<html>",
"About JTutor...",
JOptionPane.INFORMATION_MESSAGE,
icon);
}
public void showError(String title,String message)
{
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(this,
message, title, JOptionPane.ERROR_MESSAGE);
}
public void showMessage(String message)
{
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(this, message,
"Info", JOptionPane.INFORMATION_MESSAGE);
}
//Loads the passed contents into the app.
public void loadContent(jtContent content)
{
//Get the content mode.
int contentMode = content.getContentMode();
//Retrieve and set the html text.
htmlPane.setText(content.getText());
htmlPane.setEditable(false);
//Setup the content pane according to the content mode.
switch(contentMode)
{
// Content Mode = 0
// Text, Media, Media
// 50%, 25%, 25%
case 0:
mediaPanel1 = new MediaPanel(coursePath,
content.getMedia1());
mediaPane.setLeftComponent(mediaPanel1);
mediaPane.setRightComponent(mediaPanel2);
contentPane.setDividerLocation(0.5d);
mediaPane.setResizeWeight(0.5d);
break;
// Content Mode = 1
// Text, Media
// 50%, 50%
case 1:
mediaPane.setLeftComponent(mediaPanel1);
mediaPane.setRightComponent(null);
mediaPane.setResizeWeight(1.0d);

Dissertation

Empfohlen

Empfohlen

Weitere ähnliche Inhalte

Was ist angesagt?

Was ist angesagt? (19)

Ähnlich wie Dissertation

Ähnlich wie Dissertation (20)

Dissertation