Revisions to P1 - the INcyclopedia Demo System



Revisions to P1 and Beyond

The INcyclopedia Demo System, Version 1.1

M. Dudziak

09.Nov.2002

This document includes the pages and function/content descriptions that will be activated within P1 and other I4E4 Demos that are contemplated.

I4E4 and Demo Structure

First, about the structure of I4E4 applications and the dynamics of page and window navigation. The following is suggested to be "standard" for I4E4.

Knowledge Gateway, or I-Gate - the entrance into an I4E4 application such as the INcyclopedia, or any custom system, consisting of the browser window comprised of three activity and navigation panels and providing for the control, search, history, support, and other knowledge management services common to the use of the content accessed through the application.

[Since it is apparently unpopular to use the term "portal" in the US/West now, we will be using the terms "Knowledge Gateway", "Information Gateway", "Primary Gateway", "Gateway" and "I-Gate". The term "I4E4 Portal Framework" as a product is synonymous and may in time be replaced by the name "I4E4 Framework".]

Category - a group of meta-themas, oriented toward a type of audience and usage. There are eight categories in the I4E4 universe: academic study, advanced research, professional training, arts & literature, personal life, entertainment, games, and practical knowledge.

Meta-Thema - a broad interdisciplinary theme that brings together several subjects. Many of these are drawn from a historical analysis of many different encyclopedias and how topics have been fashioned for different readerships. Each category has eight different meta-themas. In the P1 Demo, oriented to K-12 education and the only demo implementation now under construction, two meta-themas are introduced - Practical Mathematics and Cultural Diversity. In the future P2 Demo, oriented to high school and college audiences, the meta-thema is one entitled, The Dynamic Game of Life. Other demos (P3…) have not been identified yet.

Thema - an interdisciplinary but relatively focused and well-defined theme that constitutes a subject that can be addressed by a central main article and a series of additional articles, essays, reports, models, games, simulations, exercises, and in general the range of content types within I4E4, with text, graphics, video, audio, and animation media options.

P1 (K-12 Demo Application)

This is described in pages below, following material on how and where P1 fits into the “big picture” of the INcyclopedia. The reader may jump directly to the P1 material by this link and refer at a later date to the other pages and structures.

Go to P1 Demo

Primary Gateway, I-Gate

The Primary Gateway of any I4E4 application is the main browser window that has all the major functions and links along with the Focal Process in the tryptich structure of three left( right panels. When we refer to the Primary Gateway or I-Gate we are referring to what the user sees first whenever accessing the application/system.

The I-Gate always looks the same for the most part, except in the middle. We allow for some highlighting or other emphasis changes but no restructuring or changes of left and right panels. Actual links and text do not change in the left/right panels.

It is only in the Focal Process Panel that changes occur, and these are meant to be a tracking and guiding mechanism for the user, both forwards and backwards for their thought/navigation processes and not simply as a mechanism for visualizing the actual navigation of pages.

How this central panel changes will be evident from the way things change in the Focal Process Panel (FPP) for P1. Programmatically, this means that there will be a changing content to the material used by the I-Gate page for its panels, and the I-Gate page needs to be rebuilt over and over when there are changes that affect its FPP.

All the "action" is in the secondary browser window(s). There is one and only one assigned for documents being navigated, and this is where we begin in P1 with Tables of Contents. There are separate browser windows for other activities, namely: models, exercises, video, interactive forum sessions. The document window is always reserved for documents. Now if the document turns into a external, beyond-INcyclopedia URL, it is impossible to predict what may end up in that window, obviously. However, we are concerned with what is under the control of the INcyclopedia content designers.

Special Remark for P1

The presentation of the P1 demo can begin at the page, igate_p1demo_index.html, which as described below, leads directly into the K-12 math and geography presentation. It does not require going from the “beginning” of the INcyclopedia (igate.html), unless so desired.

Key Pages

1.0 igate.html

The root page

FPP for the I-Gate

This is the image map and TOC-Index link that forms the FPP of the highest-level "root" I-Gate (igate.html) of the INcyclopedia. Its style is what will typically be standard as the FPP for any I4E4 app, although customer-driven customization will override any generic features.

The I-Gate for the full INcyclopedia will have the following FPP, reflecting the full 8-fold Path of categories - the methods and avenues of learning, discovery and knowledge management open to people and for access by different modalities to the content therein.

Tables of Contents and Master Indices

Page Image 1: igate.html

Comment:

The image map is constructed with a flowing, colorful but not overpowering background, with somewhat (slightly) different patterning and coloration in the four background rectangles (which in fact follow the 1.62 : 1 Golden Ratio proportionality). Earthy colors (browns, greens, ochres) tend to dominate. The images in the eight topical (clickable) regions consist of artwork executed to be symbolic and iconic, not representational, and all styles are consistent and complementary but not precisely of the same genre. The operation of the graphical interface is such that motion of the mouse over each portal region provides a block of explanatory text and a left-click leads to the appropriate Meta-Thema Category pages, each of which is a restructuring of the I-Gate with a variant FPP that contains an image map (optional but in most cases) and TOC-Index links for that meta-thema category. Note carefully that standard TOC listings (e.g., all standard subjects of an encyclopedia, such as anthropology, biology, math, physics) are embedded within the master TOC for the meta-themas in that category.

igate.html has links to the following pages, all of which are FPP-replaceable versions of igate.html itself:

1.01 igate_genmastertoc.html

Expanded TOC of the most general type

Containing everything, divided according to the eight categories, and linking the user to pages that are (as indicated by Table 1 below) either dominated by a graphical image map (followed by a TOC and Index link, as with igate.html) or else only the expanded TOC and the Index links for the selected category.

+

Master Indices

These indices are reached by links. The indices are rebuilt and refreshed dynamically through the databases of the INcyclopedia, on a daily basis if not more frequently, and they reflect the contributions of editors and users (subscribers). They are (all in alphabetical order):

• All subjects

• All authors

• All contributors

• All major articles and books, by title

• All contributions, by title

• All top (main activity) concept keywords

|Gateway Name |URL Destination |Entry Characteristics |

|Academic |Academic Home Page |Graphical image map |

| |igate_acadmaster.html | |

|Research |Research Home Page |TOC, Search, Index |

| |igate_resmaster.html | |

|Training |Training Home Page |TOC, Search, Index |

| |igate_trainmaster.html | |

|ArtsLit |Arts-Literature Home Page |Graphical image map |

| |igate_artslitmaster.html | |

|Personal |Personal Growth Home Page |Graphical image map |

| |igate_persmaster.html | |

|Entertainment |Entertainment Home Page |Graphical image map |

| |igate_entmaster.html | |

|Games |Gaming Home Page |Graphical image map |

| |igate_gamesmaster.html | |

|Practical |Practical Skills Home Page |Graphical image map |

| |igate_practmaster.html | |

Table 1: Routing of Category image-map and TOC text links to URLs

1.1 igate_acadmaster.html

Home page for the Academic Category with its image map of meta-themas and a TOC-Index link.

Tables of Contents and Master Indices

Page Image 2: igate_acadmaster.html

Comment:

The image map is constructed with a flowing, colorful but not overpowering background, with somewhat (slightly) different patterning and coloration in the four background rectangles (which in fact follow the 1.62 : 1 Golden Ratio proportionality). However, it has a general characteristic of “blue” being dominant. The images in the eight topical (clickable) regions consist of artwork executed in the same style as for igate.html. The operation of the graphical interface is such that motion of the mouse over each portal region provides a block of explanatory text and a left-click leads to the following pages as shown by Table 2. The image maps in the target pages are of limited scope, simple, and designed to blend in with the text-oriented TOCs, Index and Search facilities.

|Portal Name |URL Destination |Entry Characteristics |

|Philosophy |igate_philosmaster.html |TOC, Search, Index, IMap |

|Maths & Logic |igate_mathsmaster.html |TOC, Search, Index, Imap |

|Physics |igate_physicsmaster.html |TOC, Search, Index, Imap |

|Chemistry |igate_chemmaster.html |TOC, Search, Index, Imap |

|Bio & Ecosystem |igate_bioecomaster.html |TOC, Search, Index, Imap |

|Humanity |igate_anthromaster.html |TOC, Search, Index, Imap |

|Fine Arts |igate_fineartsmaster.html |TOC, Search, Index, Imap |

|Technology |igate_techmaster.html |TOC, Search, Index, Imap |

Table 2: Routing of Academic Category image-map and TOC text links to URLs

Similarly, the routing of other categories from the root page igate.html go to their respective Category home pages, namely: igate.html ( igate_artslitmaster.html, igate_resmaster.html, igate_trainmaster.html, igate_persmaster.html, igate_entmaster.html, igate_gamesmaster.html, igate_practmaster.html, and then from each of these to igate__acadmastertoc.html, and so on.

The other Category home pages (igate_*master.html) are similar in having the structure of image maps and a TOC-Index link, the respective elements of then leading to igate_*mastertoc.html pages that in turn lead to meta-thema pages comparable to the routing shown in Table 2.

From the meta-thema pages there are links to themas and always the TOC and Index links that provide quick pathways for users to browse lists of links to articles, galleries, forums, and so forth.

Connecting to Demos from the igate_*mastertoc.html pages.

For the purpose of demos P1, P2, …Pn, there are links in the following pages:

igate_mathsmastertoc.html

igate_anthromastertoc.html

that lead respectively to the entry points for different demos.

For P1, as described in the next section, there are two entry points, namely:

igate_p1_math.html

igate_p1_geog.html

3 P1 - The First Demo, for K-12

P1 is about K-12 and specifically it is a demo oriented to show the functions and features of I4E4 Knowledge Gateways that are built with the I4E4 Framework, using two themas that are introduced as being very important themas for the K-12 audience in the USA and with a target of three age/class groups: grades 2, 6, and 10.

The themas are:

Practical Mathematics: Fun and Exciting Math for Everyday Life

[entry page: igate_p1_math.html]

Cultural Diversity: Learning about the People and Places of Your World

[entry page: igate_p1_geog.html]

A New Approach

Our approach through I4E4 is to make learning and study attractive and entertaining. We approach this here through the triad of sports, music, and cinema, using popular and culturally-attractive figures, events, news, and history, at appropriate age/grade levels, to generate the “pull” and “focus” for the students of these age groups to learn math and geography.

In essence we are only making one lesson or curriculum in the abstract and in our I4E4 mechanism that will appear, for this demo, to be two, even six, different curricula. What will differ among age/grade groups (3) and subjects (2) is the content and the variety, placement, and flavor of the material.

The demo entry pages serve only as frontispieces and prefaces. They help to bring the user into standard I4E4 collections of articles, galleries, forums, models, exercises, and questionnaires that are characterized by the age group and study area. The basic software, of course, is common in both demos and the three variant areas. The general look and feel of the material will be the same, but the difference in actual content will ensure that the viewers have a different “experience” in the two topic areas.

It is suggested that the P1 Demo be accompanied by a physical printed brochure/handout that contains the following page screenshots:

igate.html

igate_acadmaster.html

igate_p1_math.html

igate_p1_geog.html

Revolutionizing the Method of Teaching Difficult Subjects

What are math and geography difficult to teach and supposedly to learn? While one can argue the case for math having analytical and inferencing requirements that are different from the skills required for, say, history, literature and geography, the fact remains that among youth in elementary and high schools, particularly within many sectors of the United States public and private school system, there is a perception of irrelevance and separation from meaningfulness associated with these two subjects.

If the student thinks it is unimportant and if the subject comes across as boring and out of touch with their perceived reality, then the attention span goes down and with it the ability to learn as well as to be taught effectively.

One major source of the difficulty in teaching these subjects, one clear source of the weakness of USA students statistically in these subjects, is the lack of a good social binding force that brings these subjects into the forefron of the student’s mind and makes it popular, attractive, meaningful.

When this is compounded by a generation or two of teachers having (statistically speaking) weakness in the subjects, and a perception that it is difficult to teach and will not be received well, then the problems are only compounded.

Our approach in the P1 demo and perhaps as a general approach henceforth is to employ those aspects of youth culture that are important, big, attractive, hot, in order to reverse these barriers. We aim to build and to demonstrate links with math and geography that transcend the traditional barriers to both subjects. Thus, we look to popular sports, music, and cinema in particular. Here is where the mind of the culture from ages 6 to 18 is centered. Growing up (as a given, not a preference) on television, video games, and now DVD, internet, MP3 players, and a thoroughly media and advertising-dominated world, one cannot expect to have tremendous success in attracting the majority of youth away from what has got their attention unless there is some common thread. The thread is in making academic subjects – such as math, geography, history, language, and others – have the flavor and feel of the things that are familiar and attention-grabbing. The latest music, videos, fashion gear, sports events.

Naturally some of this material must change over time – seasons, years, etc. For the most part, NBA is important from September through May, NFL from August through January, WFO year-round but mainly in spring-summer, movies have a media shelf-life of a few months, and CDs seem to follow some type of bell curve that is harder to predict. What dominates are figures – people – heroes of the masses, to put it bluntly. These come and go and one has to watch out for some degree of “political correctness.” The fact is that people will recognize the figure, the face, the voice, and it is obvious of the importance given to this by the advertising industry, considering the sums paid to famous figures to market their shoes, internet and long-distance telephone service, computers, insurance, banks.

Education and the promotion of “difficult” subjects through I4E4 will employ the same principles, although not to the extent found in the consumer advertising word. We are working with the psychology underlying student attention and interest, but always the fundamental concern is to promote not only fact-accumulation but the acceleration and diversification of thinking and inquisitive thought processes.

The changeability and dynamicism of “hot content attractors” is built-into the nature of I4E4. Its interactive constructions and features allow – in the case of K-12 – the teachers, parents, and students themselves to modify and supplement the material that is in their particular topical INcyclopedia. Our system is essentially self-modifying and will adapt to new material that is introduced. Naturally there weill need to be overt modifications and additions, such as the introduction of new forms for exercises, new games and contests, new models and simulations. For the most part, however, users themselves will be the dominant contributors of change to stable and well-established “base level” or “foundational” INcyclopedia themas and meta-themas.

The Goals, Content, Methods and Storyboard of the Demos

Naturally, only a certain amount of the content material required for this will be actually “complete” in the P1 demo. There will be references to and pages connected with some contests, prizes, models, that do not yet exist except in a shell or front-page sort of way. It is up to the presenters giving the actual demos to “walk” the audience through and across those parts that are content placeholders and to emphasize what is in I4E4 that is:

a) already operational, in terms of software functions for navigation and content/knowledge management

b) designed and awaiting the programming or graphical arts staff to actually implement

c) somewhere in the process of implementation but at a slower rate due to the pre-funding situation of the company

Now the following is what we are going to do and show in P1. The actual content is being located, assembled, edited, and beginning in WW46 (Work Week 46, beginning 11.Nov.02) and the project schedule (cf. p1demo.mpp) describes the implementation plan and schedule in more detail.

Practical Mathematics (Maths)

Grade 2

Goals:

Addition and Subtraction

Multiplication

[optional: Division]

Content:

Examples of this math level drawn from the web and from textbooks – English and Russian material, in order to demonstrate how dialogue can begin and be conducted among students of different cultures and languages.

Some exercises in the manner of forms that upon completion yield Correct/Incorrect results, show correct answers, and score the student, tallying the score into a database record for future use in contests for awards and prizes.

Pictures and a few video clips of popular sports, music, and movie cinema figures including cartoon figures, video game characters, etc.

A Java applet (shell, if not completed) that lets the student calculate sums and multiplication so that different images (JPGs of their “heroes”) appear and when a certain number or all have appeared then the student’s name gets added to a visible list of top scorers.

Methods:

Encouraging attention and rapid (timely) completion of work by connecting with reinforcing results such as being able to view a video clip, see a complete set of favorite images, be publicly ranked as a top performer and having this ranking visible to peers, and being a possible winner in some contest.

Encouraging formation and submission of questions by the participating students.

Storyboard:

Talk about the methods while navigating through the front pages only of different content.

Work through one exercise form and show how a positive result yields some reinforcing feedback from the system.

Grade 6

Goals:

Basic Algebra and Euclidian Geometry

Basic probability, random numbers, chance, gaming

Content:

Examples of this math level drawn from the web and from textbooks – same in principle as for grade 2 but at a higher level.

Some exercises – one form with factoring (e.g., (4x+5)/6 – (x-4)/3 = 7; solve for x – this may be too easy, so we can always change the example)

Pictures and a few video clips of popular sports, music, and movie cinema figures including cartoon figures, video game characters, etc.

A Java applet (shell, if not completed) that lets the student calculate the ranking of sports teams (e.g., NFL for Americans, winter timeframe) based upon outcomes of future games. The student must correctly solve some problem or answer a question in order to use the applet and make their prediction. Then their prediction gets entered into a pool and if they are correct they are eleigible for a prize such as a CD or video game.

Methods:

Same as for grade 2 example, plus:

Encourage finding new material, new articles, and sharing them as contributions.

Storyboard:

Ssame as for grade 2 example.

Grade 10

Goals:

Trigonometry

Calculus and Analytical Geometry

Content:

Articles appropriate the the general level of expected competence but also URLs to more advanced articles.

Short article about how this is important in many media and esepcially special-effect displays.

Cool graphics, animations, video.

Java applets drawn from the web that illustrate the principles and concepts.

Exercise that results in adding name to a contest list where the student will get a chance to take a quiz and compete for the highest scores getting prizes.

Methods:

Same as for grade 6 example.

Storyboard:

Same as for grade 2 example.

Cultural Diversity (Geography)

Grade 2

Goals:

Countries, Capitals, and Major Cities – where are some places

Content:

Very simple text, mainly some graphics consisting of simple maps and a lot of pictures.

Exercise in the manner of a form that has questions about selecting a country or city from an image map. This yields Correct/Incorrect results, shows correct answers, and score the student, tallying the score into a database record for future use in contests. Possibly the exercise asks the students to identify on the map where some cartoon or video or sports character comes from in the world.

Methods:

Basically the same as with grade 2 math.

Storyboard:

Same as for grade 2 math.

Grade 6

Goals:

Lifestyles in different countries

More in-deph and in-detail knowledge of where are places and things

Different religions

Different political systems

Content:

Maps and articles about more countries and cultures.

Emphasis upon the following places and peoples:

Iran

Iraq

Israel

Indonesia

Afghanistan

Chechenya

Turkey

Georgia

Russia

Articles describing Muslim culture and history, British and Dutch occupation and colonization, long-term history of Central Asia from times of early Arab expansion to Genghis Khan, history of USA involvement in Middle East (Iran in early 1950’s, time of Shah, formation and early decades of Israel, Russia and USA in Afghanistan). Simple levels, heavy on graphics.

Methods:

Same as for grade 6 math.

Storyboard:

Same as above.

Grade 10

Goals:

More advanced knowledge of natural places, ecology, and peoples

Economics, education, and religious systems in more depth

Histories and influences upon cultures

Languages and learning some basics of cultural propriety and sensitivity

Content:

Same scope as for grade 6 but more advanced and text-intensive material.

Emphasis is more upon understanding not just where things are or briefly when things occurred in a panoramic timeline sense but instead:

• Cutural differences and sensitivities

• What people believe in – contrasts between Judaeo, Christian, Muslim cultures

• Variety of ethnic and cultural groups

• Importance and value of showing respect and controlling impulse-driven behavior or stereotypes

• Important sports, pop music, and cinema figures from different cultures

• Video clips from Russian, Indian, Arabic films

• Pop music clips from Middle Eastern and Asian singers

• Language comparisons, text and/or audio.

Methods:

Same as above but more emphasis on opening perception to value and importance for humanity of there being differences and that Americans need to know more about the rest of the world – why that is important for the nation and for their own lives and futures.

Storyboard:

Same as above in general.

For additional information consult the project plan, p1demo.mpp (this will be available by Monday, 11.Nov. at the latest)

-----------------------

Academic Portal

(group of students walking at a school)

Arts-Literature (montage of brush, dancer, sculpture, note)

Research

(scientist and engineer types in lab scene)

Training

(corporate-style classroom scene)

Entertainment (montage of cinema, theater, concert, beach)

Games

(montage of video game scene)

Practical Knowledge (home, car, garden image)

Personal

(persons of different sex, ages, types)

Life and Evolution

(Biology, Ecosystems)

Muses and Graces

(Arts and Literature)

Hercules and Mars

(Technology and Machines)

Humanity and Culture

(Anthropology, Society, History)

Form and Number

(Mathematics, Logic)

Energy and Force (Physics)

Structure and Combination (Chemistry, Materials)

Eidos and Logos (Idea and Word)

(Philosophy)

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