The following recommendations are made based on the Claims Analyses
presented earlier.
1. On-line communication, such as through chat programs, can have
unique situations. A method to notify others, such as the use of
a warning sound, may help notify the need for communication between partners
on-line who may be working separately.
2. A consistent interface is necessary when incorporating shared
tools. As new applets and tools are developed and incorporated into
the system, these new tools must adapt to the existing interface.
3. Currently, the task bar contains many icons and buttons so that scrolling is inevitable. An option for callout boxes and drop-down menus could be incorporated to save space on the display and eliminate scrolling.
4. Currently, there is no indication of group or individual progress. This could be accomplished through the use of a checklist, possibly organized like a "To Do" list. The list should be manipulatable to add or subtract tasks. The list should show group tasks as well as individual tasks. Making the list available through a button or a pull-down menu will save space in the display.
5. Two modes should be incorporated into workspaces and storage methods in the project: individual and group. The notebook should contain secure "pages" for individual information as well as pages for compiling group work. This security should also be adapted to the workbench, so that individuals may run some experiments in a secure environment.
6. The systems relies heavily upon the hope that Applets will be available. Current Applets have taken a great deal of time and effort to develop. In order to include a wide variety of experimental situations and equipment in the form of Applets, this technology must either be adapted widely or be made accessible to the teachers and students in the schools.
7. As course materials and ideas are developed, a reference area for students and teachers can be incorporated. The reference area can contain text-based organizational ideas such an outline materials and web page templates as well as store electronic materials such as past Applets, graphics, video, and sound files for reuse.
8. Currently, the project merely recreates existing activities in an electronic form. This has been accomplished through great investments in time and money. The learning activities are not necessarily unique, however, and the instructors have shifted their interest from creating unique learning actitivies to merely using technology. The power of virtual environments and networked communities must be developed in order to justify expense and time spent. Technology for technology's sake is not sufficient if the activities already exist and are effective.
9. Building local buffers for hot topics can accelerate the information
access speed and prevent data transferring from jamming the network. Generally,
every information request will result in data retrieval from databases.
Currently, the system builds a connection to other servers and databases, which delays response to the users. Therefore, providing the
information the users need as soon as possible is a very important issue for the
success of the system. Building buffers in the local server which keeps most
frequently requested information can greatly reduce the system response time.
The system can provide links which can lead the users to check hot topics first which
can avoiding redundant access to the databases. The system can also build an
information collecting schema which can choose and keep materials of hot topics
automatically. Through this, the system will be more efficient and can make
up for the disadvantages from low network transferring and system running speed.