A Distributed Multi-Server Architecture for Scalable Educational Applications

9453764 Feurzeig计划中的国家信息基础设施将不得不容纳巨大的用户流量，用户负载和计算需求都有很大的动态波动，而且必须以用户透明的无缝方式做到这一点。与此同时，该系统需要比目前的网络更容易使用和更友好，以便更好地为各种复杂程度的用户服务。这就要求开发新的网络技术，在基本技术基础上取得重大进展。它还要求一个新的和更自然的上层建筑的基础上，一个明显不同的组织模式，将提供所需的可销售性，同时支持丰富的，复杂的，多媒体通信，计算和协作分布式教育网络应用程序必不可少的。我们建议开发和展示MuseNet，一个复杂的技术基础设施，为网络介导的科学和数学教育。MuseNet是一个通用的分布式计算机和通信环境，可由多个用户通过交互式计算机网络连接同时访问。该系统将支持以学生工作为中心的教学互动，包括视觉模拟和模型。这些程序将通过网络服务器分发，以便在客户机上进行本地操作。使能技术将支持通信，计算和教育环境，以支持广泛而多样化的科学教育项目。它将作为一个试验设施，探索和调查高带宽网络，如计划中的国家信息基础设施系统所引起的技术和教育问题。***

9453764 Feurzeig The projected National Information Infrastructure will have to accommodate a tremendous level of user traffic, with great dynamic fluctuations in both user load and computational demand-and it will have to do this in a user-transparent seamless fashion. At the same time, the system will need to be a great deal more accessible and friendly than current networks, to better serve users of widely varying degrees of sophistication. This calls for the development of new networking technologies incorporating significant advances in the underlying technological foundations. It also calls for a new and more natural superstructure based on a distinctly different organizational paradigm that will provide the required salability while supporting the rich, complex, multi-media communication, computation, and collaboration essential for distributed educational networking applications. We propose to develop and demonstrate MuseNet, a sophisticated technological infrastructure for network-mediated science and math education. MuseNet is a generic distributed computer and communications environment simultaneously accessible by multiple users over interactive computer network connections. The system will support instructional interactions centered on student work with science and mathematics microworlds including visual simulations and models. The programs will be distributed through network servers for local operation on client machines. The enabling technology will support the communication, computational, and educational environments for supporting an extensive and diverse set of science education projects. It will serve as a pilot facility for exploring and investigating the technical and educational issues posed by high bandwidth networks such as the projected NII system. ***