A Distributed Multi-Server Architecture for Scalable Educational Applications

[453764] Feurzeig预计的国家信息基础设施将不得不容纳巨大的用户流量，在用户负载和计算需求方面都有很大的动态波动，而且它必须以用户透明的无缝方式做到这一点。与此同时，该系统将需要比目前的网络更易于访问和友好，以便更好地为各种复杂程度的用户提供服务。这就要求开发新的联网技术，其中包括基础技术的重大进步。它还需要一种新的、更自然的上层结构，这种上层结构基于一种截然不同的组织范式，它将提供所需的可销售性，同时支持分布式教育网络应用程序所必需的丰富、复杂、多媒体通信、计算和协作。我们建议开发和演示MuseNet，这是一种用于网络媒介科学和数学教育的复杂技术基础设施。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。该系统将支持以科学和数学微世界为中心的教学互动，包括视觉模拟和模型。程序将通过网络服务器分发，以便在客户端机器上进行本地操作。使能技术将支持通信、计算和教育环境，以支持广泛和多样化的科学教育项目。它将作为一个试点设施，探索和调查高带宽网络所带来的技术和教育问题，如预计的国家信息系统。＊＊＊

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. ***