Using multimedia to support research, education and outreach in an NSF Engineering Research Center

The National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center for Collaborative Adaptive Sensing of the Atmosphere (CASA) joined with the Research in Presentation Production for Learning Electronically (RIPPLES) Group at the University of Massachusetts Amherst to investigate how multimedia technologies could be adapted and applied to the research, education and outreach missions of the center. Initially, the intention was to adapt the MANIC courseware system to support cooperative learning for geographically dispersed groups of faculty, students and staff that must become "fluent" in each other's discipline. As the project developed, multimedia content modules were created to archive a number of center activities and to serve as outreach materials. A combination of MANIC and off-the-shelf software tools were used to develop comprehensive content delivery media that facilitated all aspects the center's mission. Data were collected and analyzed on production costs, usage and other factors. This collaborative effort demonstrates that flexible educational courseware production methods can be adapted to provide broader content distribution that is low-cost and highly flexible and that addresses the multicultural, multidisciplinary, multiconstituency challenges faced by the center.