Napier University, host institution to this year's next WACRA conference, with over 11,000 students is one of the largest universities in Scotland. It takes its name from John Napier, inventor of logarithms, who was born in the Tower of Merchiston in 1550. The Tower, restored and refurbished now forms part of the Merchiston campus of the University. Napier is proud of its history of close collaboration with industry, and strives to provide opportunities for students to integrate study and work experience.
As Napier's interest in and experience with the use of a more flexible mode of study for all its students has expanded, so too has its exploration of the new media and technology available today. A number of courses are being worked on which will run by means of an appropriate combination of prepared printed study materials, CD ROM and materials delivered over the world wide web. It is intended that these courses will also include e-mail, some form of video-conferencing and electronic conferencing as part of the support offered to students.
Multimedia at Napier - As part of its course offering for students, Napier offers a MSc/Postgraduate Diploma in Multimedia Technology. Multimedia materials are used where appropriate to enhance the teaching and learning process. The emphasis in this course is on hands-on-experience in developing multimedia applications supported by a thorough grounding in the underlying theories and technologies. In addition to this, there are applications of multimedia projects in many sections of the university. Several project are already under way are described below:
NUMS - Mathematics and statistics courseware developed by the Mathematics Department for use with students in laboratory sessions, and for individual study. This CD includes video clips, graphics, animation and simulations to present key concepts, and provides opportunities for self assessment and feedback as well as past examination questions.
PGCERT - A CD ROM is under development for the Postgraduate Certificate in Tertiary Level Teaching Methods. Its main focus is as a support medium for printed study materials, and it will provide video footage of a number of classroom situations, allowing learners to reflect on their own practice, as well as ideas about new ways of handling situations. The basic printed text is enriched by the CD's graphics and animation along with self assessment questions and feedback. In addition the entire text of the printed material is made available on the CD to facilitate easy searching and cross referencing.
NegoWorld - This is a collaborative project involving the universities of Lyon and Dijon in France, and Napier in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the first of a series of CD ROMs designed to assist students to improve their ability to discuss business matters in a foreign language. It makes use of video footage of actual, real life encounters between salespeople and buyers, touch-screen technology and excellent quality recording and playback facilities. The package includes exercises which constantly refer back to the original video footage. It is hoped not only to add tuition in further languages to this range, but also to develop an underlying methodology providing an accessible way for teachers to create multimedia language materials themselves.
MSc/Postgraduate Dip. in Property and Construction Management - This course is being presented to students from a distance by means of CD based materials, and is supported by desktop video-conferencing and Internet communication links. CD ROM provides an efficient and effective way of presenting material which have a high colour graphics requirement. With this medium students are able to view buildings of architectural interest from all angles, along with tutor comments.
In the area of delivery of course material via the world wide web, Napier is participating in two major projects: Marble - High bandwidth (video clips) web pages for teaching interface design theory (HCI) across the Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) and SUMSMAN. Napier is the lead site in a consortium project with all Scottish Universities to present mathematical courseware to students via the MAN. Another exciting project is: Eurobuyer: Part of a European Union funding initiative, the Eurobuyer project aims to provide public kiosk touch-screen access to information regarding Consumer Rights when buying goods and services across Europe. Napier's Educational Development Unit is contracted to Edinburgh City Council to produce software, media files, and specify/purchase hardware. Translation and design work will be done by the appropriate Napier departments as well. Recently Napier has adopted a formal policy placing flexible learning very much in the core of its teaching and learning activities. This will, without doubt, further strengthen the use of multimedia and other innovative technologies.
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