Individual Video Training iVT - Development of a National Infrastructure for Video-Supported Learning

Introduction: Video‐Supported Learning is particularly effective when it comes to skills and behaviors. Video registration of patient‐physician interviews, class room instruction or practical skills allow it to learners themselves, their peers, and their tutors to assess the quality of the learner's performance, to give specific feedback, and to make suggestions for improvement. Methods: In Switzerland, four pedagogical universities and two medical faculties joined to initiate the development of a national infrastructure for Video Supported Learning. The goal was to have a system that is simple to use, has most steps automated, provides the videos over the Internet, and has a sophisticated access control. Together with SWITCH, the national IT‐Support‐Organisation for Swiss Universities, the program iVT (Individual Video Training) was developed by integrating two preexisting technologies. The first technology is SWITCHcast, a podcast system. With SWITCHcast, videos are automatically uploaded to a server as soon as the registration is over. There the videos are processed and converted to different formats. The second technology is the national Single Logon System AAI (Authentification and Authorization Infrastructure) that enables iVT to link each video with the corresponding learner. The learner starts the registration with his Single Logon. Thus, the video can unambiguously be assigned. Via his institution's Learning Management System (LMS), the learner can access his video and give access to his video to peers and tutors. Results: iVT is now used at all involved institutions. The system works flawlessly. In Bern, we use iVT for the communications skills training in the forth and sixth year. Since students meet with patient actors alone, iVT is also used to certify attendance. Students are encouraged to watch the videos of the interview and the feedback of the patient actor. The offer to discuss a video with a tutor was not used by the students. Discussion: We plan to expand the use of iVT by making peer assessment compulsory. To support this, annotation capabilities are currently added to iVT. We also want to use iVT in training of practical skills, again for self as well as for peer assessment.  At present, we use iVT for quality control of patient actor's performance.

Comparative Study of Digital Rights Management Systems for Music and Text Files

Digital Rights Management Systems (DRMS) are seen by content providers as the appropriate tool to, on the one hand, fight piracy and, on the other hand, monetize their assets. Although these systems claim to be very powerful and include multiple protection technologies, there is a lack of understanding about how such systems are currently being implemented and used by content providers. The aim of this paper is twofold. First, it provides a theoretical basis through which we present shortly the seven core protection technologies of a DRMS. Second, this paper provides empirical evidence that the seven protection technologies outlined in the first section of this paper are the most commonly used technologies. It further evaluates to what extent these technologies are being used within the music and print industry. It concludes that the three main Technologies are encryption, password, and payment systems. However, there are some industry differences: the number of protection technologies used, the requirements for a DRMS, the required investment, or the perceived success of DRMS in fighting piracy.

The Application of Digital Rights Management Systems in the Music Industry - An Empirical Investigation

Technology advances in hardware, software and IP-networks such as the Internet or peer-to-peer file sharing systems are threatening the music business. The result has been an increasing amount of illegal copies available on-line as well as off-line. With the emergence of digital rights management systems (DRMS), the music industry seems to have found the appropriate tool to simultaneously fight piracy and to monetize their assets. Although these systems are very powerful and include multiple technologies to prevent piracy, it is as of yet unknown to what extent such systems are currently being used by content providers. We provide empirical analyses, results, and conclusions related to digital rights management systems and the protection of digital content in the music industry. It shows that most content providers are protecting their digital content through a variety of technologies such as passwords or encryption. However, each protection technology has its own specific goal, and not all prevent piracy. The majority of the respondents are satisfied with their current protection but want to reinforce it for the future, due to fear of increasing piracy. Surprisingly, although encryption is seen as the core DRM technology, only few companies are currently using it. Finally, half of the respondents do not believe in the success of DRMS and their ability to reduce piracy.

Individual Video Training - Entwicklung einer nationalen Infrastruktur für Video-unterstütztes Lernen

Video-basiertes Lernen ist besonders effektiv, wo es um Fertigkeiten und Verhalten geht. Videoaufzeichnungen von Gesprächen, Unterrichtssituationen oder der Durchführung praktischer Tätigkeiten wie dem Nähen einer Wunde erlauben es den Ausführenden, ihren Peers und ihren Tutoren, die Qualität der Leistung zu beurteilen und Anregungen zur Verbesserung zu formulieren. Wissend um den grossen didaktischen Wert von Videoaufzeichnungen haben sich vier Pädagogische Hochschulen (Zürich, Freiburg, Thurgau, Luzern) und zwei Medizinische Fakultäten (Bern, Lausanne) zusammen getan, um eine nationale Infrastruktur für Video-unterstütztes Lernen anzustossen. Ziel was es, ein System zu entwickeln, das einfach zu bedienen ist, bei dem viele Arbeitsschritte automatisiert sind und das die Videos im Internet bereit stellt. Zusammen mit SWITCH, der nationalen IT-Support-Organisation der Schweizer Hochschulen, wurde basierend auf den vorbestehenden Technologien AAI und SWITCHcast das Programm iVT (Individual Video Training) entwickelt. Die Integration des nationalen Single Logon System AAI (Authentification and Authorization Infrastructure) erlaubt es, die Videos mit dem jeweiligen User eindeutig zu verknüpfen, so dass die Videos nur für diesen User im Internet zugänglich sind. Mit dem Podcast-System SWITCHcast können Videos automatisch ins Internet hochgeladen und bereit gestellt werden. Es wurden je ein Plugin für die Learning Management Systeme ILIAS (PH Zürich, Uni Bern) und Moodle (Uni Lausanne) entwickelt. Dank dieser Plugins werden die Videos in den jeweiligen LMS verfügbar gemacht. Der Einsatz von iVT ist beim Kommunikationstraining unserer Medizinstudierenden in Bern inzwischen Standard. Das Login gilt gleichzeitig als Beleg für das Testat. Studierende, die keine Videoaufzeichnung wünschen, können diese nach dem Login stoppen. Bis anhin ist das Betrachten der Videos freiwillig. Szenarios mit Peer Feedback sind geplant. Eine entsprechende Erweiterung des Systems um gegenseitige Annotationsmöglichkeiten besteht bereits und wird fortlaufend weiterentwickelt.

Organic vs. Conventional Grassland Management: Do N-15 and C-13 Isotopic Signatures of Hay and Soil Samples Differ?

Distinguishing organic and conventional products is a major issue of food security and authenticity. Previous studies successfully used stable isotopes to separate organic and conventional products, but up to now, this approach was not tested for organic grassland hay and soil. Moreover, isotopic abundances could be a powerful tool to elucidate differences in ecosystem functioning and driving mechanisms of element cycling in organic and conventional management systems. Here, we studied the delta N-15 and delta C-13 isotopic composition of soil and hay samples of 21 organic and 34 conventional grasslands in two German regions. We also used Delta delta N-15 (delta N-15 plant - delta N-15 soil) to characterize nitrogen dynamics. In order to detect temporal trends, isotopic abundances in organic grasslands were related to the time since certification. Furthermore, discriminant analysis was used to test whether the respective management type can be deduced from observed isotopic abundances. Isotopic analyses revealed no significant differences in delta C-13 in hay and delta C-13 in both soil and hay between management types, but showed that delta C-13 abundances were significantly lower in soil of organic compared to conventional grasslands. delta C-15 values implied that management types did not substantially differ in nitrogen cycling. Only delta C-13 in soil and hay showed significant negative relationships with the time since certification. Thus, our result suggest that organic grasslands suffered less from drought stress compared to conventional grasslands most likely due to a benefit of higher plant species richness, as previously shown by manipulative biodiversity experiments. Finally, it was possible to correctly classify about two third of the samples according to their management using isotopic abundances in soil and hay. However, as more than half of the organic samples were incorrectly classified, we infer that more research is needed to improve this approach before it can be efficiently used in practice.