Survey of Collaborative Tools and Systems Geoffrey Fox and Ahmet Uyar Florida State University Department of Computer Science and CSIT (School of Computational Science and Information Technology) 400 Dirac Science Library Tallahassee Florida 32306-4120 [email protected] May 9 2001 Sections of this paper written by: Harun Altay, Ozgur Balsoy, Hasan Bulut, Geoffrey Fox, Gurhan Gunduz, Jake Kim, Sung-Hoon Ko, Sangmi Lee, Sangyoon Oh, Marlon Pierce, Xiaohong Qiu, Ahmet Uyar Table of Contents 1 Overview .................................................................................................................... 5 1.1 Introduction......................................................................................................... 5 1.2 Technology Backdrop......................................................................................... 6 1.3 Nature of Collaboration ...................................................................................... 9 1.4 Authoring Models for Web Pages..................................................................... 11 1.5 Audio-Video Conferencing............................................................................... 12 1.6 Learning Objects and their Management.......................................................... 13 1.7 Hand Held Devices ........................................................................................... 15 1.8 Collaborative Portals......................................................................................... 16 2 Web Conferencing Tools ........................................................................................ 19 2.1 Introduction....................................................................................................... 19 2.2 Centra................................................................................................................ 21 2.3 Centra Symposium 4.0...................................................................................... 25 2.4 WebEx............................................................................................................... 28 2.5 WebEx............................................................................................................... 32 2.6 PlaceWare ......................................................................................................... 34 2.7 Latitude ............................................................................................................. 39 2.8 Polling and Question Answer Systems............................................................. 42 2.9 Summary Comparison of WebEx, Centra, PlaceWare and Latitude................ 46 2.10 Microsoft NetMeeting....................................................................................... 49 2.11 Glossary ............................................................................................................ 52 3 Learning Management Systems............................................................................. 53 3.1 Blackboard 5 ..................................................................................................... 53 3.1.1 Capabilities ............................................................................................... 53 3.1.2 Cost and Licencing ................................................................................... 54 3.1.3 Requirements/Limitations......................................................................... 55 3.1.4 Experience in Using It .............................................................................. 55 3.2 WebCT 3.0........................................................................................................ 58 3.2.1 Tools ......................................................................................................... 58 3.2.2 Cost and Licensing.................................................................................... 59 3.2.3 Requirements/Limitations......................................................................... 59 3.2.4 Technical Support ..................................................................................... 60 3.2.5 Experience in Using It .............................................................................. 60 4 HearMe voice over IP system................................................................................. 61 4.1 Introduction....................................................................................................... 61 4.2 Services............................................................................................................. 61 4.3 Architecture....................................................................................................... 61 4.4 Protocols ........................................................................................................... 62 4.5 Bandwidth requirements ................................................................................... 63 4.6 Client side System requirements....................................................................... 63 4.7 Server side System requirements...................................................................... 63 4.8 Cost ................................................................................................................... 63 4.9 Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 64 5 Access Grid.............................................................................................................. 65 5.1 Introduction....................................................................................................... 65 5.2 Video................................................................................................................. 66 5.3 Audio................................................................................................................. 66 5.4 Projectors .......................................................................................................... 66 5.5 Computers......................................................................................................... 66 5.6 Software ............................................................................................................ 66 5.7 Network............................................................................................................. 67 5.8 Protocols ........................................................................................................... 67 5.9 Recording/Playback .......................................................................................... 67 5.10 Required Equipments........................................................................................ 67 5.11 Cost ................................................................................................................... 68 5.12 Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 68 6 Shared Display in WebEx and VNC ..................................................................... 70 6.1 Introduction....................................................................................................... 70 6.2 The Key Features .............................................................................................. 70 6.2.1 WebEx....................................................................................................... 70 6.2.2 VNC .......................................................................................................... 71 6.3 The Shared Display........................................................................................... 71 6.3.1 WebEx....................................................................................................... 71 6.3.2 VNC .......................................................................................................... 72 7 Instant Messengers.................................................................................................. 73 7.1 How Instant Messenger Works......................................................................... 73 7.2 Capabilities ....................................................................................................... 73 7.3 Cost ................................................................................................................... 74 7.4 System Requirements........................................................................................ 74 7.4.1 System Requirement of MSN and Yahoo messenger............................... 74 7.4.2 System Requirement of PalmOS version Yahoo Messenger.................... 74 7.4.3 System Requirement of Jabber Server and Client .................................... 75 7.5 Assessment........................................................................................................ 75 7.5.1 Yahoo Messenger Service......................................................................... 75 7.5.2 Java Style Instant Messenger Service on Palm......................................... 75 7.5.3 General...................................................................................................... 75 2 7.6 Comparison....................................................................................................... 76 8 Calendars................................................................................................................. 77