The Columbia Analyzer

The Columbia University Analyzer (CU Analyzer) is a special, customized edition of hyperfolio, a revolutionary Web tool developed by Learn Technologies Interactive, Inc. (Learntech). CU Analyzer allows one to capture, analyze, and ultimately express new knowledge using multimedia objects culled from anywhere on the Web. It is a true departure from typical digital tools as it empowers the user to control his or her online experience through the use of a personal digital portfolio. No longer is the online experience limited to surfing, bookmarking, or elaborate downloading schemes. With the CU Analyzer, users can quickly create their own Web-linked multimedia expressions using content from any Web site. CCNMTL hopes this tool is the first in a series of online tools developed by CCNMTL that provide students and faculty with a seamless online learning environment.

The CU Analyzer is a plug-in for the browser (Internet Explorer or Netscape) that allows one to collect assets (text, links, audio, video, and images) off any Web site simply by dragging and dropping links, text or images into the CU Analyzer collection box sitting on the desktop. Users can then expand the CU Analyzer to organize the collected assets on worksheets adjacent to the collection. The CU Analyzer provides a set of tools and a large workspace for cataloging, organizing, and exporting assets and worksheets in a variety of ways. The CU Analyzer is intended to serve as the intermediate environment between gathering data and publishing your own creation to the Web or sending your work online to another or others.

The Columbia Analyzer Web site

Network Analysis Tool

The Network Analysis Tool is a Java-based, SQL-backed concept organizer which allows the direct manipulation of concept maps and organizational structures. Users load data through a user-friendly Web-based form interface, which provides real-time statistical analysis of the data along multiple axes. The Network Analysis Tool project is a step towards a generalizable toolset for the visualization of concept maps. It allows the visualization, manipulation and transformation of data objects, as well as the connections between the objects. The objects and connections can be visualized in multidimensional ways, which allows discrete types of information and linkages to be filtered and shown at will. This type of tool is well-suited for concept maps, both concrete and abstract, and is scalable from small simple networks to larger complex ones.

We are currently utilizing the Network Analysis Tool in the Business School in the area of leadership development and organizational network theory. Students enter data online into a database detailing their personal and business contacts, in response to a questionnaire. The Web based software tool then generates an individualized network report. Students then use the tool to create a dynamic picture of their networks. These pictures can be manipulated by students; for example, students may add or eliminate links. Students construct new versions of their networks, both real and hypothetical, in order to test and evaluate possible revisions.

Third Space

Third Space is a digital video based communications tool that allows users to identify, annotate and share video clips over the Internet in a bulletin board environment. This unique configuration of features helps students, faculty and field instructors in the Columbia School of Social Work to easily communicate ideas around rich data. Examples of this data include best practice interviewing techniques, role-playing exercises taped during classes, and difficult scenarios acted out by professionals. The technical aspects of the project allow students to not only view video-based examples online, but also easily communicate their thoughts about the examples to fellow students and instructors. Third Space, thus, brings about an entirely new medium for educational exchange.

Beyond CCNMTL's specific work with social work, Third Space holds promise in a variety of other disciplines. In fact, any course that makes use of video may benefit from this technology. Possibilities include: film students analyzing and annotating movies, physicians working with diagnostic exercises, and lawyers modeling courtroom practices.

Third Space Web site