To try DocuShare on-line please visit our Web site at ht tp://docushar e.xer ox.com/
SUCC ESS STOR Y
Creative thinkers all ov er the world are look-
ing for new ways to harness the potential of
the World Wide Web. Pushing the limits of
the Internet is one of the missions of the
Center for T echnology and Education (CTE).
Operating out of John Hopkins University in
Maryland, in partnership with the Maryland
State Department of Education, the group
is developing new models and strategies
for using technology to enhance education.
Recently, CTE was asked to lead the
coordination of the Southeast Cluster of
Technology Innovation Challenge Grants.
The Challenge Grant program w as intro-
duced by the Clinton administration to serve
as a catalyst for positive change in schools.
�The grants focus on enhancing teachers�
skills and their professional dev elopment
to use computers and advanced learning
technologies in their classrooms, � said U.S.
Secretary of Education, Richard W. Riley.
�Students will benef it from teachers who
are f amiliar with these rapidly changing tech-
nologies and are able to effectiv ely integrate
them into their teaching curriculum.�
To build support networks for the grant
programs, the U.S. Department of Education
grouped projects into four national clusters,
but lik e all grant programs, there is a tremen-
dous amount of administration involved. The
CTE dev elopment team decided to design an
interactive Web site to f acilitate the Southeast
Cluster�s grant program development, docu-
mentation, ev aluation and dissemination of
information. The challenge facing the team
was they did not have a technology solution
that allowed real interactivity on the Web.
�We needed a way to be able to exchange
measurement tools and ev aluation informa-
tion between our Challenge Grant projects.
However, at the time, we were not aw are of
any solutions that w ould support this
kind of information exchange on the Web.
We launched a research effort and found
DocuShare,� said Betsy Lowry , Program
Director for the distance education and
on-line learning initiatives at CTE.
�I began looking for a softw are solution that
would allo w our users to share resources via
our Web site. We needed simple search fea-
tures, an easy way to organize resources and
information, and most importantly we needed
a solution that would work across dif ferent
platforms. I found DocuShare on the Internet
and was able to immediately download and
evaluate a demo copy. I be gan to work with
the product and think of ways it could be
used with our interactive W eb sites. In light
of the timeline pressures we were under, I
was very enthusiastic about f inding such a
v ersatile, easy-to-implement solution for
providing Web-based resource sharing,�
said David Pelof f, Program Coordinator
and W eb Developer at CTE.
The grant projects vary from developing mul-
timedia and telecommunication curriculum
strategies to staff dev elopment and
training programs. Many of the projects
will span more than five years and account
for millions of dollars. Because the projects
demand close collaboration and require
limited resources, face-to-f ace meetings
are impossible, making an interactive Web
site that uses DocuShare ideal. � As a tool,
DocuShare allo ws groups of geographically
distributed people to collaboratively share
information and documents,� said Roger
Ellefson, the Xerox DocuShare Sales
Manager for the mid-Atlantic region.
CTE is pushing the envelope with its
innovative use of Web technologies to enhance
education.
CTE has seamlessly integrat ed DocuShare
into their existing web pr esence.
Clicking on the DocuShar e icon immediately
brings users to the DocuShare site, where
they can add, view and edit content using
any standar d Web browser.
Xerox DocuShar e Sets the Standard for Interactive
W eb Sites at John Hopkins University�s Center
for Technology and Education
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�DocuShare was the only solution I found
that allowed users to upload f iles and create
a shared hard drive of resource data. We were
able to use the bulletin board as a w ay to post
information to help keep everyone
up to date. Instead of sending out e-mail to
a list server and hoping ev eryone reads it,
the b ulletin board allowed everyone to check
the site at their leisure for current informa-
tion,� said Peloff.
The technology grant Web site is only
the be ginning of this Internet story. What
be gan as a need to coordinate ten states in the
Southeast Cluster group is ev olving into
an entirely ne w on-line community. �The
Southeast Cluster Web site became a natural
springboard to integrate what we learned
from the Challenge Grant projects into
our new Electronic Learning Community
projects,� said Lowry.
In its fifth month of dev elopment, the on-line
learning team is laying the foundation for a
new w ay for educators to use the Internet.
DocuShare allows educators across the
country to collaborate and share resources.
The Electronic Learning Communities
include synchronous and asynchronous
discussions and feature searchable databases,
and will integrate a DocuShare W eb site with
multimedia features, databases and distance
learning projects. Courses of fering technolo-
gy-based collaborative learning have already
been put on-line using DocuShare technolo-
gy. Although the project is in its early phases,
the potential for its ability to impact educa-
tion is extraordinary.
�Our b usiness is education and the support
and dev elopment of education professionals.
CTE believes that pro viding an electronic
community of collaboration and exchange
among educators, can be an effectiv e means
of solving common problems, supporting
and encouraging innova tion and sustaining
an ongoing dialogue around common issues
and challenges. Over the next year , we will
be collecting and analyzing data relating
to Electronic Learning Communities, and
DocuShare is a key component, � said Lowry.
DocuShare pro vides technology that is
creating the next on-line evolution. When
the World Wide Web was designed, the
excitement w as all about putting information
out on the Web. The second ev olution had to
do with transactions giving users an opportu-
nity to log information and download f iles.
With DocuShare the ev olution of interaction
has arri ved, allowing for real-time collabora-
tion and sharing of resources. �The whole
concept of the W eb is changed when people
can actually share and interact with data,�
said Peloff. �The Internet be gan as sort of a
one-w ay format. However, new technologies
lik e DocuShare are creating more interactivi-
ty on the Web, allowing users to contrib ute
to Web sites. Gi ving people an opportunity
to contribute to and be part of the Internet,
and sharing in that sense of o wnership, is
v ery important to the CTE on-line projects.�
To try DocuShare on-line please visit our W eb site at ht tp://docushare.x ero x.com/
� 1999 Xerox Corporation. All rights reserv ed. Xerox
�
, The Document Company
�
, the digit al X and DocuShare
�
are trademarks of Xerox Corporation.
All other trademarks are the propert y of their respective companies and are recognized as such.
P/N
610P6521 9 07/99
CTE�S DOCUSHARE
CONFIGURATION
At CTE, DocuShare resides on a
Dell PowerEdge 4200 server with
256 MB RAM, with a Windows NT
Server 4.0 hosting Microsoft
Internet Information Server 4.0
(IIS) software. Also installed on the
server are O�Reilly�s W eb Board 3.5
and Allaire� s Cold Fusion 4.0.
Users at CTE access the system
from a variety of Macintosh and PC
systems (which are not centrally
managed), using Netscape
Navigator or Windows Explorer.
� With DocuShare the evolution of
interaction has arrived, allowing
for real-time collaboration and
sharing of resources.�
David Peloff
Program Coordinator and Web Developer
John Hopkins University�s CTE
Xerox DocuS hare Sets the Standard
for Interactive W eb Sites at CTE
FOR MORE INFORMATION
OR TO ORDER DOCUSHARE
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representative. Or call the DocuShare
sales department directly:
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web site atwww .xerox.com/docushare/
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