What can I say? It's been too long since my last post. But I've been busy...really busy. This post is a follow-up to my previous post which introduced the TIMSS Science Video Case Profiler.

One of the important things that researchers have wanted to do with the TIMSS video cases is present them or discuss them at conferences or meetings. Such presentations must often be done in an environment where Internet connectivity is limited or unavailable. The researchers have mentioned that this can present a big problem because the video files in these video cases are quite large, and presentation of the video cases can be risky or cumbersome - not the sort of thing that a presenter wants to worry about while presenting.

This version of the TIMSS Math Video Case profiler enables cacheing of video case data and video on a case-by-case basis. The cacheing can be done in "batch" mode (all at once), or just through regular browsing of the data in each case. Once a video case is "cached", it can be viewed and presented when entirely disconnected from the Internet. Cacheing also greatly improves video performance. It is a client-side application, based on Adobe's AIR framework that can be downloaded and installed on your PC or Mac.

Similar to the TIMSS Science profiler, this application "packages" eight of the TIMSS Math video cases in such a way that they can be viewed as a collective archive. The TIMSS study was funded, in part, by the NCES, and involves researchers from all over the world with the research based at the LessonLab Research Institute, an independent research arm of Achievement Solutions at Pearson. These video cases may only be used for educational research purposes.

(make sure you download and install the AIR framework first)

Download/Install the TIMSS-R Math Video Profiler

One of the things that I've wanted to do since I left LessonLab (a.k.a., Pearson Achievement Solutions) is to build an application that "packages" the TIMSS Science video cases in such a way that they can be searched and viewed as a collective archive.

As part of their report to the NCES, the amazingly smart researchers at the LessonLab Research Institute produced a beautiful CD set containing the sample video cases from the 5 participating countries. Unfortunately, we never really had the time or budget to produce an online version of the CD set. Furthermore, even an online version wouldn't satisfy the needs of those who want to present the video cases at a conference where internet connectivity can be sketchy.

To solve this problem, I decided (after being prodded by some colleagues) to build what I call the TIMSS Science Video Case Profiler. This application is currently in an Alpha version. It is a client-side application, based on Adobe's AIR framework that can be downloaded and installed on your PC or Mac. The application allows browsing of a portion of the TIMSS Science video case archive. If time permits, I will be adding more cases to the archive, and also adding features such as offline caching in order to support disconnected video case viewing and presentation.

(make sure you download and install the AIR framework first)

Download/Install the TIMSS-R Science Video Case Profiler