DECAF: A digital classroom application framework

This paper outlines the design and evaluation of the Digital Classroom Application Framework (DeCAF). DeCAF is designed to provide an environment upon which multimedia applications for the classroom can be developed and evaluated. With the inclusion of multimedia in the modern digital classroom comes new paradigms for teaching. Also, the combination of the Internet and multimedia allow digital classrooms to accommodate many forms of distance learning. However, state of the art applications for digital classrooms are usually monolithic in nature and lack any integration with other similar applications. DeCAF provides an environment in which to develop and integrate such applications by treating a digital classroom as an event stream. The event stream abstraction is the key to better integration of applications and better means to evaluating new classroom paradigms.