Innovative Web-Based Teaching Strategies and Tools International Conference on Engineering Education August 18–21, 2002, Manchester, U.K. 1 WEB-based Enabling of Education and Research in ISTEC The ChipsnSalsa Portal Henry Jerez 1 , Ramiro Jordan 2 , Chaouki Abdallah 3 , Johann Van Reenen 4 , Guillermo Jacquenot 5 , Daniel Vargas 6 1 Henry Jerez, University of New Mexico, ISTEC- EECE LAB, Room 224 A EECE Building , Albuquerque, NM 87131, hjerez@eece.unm.edu 2 Ramiro Jordan, University of New Mexico , EECE Department, Albuquerque, NM 87131, rjordan@eece.unm.edu 3 Chaouki Abdallah, University of New Mexico , EECE Department, Albuquerque, NM 87131, chaouki@eece.unm.edu 4 Johann Van Reenen, University of New Mexico , Centenial Library, Alburquerque, NM 87131,jreenen@eece.unm.edu 5 Guillermo Jaquenot, Universidad de La Plata , La Plata Argentina 6 Daniel Vargas, University of New Mexico, ISTEC- EECE LAB, Room 223 EECE Building , Albuquerque, NM 87131, dvargas@eece.unm.edu Abstract  WEB-based education tools that incorporate static content, video-on-demand, live synchronized video, as well as collaboration research spaces, often present information as isolated and diffuse topics compromising the integral learning and research experience. The Ibero- American Science & Technology Consortium (ISTEC) "ChipsnSalsa" WEB project addresses this problem by integrating content into structured but flexible information maps and contextual databases. It enables students to take advantage of the content, and turns the WEB portal/gateway into a diligent information provider that orders the information optimally for their particular needs. Similarly, it enables researchers to have specific and accurate access to the most relevant information in their research, while establishing knowledge bases, real-time peer review, and repositories for future work and long haul ongoing projects. It also provides them with virtual labs and real-time online publishing. Double indexing with full text index and metadata information, and relating the content in a common structured metadata organization. Index Terms  Chips n Salsa, Chips and Salsa, Metadata indexing, Learning Threads, Pre publishing, Research threads, Web Based Education. WHAT IS CHIPS NSALSA? ChipsnSalsa is a Portal Gateway System Developed by the Iberoamerican Science and Technology Consortium (ISTEC). It is a Portal because it gives access to a compendium of educational and research information. It is also a gateway since it enables the publication of content as well as live presentations while isolating the author from the technical details. This then enables users to access this information through the campus private network, Internet and Internet 2, and even wirelessly[1]. More broadly, ChipsnSalsa maybe be thought of as a platform to provide efficient access and publication means to a wide variety of content. Such content covers a broad spectrum of file formats and services including, video, sound, text, and interactive teaching modules that use web- based remote software and hardware experiments and simulations. Chips nSalsa may be used in the following areas: • Education: Enabling the Creation of Educational content • Research: Providing a platform for sharing and exchanging knowledge in a remote cooperation and joint development environment. • Publishing: Providing versioning of documents and publishing through virtual local Area Networks (LANs). CHIPS N SALSA – EDUCATION ChipsNSalsa enables the publication of static content material consisting of presentations, videos, exercises, animations, etc. It achieves this capability using both Video on demand Servers and Multicast and Broadcast Servers with multi rate or variable rate video encoding technology. It also provides a “problems and examples” Server that is implemented using a Matlab Web Server, that enables the students to have access to previously built examples and interact with them according to specified instructions. Every such course also benefits from the online discussion forums that enable to have moderated discussions in which all the students and teachers are able to interact and work together. The system also doubles as a Web Page hosting server for the personal WebPages for the students as well as the instructors ChipsnSalsa – Education Content Generation The content generation and publishing capability is provided using a real-time online publishing server that enables the distribution of synchronous multimedia content. Such content might include video, audio and text or any of their combinations. It also provides a series of tools to enable the teacher to publish static content without major html coding or content editing.