What you see is not a map of the DC Metro System, but a map of the research terrain of a program area in high performance computing and communications. This map represents a guided tour of the research area through one of our CNE multimedia tutorial modules. The map is sensitized: if you click your mouse pointer on a station, you will be taken to a portion of the module on that subtopic. The map's green line suggests the main path through the material; the other colors suggest side trips into more specialized subtopics. All modules are constructed from tutorials, demonstrations, workbenches, and links to other sites with related resources. This module is only one of eleven that have been created by CNE, first as a new way for researchers to communicate their current results to undergraduate students, and then as a new form of learning environment (hyperlearning).
Human beings have always been fascinated with maps, and have used them since the eariest of recorded times to assist us in navigating unfamiliar territories. So it was natural for us to use a map as a way to chart the complexities of research areas and other areas a person might want to learn about.
We chose subway maps as our metaphor because they closely resemble the structure of hyperlearning. En route to a final certification, the learner needs to know a set of topics; there are recommended orderings among some of the topics. The learner does not have to visit the topics in the recommended order; she can visit them in any order and can skip over ones she already knows. The subway stations play the roles of the topics and the subway lines the recommended orderings. With all of this on a computer display, she can visit any station at any time by clicking on it.
We chose to style our subway maps after the DC Metro System
because of its proximity to the George Mason University campus.