Teleteaching over Low-Bandwidth Network Channels

Teleteaching has become an important application of the Internet and the MBone. Unfortunately the costs for the hardware, necessary to participate in remote lectures, are still prohibitively high and the degree of distributiveness of the implemented scenarios is very low. In the Interactive Home Learning project we plan to provide methods to participate in a Teleteaching lecture live from a PC at horne via a low-bandwidth connection (e.g. ISDN). This paper summarises technical aspects of this learning scenario and presents our approach, the fully Java-based Reflection and Scaling Tool jrst, which meets the requirements of an application layer multicast routing demon with a highly restrictive broadcasting policy and a dynamic tunnelling mechanism

Desktop multimedia environments to support collaborative distance learning

Desktop multimedia conferencing, when two or more persons can communicate among themselves via personal computers with the opportunity to see and hear one another as well as communicate via text messages while working with commonly available stored resources, appears to have important applications to the support of collaborative learning. In this paper we explore this potential in three ways: (a) through an analysis of particular learner needs when learning and working collaboratively with others outside of face-to-face situations; (b) through an analysis of different forms of conferencing environments, including desktop multimedia environments, relative to their effectiveness in terms of meeting learner needs for distributed collaboration; and (c) through reporting the results of a formative evaluation of a prototype desktop multimedia conferencing system developed especially for the support of collaborative learning. Via these analyses, suggestions are offered relating to the functionalities of desktop multimedia conferencing systems for the support of collaborative learning, reflecting new developments in both the technologies available for such systems and in our awareness of learner needs when working collaboratively with one other outside of face-to-face situations

Indexing and retrieval of multimodal lecture recordings from open repositories for personalized access in modern learning settings

An increasing number of lecture recordings are available to complement face-to face and the more conventional content-based e-learning approaches. These recordings provide additional channels for remote students and time-independent access to the lectures. Many universities offer even complete series of recordings of hundreds of courses which are available for public access and this service provides added value for users outside the university. The lecture recordings show the use of a great variety of media or modalities (such as video, audiom lecture media, presentation behaviour) and formats. Insofar, none of the existing systems and services have sufficient retrieval functionality or support appropriate interfaces to enable searching for lecture recordings over several repositories. This situation has motivated us to initiate research on a lecture recording indexing and retrieval system for knowledge transfer and learning activities in various settings. This system is built on our former experiences and prototypes developed within the MISTRAL research project. In this paper we outline requirements for an enhanced lecture recording retrieval system, introduce our solution and prototype, and discuss the initial results and findings

A Distributed Multimedia Communication System and its Applications to E-Learning

In this paper we report on a multimedia communication system including a VCoIP (Video Conferencing over IP) software with a distributed architecture and its applications for teaching scenarios. It is a simple, ready-to-use scheme for distributed presenting, recording and streaming multimedia content. We also introduce and investigate concepts and experiments to IPv6 user and session mobility, with the special focus on real-time video group communication.Comment: Including 6 figure

Examining the use of interactive video to enhance just in time training in the workplace

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the development and implementation of interactive video in an organisational setting, with a view to enhancing the quality of just in time training provided. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses a small but focused research approach which builds on current literature to inform the design and implementation of interactive video. Qualitative data is used to evaluate staff perceptions of training materials. Findings – Findings indicate that the use of interactive video can greatly enhance the quality of training in the workplace. Practical implications – Findings reinforce previous research on interactive video, demonstrating its ability to provide worthwhile and engaging content. This study demonstrates that investing in innovative and learner focused approaches to training can increase the effectiveness and flexibility of training materials. Originality/value – While the use of video in education is widely researched, there is a comparative lack of literature around the use of interactive video in workplace training environments. This paper provides a unique look at the implementation of interactive video in a workplace setting and the staff perceptions of its impact. The study also provides an insight into the use of just in time training to solve a specific training problem