Real-time multimedia-based education through the Internet

The rapid advances in computer and communications technologies are challenging the American education systems to provide increased educational opportunities beyond the traditional geographic boundaries at a reasonable cost. Many educational institutions are answering this challenge by developing distance education programs. Distance education provides effective learning environment. An important requirement for effective distance education is the availability of continuous interactivity and immediate feedback. Over the Internet, synchronous sharing of multimedia content introduces unacceptable delays as network bandwidth is limited. In this thesis, the issue of Internet bandwidth is minimized and a novel system is developed for distance education using multimedia course material over the Internet. The data rich multimedia materials reside at remote computers and are only remotely activated utilizing low bandwidth signals over the Internet. As a result, the large download times associated with multimedia files are eliminated creating an almost real time link between the remote locations

Distance, multimedia and web delivery in surveying and GIS courses at the University Of Southern Queensland

[Abstract]: The University of Southern Queensland has been involved with the distance education of surveying courses for over 25 years. In recent times, staff of the Surveying and Land Information Discipline, and the University as a whole, have embarked on multimedia enhancement and web delivery of curricula. This paper examines some of the initiatives undertaken to enhance the delivery of educational materials and discusses some of the issues involved in the effective delivery of distance education materials. The significant experience in the delivery of traditional educational materials has proven to be an advantage in the repackaging and enhancement of teaching materials. Delivery of education to off-campus students requires a significant support infrastructure which is often not recognised by new entrants into the flexible delivery arena. Traditional support mechanisms such as phone, fax and standard media (eg. videos, audio tapes etc) are being replaced by email, ‘electronic’ discussion groups, CDs and internet resources. These enhancements, when developed professionally, require a significant commitment of resources and expertise and often require a team approach to their design and development. Access by off-campus students to internet services and affordable software packages also require careful consideration in the design and offering of distance education materials

Synchronous Internet Distance Education: Wave of the Future or Wishful Thinking?

Heralded as an important future delivery means for higher education, synchronous Internet distance education with live presenters is, to date, far less often used than its counterpart asynchronous distance education which offers materials stored on a website. The author has practiced synchronous Internet teaching since 1994 at George Mason University (GMU). This practice now is increasing, with a doubling of GMU Computer Science courses taught this way each year for the past three. This paper describes the lessons learned in finding a successful way to teach synchronous over the Internet. Technologies and class organization needed for success are described and compared. The results appear to indicate that synchronous Internet distance education may in fact become an important future delivery means for higher education

Accounting Chairpersons Compare Distance Learning Delivery Methodologies

Distance learning delivery methodologies have evolved over the last 100, or so, years since the educational paradigm was formally used in American higher education. Several different approaches to distance learning, where the student is in a location remote from their instructor, have been used. During the decade of the 90s developments in technology offered new delivery vehicles for distance learning and terms like “interactive television” “E mail,” and “Internet courses” have been added to the academic lexicon. Internet courses, where the interaction between faculty and student occurs primarily over the Internet, represent a substantial departure from the traditional learning model

Distance Learning on the Internet: A Situational Analysis

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) recently began using WebCT as an interface tool to link the university\u27s graduate aviation courses to its worldwide distance education student body. This report provides a qualitative SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) of the pilot-study course used by the university to determine the effectiveness of the new inter The purpose of this situational analysis, written by the instructor of the pilot-study course, is to provide feedback to educators and administrators interested in learning more about distance learning using the Internet as the link between an educational inst on and its students. Distance learning has emerged as the brightest star on the horizon of higher education innovation over the last decade and using the Internet to deliver materials to learners is a trend that is not likely to go away. The author concludes that distance learning on the Internet has many advantages over face-to-face education but that there are a number of threats that must be addressed to protect the integrity of the institution implementing this type of degree program

IP Teleconferencing in the Wired Classroom: Gratifications for Distance Education

Students have various motivations for participating and engaging in courses offered by distance education technologies over the Internet. While many of these courses have traditionally been Web-based asynchronous offerings, enhanced technology and reduced costs of IP-enabled teleconferenced synchronous course sections are encouraging more institutions to adopt this effective option for delivering important content to several physical locations at the same time. This study examines differential student motivations for participating in local and distance teleconferenced sections of an information technology course, enabled by Internet-based videoconferencing. This research lends support to three hypotheses concerning technologymediated distance education systems. First, that traditional college age students prefer the local section of a distance education course on measures of satisfaction with the teleconferenced course, while non-traditional (age 25-34) students do not share this preference. Second, that older, non-traditional, students rate a distant course higher for satisfaction than do 18-24 year old students. Finally, that the social presence advantages of Internet-enabled teleconferencing appeal more to socially-oriented students than they do to students with a low social orientation. An unexpected, but serendipitous, finding of this research was that the group that could likely derive the greatest benefits from Internet-enabled distance education - older, non-traditional students - also may be more comfortable with the use of that technology, based on their higher reported degrees of selfperceived technical competency

Portrait of Rural Virtual Schooling

Over the past two decades, distance education has become a reality of rural schooling in Newfoundland and Labrador. In this article, I provide historical background into the challenges facing rural schools in the province and how distance education was introduced to address that challenge. I also describe how that system of distance education evolved from a system that used the telephone lines and bridging technology to one that uses a combination synchronous and asynchronous system delivered over the Internet. Finally, I examine recent literature concerning the nature of today’s secondary students that would need to avail of this system and relate how this may not be an applicable portrait of youth in rural areas, such as Newfoundland and Labrador.

Portrait of Rural Virtual Schooling

Over the past two decades, distance education has become a reality of rural schooling in Newfoundland and Labrador. In this article, I provide historical background into the challenges facing rural schools in the province and how distance education was introduced to address that challenge. I also describe how that system of distance education evolved from a system that used the telephone lines and bridging technology to one that uses a combination synchronous and asynchronous system delivered over the Internet. Finally, I examine recent literature concerning the nature of today’s secondary students that would need to avail of this system and relate how this may not be an applicable portrait of youth in rural areas, such as Newfoundland and Labrador

A Completely Virtual Distance Education Program Based on the Internet - Case and Agenda of the International MBI Program

The Internet as a medium for communication and information distribution has opened up new opportunities for distance education programs. Not only is the scope of a program, in terms of potential target groups, by default a global one because the Internet is global. Moreover, commonly available multimedia technologies for the World Wide Web provide effective means for bringing courses to students all over the world and to interact with them by electronic means. The newly available Internet technologies are infrastructural components of a distance education program described in this paper. The program leads to the degree of an International Master of Business Informatics (MBI) . The rationale underlying the program is virtuality . All courses are Internet based, making use of various online and offline network and multimedia features. Students study at home, in their home countries and they communicate via Internet. The courses are held in a virtual School of Business Informatics. The faculty is a network of professors from many European universities