1.

3 Reasons for studying Tele-education

The current Tele-education systems that have been applied in some countries are generally of multipoint
transmission technique. It is found that, this kind of transmission technique having several problems or defects.
Mostly, problems raised during the application of the system. One of the significant problems raised is that, for the
multipoint transmission, the signals or information transmitted by the sender do not completely received by the
receiver. This problem is might be due to error that occurs during the transmission of the signals or information.
Another problem is lag of transmission. For this case, the signals or information transmitted do not arrive at all the
receiver at the same time, for example, the question raised by the lecturer might not received by the students at the
same time and this is not a good environment for Tele-education system. Some receiver receives the signals earlier
than the others and some later or even not receives at all. Therefore, it is important to study the Tele-education
technology from time to time to overcome these problems so that the Tele-education system could provide a more
effective way of learning environment.
In order to have a lecture from, for example, a very famous professor from other country would require him to
come at our place. But the amount of money spent for paying him to give lecture would be very expensive and this
also would cause troublesome for him. However, this problem can be solved with Tele-education system in which the
professor does not need to go anywhere else to give his lecture. This would save a lot of expenses and time.
Another reason is that, in normal classes the learning process would not be very effective if the number of
students in a class is very big. This is because the lecturer alone can not coordinate such a large class. With Teleeducation system, one lecturer could deliver his lecture to as many students as possible effectively in a way that a
large number of students from different sites having the same lecture at once.
1.4 Purpose of Research
The purpose of this research is to study the current Tele-education system that has been applied in some
countries. This study covers the background of Tele-education; that is its definition, the publications of Teleeducation; that is any papers that discuss about Tele-education as a whole, the performance of applied Teleeducation, and also the technology of Tele-education; that is its network architecture. But the main purpose of this
study is to understand the Tele-education system that have been applied in another country and try to implement it in
our country.
1.5 Acronyms
ATM Asynchronous Transfer Mode
CCITT Committee Consultatif International Telegraphique et Telephonique
CPE Customer Premises Equipment
IP Internet Protocol
ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network
ISO International Standard Organization
JAMES Joint ATM Experiment on European Services
LAN Local Area Network
MAC Medium Access Control

Mbone Multicast Backbone

PC Personal Computer
POP Point-of-Presence
PVC Permanent Virtual Channel
QoS Quality of Service
RAT Robust Audio Tool
SLIP Serial Line Internet Protocol
TCP-IP Transmission Control Protocol - Internet Protocol
TES Tele-Educational Service
UI User Interface
VIC Video Conferencing Tool
VP Virtual Path
VPN Virtual Private Network
VSD Virtual Student Desktop
WAN Wide Area Network
WWW World Wide Web
XC Cross Connect
2.0 METHOD OF INVESTIGATION
Since Tele-education is a very new technology that is popularly discussed today, it is quite difficult for me to
find any books that discuss about Tele-education from the library. Therefore, the easiest and the fastest way to gather
information relating this project is via the Internet. I have surfed and found many interesting sites that discuss about
Tele-education. Besides surfing, I also have contacted several people who are involved in this area, Tele-education, by
e-mail . But unluckily, this does not really help because most of them did not reply. Besides using the Internet, I also
get the information for this project from the IEEE Database at the library of Universiti Telekom.
3.0 BACKGROUND STUDY
3.1 Definition of Tele-education
What is Tele-education? Before discussing about what Tele-education means, lets look at what distance
learning is. This is because Tele-education and distance learning are very related to each other. Distance learning is
the acquisition of skills and knowledge through electronic communications that allow student and instructor to be
separate in either in time or space. The to distance learning is asynchronous learning which can be defined loosely
as learning at different time. It is a highly flexible method of training because the sender and receiver do not need to
be synchronized in space or time. But Tele-education is more than that of distance learning. In Tele-education, not

only asynchronous but synchronous learning is also made possible. In other words, Tele-education is the evolution of
distance learning.
As stated before, asynchronous learning environment is not real-time environment. It is a self-study-based
application and is accessed via the Internet to a server. The requirement to the student is only an ordinary PC with
standard software and Internet access. This application is applicable for a large amount of users who can access the
course independent of each other. The combination of the lecture-part, group-work-part, and self-study-part is
another type of Tele-education learning environment, which is synchronous learning. It is a real-time environment. In
this environment, students and lecturers can interact with each other simultaneously.
Tele-education use the technology of video teleconferencing that allows two or more parties at different
geographical area to interact with each other or to have learning process together. But people usually get confused
whether video teleconferencing can be considered as Tele-education as well. Tele-education is actually different with
video teleconferencing in a way that Tele-education usually involve a large number of people as compared to video
teleconferencing, that is, it is in video teleconferencing many people use a single monitor to see other people at other
area but in Tele-education, students have their own monitor that can be used not only to see their lecturer and
colleagues but also to send and receive educational materials.
3.2 Publications of Tele-education
There are many papers discussing about Tele-education. Most of these papers cover only the general or
overall scope of Tele-education. The area of discussion on Tele-education can be summarized as the following:
h Tele-education service
h Content of Tele-education
h Network architecture
h performance of Tele-education
h operation and management of Tele-education
For Tele-education service, it describes about what multimedia tele-service and hyper media service is, and
how it can be integrated into Tele-education service. It also describes about what Tele-education service facilitate.
Content of Tele-education describes about the style or mode of Tele-education system, that is, what kind of education
style used, and how the lecture notes or any materials delivered to all the students. For network architecture, it
describes about the protocol used for the Tele-education system and its network infrastructure. Performance of Teleeducation covers the performance of service of Tele-education and also the network performance. The description of
these performances is from the customer point of view. For the operation and management of Tele-education, it
describes about what should be taken into consideration in order to provide a well managed Tele-education service.
3.3 Examples of Systems
From the study of materials gathered, there are generally three examples of Tele-education system that have
been applied in the Europe and Canada. Those examples are:
h Tele-education NB
h Delta 's Virtual College
h ACTS Project AC052 (RACE Project Report)

The purpose of looking into these examples is to try to understand what kind of Tele-education system is
implemented, how Tele-education can be implemented, to know what are the requirements to implement it, and what
considerations should be taken into consideration for implementing it.
3.3.1 Tele-education NB
Tele-education NB is implemented at the University of New Brunswick, Canada. The present physical network
consists of three independent networks that operate on telephone lines;
h Voice
h SMART 2000 computer teleconferencing
h Computer Mediated Communications using NBNet
The SMART 2000 bridge for computer software sharing and audiographic teleconferencing is owned and
operated by the Tele-education NB. This is accessed by simple dial connections using ordinary telephone lines. This
allows for the computer monitor at each site to show images created by users at the other sites. The software can be
used like an elaborate electronic blackboard, overhead projector, or slide projector. In addition, it is being used for
software sharing at multiple locations.
Data communications are transmitted over NBNet using a SLIP server which resides in a user friendly simple
menu front-end created by Tel-education NB to permit easy access to NBNet and to facilities available. Students and
teachers can access NBNet for uploading and downloading assignments and other course materials. A CD-ROM server
is being set up at the central site and at the University of New Brunswick library for permitting access to different
databases.
Tele-education NB also supports an on-line learning center with a file server located at Mount Allison
University. Information of relevance distance education and the network in particular can be accessed there. In Teleeducation NB, a special listserv is created for internal communications among different sites. As an integral part of the
province's electronic information highway, Tele-education NB is supporting the development of an open, distributed
network, taking advantage of media available. The most widely used delivery modes are audio teleconferencing with
SMART 2000, as well as videoconferencing. However, it is not limiting the network to any one technology, or suite of
technologies. It is actively promoting experimentation and cooperation in the reception and delivery of courses using
other software and media.
Tele-education NB placed routers in the Community College Campus in each region, and other sites in regions
that do not have a college. Initially it operates using 56K connections and will move T1. SMART 2000 runs not only on
regular telephone lines but also on LANs and WANs using Novell, TCP-IP and other telecommunication protocols. Teleeducation NB are now experimenting with synchronous transmissions using the TCP-IP protocol on NBNet. The
Picturetel videoconferencing units existing in province all are CCITT compatible.
Tele-education NB has provided the guidelines for selecting appropriate technology for its network as follows:
h The network shall experiment with different technologies and endeavor not to rely on any one technology
or any supplier.
h Existing equipment and distance education sites in the province shall be integrated into the network
wherever possible.
h The network shall establish computer teleconferencing and computer conferencing links among the sites,
including access to electronic information highway and the Internet.

h Satellite delivery and reception capabilities and upgrading of sites to PC-based videoconferencing will be
investigated for implementation in future.
h Other optional equipment may be placed in sites at the request of users and institutions such as MACs and
CD-ROMs.
h The network should be compatible as much as possible with other provinces and regions.
3.3.2 DELTA's Virtual College
Delta's Virtual College is implemented in Denmark (Europe). It offers the opportunity for students to
participate in desktop Tele-education from their homes or offices. This concept means that individual students
participate in Tele-educational courses using a desktop computer online connected to a course provider.
The user interface is a common Web browser, that is, Netscape Web-browser, extended with loosely
integrated audio and video tools. The educational environment applies the metaphor of a virtual college. The idea is
that students access DELTA's virtual college server when participating in a course. The user interface looks like the
plan of a college. From the college hallway, the student can enter different rooms with different functions. Those
rooms are:
h classrooms where on-line lectures and presentation take place,
h group rooms where on-line cooperative work takes place,
h studies where off-line study such as self-study material, exercises, slides from previous lectures,
supplementary material and links to other sites on the Web take place,
h teacher offices where it is furnished with course administration tools,
h tea room where it is used for informal chat and social contact with fellow students during break.
The following figure, the "floor plan", illustrates those rooms:
Figure 1 : The floor plan
The goal of this virtual college is to integrate different modes of teaching and learning. This includes
synchronous mode like on-line lectures and group exercises as well as asynchronous mode like interactive self study,
participation and threaded bill board conferences and sharing of documents.
The virtual college is run primarily in a local network environment in order easily to monitor and control the
students and technology. Then, when there are several countries participate, each sites are connected by the JAMES
(Joint ATM Experiment on European Services) broadband network.
3.3.3 ACTS Project AC052 (RACE Project Report)
This is a big project on Tele-education. It covers the whole aspects that should be taken into consideration for
implementing Tele-education in Europe such as service aspects, management aspects, network architecture, etc. In
this project, there are several trials have been done in order to obtain an effective Tele-education system. The details
of this will be discussed later throughout this report.
4.0 CONSIDERATIONS

It is not easy to find materials or any papers reporting the architecture of Tele-education. Most of the
materials found are basically discussing about the general idea on what Tele-education system is, for example some
papers discuss about the general system of a Tele-education service offered, its advantages over current educational
environment, etc. However, I managed to find a very interesting material discussing about Tele-education as a whole,
that is the ACTS Project AC052 (RACE Report Project). Therefore, I choose this report as my main reference in doing
my study on Tele-education overall system description covering the architecture.
There are basically five main topics that are going to be discussed in quite detail regarding the Tele-education
as a whole in this report. These main topics are:
h Tele-education service
h Tele-education content
h Network architecture of Tele-education system
h Performance of Tele-education service
h Operation and management of Tele-education service
4.1 Tele-education Service
The multimedia tele-service provides both core and management services. The multimedia tele-services are
briefly described as Video/audio conferencing service, which based on the MBONE (Multicast Backbone) tools VIC
(video conferencing) and RAT (audio conferencing). Hypermedia service allows access to be provided to hypermedia
information stored on a WWW server. The WebStore service is a managed WWW based multimedia document store,
which allows users to store and retrieve arbitrary documents (text, video, audio, etc.), using the well-known interface
of the WWW. The management of the WebStore includes subscription, accounting and access control.
A mapping between the learning forms and the multimedia teleservices has resulted in a list of four basic
paradigms:
a) Self-study
h Individual work with web based course material including exercises and discovery/reference search.
h This paradigm is supported by the hypermedia and WebStore services.
b) Lecture
h Teacher to class presentation.
h Supported by the conferencing and hypermedia services.
c) Group work
h Discussions, exercises or project work performed by the students in groups. This paradigm can also include
shared discovery/reference search.
h It is supported by conferencing, hypermedia, and WebStore services.
d) Consultation

h Student to tutor consultation

h Supported by video/audio conferencing and hypermedia services.
In order to support these four paradigms the multimedia services are integrated into a Tele-educational
Services (TES) which provides both the core service and the management service functionality. The core Teleeducational service provides two user interfaces, one for the teacher and one for the students.
In Tele-educational service, each course, presented as part of Tele-educational service, would involve the
rendering and seamless integration of audio, text, graphics/bitmaps and appropriate video segments, to suit the
presentation of the course material. An educational service would also facilitate the interaction of course participants
with one another in class discussions, as well as with the course tutor. In this way, a course tutor can guide debates
on issues arising from course material and allow participants to exchange views and share experience. This interaction
is very important, as participants need to be encouraged to learn both from the tutored course as well as from each
other's practical experience. This forum of discussion also supports the tutor in assessing feedback from the
participants concerning the comprehension, benefit and effectiveness of a course for participants.
The educational service could also facilitate access to simulation environments and 'live systems', which are
parts of the participant's course material. For example, it could provide access to specific commercial database
information, which would be part of a Database Modeling course. In this way, access may be gained to systems and
information, which would otherwise not be available on the participant's site. Course could be taken when the
participant's work schedules permitted. Similarly, participant/participant interaction could be scheduled flexibly. An
educational service can be seen as incorporating several interaction (tele-services) and course presentation
mechanism, for example, multimedia presentation tools conferencing, e-mail or notice board systems.
The following is an example of service layer used in the ACTS Project AC052:
Figure 2 : Service Layer
In the ACTS Project AC052, there are two Tele-educational courses offered as a trial of the management
service. These courses are " An Introduction to ATM " and " An Introduction to Relational Databases and SQL ".
4.1.1 An Introduction to ATM
The course includes both synchronous and asynchronous delivery methods. The duration of the course is three
to four days with approximately three hours of teaching and studying each day. The course consists of five lectures,
three self study modules and three group exercises with a follow-up discussion of the results. The different modules
and modes of the course are conducted in a Tele-educational environment which includes course outline information, a
database of participants with pictures and CVs, a WWW billboard supporting off-line discussions, access to a WebStore
and a tea-room which participants can visit for informal chats.
The lectures are performed by using video/audio conference tools. A system was used to show slides on the
participants web-browsers. The self study modules contained web pages with information to read and small built-in
exercises. The group exercises consist of a number of questions to be answered by the group and returned to the
teacher for correction afterwards. When the teacher has corrected the answers they are discussed in a conference
with all the participants.
In the first trial a shared editor was introduced for use in group exercises. The shared editor is a tool for
synchronous collaboration on smaller texts, and is meant to complement the chat and whiteboard tools used in earlier
trials. An illustration of the new shared editor can be found below.
In the second trial, a new floorcontrol-system for use during lectures as well as a complete new graphical
design of the virtual learning environment was tested. The floorcontrol system was used by the teacher during

lectures, to determine which students wanted to ask a question, and to mute or unmute the microphones and video
cameras accordingly.
A new graphical design of the User Interface (UI) was introduced, in an attempt to create an even more
homogenous UI. The floorplan metaphore was kept, but new images and controls where implemented throughout the
environment.
4.1.2 An Introduction to Relational Databases and SQL
This course covered the theoretical principles of relational database technology as well as supporting the
hands-on skills of using relational database language (SQL). Students took the course over a three day period, for two
hours each day. At the beginning of the course a one hour lecture outlined the objectives of the course and provided
an introduction to the topics. The educational content comprised of text, graphics, and animation and was divided into
four sections, consisting of a total of twenty one modules (a module typically being 1-5 pages). The course was made
available via the Prospect Tele-educational environment.
On accessing the course, a separate courseware browser window was opened, called the Virtual Student
Desktop (VSD). All student interactions with the courseware are facilitated via this VSD. The Tele-educational
environment is also accessible by the student for conferencing and synchronous interaction. The VSD is rendered as a
set of WWW windows, frames, tool bar and icons. All native WWW browser buttons are suppressed (hidden) so as not
to distract the user from the main goal of education. A tool bar specially designed for educational use is provided by
the VSD at the bottom of the screen. From this tool bar the student is able to contact tutors or fellow students
(asynchronously), access external systems, as well as navigate and interact with the educational course material.
Figure 3 illustrates a page from a module in the course, and shows the educational toolbar at the bottom of the screen
and an index of the topics dealt with by this particular module in the course on the left hand side of the screen.
Figure 3 : page from module in the course
Overall the course comprised several different types of information: Administrative (i.e. how to use the course
etc.); A database of (self contained) modules; Indexes or Roadmaps of specific courses through various modules;
Evaluation Forms and a Case Study.
The roadmaps were important as the modules can be combined in several ways to satisfy the different
requirements for different student objectives. Each roadmap corresponds to different learning objectives of the RDBMS
course. Thus the roadmaps provide a means of re-using existing modules with as little redundancy as possible of
educational material and administrative overhead.
A significant feature of the system was to provide direct access to a real commercial RDBMS via the same
interface as the educational course. The relational DBMS is seamlessly integrated into the student educational
desktop. Thus the tool bar offered by the VSD contains an icon which allows students to issue SQL queries on a live
database. The idea of this is to deliberately blur the distinction between the educational environment and the
target systems. This encourages students to try out various parts of the course before attempting a larger
project.
Another feature was the ability of the student to store references to distinct locations in the course material
(bookmarks). Traditionally these are stored locally on the students machine. However this has disadvantages as
students rarely use the same machine all the time. The VSD allows such bookmarks to be stored within the
educational service and are thus (privately) accessible to an individual student at any time. Also if the student has
logged off the course and logs back on, the VSD allows him/her the ability to resume at his/her most recent position
or restart at the beginning.
Various forms of on-line tutorials are embedded into the course. True or False and Multiple Choice
Questions are supported, with automatic correction and notification of marks to the student. Form based (short
unstructured text style) answers are also facilitated in some tutorials. In these cases the student answers are

automatically delivered to course tutors for subsequent correction. Also integrated into the course are evaluation
forms which, when completed, are automatically submitted and stored for later analysis by course tutors. The VSD
provides buttons to contact other class members or to seek tutor assistance. Again, this is offered via WWW forms and
integrated transparently with an email delivery system.
4.2 Tele-education Content
There are several modes of educational interaction, which could be supported by a virtual theatre/study room.
These would include lecture presentation, course material presentation and browsing, self-study, group work (shared
application/work, class discussions, group presentations), consultation (tutor/participant, participant/participant),
tutorial sessions, virtual coffee room/virtual lounge, and continuous assessment. There are also some other form of
learning that have been identified. These forms of learning are:
h Self learning
h delivery of formatted courses material for students own study
h Lecture presentation
h a one-to-many presentation by the tutor of course or organizational material.
h Exercises
h the facility to perform exercises either in groups or individually
h Project work
h the development of sizeable projects using software outside the teaching environment.
h Discovery/Reference research
h ability to locate and access background or supplemental learning material
h Seminar/Class discussion groups
h many-to-many communication between participants.
h Consultation
h private one-to-one communication between participants.
There is some overtap between these learning forms. For example, exercises, project work,
discovery/reference search can be part of the self-learning form, but all of learning forms are listed here for
completeness.
It has been pointed out that not only should the different modes of teaching be supported in the Teleeducational environment but also the different styles of learning adopted by the students need to be supported. So for
instance students who like to annotate their work or their course material should be facilitated in doing so. This is very
much in the spirit of hypertext origins of the WWW. Another point raised is that multimedia activity in the virtual
classroom should be captured and associated with relevant course material. For instance, the teachers comments on a
particular slide could be captured with the slide in question. Also the conversation of students working on group could
also be recorded and stored with the exercise.

Course material could be presented as a hyper-document with the participant capable of navigating through
the document or choosing the prescribed ordering of the presentation. In addition, the participant could also be given
access to the more traditional learning material, for example, notes, books, etc. Course assignments could also be
electronically submitted to promote fast feedback on performance. An important element of assignments and project
work is the need to allow participants to co-operate in groups.
4.3 Network Architecture of Tele-education System
From the application's point of view, network operates as IP (Internet Protocol) network routing both multicast
and unicast IP packets. Connection from network level to the Q-adapters managing the switches communicate via ISO
stack over X.25 links, but apart from this instances all network infrastructure is in support of IP traffic. This network
structure connects seven sites.
The aim of the logical network infrastructure is to provide stable network interconnections as well as to be
managed to some extent by the network management, and to provide a working, broadband network infrastructure
while also supporting an enterprise model suitable for multi-domain environment. For the separate customer
networks, each sites posses of LANs of Ethernet, or mixed ATM/Ethernet LAN technologies. For maximum efficiency of
scarce international, broadband resources, only one site in each countries (that taking part in Tele-education system)
are connected. The connection, internationally connected customer sites access the public network ATM service via an
ATM cross-connect (ATM XC) providing ATM public network provider's Point-of-Presence (POP) in each of relevant
countries. Each customer sites posses ATM Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) which is used to interconnect ATM
public network with local routers. For the connection within the same country, it is performed via leased lines between
routers at internationally connected customer sites and sites not connected to ATM public network provider. The ATM
CPEs at internationally connected sites and routers at all customer sites managed by VPN (Virtual Private Network)
provider. It is performed in concert with management of ATM public service by VPN provider to provide Intranet style
connectivity between hosts on customer site LANs. This network is quite complicated because it connects seven sites
in four countries and consisting of the following core components:
h Four ATM LANs
h Seven Ethernet based LANs
h Four ATM Cross Connects
h Eight static IP routes
h Seven multicast routers
h Two 2 Mbps leased lines
h Ten International ATM links (virtual path)
h One basic rate ISDN link
The following is the figure of logical network infrastructure:
Figure 4 : Logical Network Infrastructure.
The ATM infrastructure that represents ATM public network provider consists of a single ATM XC at each
internationally connected sites. These XCs are interconnected by permanent VPs (Virtual Paths). The ATM CPE at each
site based on one or more Fore System ASX-200 switches. It is employed as logically separate ATM LANs besides as
providing ATM access between public network and routers at each site. The following is the figure of ATM
configuration.

Figure 5 : ATM Configuration.

The IP configuration consists of routers at each connected sites being connected by Permanent Virtual Channel
(PVC) running over VPs. The routing function at each site performed either by dedicated hardware router or by
workstations running routing daemon software. Routing of multicast IP packets (used for multimedia conferencing
applications) is not fully supported by most current IP routers, therefore, routing performed by multicast routing
daemon (mrouteds) running on workstations. The mrouteds are interconnected by unicast IP tunnels, which can be
used to be routed via routers together with all other unicast traffic. The IP tunnels between mrouted at internationally
connected sites used the second sets of VPs. This supports partition of multicast traffic from other unicast traffic and
thus enables provision of more deterministic Quality of Service (QoS) for multimedia conferencing application.
For external infrastructure, the aim is to provide international ATM links between IP routers at the customer
sites. Parallel VPs are used between each pair of sites; one for multicast routing and another one for unicast routing.
Figure 6 : The network configuration
Reflecting the contemporary trends in multimedia and information services, all software communication is over
IP, including management system traffic. For the network infrastructures that are conducted at a single site, the
requirement its network is fairly simple, requiring simply Ethernet connection to support IP communication between
PCs and workstations. If the system includes the management of connections over IP switches, then the network
infrastructure would include both a representative public network ATM cross connect and customer premises network
ATM work-group switch (a FORE systems ASX200). These are connected and configured with multiple VPs to emulate
a network with a larger number of nodes. IP routing functions in this network are provided by the SPARC workstations
with ATM interface cards performing IP forwarding.
The following is the network configuration of this kind of network:
Figure 7 : Network configuration
For this network configuration, the TES Customer is able to request the set-up of a new connection to the TES
provider. The TES provider then requested the VPN provider to do likewise. The VPN provider made a request to the
Public Network Provider and Customer Premises Network Provider to ensure that the end-to-end IP/ATM connection
was in place for the TES Customer. This is the goal for the configuration scenario.
One of the most important on an ATM network level management system is to provide end-to-end connectivity
across constituent ATM network element, and so support the connectivity provisioning with fault management and
quality of service features. Challenged by these requirements, a system that is able to set up ATM Virtual Paths and to
correlate faulty conditions, determining how these fault effect the connectivity for each end user has been built. The
following is the Network infrastructure of this system:
Figure 8 : Network infrastructure
The figure shows that all the network equipment is connected to one Ethernet hub, that is, the hub that acts
as a backbone for one Public Network domain and two Customer Premises Networks. In reality, this hub could be
partitioned into a number of internets that are inter-connected by routers, also known as the Internet.
For the network that is required to operate over six sites in four different countries, would require a much
more comprehensive network infrastructure. This infrastructure consisted of an ATM VP service, leased lines, and the
internal ATM and IP network infrastructure. The following is the example of this network infrastructure :
Figure 9 : Network infrastructure
4.4 Performance of Tele-educational Service

4.4.1 Courses
There were two courses, both aimed at students with above average prior knowledge of computing and/or
computer networks. The first, an introduction to SQL, was a self-study course, consisting mainly of modules of written
text with assessments based on these. The second course, an introduction to ATM, was led by a tutor and involved
varied methods of delivery, including lecture/seminar, individual study and group work. Students were therefore
expected to interact both with one another and with the tutor. This course, too, included assessment modules.
Both of the courses were offered over a three-day period and students were expected to participate for three
half days. Within this time, those taking the SQL course was able to pace their own study. On the ATM course, the
students use of the different resources was timetabled and directed by the tutor. Time was divided between events,
such as lectures, at which all students were expected to be present, and study time, during which they would work
through a series of modules, with assessment associated with each one.
4.4.2 Students
There were 16 students on the more interactive of the two courses, the Introduction to ATM, and a similar
number on the self-paced study course, An Introduction to SQL. All the students appeared to be experienced
computer users. This has to be accepted as necessary in a trial such as this , which takes place in the context of a
research project which uses leading edge technology, some of it is still being tested. The prototypical nature of parts
of the system may make unusual demands on the students, such as imposing unexpected delays. Having students
who appreciate the difficulties may well be important. Having said this, it appeared that although they were
knowledgeable about computers, these students were not experts in networked multimedia technology, and did need
some initial training in the use of the software. This was given prior to the start of the course.
The courses were clearly directed at this target group, as their titles suggest. The students also stated that
they had a genuine wish to learn the subjects being offered and that this was a major motivating factor. They were
also paid for their participation, which may have helped improve their persistence when there were technical hitches.
4.4.3 System
The system used for the ATM course is described here. Those taking the SQL course used only those parts
suited to self study. There are three main elements: audio, and video communications channels support a Teleeducation system built on a web-browser base, but with considerable functionality added.
The audio tool, rat, allows participants to receive and transmit audio, to identify who is speaking, control the
volume of incoming and outgoing audio streams. Since this tool was developed as a research platform, there are
many extra features which the average end-user is not likely to use in an application such as this one, for example,
the facility to change the audio encoding scheme. The tools basic functionality is easy to learn and use.
The video tool, vic, also offers functionality suitable for its use as a platform for research into networked video.
For the non-expert, however, the most important features are that multiple users can send and receive video
simultaneously and that they can control some features of both display and capture/transmission (image size and
frame rate are two examples). Video images can be displayed at various sizes from thumbnail image to CIF. Enlarging
images does, however, involve creating a new window for each one.
Students access the Tele-education system via a web browser and navigate within it using hypertext links,
buttons and active areas of images. Initial access is password protected and the system supports the notion of groups
and hence, presumably of multiple classes and tutorial groups.
The interface is based on the metaphor of an educational institution, a building divided into rooms whose
function most students will be able to predict from their real-life experience of education: classroom, tea room, hall,
office, library and seminar room. Users are presented with an aerial view of the layout, in which the rooms are
labeled. They gain access to a room by clicking on the appropriate part of this image. The resulting window sometimes

maintains the metaphor but is more often mainly textual - a list of hypertext links, for example. Once "in" a room,
students have access to the resources they need for the part of the course they are taking.
As might be assumed from the description, the system is intended to support a mixed mode of course
delivery, including lectures, group discussions and assignments, individual study, assessment with feedback. The
existence of the office implies that students can also access relevant course administrative information. The Hall and
tea rooms suggest that the intention is also to support less formal, social interactions.
4.4.4 Positive Findings
The courses both seemed to be appropriate for the target group. Students reported that they believed they
had learned a considerable amount and felt they would retain the important points. The pacing of the study also
seemed successful.
The tutor clearly had a sense that this was a real class in a real institution and made considerable efforts to
generate a relaxed and positive atmosphere. Use of students names, and greeting them as soon as they logged in,
contributed to this. This is no mean achievement, given the constraints. The tutor tended to refer to the environment
as if it were a real place, arranging with students, for example, to "meet in the tea room" or telling them to "go to the
library". Whether the students shared this perception is less clear. This may be due to the short time available to
become familiar with it. It would be interesting to see whether the environment would become more "real" to the
students over a longer course.
The room-based structure therefore seems to have been successful. The metaphor seems to have been well
chosen, since students seemed to have appropriate expectations of each "room". None of them appeared to have
difficulty navigating between different rooms. Observation did show that some students had to scroll up and down
repeatedly, however, when they were working on individual study texts. This seemed particularly to be the case where
they found the material more difficult. Again, there was no sign that they were unsure of where to go or had difficulty
in navigation.
In terms of course delivery, the trial showed that students experienced considerable variety in the ATM course
(inevitably less so in the SQL course). Not only this, but the tutor seemed able to exploit the flexibility of the system
and to direct the student to alternative areas of study from what had been planned originally, if necessary. One of the
problems with distance education is that such flexibility can be harder to achieve than in a face-to-face situation, so
this is promising and an interesting result of having different applications integrated in this way. It also has a
pragmatic use: given technical problems in one area, it was possible to shift students to another activity quite easily.
Interactivity, both structured and casual was potentially considerable. The shared whiteboard used for group
work was perceived by students as a good feature. It seemed, however, that they did not all realize at first that they
could write and draw on it. Perhaps this should be pointed out in the introductory sessions, or the whiteboard should
be accompanied by a short explanatory note. It would also be fair to say that this was not a long enough trial to
assess usability of this part of the system.
In the limited time it was also not easy for students to establish relationships. The system and the way the
tutor used it did encourage students to get to know one another since, for example, one of the first activities for
students was to upload their CVs and pictures and to browse through those of other students.
The level of concentration appeared to be high. Naturally, as in a classroom, there were moments when
students attention moved away from the subject of study but these were not frequent. Interestingly, they usually
stayed at the workstation but moved to another activity such as reading e-mail. The students observed "live"
appeared to maintain concentration despite considerable background noise and other potential distractions. This is not
a surprise, since other computer-based teaching and learning trials have drawn similar conclusions - but it is another
promising feature.

At best, the material with which the students were engaged appeared well designed for delivery on a
computer screen. The information was "packaged" into manageable chunks and was visually stimulating. Diagrams,
colour and animation were used effectively, and the layout was clear and appealing. As the next section suggests,
however, not all of the written material was so suitable for this method of presentation.
Feedback was given to students both by the tutor, during discussions (for the ATM course), and as a result of
assessments done at the end of each module. Students appeared to take these assessments seriously and were
observed to return to the relevant part of the notes when unsure or when they had given an incorrect answer. The
scope of this evaluation did not extend to assessing the course design or the assessment methods, but it is worth
mentioning that the regular assessment seems to have been a successful feature of the course.
Awareness of other students is something that is hard to achieve in distance education. Interestingly, with the
audio channel left open during private study periods, it appeared that students experienced something similar to
working in a library with other students around them. They were able to hear conversations and could have asked
questions if they needed to. The potential disadvantage is that the additional background noise might interfere with
concentration. It would probably be worth investigating whether the availability or otherwise of the audio channel
makes a difference to students.
4.5 Operation and Management of Tele-education Service
A vital element of any service is the reliability, configurability and administration of that service. In order to
ensure success of an educational service from both the participants and tutors perspectives, the delivered service
must be well managed and monitored. It is crucially important to realize the software and procedures necessary to
manage and deliver Tele-educational services over broadband networks.
Four basic principles for successful teaching in a virtual classroom environment have been identified as
h media richness,
h interaction,
h timely responsiveness and
h organization of materials.
Media richness and interaction mechanisms can be satisfied by the educational services described earlier. The
organization of course materials and the insurance of timely response by systems, participants and tutors are goals of
the management service. During the delivery of a course, there is a significant mass of material presented to
participants as well as a high degree of interactive responses amongst participants. Unless this mass of materials is
organized and interaction controlled, participants can become confused and disillusioned. Proper maintenance and
management of the dissemination of material must be put in place to provide an effective learning environment.
Segregation of material, both between and within course modules should also be supported. The strategy of
participant-paced learning is important so as to ensure that the class moves through the modules of a course
together in order for the interactions to be meaningful.
Timely responsiveness has also been identified as a key requirement for Tele-education. Thus access to course
material, as well as other participants and tutors, should be reliable and timely. To achieve successful operation of the
tele-educational service, participant (on-site) software should be configurable for a wide range of computing
environments. Also participation of the class members should be manageable e.g. course registration, controlling
access to class discussions, automatic collection/distribution of assignments and projects etc. The on-line
management system should provide the range of services as required by each course leader.
5.0 CONCLUSION

Tele-education system is a very new emerging technology. It has been applied in Europe and Canada, and is
still under study in order to improve it from time to time.
From this project, it is known that Tele-education is a revolution of distance learning in which distance learning
basically only provides asynchronous learning environment. But Tele-education has improved it by providing both
asynchronous and synchronous learning environment.
After studying all the materials found for this material, it was found that Tele- education is not easy to
implement. This is because there are a lot of things need to be considered before implementing such as what kind of
network structures available, what kind of service can be provided by network service provider, what is the most
suitable network for interconnection among the involved sites, etc. Another reason is that, after implementing it, there
need to have several trials on the service to look at its efficiency which would take a long time.
In general, it can be concluded that Tele-education is becoming popular as the emerging of multimedia
technology. Its advantages that could overcome the problem in current learning environment also has made it a
preferable way of learning process.

What is Tele-education?
Recent advances in video conferencing have brought about numerous new options for tele-education. Teleeducation, or distance learning, delivers the course content remotely via several means. Usually the classes are
taught on a self-paced basis, meaning that the students are responsible for learning the course on their own.
For that reason, pupils who are unable to organize their time well are not good candidates for distance
learning.
Educational and instructional television were the first forms of tele-education. Modern technology has
expanded the parameters to include web conferencing and video conferencing. That paved the way for
universities to offer classes to special needs students and the general public. Some accredited universities offer
their entire course catalog online. Other virtual universities dont even have a campus. Their courses are only
offered via standard mail and video conferencing.
Some distance learning classes are synchronized. Classes are presented at a regular time and day every week,
and all students are expected to participate together. Both synchronous and asynchronous tele-education might
require you to purchase printed materials; watch pre-recorded video lessons; participate on message boards
and forums; listen to audio recordings and communicate with the instructor by e-mail or instant messaging.
Some hybrid courses permit tele-education but require their students to take the final exam in person.
Three Benefits of Tele-education
Here are three excellent benefits to studying via video conferencing or telepresence:
1. More Flexible Schedule
Distance learners study at their convenience. Classes can be taken whenever the time is right for you. If you
have a day job, you can study in the evening. If you work the graveyard shift, you can study in the morning. If
youre a night owl, you have the option to study when the rest of the class is sleeping. Tele-education is great
for full-time workers who cant attend regular classes. Single mothers can take classes after their kids are in

bed. If you have an upcoming vacation, you can double-up on your studies to pick up the slack. Should you
become ill, you can always catch up when youre feeling better.
2. Lower Costs
Because they dont have to maintain classrooms or keep the grounds tidy, tuition at virtual universities is
usually cheaper than brick and mortar schools. In some cases, you can use online texts and e-books to save
money on course materials. Plus, youll save time and money by taking the courses in the privacy of your
home. You wont have to spend 30 minutes in traffic, youll avoid wasting gas on the trip and you can use that
extra time to study harder or take care of chores and appointments.
3. More Options for the Student
Unless you live in a town that is home to a great university, youll probably find more course options offered
on-line. If you live in Kentucky, you can take classes from a university that specializes in film production in Los
Angeles. By taking classes from across the country, youll avoid having to relocate to another city. Moving and
settling in can steal your income and eat away at your energy. By staying at home to study, you get extra time
daily to devote to your classwork. Youll also have more money to spend.
Some students in countries like India and Africa live so far from a university that tele-education is their only
chance to get a degree. For those students, video conferencing is a major aid in their quest for an education.
With a high-speed Internet connection, you can study with the best of them. Nearly every major university
offers online versions of their courses. The student experience is changing with every click of the mouse and
every advance in video conferencing. Tele-education is an idea whose promise has been fulfilled with the arrival
of the Internet

Abstract
Tele-education has been used for many years to deliver continuing education programmes
to rural health-care professionals. The main modes are audio, video and computer. Audio
technologies involve the transmission of the spoken word (voice) between learners and
instructors, either synchronously or asynchronously. Examples of the former include
audioconferencing and short-wave radio; examples of the latter include audiotape or
audiocassette. Video for distance learning, like audio, can be used in either synchronous or
asynchronous fashion. Videoconferencing, or interactive television, are considered
synchronous because there is the opportunity for live visual and verbal interaction between
instructors and learners. Asynchronous instructional video tools include slow-scan video,
interactive videodiscs and videotapes. Computer-assisted learning or instruction can be
defined as any learning that is mediated by a computer and which requires no direct
interaction between the user and a human instructor in order to run. It is becoming
increasingly common. Examples include: the Internet and World Wide Web, email,
synchronous and asynchronous computer-mediated communication applications and
interactive multimedia applications on CD-ROM. Tele-education technologies have an
important role to play in addressing the professional isolation which is experienced by rural
and remote health-care professionals.

Objectives
Three objectives for introducing new technologies into education can be cited:

Integrate the Tools of our Time into the Current Educational Process
It takes time to introduce new methods of education. Phases for the exploration, evaluation
and adaptation of new ideas, in which the imagination plays a major role, are necessary.
These phases will be undertaken in the educational institutions themselves.
The people who will derive benefits from these technologies are very numerous but, among
them, two categories are worthy of our attention, namely:

Those who receive education pupils, students, professionals in continuing

education must take into account the new means of access to, and of
communication with, their teachers
Those who deliver knowledge must learn to communicate amongst themselves to
exchange, and also to share, their ideas and their experiences, so that their teaching
skills evolve.

The immediate aim of this integration is the small for all teachers, pupils and
professionals. It is to familiarize themselves with the use of modern day means of
communications and expression, which will, beyond all doubt, be indispensable to all
citizens of the developed countries in the first decade of the new millennium.
Enrich and Modernise the content of the Subjects Taught
The facility and speed offered by global networks create new fields of international
exchange between partners not only of the same trade, but also of different cultures, and
this is unquestionably a chance for enrichment and for other opportunities in conditions
which were unimaginable just a few years ago. In addition they provide the Frenchspeaking world with an extra opportunity to radiate out and to open up, enabling it to
strengthen its cultural links, which already unite the world of French expression. They
also fit into, and remain deeply entrenched in, the cultural and international context by
means of a better diffusion of our knowledge and an easy, direct access to that of others,
notably that of the English-speaking world.
Offer Everyone the Access to Knowledge in an Egalitarian Way
The use of these new technologies in the world of education has the aim of rendering
more equitable the diffusion of knowledge. Thus it promotes each individuals equality of
opportunity in the field of education and, by this means, aims to reduce academic
failures. It should reduce disparities between the urban and rural zones, and the
inequalities of opportunities arising from cultural or social differences.

What is Tele-education?
Recent advances in video conferencing have brought about numerous new options for teleeducation. Tele-education, or distance learning, delivers the course content remotely via
several means. Usually the classes are taught on a self-paced basis, meaning that the
students are responsible for learning the course on their own. For that reason, pupils who
are unable to organize their time well are not good candidates for distance learning.

Educational and instructional television were the first forms of tele-education. Modern
technology has expanded the parameters to include web conferencing and video
conferencing. That paved the way for universities to offer classes to special needs students
and the general public. Some accredited universities offer their entire course catalog online.
Other virtual universities dont even have a campus. Their courses are only offered via
standard mail and video conferencing.
Some distance learning classes are synchronized. Classes are presented at a regular time
and day every week, and all students are expected to participate together. Both synchronous
and asynchronous tele-education might require you to purchase printed materials; watch
pre-recorded video lessons; participate on message boards and forums; listen to audio
recordings and communicate with the instructor by e-mail or instant messaging. Some hybrid
courses permit tele-education but require their students to take the final exam in person.

Three Benefits of Tele-education

Here are three excellent benefits to studying via video conferencing or telepresence:

1. More Flexible Schedule

Distance learners study at their convenience. Classes can be taken whenever the time is
right for you. If you have a day job, you can study in the evening. If you work the graveyard
shift, you can study in the morning. If youre a night owl, you have the option to study when
the rest of the class is sleeping. Tele-education is great for full-time workers who cant attend
regular classes. Single mothers can take classes after their kids are in bed. If you have an
upcoming vacation, you can double-up on your studies to pick up the slack. Should you
become ill, you can always catch up when youre feeling better.

2. Lower Costs
Because they dont have to maintain classrooms or keep the grounds tidy, tuition at virtual
universities is usually cheaper than brick and mortar schools. In some cases, you can use
online texts and e-books to save money on course materials. Plus, youll save time and
money by taking the courses in the privacy of your home. You wont have to spend 30
minutes in traffic, youll avoid wasting gas on the trip and you can use that extra time to
study harder or take care of chores and appointments.

3. More Options for the Student

Unless you live in a town that is home to a great university, youll probably find more course
options offered on-line. If you live in Kentucky, you can take classes from a university that
specializes in film production in Los Angeles. By taking classes from across the country,
youll avoid having to relocate to another city. Moving and settling in can steal your income
and eat away at your energy. By staying at home to study, you get extra time daily to devote
to your classwork. Youll also have more money to spend.

Some students in countries like India and Africa live so far from a university that teleeducation is their only chance to get a degree. For those students, video conferencing is a
major aid in their quest for an education.
With a high-speed Internet connection, you can study with the best of them. Nearly every
major university offers online versions of their courses. The student experience is changing
with every click of the mouse and every advance in video conferencing. Tele-education is an
idea whose promise has been fulfilled with the arrival of the Internet.

Tele-education to be launched in government schools soon, The government

and IIMB to jointly implement the project.
Bangalore: The Department of Primary and Secondary Education and the Indian Institute of
Management Bangalore (IIMB) will jointly launch tele-education in government schools. The
collaboration announced in the State Budget will be an extension of the pilot project
implemented in 2010-12.
The Satellite and Advanced Multimedia Education (SAME) project, introduced in 14
government high schools in Gubbitaluk, aimed at addressing the obstacles in the present
system by providing satellite-based training for students of Classes 8 to 10 in mathematics,
science and English. Animation and other innovative multimedia platforms have been
integrated with the school curriculum to help students.
G. Kumar Naik, Principal Secretary, Primary and Secondary Education, said the government
was planning to implement the project in the present academic year. While the finer details
and logistics are yet to be worked out, the scale of implementation could be bigger; it will
definitely not be just a pilot project, he added. GopalNaik, Professor of Economics and
Social Sciences, and chairperson, Centre of Excellence for Urban Development, IIM-B,
told The Hindu : We have not decided on the number of schools/ districts as yet because
the criteria can either be the performance of government high schools or the district average
in pass percentage. We hope to finalise it within a few weeks. He said the research team of
the Centre for Public Policy, IIM-B, created a design for an effective and sustainable
Common Service Centre in rural India based on the findings of a study on Nemmadi
Centres. They invited public and private sector organisations to form a consortium to
implement the project. This was supported by the e-governance and the Department of
Rural Development and Panchayat Raj.
We found improvements in pass percentages in 14 schools with the introduction of teleeducation. I will attribute the success to quality inputs good teachers in the studio who
could explain concepts very well; animation, which played a big role in making concepts
clear; and the interactive nature of classes which had question and answer sessions,
Prof.Naik said. Asked if there would be a difference in the implementation of the project in its
second innings, he said, We do not see the need to do anything differently at this stage but
if need be, we can spread the classes over one whole academic year. Last time, we did it for
a shorter period. Now there is enough time to plan. We have fine-tuned the technology.
These classes will be very useful and relevant now because the State Board syllabus has
been upgraded.

Tele-education in Post Graduate, Under Graduate, Diploma and Certificate

Programmes from the world class Indian Universities over Pan-African eNetwork.
Pan-African e-Network Project is a joint initiative of the Government of India and African
Union and is funded by the Government of India at a cost of US$116 Million. It aims at
imparting tele-education to 10000 students of African countries participating in the project,
using modern information communication technologies, from some of the top notch
universities of India. The eligible students enrolled in various programmes will be required to
attend the classes in the learning centre set up in each member country as part of the
project.

Post Graduate (PG), Under Graduate (UG), Diploma and Certificate programmes in the field
of management business and finance, engineering, & technology, computer science &
information technology, international languages English, French, Germany and Arabic are
available from the Indian universities namely Indira Gandhi National Open University, Amity
University, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, University of Delhi and University of
Madras.
Course content, structure, eligibility criteria, duration of each of the programmes offered are
made available at the website www.panafricanenetwork.com.

Learning centres connect to the Indian universities as per pre-defined lecture schedule
available at the Tele-Education portal. Highly experienced faculty shall deliver the live,
interactive lectures from the Tele-education studio set up of the respective Indian
universities. A unique feature of the tele-education system in the project is the offline access
to the lecture contents stored in the database at the Datacentre , through internet for review
learning.

Hughes Communications India Provides Managed Tele-Education Network for

Medical Students
Delhi Academy of Medical Sciences is first to offer satellite-based, online
coaching service
New Delhi, India, September 9, 2013Hughes Communications India Limited (HCIL), a
subsidiary of Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES), the global leader in broadband
satellite networks and services, today announced that it will provide a managed teleeducation network to the Delhi Academy of Medical Sciences for post-graduation medical
coaching. The satellite-based, online service will assist medical students in attaining success
in NEET/AIIMS/PGI and other post-graduate medical exams.
With a network of over one million schools and 18,000 higher educational institutions, India
has one of the largest educational systems in the world, and the online education market is
forecasted to grow to $40 billion by 2017. As the leading satellite communications provider in

the country, HCIL is helping such institutions expand their reach and accessibility across
India, and plans to offer its tele-education solutions to other renowned medical institutes.
Dr. Sumer Sethi, director, Delhi Academy of Medical Sciences, said, This technology is
bound to help medical students, particularly those based in tier II-III cities. We have the
largest face-to-face classroom network in India with 30 classrooms. We are looking to
leverage the advantages of satellite technology from Hughes, pioneers in tele-education and
e-learning software to reach out to more students. So far, medical students who have
participated have really loved the concept.
Shivaji Chatterjee, vice president, HCIL commented, India has the highest number of
medical institutes in the world, yet many students around the country are not able to access
quality education because of geographical limitations. This initiative represents a paradigm
shift in medical education, as it will dramatically increase the accessibility of knowledge to
every corner of the countryemploying our latest, most cost-effective and user-friendly
technology platforms.
Hughes advanced tele-education networks provide a virtual face-to-face experience with
high-quality, high-clarity and direct eye contact, including two-way voice interaction and chatbased queries. Now students from the most remote areas of the country will have access to
the same faculty as students in Delhi and other metro cities.
About Hughes Communications India
HCIL is a majority owned subsidiary of Hughes Network Systems, LLC (Hughes), the world's
largest provider of broadband satellite networks and services. HCIL is the largest satellite
service operator in India providing a comprehensive range of broadband networking
technologies, solutions, and services for businesses and governments, including Managed
Services to meet every communications challenge. More information is available at
www.hughes.in.
About Hughes Network Systems
Hughes Network Systems, LLC (Hughes) is the worlds leading provider of satellite
broadband for home and office, delivering innovative network technologies, managed
services, and solutions for enterprises and governments globally. HughesNet is the #1
high-speed satellite Internet service in the marketplace, with offerings to suit every budget.
To date, Hughes has shipped more than 3.3 million systems to customers in over 100
countries, representing over 50 percent market share. Its products employ global standards
approved by the TIA, ETSI and ITU organizations, including IPoS/DVB-S2, RSM-A, and
GMR-1.

Tele-Education Service Delivery - A Pilot Project in North East States

Description
IT Driven Citizen Centric Services in the NE States, a project funded by Department of
Electronic and Information Technology (Deity), was undertaken by NIC. The tele-education
as one of the proposed services was selected which was intended to give fair opportunity to

the students of North East States to compete in all India entrance examinations by bringing
better quality education at the door step of their remotely located schools. The delivery of
this service was started in selected schools as a pilot project during 2009-10 & 2010-11
academic sessions. Over 2100 students in each academic session were registered through
online registration process and they were given printed books/course materials on physics,
chemistry, biology & mathematics. This tele-education service delivery coupled with SMS
service was widely appreciated by respective North East state governments, schools,
students and their parent. Major Activities: 1. Workshop of Commissioner (Education) /
Director (Education) of North East states 2. Workshop of Principals and coordinators of
schools. Over 150 participants attended the workshop 3. Schools have been provided
NICNET connectivity through VPN over Broadband or Wi-Max 4. Schools have been
equipped with two PC, LCD Projector, UPS, Sound system, Wireless microphone 5. Online
Service Delivery on NICNET 6. Subject & Topic-wise recorded sessions available over web
site for offline reference.

Time Lab and Education

Innovative concepts for distributed education

Tele-education promises to expand access to learning opportunities and support life-long

continuing education. General experience has demonstrated that information is better
understood and retained if it directly addresses the student. To this end, successful teleeducation hinges on the use of media technologies that support synchronous learning the
real-time, interactive transmission of educational content. The end result is a virtual
classroom capable of addressing all major types of learning:

School and university education

Continuing education

User training (for example, instructions for new products and product features)

A key advantage of this kind of tele-education lies in the opportunity to provide synchronous
learning opportunities independent of geographic location. This option may be called on for
organizational reasons (avoiding travel and accommodation costs) or to support specific
educational policies (expanding educational opportunities to rural areas that would not
normally have access to them).
Similar technologies can be used to support teleconferencing for businesses and
organizations interested in reducing meeting and administrative costs. One key problem with
existing teleconferencing tools is that they do not allow users to pick up and parse nonverbal cues. With immersive media technologies, participants can see the full context of
communications and truly feel like they are part of the same meeting even if they are
separated by thousands of miles a feeling that increases the effectiveness of the meeting
as a whole.

S.A.T.E.P. : Synchronous-Asynchronous Tele-education Platform

S.A.T.E.P. means Synchronous Asynchronous Tele education Platform is a software
application for educational purposes, with a lot of parametrizing features written entirely from
scratch. It aims at the training and examination of computer skills, a platform that can be
adjusted to the needs of each lesson. In the application the trainer and the administrator can
define the number of the lectures and upload files for each one of them. Furthermore, he can
insert, modify and delete questions which are used for evaluation tests but also for the
trainees examinations. The trainee can read and download the files of each lesson and also
test his knowledge on what he has studied through a series of questions. A chat module
where registered users as well as system administrator can discuss and solve questions is
also developed.

India launches GSAT-14 for tele-education and tele-medicine

GSLV-D5, the eighth flight of Indias Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) has
launched GSAT-14 today at 16:18 hours from second launch pad at SatishDhawan Space
Centre SHAR (SDSC SHAR), Sriharikota to provide tele-education and tele-medicine
services.
GSAT-14, a 1982 communication satellite will launch into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit
(GTO). After reaching GTO, GSAT-14 will use its own propulsion system to reach its
geostationary orbital home and will be stationed at 74 East longitude.
GSAT-14 is the twenty third geostationary communication satellite of India built by ISRO.
Four of GSAT-14s predecessors were launched by GSLV during 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2007
respectively. After its commissioning, GSAT-14 will join the group of Indias nine operational
geostationary satellites.
It is also the fourth developmental flight of GSLV. During this flight, the indigenously
developed Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS) will be flight tested for the second time.
GSLV-D5 is a three-stage launch vehicle with solid, liquid and cryogenic stages. It is
designed to inject 2 Ton class of communication satellites to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit
(GTO). The four liquid L40 strap-ons as well as the second stage of GSLV use storable liquid
propellants.
A Cryogenic rocket stage is more efficient and provides more thrust for every kilogram of
propellant it burns compared to solid and earth-storable liquid propellant ocket stages.
Specific impulse (a measure of the efficiency) achievable with cryogenic propellants (liquid
Hydrogen and liquid Oxygen) is much higher compared to earth storable liquid and solid
propellants, giving it a substantial payload advantage.
GSLV-D5 vehicle is configured with its first and second stages similar to the ones flown
during earlier GSLV missions. The third stage is the indigenous cryogenic stage. The
metallic payload fairing with a diameter of 3.4 metre is adopted for GSLV-D5.
GSAT-14 has 6 Extended C-Band transponders, 6 Ku-band transponders and 2 Ka-band
beacons. Six extended C-band transponders for Indian mainland and island coverage with

36 dBW. Six Ku-band transponders covering the mainland India with 51.5 dBW and Two Kaband Beacons operating at 20.2 GHz and 30.5 GHz to carry out attenuation studies.

Teleeducationnetwork is an initiative to share academic as well as non academic resources

between institutions and Resource people worldwide using Video conferencing
technologies.
Educational Institutions can share their LIVE fully INTERACTIVE and RECORDED lectures
and classes either for Free or on chargeable basis with other institutions Worldwide. They
can also have access to resource persons Worldwide who can deliver specialized fully
interactive lectures and innovative programs sitting at their home.
Similarly Lecturers, Teachers and any kind of resource persons interested in delivering
lectures or classes - not just academic but whoever is interested in the betterment of todays
generation - can offer their services for free or on paid basis.
Teleeducationnetwork.com is also a provider of innovative live interactive programs using the
Video Conferencing Technology. Few of the programs it does are:

Live interaction with NASA scientists.

A one hour Live program with a undersea diver showing the marine life and
interacting with school children live on their questions.

A short 45 minute training program on puppetry and needle stitching.

You can check what all equipments, software, etc. are needed to be part of this
network.

Virtual Tele-Ed

Virtual Tele-ED - a Tele-education Delivery System is a Digital Gateway to the

students, researchers, faculty and experts to address the complete life cycle of education
in school, college and university from entry to the final certification.

A unique universal solution in the education domain, that multicasts the

synchronized multimedia, including video, audio, data to remote virtual class
rooms. Its collaboration tools seamlessly interact with the students; interface
with the digital library and internet to provide information on demand; interfaces

with a Virtual Library, Virtual Content Management system and is a two-way

interactive system with a one-to-many and remote-to-any concept, that makes
a remote teacher become a teacher to all the students with the click of a button.

Virtual Tele-Ed (Live) and Complete IT Education solution via LMS, KMS, CMS,
Online Examination systems and Digital Library are ready HDTV, Web, VSAT,
MPLS Network, Fiber optics and Wireless based solutions for Tele-education &
Corporate training using end-to-end synchronous and asynchronous education
platform - from low to high bandwidth.

Virtual Tele-Ed LMS:

Virtual University / College / School - a smart ERP for all levels of

Education and e-Governance

Comprehensive, asynchronous learning management solution, using

fully robust, web based components, built on top of J2EE platform using
MVC architecture.

Entry to Exit is fully digital

Student Application and Admission.

Entrance Examination and Interview.

Student virtual classroom.

Student collaboration with faculty and other students.

Student performance monitoring.

Secured semester examination with digital certification / PKI based

question paper delivery.

Digital answer paper validation and Online result announcement.

Administration & management of the institute through smart, secure eGovernance.

Virtual REMOTE CLASSROOM

The Remote Virtual Classroom is a client side software that lets you
receive live lecture and incorporates extensive collaboration tools for
sharing subject knowledge with the experts from the university studio
through the VSAT network. It also has a recording agent.

Virtual TELE-ED Web

This web application system administers the studio

operations for the timetable schedule by fixing the course,
lecture topic, and time slot to the respective subject expert.
It manages the multiple studios in a complex environment.

Virtual LMS

This e-Learning Management System helps to automate

the learning environment, provide access for students,
teachers and parents to online registration, syllabus, fees,
courses and subjects, question and answers, quiz,
projects, thesis, seminars, conferences, news, tasks,
space, email and home page. It also provides status
tracking, reporting, and progress monitoring in the
university environment, college environment and school
environment. This tool is based on SCORM standards for
interoperable learning object management.

Virtual CMS

This versatile Content Management Solution (CMS)

facilitates the deployment of a syllabus and the online
course content over the web, through dynamic workflow for
verification, validation, approval and content deployment. It
supports SCORM.

Virtual EXAM

Facility of Question Bank Creation and Question Paper

Generation with various difficulty factors and unique
randomness. Provides Question Paper Delivery through
the secured workflow using Digital signature, 1024 bit DSA
based encryption and decryption. Live question paper
access in remote locations with security.

Virtual OMRV

Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) based objective Question

- Answer paper validation and marking system that works
with Virtual EXAM.

Virtual Conference

One-to-one, and one-to-many users can be connected in a

seamless networked environment starting from H.263
standards, JPEG and MPEG formats.

The Start of Satellite Tele-education

The launch of the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, occurred
in October 1957. This was quickly followed by the launch of
a series of telecommunications satellites such as Score,

Courier IB, Echo, Relay, Telstar, and Syncom. These and

other experimental satellites demonstrated that voice, data
and television could be sent reliably between ground
antenna systems. These experiments led to the
deployment of three operational systems in 1965 namely
the Russian Molniya domestic satellite system, the U.S.
Initial Defense Satellite Communications System, and the
INTELSAT global satellite system's Early Bird. From the
very start of satellite communications services television
transmissions were featured. These included exchanges
between heads of state, the Lemans automobile race, and
important social services such as surgeons in Geneva,
Switzerland observing open heart surgery in Houston,
Texas by Dr.Debekey.
In the ensuing years through the late 1960s and the 1970s
efforts to devise satellite technology that could bring cost
effective satellite tele-education services to rural and
remote areas at cost-effective rates continued. These
efforts included the Applications Technology Satellite series
1 through 6 that showed many different new satellite
applications including satellite tele-education. The ATS-6
with a very large unfurlable antenna demonstrated rural
satellite video education services in the Appalachia region
of the U.S. as well as in Brazil and India. The
Communications Technology Satellite (with the Hermes
satellite designed and built in Canada and with NASA
providing the launch) also showed how very high powered
satellites could broadcast educational video to rural areas
using only very small aperture terminals.
In the 1980s satellite based tele-education began to evolve
on a global scale. The Indian INSAT system, building on
the positive SITE experiments conducted with the ATS-6
was deployed starting with the INSAT 1B in 1983. Now with
the INSAT 2 series, built the Indian Space Organization,
deployed there are four satellites providing television
based education to tens of thousands of villages. In
Indonesia the Palapa satellite system also began offering
television education in the 1980s as well. International
programming as well as local programming developed by
Television Radio Indonesia (TVRI) provided service to sites
on Indonesia most heavily populated islands.
In areas such as the Caribbean and the South Pacific
operating networks based on satellite operations have
been in operation for over 20 years through such networks
as UDIWITE (University of the West Indies) Peacesat
(University of the South Pacific).

Project SHARE
One of the key stimulants to the spread of satellite
communications came from the INTELSAT sponsored
Satellites for Health and Rural Education (SHARE) project
that took place from 1985 to 1987. Free satellite capacity
was made available to test rural and remote educational
and tele-health projects all over the world. Most
dramatically, China, under the auspices of INTELSAT's
Project Share began its national education television
program in this manner. It began with only a few dozen
stations and a few thousand students. Today this network
has over 90,000 antennas in operation in all parts of China
and reaches over 3 million students.
In East Africa and in the Caribbean tele-medicine tests
were carried out using only a single satellite voice circuit to
connect the Memorial Hospital of Newfoundland to remote
hospital and clinics. The same circuit was used for a seven
hour shift to link Canada with Kenya and Uganda and then
for another seven hour shift to link Canada with Caribbean
nations.

Current and Future Trends

In Canada and the United States over 100 different
satellite tele-education systems are now in operation.
These include state and province owned and operated
networks, commercial networks that range from primary
schooling to graduate level programming. Some projects
such as the Mind-Extension University of the Jones
Intercable reaches into over 20 million homes via cable
television. Others such as the National Technological
University (NTU) combines college course produced by
over 40 different universities and also provides short
courses and corporate training. European use of satellite
tele-education has been less extensive than in North
America simply because extensive terrestrial
telecommunications networks are widely available and
cover population centers and educational institutions quite
well.

Project LEARN
One of the latest initiatives to seek to stimulate new
directions and experiments in satellite tele-education is
called Project LEARN. This stands for Local Education and
Resource Network and its objective is to stimulate a wide
range of tele-education projects in diverse subjects, in a

number of countries and with alternative technical and

operations approaches. It is anticipated that after the
various trials, tests and demonstrations, and projects are
completed that an assessment team will evaluate the
successes, shortcoming, and key lessons learned and
prepare a international report of these findings. To date
projects in India, China, Russia, Korea, and the U.S. have
been initially identified for detailed planning. It is intended
that the final report and evaluation will be published and
circulated by the International Telecommunication Union as
well as presented in electronic form as an international
web site. Specific objectives are to test and evaluate:
1. broad band versus narrow band tele-education
systems
2. effectiveness of tele-education at various age levels
3. ability to combine rural communications systems
with tele-education systems
4. effectiveness of combined tele-education and telemedicine projects
5. effectiveness of satellite, terrestrial and hybrid
systems in meeting tele-education objectives.
6. identify typical gaps or problems in tele-education
projects such as in the areas of training of
educators and technicians, program development,
terminal equipment, high cost of establishing or
maintaining ground systems, technical standards,
etc.
7. impact of tele-education systems on quality of life
and general improvements to society (these areas
are admittedly extremely difficult to measure).
These projects are planned for 1998 and 1999 and the
final report for Project LEARN is anticipated in the year
2000.
There are today a growing number of test, demonstrations,
and even commercial projects in tele-education. It is hoped
that Project LEARN and perhaps other parallel global test
and evaluation programs can share more broadly and
effectively the results of these tele-education tests.