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Date: Fri, 21 Feb 1997 14:30 -0500 (EST)
From: Martin McGreal <martin@cep.ca>
Subject: FW: Electronic Journal Info from CNI (FWD)
X-Sender: martin@cep-ott
To: rmcgreal@unb.ca, Anton Ljutic <wcsanton@ccs.carleton.ca>,
macdoco@parl.gc.ca, grossman@mail.coin.missouri.edu,
greenwood_t@FORTLEWIS.EDU, robert@cep.ca
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>
>Dear cni-announce subscribers:
>
>I thought many of you would be interested in these new
>electronic publications that focus on issues related
>to asynchronous learning.
>
> --Joan Lippincott
>
> ----------------------------------------------------
>From: John R. Bourne, Editor and J. Olin Campell, Associate
Editor,
>The Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks (JALN) and the
ALN Magazine,
>The ALN Web-- http://www.aln.org/
>
>Subject: Announcing the first issues of the JALN and ALN Magazine
>
>We are pleased to announce the completion of the first issue
of the JALN
>and the first issue of the ALN Magazine. You may view these
publications
>on the ALN Web. A listing of the contents of the issues is
given below.
>You are invited to use the discussion areas associated with
each article.
>The authors have agreed to respond to comments on their papers
in the
>discussion areas provided.
>
>We hope that you will enjoy reading the papers and will provide
your own
>contribution to the Journal and Magazine.
>
>J.R.B., J.O.C
>The ALN Web: http://www.aln.org/
>
>
>
>Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, Vol 1, Issue 1,
March, 1997
>
>Table of Contents:
>
>Asynchronous Learning Networks: A Sloan Foundation Perspective
>Frank Mayadas
>Program Officer, The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
>
>The Economics of ALN: Some Issues
>Lanny Arvan
>Associate Professor of Economics
>Associate Director, Sloan Center for Asynchronous Learning
Environments
>(SCALE)
>University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
>
>Costs for the Development of a Virtual University
>Murray Turoff
>Distinguished Professor of Computer and Information Science
>New Jersey Institute of Technology
>
>Gender Similarity in the Use of and Attitudes About ALN in
a University
>Setting
>John C. Ory
>Cheryl Bullock
>Kristine Burnaska
>University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
>
>Writing Across the Curriculum Encounters Asynchronous Learning
>Networks or WAC Meets Up With ALN
>Gail E. Hawisher
>Michael A. Pemberton
>Department of English
>University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
>
>A Model for On-Line Learning Networks in Engineering Education
>J. R. Bourne, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
Professor
>of Management
>of Technology
>A. J. Brodersen, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
>J. O. Campbell, Research Associate Professor of Engineering
Education
>M. M. Dawant, Research Instructor of Electrical Engineering
>R. G. Shiavi, Professor of Biomedical Engineering,
>Center for Innovation in Engineering Education,
>Vanderbilt University
>
>"FREE TRADE" IN HIGHER EDUCATION
>The Meta University
>William H. Graves
>University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
>
>
>
>ALN Magazine, Volume 1, Issue 1
>
>What's Going On In Colleges and Universities?
>UI-OnLine: The Realization of the 21st Century Land-Grant
University
>by Sylvia Manning and Burks Oakley II
>
>Integrating Technology into Distance Teaching at The Open
University of
>Israel
>by Michal Beller
>
>Consortia Reports
>Demonstration Projects by Six Members of the Consortium for
Manufacturing
>Competitiveness
>by Cynthia D. Liston
>
>Course Experiences
>Developing Web-Based Notes and Conferencing for An On-Campus
Course In
>Plant Biology
>by Richard F. E. Crang
>
>Cyberspace Assisted Responsive Education implemented on the
Internet
>(I-CARE)
>by Ifay F. Chang, Li-Chieh Lin, Xiaolong Hao, Humbert Suarez
and Jim St.
>Lawrence
>
>Definitions
>ALN's Relations: Current Educational Trends and Concepts and
their Relation
>to ALN
>by John Sener
>
>Hints and Tips
>How to Create Your Own Website to Support an On-line Course:
tips, hints
>and practical
>information
>by Martine Dawant and John Bourne
>
>
>
> --
>
> Joan K. Lippincott, Interim Executive Director
> Coalition for Networked Information
> 21 Dupont Circle, N.W.
> Washington, D.C. 20036
> (202) 296-5098
> FAX: (202) 872-0884
> Internet: joan@cni.org
> http://www.cni.org/
>
--Boundary_(ID_3BW5NRtoS2cSqQXeCWd4Ow)
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Date: Wed, 05 Mar 1997 12:04:56 -0500 (EST)
From: Anton Ljutic <wcsanton@ccs.carleton.ca>
Subject: Item 1 for GN (fwd)
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Tina,
How about this one?
A.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 8 Sep 1996 10:59:01 -0400 (EDT)
From: Anton Ljutic <wcsanton@ccs.carleton.ca>
To: mmcgreal@magi.com
Cc: Rhett Hudson <rhudson@vt.edu>, "Utsumi.Tak"
<utsumi@columbia.edu>,
Anton Ljutic <wcsanton@ccs.carleton.ca>
Subject: Item 1 for GN
Rhett,
This is a request for permission to publish your article in
our GLOSAS
News electronic newsletter. If a newer version is available,
please
forward. Thanks.
Tak and Martin,
I picked this article at a web site. It seems very appropriate
for our
readership. Please have a look.
regards,
Anton
<Anton Ljutic, publisher GLOSAS News)
---------------------------------------------- encl.
SUCCEED: Deliverable Team #5:Desktop Video Conferencing
[Introduction] [Products] [Product Survey] [Other] [Index]
[INLINE] DT-5 has just set up an evaluation form. We're interested
in
finding out what you think about our pages. Please take a moment
to
fill out the survey. The current results of the survey are
also
available.
[INLINE] Intel ProShare Quick Start Guide: Including the scoop
on
Win95 compatibility.
[INLINE]
The DT-5 desktop video conferencing page is provided as a source
of
information about the desktop video conferencing products available
for implementing electronic connectivity. The page begins with
a
introduction to desktop video conferencing that is intended
for a
non-technical audience. It attempts to de-mystify some of the
terminology surrounding video conferencing. Following that
are some
descriptions of products that we have had first hand experience
using
and which will be used to implement our demonstration projects.
We
also have a survey of products that we haven't had first hand
experience with, but have seen advertised. It is a good source
of
information about the myriad of products available. Finally,
there is
a list of pointers to other pages that provide information
about the
video conferencing area.
[LINK] Introduction to Desktop Video Conferencing
Early video conferencing utilized large pieces of expensive
equipment
to provide "room" based video conferencing. The paradigm
for room
based video conferencing is that participants at a site all
gather
together in a specially equipped conference room around a conference
table and look at monitors displaying similar rooms at remote
sites.
Desktop video conferencing is a new paradigm for video conferencing.
It is "desktop" based. The paradigm for desktop video
conferencing is
that participants sit at their own desks, in their own offices
and
call up other participants using their personal computer in
a manner
much like a telephone.
Usually articles about desktop video conferencing are cluttered
with a
lot of buzz words. To introduce potential users to the technology
this
page provides some background on the terminology.
Desktop video conferencing is a form of communication and as
such it
utilizes one of the communication field's favorite words: bandwidth.
There is a very precise and very technical definition for bandwidth,
but largely when the term is used in non-technical articles
it can
safely be interpreted as the speed with which information flows.
Communication itself is the transfer of information from one
place to
another. The connection between the two remote sites through
which the
information flows is called a communications channel. A common
analogy
is that communications channels are like water pipes and information
is like water. A given communications channel, like a water
pipe, is
only so wide and can only allow so much water to flow through
it. In
communications bandwidth is how much information can flow through
the
channel.
When numbers are associated with bandwidth they are usually
given in
bits/sec. The number is a simple rate. Using the water analogy,
the
rate bits/second is like saying that so many gallons of water
can go
through the pipe per second. The most common everyday rate
is speed.
Bits/sec is just like miles/hour and bandwidth is like the
speed limit
(except that you can't exceed it). Simple calculations can
be made
using bandwidth just like they can using speed. If you want
to travel
1000 miles and you can go at 65 miles/hour then to find out
how long
it will take you divide 1000 miles by 65 miles/hour and get
15.38
hours. If you wanted to transfer a computer file that was 1
million
bytes long (1 megabyte) across an ordinary telephone line which
has a
bandwidth of about 8 thousand bits per second (8 kilobits/sec)
you
would divide 1 million bytes times 8 bits/byte by 8 thousand
bits per
second and get 1000 seconds or around 17 minutes.
Bandwidth is the limiting factor associated with communication.
The
limiting factor in a system is referred to as the bottleneck.
Sending
video through a communications channel requires a lot of bandwidth.
The picture on your monitor is made up of very small dots called
pixels. Suppose we wanted to send video that used a 300x200
pixel
picture, which is not that big considering most monitors support
at
least 1024x768 displays. To give you an idea the picture below
is
300x200.
[LINK]
For each of the pixels in the picture there is a corresponding
byte of
information that describes the pixel's color. So if the picture
is
300x200, then there are 300 times 200 pixels in the picture.
That's
60,000 pixels or 60 kilobytes of information for just one frame
of
video. Video is made up of many frames. A TV picture for instance
displays about 30 frames every second. Since the human eye
is
relatively slow, compared with electricity at least, it perceives
30
sequential still pictures as continuous movement. (This introduces
another video conferencing term which will be discussed in
more detail
later: frame rate. Very simply, frame rate is the number of
still
images that are displayed every second.)
This means that we would like to send 30 pictures through the
communications channel each second. That's 60 kilobytes times
30
pictures per second or 1.8 million bytes per second. (Millions
of
bytes per second is commonly abbreviated as 1.8 megabytes/sec
or 1.8
MB/sec.) Previously we saw that transferring a 1 megabyte file
across
a telephone line would take 17 minutes. Now it is obvious why
bandwidth is the bottleneck for desktop video conferencing.
Looking at
the numbers above, using the most ubiquitous communications
channel in
the world, a telephone line, it will take around 30 minutes
to
transmit 1 second worth of video.
There are two methods of solving the bottleneck problem. Most
video
conferencing packages use both to some varying degree. One
solution is
to use a communications channel with more bandwidth than a
telephone
line. Two such higher bandwidth channels are Ethernet and Integrated
Services Digital Networks (ISDN). Ethernet is commonly used
to network
computers together in offices and universities. Chances are
that if
you are reading this introduction it arrived at your computer
through
an Ethernet connection. ISDN is a special digital phone line
which can
replace the older analog phone line which probably services
your home
and office.
Ethernet and ISDN differ in performance and abilities. They
each
typify two broad categories of communications channels called
"circuit
switched" and "packet switched". Ethernet is
packet switched and ISDN
is circuit switched. Circuit switched communications channels
form
connections that provide a communications channel to the users.
The
connection lasts as long as the user wishes. Standard phone
lines work
like this. When someone dials a phone number, the telephone
network
forms a connection to another phone. This connection is maintained
until someone hangs up and then the connection is broken down.
While
the connection is active, the connection provides bandwidth
dedicated
to communicating between one phone and the other. No other
user in the
system can make use of that bandwidth.
Packet switched communication channels share their total bandwidth
among all the users who want to access it. The communications
channel
is packet switched because each time a user wants to send a
packet of
data they put it into the shared channel with everyone else's
data.
The channel is designed to "switch" packets instead
of circuits. If
the channel is currently being used by a large number of users
(slang
for this condition is that that the channel is heavily loaded),
then
it will take longer to send the data than if the channel is
being used
by only a few users (lightly loaded). This is the feature that
distinguishes between circuit switched and packet switched
communications channels. In the circuit switched case the full
bandwidth is always available to the user. In the packet switched
case
the user must share the bandwidth with others.
Which is better for video conferencing? In theory, since video
conferencing supplies a continuous stream of data into a channel
and
packet switched communication does not guarantee that the bandwidth
required is available, circuit switched communication is the
better of
the two for video conferencing. There are drawbacks though.
ISDN is
currently the only widely available form of circuit switched
digital
service. A standard ISDN connection, which is affordable for
the
desktop, can provide 128 kilobits per second of bandwidth.
We can
apply the same calculation we make before for the standard
telephone
line to the ISDN line. 1.8 megabytes divided by 128 kilobits/sec
gives
us about 2 minutes. By now we are seeing that we're just not
going to
get full motion video to fit in commonly available communications
channels. Remember that full motion video is 30 frames/sec.
We're
going to have to accept less than 30 frames/sec so let's calculate
how
many frames per second we can send. We have 128 kilobits/sec
to work
with. Each frame of video is 60 kilobytes. So we can just divide
128
kbits/s by 60 kbytes/s and get just over .25 frames. So with
ISDN we
can achieve frame rates of about .25 frames/sec or 1 new frame
every 4
seconds.
ISDN's low bandwidth is the primary reason that Ethernet is
the most
popular form of communications channel used for video conferencing.
Even though Ethernet is a shared channel, typical Ethernet
connections
to the Internet have around 1.5 megabits/sec of bandwidth.
Performing
our frame rate calculation again, that means that if no one
else was
using the channel you could send close to 3 frames a second
across the
Ethernet connection. Typically there are other users consuming
at
least 75% of the bandwidth so that leaves around 375 kbits/sec
or
around .75 frames/sec of video.
Experience has shown that a user's perception of the quality
of video
is strongly linked to the frame rate. To increase the frame
rate from
ISDN's .25 frames/sec and Ethernet's 3 frames/sec (on a good
day)
there has been a great deal of work done in the area of data
compression. Data compression is another source of confusion
in the
world of desktop video conferencing.
There are a lot of words thrown around describing compression
algorithms. They range from references to obscure math like
the
discrete cosine transform to equally undescriptive assurances
that the
method complies with the H.261 standard. How compression is
performed
isn't really important to the average user. The important questions
concern how well it performs, how it inter-operates with other
companies' products and how well it deals with operating on
a heavily
loaded network.
The performance of a compression scheme is largely characterized
by
its compression ratio. The term compression ratio refers to
a simple
fraction that compares how big data is after it is compressed
with how
big data is before it is compressed. So if a certain compression
algorithm takes a chunk of data that is 1000 bytes and returns
a chunk
of data that is only 500 bytes, it has a compression ratio
of 1:2.
Most compression schemes perform differently for different
kinds of
data. For instance in general running a compression algorithm
on
already compressed data will not reduce the size of the data.
Thus
when compression ratios are given they usually refer to an
average
compression ratio for data that is typically given to the algorithm.
There are two types of data compression. Compression schemes
like
those used in zip files and GIF files are lossless compression
schemes. That simply means that when you put data into the
algorithm,
compress it and then uncompress it later, the exact data that
went
into the algorithm comes out of the algorithm. That is an extremely
important characteristic for things like programs which is
what
schemes like gzip and pkzip are typically used for. As it turns
out
having lossless compression of images in not very important.
Initially
you might balk at the idea that information is lost in compression
but
look at the following example.
Presented below is a series of six pictures. It is the same
picture
used above to illustrate the size of a 300x200 window. The
picture
above is stored as a GIF file which is a lossless compression
technique. The file is 45560 bytes long. The pictures below
are stored
using the jpeg format which is a lossy compression technique.
The jpeg
compression standard allows the user to specify how lossy the
compression is. The specification is called the "quality"
and is
expressed as a percentage (of what I'm not sure). Each picture
is
compressed with decreasing quality. Below each picture is a
caption
giving the quality specification and the length of the resulting
file.
Notice how dramatically the file length drops as the quality
specification decreases. (This demonstration uses the new Netscape
table tags. If you're browser doesn't support them it's probably
going
to look like a real mess.)
[LINK] [LINK]
100% Quality, File Size: 57459 90% Quality, File Size: 20525
[LINK] [LINK]
60% Quality, File Size: 8293 25% Quality, File Size: 4984
[LINK] [LINK]
10% Quality, File Size: 3338 5% Quality, File Size: 2551
Without the captions I'd find it hard to distinguish the 100%
picture
from either the 90% picture or the 60% picture. Given that,
look at
the file sizes! The 60% picture is roughly 15% the file size
of the
original image. Thats a compression ratio of 3:20. Even the
25%
picture is not bad and it has a compression ratio of close
to 1:10.
If we take these new numbers and look at our bandwidth bottleneck
again, a compression ratio of 1:10 makes our 1.8 megabyte/sec
video
only 180 kilobytes/sec. If we take our 60 kilobyte still frame
and
compress it at 1:10 it becomes 6 kilobytes of data. Remember
that
previously we saw that Ethernet could support a frame rate
of .75
frames/sec and ISDN could support .25 frames/sec. With a 1:10
compression ratio those numbers become 7.5 frames/sec and 2.5
frames/sec. So now we could even get acceptable frames rates
over a
heavily loaded Ethernet. Before we get too excited though,
there are,
of course, other considerations.
While the numbers above seem to remove the bottleneck of the
communications channel, they in fact simply move the bottleneck
to a
different part of the system. Executing a compression algorithm
takes
time. Sometimes a lot of time. The better the compression ratio,
the
longer the calculation takes. To achieve the frame/rates calculated
above would require an expensive piece of hardware called a
CODEC.
Since the goal of desktop video conferencing is to put video
conferencing on everyone's desktop, using an expensive piece
of
hardware to do compression would make the cost of the system
prohibitive. So as is always the case in designing products,
a
compromise must be reached.
Since we can't have a CODEC on everyone's desk we have to settle
for
using the computer itself to perform compression. Luckily,
the
processing power available in a modern workstation or a Pentium
pc is
largely up to the task. Since most compression algorithms require
more
computations to do compression than decompression, some vendors
make a
slightly more expensive compromise and provide some special
hardware
for compression and perform decompression in software.
Assuming we get some good compression algorithm running on
our video
conferencing system, the next question is who can we conference
with?
Compressed data bears little to no resemblance to its original
form.
So if our compression algorithm starts up and sends data off
to
someone we want to talk to their compression algorithm needs
to
understand what ours is sending. This issue is called
inter-operability. Basically, if both parties support the same
compression algorithm, then they can communicate. If they don't
share
an algorithm between them they can't.
There are many compression algorithms. The ITU/CCITT has created
an
international standard called H.261. H.261 is a very good compression
algorithm and it performs very well. Unfortunately it is also
very
computationally intensive and as such generally requires special
purpose hardware for your computer in order to use it. Because
of this
many companies have created their own proprietary algorithms.
These
are too numerous to mention. Inter-operability is still a big
issue in
industry and each company is striving to make their method
standard.
Finally, there is the issue of graceful degradation. This term
refers
to the behavior of a video conferencing system using a packet
switched
channel that is heavily loaded. As the load on the channel
increases
and the bandwidth available to the video system decreases,
how does
the video performance behave. Some compression schemes, like
H.261,
use a scheme that sends very coarse information about the video
picture across the channel first, then successively refines
the
picture if it has enough bandwidth left over to do so. Others
do
things like starting from the top of the picture and if there
isn't
enough time to finish the bottom half of the picture it just
doesn't
get drawn. That can be annoying if the person's face is below
the
point where it stops drawing the picture.
There...now you understand all of the basic technical issues
surrounding desktop video conferencing. Let's just take a moment
to
review what you should take away from this introduction. Desktop
video
conferencing is a new paradigm for communications. Eventually
the
camera sitting on top of the monitor might be as prevalent
as the
mouse sitting next to the keyboard. The quality of the service
provided by desktop video conferencing is limited by the amount
of
bandwidth available in the chosen communications channel. Improved
quality can be gained by utilizing data compression techniques
which
effectively increase the bandwidth of the communications channel.
Quality of service is largely a function of frame rate. Higher
frame
rates means that the video picture of the other person is less
jerky
and more fluid. That's it! You're ready to dive in and look
at some
products.
_________________________________________________________________
[LINK] General Product Descriptions
[LINK] IBM's Person 2 Person (product survey entry)
Person to Person is a PC based product which offers
desktop
video conferencing using Ethernet, ISDN, or serial connections.
It requires Microsoft Windows for Workgroups to utilize
ISDN,
or just Windows for the other connection schemes. It
also
provides a shared whiteboard facility. The hardware
requirements are steep. Person to Person requires an
Action
Media II w/Capture Option for video capture and playback,
and
an ISCOM ISDN board for ISDN connectivity.
[INLINE] Intel's ProShare (product survey entry)
ProShare is a software/hardware bundle that provides
desktop
video conferencing over ISDN and Ethernet. Our experience
with
ProShare so far has been extremely positive. It provides
a
shared whiteboard facility based on a notebook metaphor,
and
has a well structured interface. The product support
for
ProShare has been very positive. ProShare can also operate
(without video) over a serial link. There is a scaled
down
version of the product that provides all the functionality
of
the full version but with no video/ISDN board. There
is also
some movement by Intel to standardize the video format,
which
may eventually provide inter-operability across platforms
and
software products.
DT-5 has put together a ProShare Quick Start Guide.
[INLINE] Sun's ShowMe Video (product survey entry)
Sun's integrated package ShowMe provides a complete
video,
audio, shared whiteboard and shared application system
that
runs on Solaris 2.3 UNIX systems. It is extremely configurable
and has a clean well designed interface. It runs with
an IP
protocol so that it can operate across the internet.
Reception
of video can be done without any special hardware, just
the
ShowMe executable. Video capture requires a video board
and
camera. DT-5 team members at UNCC have put together
a page with
some close ups of the ShowMe screens, ordering information,
and
some network utilization data captured during a video
conference between UNCC and NCSU over the Internet.
[INLINE] MBONE (NV, VAT, WB, SD) (product survey entry)
The MBONE is a virtual network implemented as a subset
of the
Internet. It uses the IP-multicast protocols to provide
multicast video, audio and shared whiteboard facilities
across
the Internet. MBONE provides multi-point connections,
either
one-to-many or few-to-few, while preserving Internet
bandwidth
by making use of multicasting. The MBONE programs (nv,
vat, wb
and sb) run on UNIX workstations. They are freely available
on
the net.
[INLINE] CU-SeeMe (product survey entry)
CU-SeeMe is an experiment in providing real-time delivery
or
video and audio signals across the TCP/IP Internet.
It was
created at Cornell University. It provides one-to-many
connections using UNIX reflector software. It does not
use
multicast, so the bandwidth it consumes increases with
each
connection to the reflector. There are plans to make
it
compatible with MBONE. The software is freely available
across
the net.
[INLINE] Other Web Sources for Desktop Video Conferencing
There are many online Web resources that support desktop
video
conferencing. This list is at least representative if not
comprehensive.
The list has gotten rather long, so it has been moved to a
separate
page. The hyper-link in the previous paragraph will take you
there.
_________________________________________________________________
SUCCEED Home Page DT5 Home Page DT5 Index
[INLINE]
[INLINE] Author: Rhett Hudson / rhudson@vt.edu
Contact: webmaster@fiddle.ee.vt.edu
Last Modified: September 12, 1995 by Rhett Hudson
--Boundary_(ID_3BW5NRtoS2cSqQXeCWd4Ow)
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Date: Wed, 05 Mar 1997 12:09:24 -0500 (EST)
From: Anton Ljutic <wcsanton@ccs.carleton.ca>
Subject: Items 2 and 3
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Tina,
Tak suggested including the following:
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 8 Sep 1996 16:12:13 -0400 (EDT)
From: Tak Utsumi <utsumi@www.friends-partners.org>
To: Ljutic Anton <wcsanton@ccs.carleton.ca>
Cc: Utsumi Takeshi <utsumi@columbia.edu>
Subject: Another msg sent to your before
Date: Sat, 13 Apr 1996 21:53:11 -0400 (EDT)
From: Tak Utsumi <utsumi@www.friends-partners.org>
To: GN/Editors <af169@freenet.carleton.ca>, grossman@mail.coin.missouri.edu,
tgreenwo@ccmail.wiu.bgu.edu, utsumi@columbia.edu,
wcsanton@ccs.carleton.ca
Cc: Utsumi Takeshi <utsumi@columbia.edu>
Subject: Greetings of GLH/Costa Rica for next GLOSAS NEWS
<<04/13/96, 8:46 pm>>
Anton:
(1) Attached is the transcript of Mr. Fox's greeting during
our last GLH.
(2) Attached is also the same of Dr. Federico Mayor, Director
General of
UNESCO.
(3) Pls include them in the next issue of GLOSAS NEWS, since
they were
the most important highlights of the event.
Thanks in advance.
Best, Tak
P.S.:
See you soon in Philadelphia.
****************************************
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 96 09:59:13 EST
Sender: gu-glh@www.friends-partners.org
From: "Braxton, Mike" <mbraxton@usia.gov>
To: utsumi@www.friends-partners.org
Subject: Re: Charles Fox's Remarks
Greetings Tak:
Thanks for the tape. The project seems to be proceeding quite
well.
Congratulations. I am including the text of Mr. Fox's remarks,
below:
Charles W. Fox
Director
WORLDNET Television and Film Service
U.S. Infrmation Agency
One true test of a society is its power to inform and educate.
Distance learning through satellite communications expands the
impact of that power, and in order to succeed, a world wide
satellite broadcasting system such as WORLDNET must communicate
to its viewers information that is both new and relevant.
Although WORLDNET does not use the virtual classroom to teach,
it
has established a virtual seminar. Some of the following
WORLDNET programs that can be easily adapted to professional
level distance learning include: American Business English,
Computer Literacy, American Business History, Law, Mathematics,
Science and Health.
Another part of the WORLDNET Seminar focuses on a lively exchange
of ideas among experts establishing the airwaves as a bridge to
understanding and learning. We call this "interactive
programming." In many industrial societies, vast resources
are
devoted to education. That capability can be put to great use
in
developing nations.
WORLDNET Television, at the United States Information Agency,
has
been in the business of international communications for ten
years, and I can speak with authority on the potential of making
university and professional training available globally. In the
United States distance learning benefits those who are working,
disabled, and for whom travel time is prohibitive. The United
States benefitted enormously from the wholesale education of its
people, and I believe that these initiatives for university-level
distance learning will further advance the principle of global
access to educati. Universal access to education is key to
participatory democracies. History will recognize the pioneers
of distance education as the ones who turned that key to opening
the door to democracy-building world wide.
Thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts with you. I look
forward to hearing about your continued success in this exciting
endeavor.
All the best,
Mike
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Michael Braxton
AF Coordinator
WORLDNET Television Film Service
601 D Street, N.W., #5010
Washington, D.C. 20547
MBraxton@usia.gov
Tel#202-501-7079
Fax# 202-208-7195
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
****************************************
<<11/10/95, 9:43 pm>>
Jan Visser at UNESCO/Paris and Electronic Colleagues:
(1) Jan:
Thank you very much for your forwarding me the transcript
of Dr.
Federico Mayor's greetings during our GLH on 10/25th.
It was certainly our great honor to have his greetings.
His
greetings was not only one of highlights but also greatly
encourage
our colleagues around the world. I also thank him for his
mentioning
our "Global Lecture Hall (GLH)" (TM), CAADE and
Global University.
Pls convey our sincere gratitude to him.
(2) I thank you also for your willingness to participate in
our next GLH
in August of 1996 on the occasion of the international conference
of
Hungarian/Fulbright Commission.
After I came back from my trip to Brazil early next month,
I would
like to discuss with you how to make our GLH demonstration
with you
in Paris.
(3) I also greatly appreciate your cordial suggestion that I
should visit
you, Dr. Colin Power and Dr. Federico Mayor on the occasion
of my
next trip to Europe.
I certainly would like to do so on the occasion of my trip
to (or
back from) our Helsinki conference.
(4) Electronic Colleagues:
Attached below is the transcript of Dr. Mayor's greetings.
Best, Tak
****************************************
Date: Wed, 8 Nov 1995 17:32:05 +0100
From: VISSER JAN <EDVIS@unesco.org>
Subject: VideoMsgMayor
To: utsumi@columbia.edu
--- Received from ED.EDVIS (33-1) 456-80887 95-11-08 17:28
-> IN:UTSUMI(A)COLUMBIA.EDU
-: - - - - - - - - - - > Internet Users
Dear Tak,
Hereafter follows the text of the video greetings by Federico
Mayor, Director-General of UNESCO, pronounced during the
GLH in October 1995.
Concerning your other question about doing something with
Learning Without Frontiers in the GLH in August, my initial
reaction is that, yes, it appeals to me but I don't really have
time now to think it through in terms of what precesily we
could best do and how we could make use the possible provision
of the ShareVision facility. We are currently in the middle of
the General Conference, which is a particularly hectic time.
We should be in touch about this, though, at a slightly later
stage (the General Conference will be over by the end of next
week) and then discuss it further.
BTW, any time that you might be able to route travel (if you
undertake any) through Paris, you should take the opportunity
for a FTF contact here.
All the best for now,
JAN
---------------------------------------------------------------
FOLLOWING IS THE TEXT OF THE VIDEO GREETINGS PRESENTED BY
MR. MAYOR
Greetings to the participants in the 1995 "Global Lecture
Hall"! On behalf of UNESCO, I wish to say something on this
year's theme - Technology and Distance Education: Sharing
Experiences around the World - since I believe educational
development through the sharing of knowledge to be one of the
keys to a more equitable and peaceful world.
Distance education has progressed a great deal in recent
years, and UNESCO can claim to have made some contribution
to this process. As the UN specialized agency responsible for
international co-operation in education, communication, science
and culture, it is particularly well placed to play a role in
this
area, where inputs from a variety of disciplines are required.
The "new media" have demonstrated their potential to
contribute to effective learning. But it has become clear that
their
effective use is crucially dependent on good instructional design.
Experience has also shown that imagination andolitical will are
essential if inertia is to be overcome and educational alternatives
are to be properly exploited. This is why one of the aims of
UNESCO's Learning Without Frontiers programme is to change
the policy environment so that the technology of the classroom
is
no longer seen as the only option available to educational
planners.
We need to explore all possible means to reach out to the
massive numbers of people around the globe who are deprived of
opportunities to learn. There are still almost one billion illiterate
people in the world. One hundred thirty million children of
primary-school age do not attend school. The demand for
learning opportunities is constantly rising, but the cost of
delivering education by conventional means makes it impossible
for many countries to satisfy the growing demand.
The largest proportion of the unreached live in parts of
the world that are difficult to reach by any means - conventional
or modern. To solve problems in these areas, we need solutions
that are both affordable and accessible. If appropriate measures
are not taken, there is a risk that the developing global
information infrastructure will bypass the 600,000 villages
without electricity and simply widen the knowledge gap still
further. While it is important to explore the potential benefits
to
education of the emerging information superhighways, we must
also think about creating the infrastructure that reaches out
to
remote communities which have so far had little contact with
modern technology. As we move rapidly into the information
age, old divisions between the haves and the have-nots are being
replaced by new ones - between those who are and are not
connected. The challenge is not simply to find suitable hardware
solutions, but also to prepare communities to become
technologically literate. Alternative energy technologies, such
as
solar powered communication devices, have an important role to
play here.
The search for mdia solutions to educational problems
must not be dissociated from the learning context itself. What
is
required is the creation of examples of good educational practice,
using the technological solutions in question. This is what
impresses policy-makers and decision-makers. It is also important
to show that significant cost savings will result from such
applications.
Together with the International Telecommunications
Union, UNESCO is currently involved in developing technologies
within relevant educational contexts. For example, we are
currently setting up a pilot project on the Educational Application
of Interactive Television for implementation in South Africa.
Partnerships among countries are important for the
dissemination of innovative approaches. They allow countries
to
learn from each other, to collaborate on developments and to
create unprecedented economies of scale for applications such
as
satellite communication. This is the rationale behind UNESCO's
involvement in the Joint Initiative on Distance Education of the
Nine High-Population Countries. Like the Interactive TV
project, this nine-country initiative is part of UNESCO's
Learning Without Frontiers programme. The participating
countries - Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt,
Nigeria, Brazil and Mexico - make up half the world's
population and include almost three quarters of its illiterate
people. By co-operating, these countries have created an
excellent environment for new technological applications to
achieve global impact.
Finally, one of the most important features of emerging
technologies is their potential to make the learning environment
more interactive and flexible. Dialogue is one of the most
powerful stimuli for the development of the mind. It is probably
the main area in which traditional distance education has been
found wanting. Thanks to recent technological developments, we
are finally capable of making a real breakthrough in this area
and
of creating an effective global learning environment to which
everyone will have access, anywhere, at any time, at any age,
in
any circumstance.
Lifelong learning for all - this is the goal. We are
delighted to be associated with partners such as the Consortium
for the Advancement of Affordable Distance Education
(CAADE) and the Global University in promoting our shared
objective.
**********************************************************************
* Takeshi Utsumi, Ph.D.
*
* Laureate of Lord Perry Award for Excellence in Distance Education
*
* Founder of CAADE
*
* (Consortium for Affordable and Accessible Distance Education)
*
* President, Global University in the U.S.A. (GU/USA)
*
* A Divisional Activity of GLOSAS/USA
*
* (GLObal Systems Analysis and Simulation Association in the U.S.A.)
*
* 43-23 Colden Street, Flushing, NY 11355-3998, U.S.A.
*
* Tel: 718-939-0928; Fax: 718-939-0656 (day time only--prefer
email) *
* INTERNET: utsumi@columbia.edu; Tax Exempt ID: 11-2999676
*
**********************************************************************
Originally posted at the Website: http://library.fortlewis.edu/~instruct/glosas/GN/ by Tina Evans Greenwood, Library Instruction Coordinator, Fort Lewis College, Durango, Colorado 81301, e-mail: greenwood_t@fortlewis.edu, and last updated May 7, 1999. By her permission the whole Website has been archived here at the University of Tennessee server directory of GLOSAS Chair Dr. Takeshi Utsumi from August 9, 2000 by Steve McCarty in Japan.