<<July 7, 2000>>
Shahab Khan <Afroz@khi.compol.com>
Dr. Paul Lefrere <p.lefrere@open.ac.uk>
Dr. Fernando Antonio Menezes <fernando_menezes@hotmail.com>
Dr. David A. Johnson, AICP <daj@utk.edu>
Dear Shahab:
============
(1) Many thanks for your msg (ATTACHMENT I).
Thanks also for your kind word for my paper "Global
University System,"
Paper to be presented at The 14th Annual Conference of The
Asian
Association of Open Universities at The University of Philippines/Open
University, Manila, Philippines, 25-27 October 2000, which
is now available at
(2) The Open University of Pakistan seems doing the same as
the University
of Air of Japan (which is equivalent to Open University).
The satellite centers are very useful for students to
gather to get
acquainted with fellow classmates with face-to-face meetings.
Once they
have met with other classmates, they can more easily communicate
via
email each other.
Recently, the University of Tennessee/Knoxville people
told me
about their very successful distance learning program
for managers
of hospital with the use of very inexpensive SYMPOSIUM
software.
They meet for a week at the beginning and at the end
of semester.
Between those mtgs, they converse through SYMPOSIUM
which has
simultaneous audio conferencing and web teleconferencing
with
white board, PowerPoint slide show, etc. Their students
can
converse through the audio with the use of even 28.8
Kbps dial-up
modem from India with clear voice. Once they meet,
they don't
need to have video, thus saving valuable bandwidth,
and yet,
conversing each other more freely. Their tremendous
brain memory
power remembers the day when they met each other. This
factor is
often neglected (or forgotten) by the distance learning
offerers.
(3) Analog terrestrial TV or satellite education is becoming
outdated -- in
the US, the latter is now down to almost one third of the
peak usage a
few decades ago.
However, K-12 education favors such analog TV educational
broadcasting, since young children cannot tolerate with
jerky
video and cranky audio.
Some station for the former in the US, however, experiment
the use of
the so-called Vertical Blanking Line (VBL) for the broadband
Internet
broadcasting -- the VBL is the bandwidth with which you often
see
captions at the bottom of TV screen.
Roger Boston in Houston once told me that the monthly
leasing fee
of the VBL for unlimited use is $500.
(4) The US Public Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) plans to
convert their
analog TV stations to digital with the following schemes;
(a) Use of the entire bandwidth of their given frequency
for High
Definition TV (HDTV) only in the prime time,
(b) Divide the bandwidth into 4 channels (the so-called
Standard TV
mode) in other time than the prime time,
(c) Send broadband Internet data embedding it into video
which
technology was originated by WavePhore in Phoenix, Arizona.
Because of high cost of HDTV receiver at $3,000 to 4,000,
this
conversion has not be well materialized yet in the US, though
some
industrial journal report that about a dozen or so TV stations
are now
experimenting this scheme, especially (b) and (c).
(5) After pioneering analog HDTV in Japan, Japanese are now
planning to
provide digital HDTV broadcasting.
Therefore, your government may prepare for the day of
digitalization
step-by-step, depending on the availability of funds.
This is particularly necessary for distance learning and
telehealth/telemedicine as mentioned in my aforementioned
paper.
(6) I am very glad to hear of your very fruitful visit to the UK Open University.
Yes, Paul told me that we will have full support of the
British Council
for our workshop for GUS/Eastern Europe and Arab regions
during their
conference on Virtual University in the end of next March
in Sheffield,
England. Pls attend it so that we can proceed further on
our project
with Pakistan.
(7) I agree with Paul that the development of educational
software is the
very important task along the deployment of broadband Internet.
I think that there are two aspects on the content development;
one is to
meet with the local demand/need with local language, tradition
and
culture, and the other for ubiquitous subjects (e.g., math,
science,
technology, etc.) with lingua franca -- as I said elsewhere,
the latter
would become exportable commodities with creativity of people
in
developing countries.
(8) Tapio told me before that the headquarters of the Finnish
National
Virtual University will be located in Tampere, and as the
headquarters
of our GUS is also located at his office, our GUS is to assist
their
international operations.
(9) Many thanks for your info about Mr. Aftab Mohammed Khan.
By a copy of
this msg, I am informing of your kind offer to Fernando and
David.
Best, Tak
****************************************
ATTACHMENT I
From: "shahab khan" <afroz@khi.compol.com>
To: "Tak" <utsumi@columbia.edu>
Subject: GUS DOCUMENT
Date: Wed, 5 Jul 2000 08:25:30 +0500
Dear Prof TaK
Thanks a lot for sending me the GUS document.
I have downloaded the complete document and have made a separate
file for it.
Congratulations for producing such an excellent document. I am
going through
it and shall let you know of my observations/corrections, if any.
The Open University of Pakistan have announced a plan to commece
distance
learning center in ten cities using public broadcasting over the
TV.
We are very upset over this move and are going to write a letter
to the
government. Can you pls advise us what points should be mentioned
in it (Some
is mentioned in the GUS document).
The government is going to hold a meeting at the Ministerial
level to discuss
the position of DL in Pakistan, what tools are available and what
should be
the strategy.
I would be invited to this meeting. I need your guidance,
what should I
present in the meeting.
I had visited UK Open University in June and had a very good
and informative
meeting with Paul Leferere. He informed me that the British council
is now
considering having the Workshop some time in 2001 on a much larger
scale. I
have expressed my keen desire to participate.
Amongst other things I discussed the possibility of collaboration
between
PLANWEL and the UK open university in areas of conducting courses
in Pakistan
and of particular interest was the Educational Software project.
Paul
informed me that there was tremendous demand for such software
and advised me
that we could do it sitting in Pakistan.
Paul also had just returned from Finland after visiting with
Prof Tapio Varis
and discussed their project of establish a National Virtual University.
I
requested Paul to help us establish such a University on similar
lines in Pakistan
I have also read of with great interest your offer to Dr. Fernando
Antonio
Menezes to help him design a University by Prof David Johnson.
I would like to take this opportunity to inform you that, PLANWEL
Vice-president, Mr. Aftab Mohammed Khan is a Chartered Town Planner,
Architect and
Engineer and Fellow of the Royal Town Planning Institute, London.
He has
considerable experience in City and regional planning projects
and of
designing public building and Universities, and has over 30 years
of
consulting experience.
Mr. Aftab Mohammed Khan is also very interested in assisting
Prof David
Johnson in the University project and we believe that the cost
of designing
can be considerably brought down by associating with us as the
manpower rates
would be much lower. I hope you would consider this as it may
give a good
opportunity for collaborative work.
Regards
Shahab Khan
****************************************
List of Distribution
Shahab Khan
Director
Planwel University
Planwel Institute of Science and Technology (PLANWEL)
A-1, L.C.H.S
Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Block-20
Karachi. 75290, Pakistan
Tel: 011-92-21-811-5851
011-92-21-811-5094
Fax: 011-92-21-811-6178
Afroz@khi.compol.com
afroz@planwel.edu
http://www.planwel.com
http://www.planwel.edu
http://www.planwel.edu/Research/tampere.html
http://www.itcomm.gov.pk/
Dr. Paul Lefrere
Senior Lecturer
Institute of Educational Technology
Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
UNITED KINGDOM
Tel: +44-1-908 65 33 88
Fax: +44-1-908 67 28 02
p.lefrere@open.ac.uk
http://www-iet.open.ac.uk/
Dr. Fernando Antonio Menezes
University of Roraima
Universidade Federal de Roraima
Campus do Paricarana/BR 174 S/N
Boa Vista, RORAIMA
Tel: 95-623-9067, 9065
Fax: 95-623-9063
fernando_menezes@hotmail.com
Dr. David A. Johnson, AICP
Board member of GLOSAS/USA
Former President of Fulbright Association
Professor Emeritus, School of Planning
College of Arts and Sciences
University of Tennessee
108-I Hoskins Library
Knoxville, TN 37996-4015
USA
Tel: +1-865-974 5227
Fax: +1-865-974 5229
daj@utk.edu
davidj@buncombe.main.nc.us
http://web.utk.edu/~djohnutk/
**********************************************************************
* Takeshi Utsumi, Ph.D., P.E., Chairman, GLOSAS/USA
*
* (GLObal Systems Analysis and Simulation Association in the U.S.A.)
*
* Laureate of Lord Perry Award for Excellence in Distance Education
*
* Founder of CAADE
*
* (Consortium for Affordable and Accessible Distance Education)
*
* President Emeritus and V.P. for Technology and Coordination
of *
* Global University System (GUS)
*
* 43-23 Colden Street, Flushing, NY 11355-3998, U.S.A.
*
* Tel: 718-939-0928; Fax: 718-939-0656 (day time only--prefer
email) *
* Email: utsumi@columbia.edu; Tax Exempt ID: 11-2999676
*
* http://www.friends-partners.org/GLOSAS/
*
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