Distance learning and collaboration systems are rapidly gaining momentum and importance as a method of sharing ideas and resources internationally.
As more and more business and teaching is being conducted internationally, both within multinational companies and educational organisations and between different companies in different countries, advanced communication systems are becoming more important.
These advanced collaboration and distance learning systems enable real time sharing of data and video images. Bringing team members together virtually, when face to face meetings would be too costly or time consuming due to lost time spent travelling. Video conferencing is an important component of a collaboration system as are data sharing applications. There are two main differentiations in this type of system:
- Distance Learning System
- Collaboration System
Technically, the two systems mentioned above are very similar, it is in their usage and delivered content where they differ.
Distance Learning
Distance Learning is used in educational and training roles. It enables instructors and lecturers to address classrooms and students which would otherwise be too difficult for budgetary reasons or time constraints. Distance learning allows guest lecturers to be invited to participate from anywhere in the world which has the requisite infrastructure. This can greatly improve the content of a course and lead to a wider appeal for fee paying course. A one-to-many (multipoint) relationship can also be established where a single lecturer can address many remote classrooms.
Distance Learning of this type differs from Televison or correspondence based courses in many respects. It is aimed at the ‘instructor and class of students’ model where there is real time bi-directional exchange of information. This means the students can ask the lecturer questions and get an instant reply. Videoconferencing enables the class too see the lecturer and visa-versa. When classroom software is also employed, the lecturer can monitor every student’s computer and can take control of the computer in order to help work through a problem the student might be having. This can then be broadcast to every student as a case study or as an example of work well done. Tests and exams can be written and even auto-scored to get accurate feed-back of each student’s progress.
Using a control system and delivering web-based control interfaces the instructor can even take control of the AV hardware in the room and will be able to effect lighting levels, the image source displayed on the projector. They can play and stop videos local to the classroom and all other functions available in the remote classroom. This ensures that the remote classroom can be turned onn and be ready for the class when they arrive.
This functionality will mean that a single lecturer can make presentations to a number of different countries in the same day, week or concurrently.
Organisations are using distance learning to be able to offer courses which would previously have been too expensive to be viable or where the course is too specialist to have a broad appeal to enough students.
The system to enable this type of real-time, interactive delivery of content requires the following:
- ISDN or Broadband network infrastructure
- Videoconferencing
- Data sharing applications
- Networked student computers
- Control system
Collaboration Systems
These systems are project teams in different locations whether internationally or within the same country.
An example of how collaboration systems, which AVM has implemented, are used is within the Oil and Gas sector. Project teams in remote countries can both view the same engineering documents and apply mark-up using interactive whiteboards (Smartboards) installed in each remote location. Applying the mark up in this manner enables the project team to discuss the reasons for any alterations with the engineering department so as to be entirely clear what is required with no margin for interpretation and therefore error.
This type of collaboration system has been used extensively in recent engineering projects such as the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline project in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey.
As with distance learning both the computer content, in this case CAD applications, and the video of the other team are visible using two screens one a plasma display for the videoconferencing and one a Smartboard interactive whiteboard for the mark up and computer content. The difference from distance learning is that in a collaboration room you would expect there to be a team of people at each site all working together, rather than one instructor addressing many students.
