Content-Based Lecture Access for Distance Learning on the Web

Education and training are expected to change dramatically due to the combined impact of the Internet, database, and multimedia technologies. However, the distance learning is often impeded by the lack of effective tools and system to manage and retrieve the lecture contents effectively. This paper introduces a new approach to realize the distance learning on the Web. The approach involves: (1) The XML (eXtensible Markup Language)-based semistructured model not only to represent lecture contents but also to exchange them on the Web; (2) The technique to build structural summaries, i.e., schemas, of XML lecture databases. The structural summaries are useful for browsing the database structure, formulating queries, building indexes, and enabling query optimization; (3) Index structures to speed up the search to find appropriate lecture contents. Finally, an overall system architecture for Web-based distance learning is described.