Feasibility Studies in IP Videoconferencing, Streaming, and Wireless Communication

Two feasibility studies were undertaken to determine how to use video streaming with other technologies over IP. One involved wireless technology to stream video live from the 2001 AMIA Symposium in Washington, DC. The other involved simultaneously webcasting a multipoint videoconference to a viewing audience that could communicate with the conference panelist using chat. The results of these tests are reported along with recommendations for further experiments. The outcomes have implications for the use of broadband synchronous communication in distance learning. Background Most distance learning on the Internet uses asynchronous communication. Human to human interaction, if offered, usually involves written communication, through email or message boards that are also asynchronous. One reason for asynchronous communication is that it has advantages of allowing access to education any time and any place. Distance learning research indicates that while students value this convenience, they also value learning in the presence of a group and interacting at the same time and place. The extent synchronous communication can create this sense of community or an environment accommodating the varied learning methodologies possible in classrooms is unknown. The technologies are new and typically dis cussed in reference to the future. Live webcasting and videoconferencing are two potentially useful technologies for synchronous communication that, when used in conjunction with wireless technology, allow nomadic communication. Webcasting videoconferences and using chat also has the potential of broadening participation. The efforts reported here were to determine whether using these various technologies together was feasible and, if so, to identify strategies that might facilitate their effectiveness. Methods In the poster session streaming experiment, a wireless base station using the 802.11b protocol was installed in the AMIA Scientific Poster area of the conference site. Streaming encoder software and a camera with built in microphone were installed on a laptop that was used to roam the area and conduct interviews. The encoded streams were sent via the Internet to a streaming server at the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland, where they could be accessed over the Web. In the videoconference experiment, panelists at four sites in four different time zones participated in a ‘continuous presence’ multipoint videoconference enabling each site to be seen at all times in a video window. A multipoint conferencing unit at the NLM reflected the information from each site to the others and to a machine re-encoding the video for webcast. Webcast viewers could use chat to communicate with panelists and each other. ResultsThe tests proved the feasibility of wireless streaming andconcurrent ly webcasting videoconferences over IP. Inboth cases, ambient sound, camera capabilities and otherenvironmental/production factors negatively affected thewebcast quality. The quality of the videoconferencewebcast also was degraded because re-encoding had to bedone at a limited bit rate. Encoding delays limited thedegree of real time interaction between webcast viewersand panelists using chat. Further experiments are neededto test feasibility of wireless videoconferencing and toverify production strategies that improve webcast quality. References1. Hiltz, S. The Virtual Classroom: Learning WithoutLimits Via Computer Networks. Norwood, New Jersey:Ablex Publishing, 1994. 2. Kirschner, P. & Paas, F. Web-Enhanced HigherEducation: A Tower of Babel. Computers in HumanBehavior 2001 17: 347-353. 4. Hanson, D., Maushank, N., Schlosser, C., Anderson,M., Sorensen, C., & Simonson, M. Distance Education:Review of the Literature, Second Edition. Washington,DC: Association for Communications and Technology,1997. 5. Simonson, M. (1997). Distance Education: DoesAnyone Really Want to Learn at a Distance?Contemporary Education 1997 68(2): 104-107. 6. Jones, M., Harmon, S. & Lowther, D. IntegratingWeb-Based Learning in an Educational System: AFramework for Implementation. In R. Reiser and J.Dempsey (Eds.), Trends and Issues in InstructionalDesign and Technology, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey:Merrill Prentice Hall, 2002.