New Technologies Affect Distance Education
...at a distance, it needs to be done in such a way that the instructor can get feedback from the students in order to make necessary adjustments and students need to be able to interact with the instructor and their peers. Some classrooms are now being taught using digital video conferencing. However, there are still significant limitations. The biggest limitation that must be addressed is that of transmission speed. One full color screen image can take over seven million bits of data to transmit. A video needs 30 frames per second to simulate smooth motion, which could require a data transfer rate of up to 220 Megabits per second. This is four thousand times faster than the fastest modems that are used to connect home computers to the Internet, and it is approximately twice as fast as the entire capacity of most local area networks. Consequently, video conferencing systems that rely on telephone or local area networks must make compromises. These compromises are some combination of using smaller than full screen images, fewer than 30 frames per second, and special compression algorithms that do not transmit redundant data, such as backgrounds that do not move. Given these limitations, no one argues that videoconferencing in its present form is better than a live presentation. However, it is better than a presentation with no feedback or no presentation at all. One option for distance courses is to provide video from the instructor, and use a response system that does not involve video but can provide specific feedback to the instructor. These systems consist of a keypad for each individual that is connected to a computer and a phone line. The l...