• Karl Kurbel, Iouri Loutchko, Alexei Pakhomov
  Production and Delivery of Multimedia Courses for Internet Based Virtual Education

European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder)
Business Informatics POB 1786
D-15207 Frankfurt(Oder), Germany

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Abstract
This workshop concentrates on producing multimedia-based courses by means of currently available low-cost technologies and making them available for students over the Internet. We will demonstrate how videos can be recorded, converted and compressed and how they can be synchronized with accompanying slides or screen recordings. For delivery over the Internet, a range of transmission speeds on the way from the video server to the student's computer have to be taken into account. This means that several versions of the same video course have to be provided to cope with the range from fast (like ADSL) to very slow (like 28.8 kbps modem) Internet access.

Background of the Work
Knowledge and experience in the field of multimedia production and delivery have been gained by the authors when they were preparing courses for a completely virtual multimedia and Internet based master program. This program is offered by the Virtual Global University (VGU), a private organization founded by university professors from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, in cooperation with the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder), Germany. Students receive the degree of an "International Master of Business Informatics" (MBI). Although different types of learning and instruction - video courses, textbook/website courses, hypermedia courses, narrated slide shows, project seminars, etc. - are used, video-based courses are a major part of the MBI curriculum.

Outline of the Workshop

1. Discussion of Tools and Technologies
   The tools and technologies which can be used for the production, processing, compression, and delivery of non-uniform multimedia materials over the Internet are discussed. Special attention is paid to the problem of automatic synchronization of different types of multimedia sources. Multimedia material for the MBI program has been prepared with the Microsoft Windows Media Technologies which provide a set of components and features for delivering audio, video and graphics in different forms over a computer network, like the Internet or a corporate intranet. These technologies primarily support the production and delivery of digital media by using a technique called streaming. In our MBI program we used some features of these technologies to synchronize multimedia contents of completely different types. The basic element of a video course are movies of the lecturers presenting course topics. After transmission from the camera to a computer, the movies are initially saved as AVI files. Then they are converted into Windows Media files suitable for streaming. Students access the lectures through a Web page built with the help of ActiveX and ASP technologies. To control interaction between the video part and other page contents, we use some Microsoft's tools like the ASP scripts and ActiveX elements integrated into the page. This approach ensures compatibility of all e-learning components of our system. Moreover, because all components used are either Microsoft Windows components or can be downloaded for free from the Microsoft site there are no additional costs for software equipment.
2. Online Presentation of Video Courses from the MBI Program
   Several examples of previously recorded courses are presented and discussed. This includes the website of the course, online lectures, linking videos, schedule and exercises, interaction features, etc. The presentation is based on material from the online MBI courses "Introduction to Programming" and "Java Programming".
3. Demonstration of Production of Video Courses
   Within the workshop, a part of the session will be recorded and processed in order to produce a streaming video. This will be done online as in a real production, using all the tools and appliances discussed previously. We will go all the way from recording with a digital camera to providing the result for access on the Internet.

The organizers of the workshop expect a discussion of alternative approaches for solving the problems they are facing in the MBI project, in particular other e-learning tools and different organizational solutions for production, processing and making available of multimedia material.

The workshop is expected to provide a forum for discussion of the whole spectrum of problems associated with online education based on modern multimedia technologies.

Organization of the Workshop

1. Introduction to the workshop's theme and the context of the work (20 min)
2. Discussion and presentation of tools for multimedia production and delivery (25 min)
3. Online presentation of video-based courses (15 min)
4. Online recording of part of the session and online video processing (45 min)
5. Discussion (15 min)

Equipment needed
Fast Internet access, video beamer. Equipment for recording and producing videos will be provided by the workshop organizers.