Video-teaching on high performance networks

The aim of work presented is to investigate the issues concerned with real time distance teaching on high performance networks from both technical and pedagogical points of view. The opportunity arose to use SuperJANET, and to experiment with the ATM video network, which gave us a potential to solve a number of problems which had arisen in undergraduate surgical teaching due to the re organisation which had taken place in the National Health Service in recent years. We also realised that as this teaching involved demonstrations, lectures, discussion etc. it could also form a model for open and distance teaching in other subjects. The paper describes the experience of network teaching using large lecture theatres or seminar rooms, dealing with student audiences of 100-200 students down to small groups of 10-25 students respectively. Interactive teaching in large lecture theatres presents special problems. The small group uses facilities more akin to video conferencing, but the way in which the equipment is used can be very different. This teaching space is likely to be supported by local video networks, probably analogue, which will be required to transfer the audio and video signals to the digital networks, which will in turn move the signals over large distances. These issues are considered a different and separate problem to more individual teaching using desktop video workstations