Internet-based Videoconferencing for Teaching and Learning: A Cinderella Story

Abstract

As a rich media technology, video-conferencing has moved forward significantly in recent years. The development of videoconferencing to utilize the Internet rather than telephone lines makes it possible to send and receive video and audio (Nokia, 2005a, pp. 5-8; Tandberg, 2006b; Videoconferencing Insight Newsletter, 2006b) nearing broadcast quality. Henceforth in this article, the current form of the technology will be referred to as Internet-based videoconferencing. This capability is the key factor enabling most previous criticisms of the medium to be challenged because the transmission speeds (number of kilobytes per second or kps) are vastly increased, thereby increasing picture and audio quality. While the capabilities of videoconferencing have been steadily increasing since the 1980s, the capacity of the technology to deliver high-quality video and audio has improved dramatically in the last few years. What does this mean for teaching and learning? The enhanced technical capability has a number of positive implications for using Internet-based videoconferencing for teaching and learning: * First, the richness of the media can now be accessed and utilized for a broader range of teaching and learning activities (Smyth, 2005). * Second, the cost of using the technology is now minimal. It costs around $2.75 per hour to link from a university in Australia to the United States or the United Kingdom accessing the Internet at 768kps or better, whereas it previously cost on the order of $2,500 per hour using three telephone lines to achieve half that speed. * Third, Internet-based videoconferencing enables dual-stream video and multicasting without loss of bandwidth, providing that all sites have high-speed capability. * Fourth, the technical capability to link from Internet-based videoconferencing to mobile phones will enable videoconferencing anywhere, any time, around the globe. These issues will be explored as the limitations of videoconferencing are challenged. We will examine video-conferencing from three perspectives: videoconferencing of the past, what it now is, and what its future might look like. We will specifically address the factors of cost effectiveness, connectivity, scalability, and inclusivity.