Scarce education resources have led to the development of pioneering interactive video technology which will lead to flexible multimedia learning from home.

A Monash University group is spearheading research into digital interactive technology through its development of a highly advanced video-on-demand system.

The McIVER (Multicampus InteractiVe Video Education Resource) project was initiated three years ago at Monash by ANSPAG (Advanced Network Systems Performance and Applications Group) in collaboration with Telstra, Siemens and First Virtual Corporation.

According to ANSPAG business manager Ms Sonja Ahrens, McIVER is "Australia's leading full-scale true video-on-demand system in education".

Borne out of the need to facilitate student access to limited copies of video material, McIVER allows for simultaneous delivery of a single digitised video to a number of PC screens, without any loss to quality. This means that the same video can be viewed by several students at several computer terminals at the same time.

Education-on-demand

Students can not only select and start the video when they like, they can also pause, rewind, fast-forward and loop certain sections of the video for closer analysis, as well as type notes on the computer screen while watching the film.

Already, true video-on-demand is available to Monash students at the Clayton, Caulfield and Berwick campuses. The main users are students of disciplines that traditionally use audio-visual teaching aids, for example the visual arts, languages, music and marketing, but ANSPAG is also exploring possibilities within the medicine and business areas.

The system works by storing original film and video analogue masters in digital form on a central video server at Monash. The material can then be supplied on demand either to students via the Monash campus networks or to students off campus via advanced Telstra and Optus networks, using ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) networking technology, which enables a network to carry data, voice and high-quality video over a single cable.

According to Ms Ahrens, the power of the technology lies not only in video delivery, but in the fact that it represents a form of complex digital interactivity.

"While McIVER is a digital delivery system -- a way of getting the video from a storage facility to a student in front of a PC -- its significance lies in its interactivity and the value-added education material developed around that facility," she explained.

She says the potential of interactive packages and online delivery in education is enormous. "Increasingly, Monash staff are integrating video into their online teaching materials," she said.

"In areas such as language learning, whole assessment and assignments are being developed around multimedia technology. Students are being given a very interesting, rich and interactive learning experience that will be much more alive than reading a chapter from a book. Multimedia can only enhance traditional learning methods."

And while it is still a few years away from being available to domestic consumers, she says, the technology will eventually facilitate flexible learning from home. "Even before potential students sign up to study a particular course, they will get the chance to preview study materials, and then, when enrolled, they will be able to access these materials from home."

Australia-wide resource

According to Ms Ahrens, ANSPAG has plans to extend the system this year to the universities of Melbourne, Canberra and Adelaide, and in the longer term hopes to make it available as a teaching resource to every university in Australia, as well as to Monash campuses in Southeast Asia.

In addition to collaborating with industry partners on network technologies research, ANSPAG produces practical applications for provider organisations. The group is currently working with Cinemedia (formerly the State Film Centre) on its Digital Media Library project, creating a digital collection of the centre's film and video holdings for online delivery. The system will initially only be available for use by schools this year, but Ms Ahrens said that with the further development of networks to government departments, libraries, universities and homes, customers will also have access to the online collection.