Using advanced computing techniques to implement a distance education system

As more universities begin to offer distance education classes, advances in current methods of delivering classroom information must be introduced. At present, universities use two different methods for distance education. The first is text-based web pages, which due to bandwidth restrictions are generally unable to display complex multimedia information. The second method is to videotape lectures and distribute the tapes to distant sites. While this does a reasonable job of simulating a classroom, the cost associated with producing and distributing the videos and the delay involved in distribution makes this system unattractive. This thesis presents a method for compressing the classroom video to a smaller size so that the lecture can be rebroadcast over the Internet without losing classroom information. In addition, methods will be demonstrated for automatically extracting various types of information from a videotaped lecture; this will result in a more interactive lecture than a simple videotape would provide