On Jun 8, 2005, Kris Dev asked: > Can you explain how the video of the lecture (and questions if any are > asked in a live class), can be captured? Also how the blank screen is > used for sketches? > > It would be an ideal medium for local language lectures. > > Can the cost be brought down to USD 500 to 1,000, to have a larger reach > in the many poor and developing countries?
>From this and some e-mails I received I feel I may need to clarify: I'm not selling anything - these units use all off-the-shelf parts. I have talked to a few of the companies to see what could be done about the prices - if I can put together a less expensive system I will let you know. My university has expressed an interest in supporting a wide ranging effort to collect and host educational material produced by these (and any other) system. I am currently working with some schools to integrate them in K-12 and Community Colleges. My goal is to make sure all the educational content produced is freely available to under-served areas globally. Moreover, I feel there is potential in using systems like these to gather educational/instructional content from around the world. I need to identify possible funding sources to help purchase and distribute these systems. (Suggestions here would be appreciated!) Although they are expensive, consider that one $5000 system could be used to capture the teaching of 8 - 10 complete courses every semester. Under the right conditions this becomes a valuable tool to multiply the impact of teachers. A large and valuable library of material could be built up rather quickly. Training material can be created quickly and easily distributed with this technology - even in real time if an application like Windows Media Server is running on the tablet. Once captured, the video, audio and digital "lecture notes" can be distributed in a variety of locally appropriate ways: radio, video tape, snail mail - even RSS feeds. To answer your specific questions: The tabletPCs allow you to "write" directly on the screen - to annotate, diagram, hi-lite your presentation. The software running on the computer itself is recording a video of the screen as well as your audio. The teacher/presenter can insert a blank "page" at anytime to elaborate on a concept. The video that is produced is the same size and resolution as your computer screen, i.e. large and clear. It can easily be edited, then written out to a video-tape, or encoded for streaming or to CD. Translation would be a simple task since the software allows a "voice over". The recorded audio can be extracted and even played on local radio, the still image "lecture notes" could be printed and snail-mailed. So all-in-all, I believe this technology can be a good value in many circumstances. That doesn't mean I won't keep after the manufacturers to lower their prices, consider grants and look for lower cost solutions! Please do spread the message. And I'm happy to help anyone with technical or other questions! If any of this isn't clear, just drop me a note - Joe Joe Monahan Engineering Distance Education Iowa State University ------------ ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, a Non-Profit Organization*** To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: <http://www.edc.org/GLG/gkd/>
