The Internet-based lecture

Abstract

Network-based distributed education is a reality today. At George Mason University, we have been pursuing a capability beyond the widespread practice of supporting courses with webpages: delivering lectures and seminars in real time, over the Internet. This paper describes the range of distributed education technologies available today, focusing on issues of instructor presentation, student participation, and temporal qualities of response to student questions. The analysis supports our selection of desktop audiographics for synchronous Internet-based course delivery. Courses that have been presented in this mode are described, along with factors influencing their success and factors in student participation.