Videoconferencing at CityU

 

Sandie Hui

Videoconferencing enables people at distance apart to communicate face-to-face with each other. This state-of-the-art technology was first introduced in CityU by the CSC in June '96. The initial system installed was ProShare desktop videoconferencing system from Intel, allowing communication over LAN and ISDN with a maximum of 128Kbps. To further improve the quality of service, PictureTel Concorde 4500, a room videoconferencing system supporting a maximum of 384Kbps ISDN transmission, was installed in August `96. Ever since the system was launched, the CSC had organized talks and seminars to introduce it to CityU staff in order to promote its usage. Up till now, the benefits of using videoconferencing system as a teaching aid have acquired general recognition. A number of events were successfully conducted using this technology.

Two years in a row, the Division of Language Studies (LS) ran a joint course with the University of Leicester and University of Lancashire, UK. Two groups of students from each university discussed face-to-face via the Intel ProShare desktop videoconferencing system. The aim of the module was to study cross-cultural communication. Both the students and staff were deeply amazed by the system since they could see the facial expression and gestures of the other party and chat with each other, real time.

Using the videoconferencing system, the Department of Physics and Materials Science (AP) conducted a joint course with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), USA in semester B 96/97. Coupled with the use of a software package named Learnlinc, the course was a great success. Our students here attended the lecture with the instructor in RPI. Learnlinc enabled the instructor to have control over certain software packages running on PCs used by the students in CityU. Through the videoconferencing system, the students could raise questions should they have any query. In another event held in August '97, students from the Department of Information System attended a seminar with the speaker in University of Arizona, USA. Throughout the seminar, the audiences were encouraged to join in the discussion if the speaker raised any issue. "The experience is wonderful and the lecture is really challenging", said one of the audiences at the end of the seminar.

Videoconferencing marks a new era in the mode of teaching, which is very effective and exposes students to a greater wealth of information. Not only can they attend courses run locally; they can attend seminars/courses held overseas without physically travelling there. In fact, the videoconferencing technology was employed for sharing of courses/seminars. In March '96, CityU and Baptist University coordinated a seminar with the speaker giving the talk in CityU. The seminar was transmitted over ProShare videoconferencing system to Baptist University. The audiences in both universities were fascinated by the capabilities of the system.

Other than allowing students to collaborate with other students or instructors, videoconferencing proves to be very useful for holding meeting/research conferences with parties locally and overseas, particularly if the remote party is tied up with their work. For instance, an examination board meeting was conducted by SCOPE with participants located in UK. Another research conference hosted by the Department of Computer Science (CS) was organized with the University of Sunderland, UK in Jan '97. The CSC received very good feedback from the users, in particular, the users said that using the videoconferencing system to hold meetings or conferences, they can save a lot of travelling time and expenses.

One of the recent events held in CityU was the International Forum for World Leaders in Higher Education. A renowned speaker from USA was invited to give a presentation through the videoconferencing system. The participants were very much impressed by the system through which they benefited a lot from the presentation.

The application of videoconferencing technology is numerous. For instance, it can be used for doing interviews. The CSC will try our very best to provide support in different areas. Charging will be based on the actual cost incurred. If you think of any new area, which the videoconferencing system can be deployed or you would like to get more information regarding the service, do feel free to contact us at ext. 8848.

Computing Services Centre City University of Hong Kong ccnetcom@cityu.edu.hk