Virtual classroom

The paper presents the results of the "Virtual Classroom" project sponsored by the University of Westminster, Educational Initiative Centre (EIC) for delivering lectures online. The ultimate aim was to provide a portable hardware and easy to use software toolset as well as easy to follow guidelines on how to propel the lectures from the conventional dull chalk and talk environment to the realm of all interactive computer assisted Web based electronic classroom. The additional goal was to minimise the number of staff required to give the lectures and allow them to use their valuable time for other academic duties. The proposed hardware/software setup is a fully automatic solution controllable from a single PC. It allowed full student interaction and use of multimedia in the lecture. Although the best quality was achieved by use of multicasting, the students connecting via modem can also take interactive part in the lectures