Tele-Education – Experiences from the Use of Videoconferencing, Tove Kristiansen

Contents

Feature Special

Guest editorial, Tove Kristiansen ...... 1 Protocols for multimedia multiparty conferencing – a presentation of the ITU-T T.120 series Telecommunications in distance education recommendations, Trond Ulseth ...... 95 – An introduction, Tove Kristiansen ...... 2 Charging of ATM services, Ragnar Andreassen, Distance education – a response to social needs or Øyvind Breivik, Einar Edvardsen, Thor Eskedal, technology in search of application? Erling Ljoså ...... 9 Nina Kloster and Olav Østerbø ...... 105

Field trials – the need for user participation in The frequency assignment algorithm used in the telecommunications development, Tove Kristiansen .. 15 mobile network planning tool MOBINETT, Ralph Lorentzen ...... 118 Cultural and educational barriers to tele-education – Experiences from the use of videoconferencing, Tove Kristiansen ...... 20 Status Distance education in the electronic classroom, Bjørn Hestnes and John Willy Bakke ...... 22 International research and standardization activities in telecommunication: Introduction, Endre Skolt ..... 125 Something in the air – Norwegian experiences with telelecturing in flexible education, COST 219: Future telecommunications and tele- Gunnar Grepperud ...... 29 informatics facilities for disabled people and elderly, Per Helmersen ...... 126 Telecom and Open Learning – a challenge to COST 235: Radiowave propagation effects on institutional cooperation, Harald Haugen and Bodil Ask ...... 34 next generation fixed-services telecommunication systems, Agne Nordbotten ...... 128 From electronic mail to Internet COST 231: Evolution of land mobile radio – where does it take us? Torstein Rekkedal ...... 38 (including personal) communications, Per Hjalmar Lehne and Rune Harald Rækken ...... 131 Design guidelines for WWW-based course environments, Anke Eekma and Betty Collis ...... 44

Learning in collaborative virtual environments – Impressions from a trial using the Dovre framework, Kaleidoscope Ola Ødegård and Karl Anders Øygard ...... 51 50 years of radio links in Norway. The transition from Distance education in Norwegian manufacturing the telecommunication Stone Age, Knut Endresen .. 141 industry and the education sector – Current situation and future needs, Tom Erik Julsrud ...... 59

The globalisation of education, Robin Mason ...... 69

The future of learning, Anthony W. Bates ...... 82 A presentation of the authors ...... 168

Editorial office: Telektronikk Telektronikk Telenor AS, Telenor Research & Development P.O. Box 83 Volume 92 No. 3/4 - 1996 N-2007 Kjeller, Norway ISSN 0085-7130 e-mail: [email protected] Editor: Editorial board: Ola Espvik Ole P Håkonsen, Senior Executive Vice President Tel. + 47 63 84 88 83 Oddvar Hesjedal, Vice President, Research & Development Bjørn Løken, Director Status section editor: Endre Skolt Graphic design: Tel. + 47 63 84 87 11 Design Consult AS Editorial assistant: Layout and illustrations: Gunhild Luke Gunhild Luke, Britt Kjus, Åse Aardal Tel. + 47 63 84 86 52 Telenor Research & Development Guest editorial

BY TOVE KRISTIANSEN

Modern information and at a local study centre. They may telecommunications technology choose whether to study at their is about to revolutionize the field own pace using asynchronous of distance education. Only a few media, to follow a fixed sched- years ago, all distribution of ule being connected to their learning material and communi- teacher and fellow students cation between teacher and through synchronous media, or students was totally based on using a mixture of the two. postal services. Today, we see a multitude of media and commu- This independence of time and nication technologies being used. place admits the learner to a Even though mail is still the much larger degree than before, medium most used in distance the freedom to choose a learning education both nationally and model which suits the individual internationally, the use of best. We are witnessing the telecommunications is spreading development of a more individu- rapidly and is expected to alized system of distance educa- become dominating in our part of tion, which we may call learning the world early in the next cen- on demand. This respresents a tury. That is why we have chosen challenge to all established edu- to call this issue of Telektronikk cational institutions, which will “Tele-education” and not dis- have to become more learner tance education. oriented than they are today.

What we witness in Norway, as The flexibility of modern com- in many other countries, is that munications technologies, is of the differences between distance great importance to the growing education and ordinary education are slowly being wiped out. demand for continuous and life long learning in the work force. New technology is being brought into the educational settings, In today’s society investment in competence is said to be the opening up for a globalisation of education. Distances do not major factor for companies to survive in the increasing competi- matter any more. Students may collaborate with students in tion. This need for continuous updating of the employees’ com- other countries just as easily as with students next door. Experts petence, can greatly improve in efficiency by means of tele-edu- may give lectures to all parts of the world without having to cation. travel. Employees may study from home, in their work place or

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 1 Telecommunications in distance education – An introduction

BY TOVE KRISTIANSEN

1 What is distance pose was to offer the opportunity to learn located. As compared to postal commu- to remote regions and groups of the pop- nication, the student is able to enjoy a far education? ulation with limited access to ordinary more direct form of two-way communi- Distance education is teaching where educational services. For many years cor- cation with the tutor, and with other dis- the teacher and pupil(s)/student(s) are respondence schools were the only ones tance students. Depending on what the remote in terms of space and/or time. to offer this kind of courses. During the situation of the students are, what their Technical aids are used to disseminate last ten years, however, other educational needs are, and what subject is to be study materials and to provide genuine environments have shown an increased taught, the course may be offered via two-way communication, as a means interest in distance education.1 This is synchronous or asynchronous media, of supporting the learning process. due in particular to two aspects: societal based on audio, text or video communi- (St.meld. (Government White Paper) changes and technological innovation. cation. Very often a mixture of media No. 43, 1988–89, p.88.) will be used, combined with ordinary Demographic changes, industrial re- classroom instruction and group work. The history of distance education started structuring and the pressure exerted on us As the technological development goes some one hundred years ago. The pur- throughout our lifetimes to continually further, the number of possible combina- update what we know and to acquire new tions will grow and the individual student skills means that our need for continuing will to a larger extent have the possibility and refresher education is greater than to choose media and learning models that ever. Improving the skills of employees are best suited to meet his or her needs. is an increasingly important investment area for all types of companies. The provision of continuing and refresher educa- 2 The “generations” of tion for the work force has to a greater distance education extent become the responsibility of the individual employer. At the same time The development in distance education there is a greater demand for improved may historically be divided into various efficiency and better exploitation of generations, according to what kinds of resources. This includes the savings on technological devices that have been travel and course budgets and the value used at various times to establish two- for the company of investments made in way communication between teacher and its employees’ education. students.

This increased need for learning means One way of presenting this development Teacher Students the education sector faces new chall- is the following model of three genera- enges. New groups of students with spe- tions: cific educational needs are emerging. Figure 1 First generation of distance education These groups consist primarily of adults First generation was characterised by the in employment, with families and social use of mail only. The contact was based ties which restrict their mobility. Learn- on written communication transported by ing must take place where they are, in the the postal system and ran between the workplace, in the home or at a local teacher and the individual student (ref. study centre. Figure 1).

In this context the development of tech- Second generation used broadcasting nology is important. On the one hand, (radio and television) and audio and technological developments help speed video cassettes distributed by post to up the social changes which create the reach the students with teaching material. need for continual learning. On the other The two-way interaction was still mainly hand, the technology provides new mail-based, but supplemented by the use opportunities for this learning to take of the telephone (ref. Figure 2). place without the student needing to travel to an educational establishment. Third generation saw the introduction of RADIO Via the telecommunication system, tools that opened up for a greater variety TV teaching sessions can be distributed to and flexibility of interaction. Electronic (Audio the student, no matter where he or she is mail and computer based conferencing and video represented asynchronous communica- cassettes) tion that proved to be stimulating and motivating to both teachers and students. 1 A more thorough presentation of the An important aspect was that it allowed historical development of distance for students to interact with each other. education is given in the article “Dis- This generation also saw the introduction Teacher Students tance education – response to social of videoconferences and videophones needs or technology in search of appli- (ref. Figure 3). Figure 2 Second generation of distance education cation?” in this issue of Telektronikk.

2 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 Following these three generations, a when selecting a suitable communication fourth generation is about to take shape. aid for distance education purposes. This is the generation where all commu- However, the technology is important in nication has turned digital, multimedia itself, because it will to a great extent technology is being introduced into the determine the form of communication. It market, and the interactivity and flexi- opens the way for certain possibilities bility of both technology and learning while simultaneously setting limitations. and teaching models are much improved. In the following we will present some of the experiments Telenor R&D has been involved in and experiences gained from 3 Telenor’s engagement them. in tele-education

Telenor (Norwegian Telecom) has since 4 Audio-based the mid 1980s been working in the field communication of distance education and has during a ten year period run a large number of The telephone is internationally a much field trials in this area.2 These trials have used communication aid in distance edu- had two objectives. The first was to test cation. A number of countries have many previously established services to gain years of experience in utilising telephone better insight into the advantages and dis- conferences as a way of teaching and advantages they offer when used for dis- gathering groups of students for distance education purposes. The second cussion purposes. In Norway the tele- objective was to devise new telecommu- phone has primarily been used by corre- nication services which could be used for spondence schools as a means of direct this purpose, by testing new equipment in contact between the tutor and individual conditions specific to distance education. students. Open arrangements allowing Figure 3 Third generation of distance education By doing so we have been able to gather students to call the tutor/school when the information from users which is of great need arises have shown that it is difficult value to us when developing these ser- to get the student to call on his or her vices, material which not only helps tech- own initiative. However, there is plenty nological development but which also of evidence indicating that direct contact sheds considerable light on the educa- over the telephone is an important means tional and communicational aspects of of motivating and supporting the student correspondence course. Since they lived tele-based distance education. in a period of private study. The corre- far apart, there was no point in arranging spondence schools have therefore gradu- combined teaching, as is often used in The field trials have partly been initiated ally incorporated telephone contact with Norway, i.e. local classes are held once by Telenor, partly by other establish- the students as part of the work-load of every week or fortnight as a supplement ments. Some of the trials have been joint correspondence school tutors. to the correspondence course. In this pro- projects. Others have been carried out ject, as an alternative, weekly classes of without Telenor’s direct involvement, Telephone conferences one hour duration were broadcast on though Telenor has been responsible for local radio. the assessment of these. Telenor has In telephone conferencing it is possible emphasised the need for a thorough eval- to link up several locations simultane- In addition, telephone conferences were uation of all the trials the company has ously to form a group “meeting-place” used to bring the course participants been involved in, and the reports pro- over the telephone. In this way contact closer to one another and to create a duced contain a considerable amount of can easily be made between tutors and “classroom environment” despite the user findings. students who live a long way from one great distances involved. This worked another. Telephone conferencing can be very well. Most of the participants had There are many circumstances that can used to spread information, to maintain never heard of telephone conferencing affect the outcome of a trial. Key aspects social contact and for professional activi- before the trial commenced, and there in every distance teaching situation are ties. was little enthusiasm among the partici- economic, educational and organisational pants for testing this facility. After trying considerations. The extent to which a One of the first trials Telenor R&D took telephone conferencing a couple of given medium is suited to a specific dis- part in, during the winter of 1988–89, times, however, the participants were so tance education context will therefore was testing telephone conferencing as a pleased with the benefits gained that they depend on a number of factors and the supplementary service in adult education. wished to continue using it. way these factors interact. The technol- The trial formed part of a project at a ogy will, in other words, be only one of high school in the northern part of Nor- Interviews with the participants showed many aspects that must be evaluated way, where an adult education course in that telephone conferencing was import- history was started in the autumn of ant both from a social and an educational 1988. A total of 30 people applied to take point of view. Seen in terms of social 2 There is a separate article in this issue part in the course, which was based on a benefits, it would appear that telephone of Telektronikk on “Field trials”.

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 3 Another important advantage of tele- image compression techniques which phone conferences is their flexibility. eventually, in 1991, resulted in a Nor- They can be established between indi- wegian made videotelephone (produced vidual students or groups of students, and by the Norwegian company Tandberg the location of the participants is of no A/S) (ref. Figure 4). consequence. Within the field of distance education, telephone conferencing is con- The transfer of broadcast quality real- sidered to have great growth potential, time images requires a great deal of considering the widespread distribution telecommunication network capacity. By of the telephone, its user-friendliness and using coding techniques to digitise and low level of cost. compress the information contained in the image, the transfer capacity required can be reduced. While the transfer of an 5 Visual communications image of broadcast quality requires a capacity equivalent to approximately Visual media used for distance education 1000 analogue telephone lines, video- purposes can be divided into two main telephony can be transmitted on only one categories: one-way and two-way com- single digital telephone line (64 kbit/s) municating. Television is a one-way (ref. Figure 5). communicating visual medium, which has played an important role as a medium Reducing the transfer rate does result in a for distributing educational programs to loss of quality. In distance education, Figure 4 The Tandberg Vision videophone the population both in Norway and other videoconferences and videotelephony are countries. It may be transferred via the nonetheless interesting services. By uti- national or private broadcasting net- lising two-way visual communicating works, local cable or satellite. One-way media it is possible to produce a teaching communicating media provide few conferencing motivated the students to situation which in many ways resembles opportunities for feedback from student “meet” others similarly situated with that found in traditional classrooms: to tutor. Two-way communication can be whom they could discuss problems they provided, however, by combining tele- • The teacher and students can see one had in common. In educational terms, vision teaching with other media, e.g. other. This gives them a feeling of telephone conferencing gave the students telephones, fax machines, and/or com- proximity and direct contact, which the opportunity to discuss those parts of puters. In Norway, we have made some has a motivating effect. the syllabus that had not been covered experiences with satellite distribution of sufficiently in the radio broadcasts and to • It is possible to visualise the teaching by lectures combined with telephone con- talk about topics which they found diffi- ferences.3 We have also made som ex- - showing text, illustrations and cult. periments with videotelephony in this objects with the aid of a document connection. They have so far been limit- camera The course participants achieved very ed, but very promising. Most of the stu- good examination results, and the course - producing text and figures on a dents reported the use of videotelephones drop-out rate was low. Although this tells blackboard, on paper or a personal to be an improvement as compared to us nothing about the significance of tele- computer telephone conferences, mainly because phone conferences in isolation, it does they experienced a closer contact with • It is possible to show movement which indicate that the tested combination of their teacher. can be of benefit when media worked well for the participants. - giving instruction in subjects that At Telenor R&D we have to a large The model chosen in this project is con- involve motion, e.g. drama, music extent been engaged in experimenting sidered to be of great interest for distance and physiotherapy with two-way visual communication in education, because it is based on simple, the telecommunication networks, i.e. - demonstrating work operations and inexpensive and easily accessible forms videoconferencing and videotelephony. laboratory exercises. of media with which the users were al- This is due to the fact that videoconfe- ready familiar. Both radio and telephones rencing was introduced as a public ser- The similarity to classroom teaching are media we may assume can be found vice in the Norwegian telecommunica- makes many teachers feel comfortable in every Norwegian household. Radio tions network in 1983, and that Telenor using this technology because it allows broadcasts also have the advantage that R&D at an even earlier stage, in the late them to act in much the same way as they they can be recorded and listened to at a 1970s, initiated studies in the field of are used to. later juncture for revision purposes. Al- though telephone conferences demand a It should be recognised, however, that certain amount of conversation discipline distance education no matter what tech- which will be unfamiliar to most people 3 Some Norwegian experiences from nology is being used, is a totally different who are only used to normal telephone satellite distribution are presented in method for both teaching and learning. conversations, this is something that the the article “Something in the air – Using this medium therefore needs care- majority of individuals quickly become Norwegian experiences with telelectur- ful preparations from both teacher and accustomed to. ing in flexible education” in this issue student. of Telektronikk.

4 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 participated in trials involving all these Previous situation different models. The very first trial involving videocon- 1 ferences took place in a fishing village on telephone- the northern coast. A newly started ele- mentary course in fishery studies at the line high school lacked qualified teachers in a range of subjects. This was compensated for by organising for the transmission of 1000 direct teaching over the telecommunica- telephone- tions network. In addition, employees in lines the local fish processing industry got the opportunity of further education through lectures given to them on the screen.

Soon other examples followed. Regional college centres saw videoconferencing as Present situation a tool for reaching new categories of students and students unable to attend courses at campus. The Norwegian military service used videoconferences for distributing courses to locations spread all over the country. Telenor used it for internal training of employees. Hospitals 1 digital Video and Video and used it for further education of doctors telephone and nurses. audio codec audio codec line With the introduction of videotelephony, two-way visual communication has

TANDBERG Vision TANDBERG Vision become interesting to a larger amount of

Point-to-point

Figure 5

Telenor R&D has been engaged in a Most distance education trials involving number of field trials using videoconfer- videoconferencing have been between Point-to-multipoint encing and videotelephony in distance two locations, so-called point-to-point education. It all started with a project connections, where a teacher in one loca- called “Telematics in the North” launch- tion has taught students in another. In ed in 1988, in which videoconferencing some cases a group of students have been was defined as an area of investment. present in the same location as the teach- Telenor R&D played an active part in er, at the same time as the course has this, in two areas in particular: tele- been followed by a group of students medicine and distance education. Within over the telecommunications network. In a short period of time, a number of loca- the course of time technical develop- tions had installed videoconferencing ments enabled the simultaneous trans- Multipoint equipment. There was an especially large mission of a teaching session from one amount of activity in Finnmark (the most educational establishment to several northerly part of the country), where the locations, and this has been utilised in a great distances between participants and number of contexts. Eventually, technol- lack of teachers meant that many en- ogy moved even one stage further. In the vironments found this form of distance summer of 1991 it became possible to education very interesting. The impact link up several locations in one full this form of teaching could have on rural multi-point conference, that is, all loca- areas and small communities was thought tions became able to see and hear one to be of great value. another (ref. Figure 6). Telenor R&D has Figure 6 Models for use of videoconferences

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 5 educational institutions, due to the lower tion, to find good methods for utilising education in the years to come. Many cost and better accessibility as the digital the possibility for two-way communica- distance education institutions do, how- network is being built out – ISDN (Inte- tion. ever, already have long and valuable grated Services Digital Network). Today, experience in the use of various comput- there is quite a large number of institu- er conferencing systems. The various tions using videotelephony for educa- 6 Text-based systems may differ in terms of user inter- tional purposes in Norway. communication face, menu system and organisation of conferences. Common to all of them is It is used both for transferring lectures, The most commonly used form of text the fact that they include three princi- supervision, consultation, habilitation, communication in distance education, pally different forms of communication: and discussion groups. The technical besides hand-written letters, is computer- • Electronic mail. One-to-one commu- installations differ from case to case, based communication which allows for nication: messages, comments, ques- depending on the number of participants electronic messages, letters and contributions, information and answers can be and the subject being taught. At Telenor tions to be transferred at high speed. sent as electronic mail from one person R&D we have made certain efforts to There are also systems which enable the to one or more addressed recipients. develop solutions to satisfy the needs of transferral of hand-written messages via both teachers and students as they have the telecommunications network, elec- • Electronic bulletin boards. One-to- been expressed in field trials we have tronic digitising pads and electronic many communication: information is been involved in.4 boards. At Telenor we have in co-opera- sent electronically from one sender as tion with the university of Oslo develop- an open message to a larger number of Experiences made from all the projects ed an electronic classroom, combining unaddressed recipients. that have been using videoconferences or the use of electronic boards with audio • Electronic conferences. Many-to- videotelephony are very much the same and live video communication.5 Also the many communication: messages, ques- when it comes to the communicative fax machine has a great potential in dis- tions and comments are sent electron- aspects. Both students and teachers think tance education. Telenor has tested all ically from one conference participant it important to see each other. They find these forms of text-based communica- to a common conference, a forum that “meeting on the screen” makes them tion. Here we would like to focus on established for a limited number of feel close. Especially the students report computer mediated communication, participants. The message can be an- that they feel they get to know the teach- which is expected to grow rapidly in the swered by one or more of the other er quite well. Nevertheless, as with all years to come. participants. The conference thus kinds of distance education courses, it is resembles a meeting place for students recommended that teacher and students Computer mediated communi- and tutors where communication meet each other before a course starts. cation occurs freely among all the participants. All the Norwegian trials indicate that The use of computer mediated communi- both teacher and students quickly cation in distance education provides the The metaphor often used for computer become accustomed to the technology opportunity for two-way communication conferences is the school building itself. and that they easily learn how to operate regardless of time (asynchronous com- As a student/participant you have to be it. It is worth noting that the quality of munication) and place. Tutors and stu- admitted. When you are “inside”, you the sound is felt to be far more crucial to dents are able to work whenever and may choose whether to read your mail, to successful communication than the qual- wherever they feel like it. Since it is a read a notice on the board, to be social ity of the images. flexible and readily available form of and chat with others in the “café”, take communication, computer mediated part in a thematic discussion that is open As all the teaching takes place on a communication meets many of the re- to everybody or, if you are a “member”, screen, it becomes more structured than quirements of the traditional distance discuss with a smaller circuit of people in the classroom. It demands a high education institutions. People’s access to “behind closed doors”. degree of concentration from both teach- a computer is nonetheless still limited, al- er and students, and even though it though the rapid rise in the number of Experiences drawn from the use of com- allows for continuous interaction, experi- computer terminals both in the workplace puter conferences so far clearly show that ences show that spontaneous interaction and at home makes computer mediated the number of students who access the is hard to achieve. The dialogue has to be communication an increasingly interest- conference merely to read messages far planned by the teacher, and he or she ing alternative in distance education. exceed those who log on to the system to must to a large extent invite the students send comments. The degree of activity to interact. Pedagogically, this is where During the last couple of years, we have among students also seem to be strongly the greatest challenge lies in further seen a dramatic growth in the use of the related to the activity of the individual developing the use of videoconferencing Internet, and this is thought to become tutor, i.e. the more active the tutor, the and videotelephony in distance educa- the dominating medium for computer more active his or her students. mediated communication in distance In Norway it was the largest of the traditional correspondence schools that first 4 Examples of this is given in the article began to utilise computer conferences as “Field trials – the need for user partici- 5 This is presented in the article “Dis- an integral part of distance education. pation in telecommunications develop- tance education in the distant class- Computer conferences proved well-suit- ment” in this issue of Telektronikk. room” in this issue of Telektronikk.

6 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 ed to their established structure and the service could be offered to students throughout the country. Telenor R&D supported in the late 1980s trials involving computer conferences at two of our largest distance education institutions (NKS and NKI). We also tested the use of computer conferences as part of a joint Nordic education programme for researchers, in co-operation with the Uni- versity of Oslo.

There is now a large number of educational institutions in Norway which are using computer mediated communication as an integral part of their courses. Some have courses that are based completely on electronic distribution and communication, and the use of Internet is rapidly growing.6 The introduction of electronic networks has also led to the collaboration between institutions and we see new ways of organising studies that offer greater openness and flexibility to the students.7

As the penetration of computers into homes gets higher, and the demand for more flexible ways of learning grows in conjunction with a greater need for updating the competence level of the work force, the use of electronic based courses is expected to “explode”.

7 The Internet

As mentioned above, the use of the Inter- net for distribution and communication in distance education is growing rapidly. This is a challenge to course designers who need to learn new methods for presenting a course in a new context. Some environments have started working on guidelines for designing WWW-based courses.8

The fascinating thing about the Internet arate modes of communication; text, since the summer of 1996, been engaged is that it combines all the previously sep- sound, images, graphics and live video in the utilisation of the Internet in (although still of some limited quality). It schools. In conjunction with that, we gives you direct access to all the digitally have developed learning material for stored information in the world. You may teachers and IT-co-ordinators at schools. communicate as easy with persons in This has been offered as free videos to all 6 One example is NKI, see the article your own neighbourhood as with persons schools, and as courses given locally in “From electronic mail to Internet – living at the other side of the earth. You twenty regions of the country. The course where does it take us?” in this issue of may also make your own presentations “Internet in education” is about to be Telektronikk. that can be read and responded to by any- transformed into a WWW-based course, 7 See the article “Telecom and Open body anywhere. This is obviously a chal- which is economically supported by the Learning – a challenge to institutional lenging technology to all kinds of educa- Norwegian Ministry of Education. cooperation” in this issue of Telektron- tional institutions. ikk. Our engagement in schools is part of At Telenor R&D we have so far little Telenor’s initiative to provide teachers 8 See the article “Design guidelines for experience ourselves with the Internet in and pupils with limitless communication, WWW-based course environments” in distance education. We have, however, a project called “The electronic school this issue of Telektronikk.

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 7 path” containing the delivery of commu- in other media. We already have mobile nication lines and equipment, a Web-site telephones that at the same time are tiny for schools9, the above mentioned educa- personal computers. WEB-TV is about to tional offering and research. be introduced, giving you access to the Internet from your ordinary TV set. In the field of research we have signed a treaty of agreement with the Ministry of Within a few years we will also have the Education on collaboration from 1996 to possibility of meeting in virtual space, 1999. The treaty is meant to support the trespassing the screen and entering the Ministry’s plan for implementing infor- artificially created world itself. There, we mation technology into Norwegian will interact with the representations of schools, the aim being to make all teach- other humans. At Telenor R&D we are ers and pupils into personal users of IT. developing VR solutions that may prove to be of great interest to distance educa- We have, as part of our research in this tion in the future.11 field, started a joint project with British Telecom Labs, connecting two schools in Whether we like it or not, the technologi- Norway with two schools in England. cal development is a major driving force The intention is to let pupils from both in the development of education and countries communicate and collaborate must be taken seriously. Technology by using videotelephones and the Inter- itself cannot, however, solve the need for net. lifelong learning in tomorrow’s society. Much work has to be done at the educa- This project is an example of two import- tional institutions in terms of pedagogical ant trends in today’s education: and organisational development. Only when technology, pedagogics and organi- • The internationalisation of teaching sation are developed in conjunction can and learning10 our educational institutions manage to • The merging of distance education meet the challenges of tomorrow’s with classroom teaching. demand for flexible and open learning.

8 The future

As new technology is brought into the classrooms from primary schools upwards, there will no longer be a clear distinction between ordinary and distance education. Collaborative work may take place between pupils and teachers across national borders. Experts from all over the world may be brought into the classroom for consultation, and guest lectures may be given from wherever the lecturer is situated. Thus, we will see a merging of distance and classroom teaching.

We will also see a great variety of technologies being used. Telecommunica- tions will become more and more dominant, although they will still be used in conjunction with local gatherings and physically distributed media (books, letters, cassettes, CD-ROMs). The merging of various forms of communication as we have seen in the Internet, will also appear

9 The address to our Web-site is: 11An example of this is given in the art- http://www.skoleveien.telenor.no. icle “Learning in collaborative virtual 10Further reflections on this are given in environments – impressions from a the article “The globalisation of educa- trial using the Dovre framework” in tion” in this issue of Telektronikk. this issue of Telektronikk.

8 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 Distance education – a response to social needs or technology in search of application?

BY ERLING LJOSÅ

One of the Norwegian painter Edvard Munch’s pictures, ‘The Plough Team’, shows a man who is out ploughing. He has two sturdy horses drawing his plough, one is black, the other white. They are harnessed together, but in the picture it appears as though each is pulling in slightly different directions.

The development of technology is indeed a part of the development of a society, but even so we can sometimes feel that technology is an uncontrollable member of our ‘ploughing team’. It is therefore a relevant question to ask: is it society’s real need which is decisive in the type of distance learning that is on offer? Or is distance learning to some extent a technology driven invention in search of relevant application?

This question of the relationship between technological and general social development in connection with distance learning is indeed tightly knitted. There are few, if any, social researchers who have been interested in this subject, so there spondence courses have been in use in wrote in his advertisements and school are few research or literary sources avail- such connection for over eighty years timetable, “We live in restless times. able to lean on. I shall try to open up the now, in Norway. Distance education, in Never before has work pressure been so topic in a few different ways – by look- other words, is not a recent phenomenon intense as now, and never before has ing at historical trends, some typical based on new technology. It has been in demand for skills been so high”, and examples and a few personal reflections. widespread use over large parts of the indeed he was correct. The need for globe for the last century or more. Even working skills and education was so, from the very beginning, distance acknowledged to an increasing degree, The first technological education has been affected by general and the public at large was thirsty for stage – education by post technological developments. Pitman, the knowledge. oldest correspondence college in Europe, Bernhard R. Tynes started a furniture was started in England as soon as the The Norwegian school system was in no factory in 1927 in Sykkylven in Sunn- national postal system had been estab- position to meet this need. Certainly, møre, when he was 20 years old. In lished. Indeed, the Post Office communi- there were public schools and business 1930 he expanded and built a new cation system was a prerequisite for the schools in the larger cities, but very few factory. When he was only 13 he had growth of correspondence colleges. This people had either the resources or possi- begun to make wooden buttons, and at system still works extremely well, at any bility of travelling from home to attend 16, ski poles. He was one of the found- rate in Norway. It is cheap, effective and these courses. Loss of earnings, dear ers of the ‘industrial fairytale’ in Sun- reasonably fast, and covers as near maintenance and school fees made it dif- nmøre. 100 % of the population as possible. ficult for most. At the same time knowl- In 1934 Tynes took a correspondence edge was an important prerequisite for course in technical drawing, freehand When Ernst G. Mortensen ventured to higher paid work and social advance- design and business accounting. His start NKS (the Norwegian Correspond- ment. The two course offerings from first technical education was from a ence College) in 1914, the basis for his NKS cost the dizzy sum of 40 kroner, at carpentry college in Molde, but he success was not new technology. He a time when a normal skilled workman’s gradually became aware of a need for himself had no more education than a 6 wage was about 0.50 kroner per hour. further education in design as part of months business course after a basic edu- Even if that was expensive, school supp- his job as manager of an expanding cation, but he was desperate to start his ort costs were much higher. furniture factory ... Tynes himself own business. He took the initiative in a designed the furniture which was to be previously neglected area in Norwegian At that time business education was the put into production, and the factory in education, namely business education. poor relation in the Norwegian school Sykkylven became a model company. The two first courses – ‘Double entry system. The industrialisation and devel- [2] bookkeeping’ and ‘Business correspond- opment of business at the turn of the cen- ence’ – filled a need for practical skills in tury created a large demand for training. More than sixty years ago we can already a rich variety of establishments in many Business education gradually came to see that correspondence courses were small local communities. He was lucky consist of a range of short courses, from used to increase competitivity in small with his timing, for work was plentiful three months and upwards. At first it was Norwegian companies. Indeed, corre- during the First World War. Mortensen mainly private, without state or local

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 9 authority support. In 1907, for the first Technology and distance reserved for larger, national players. This time, there was a demand for some level is particularly so with television, which of education or experience to gain a busi- education began in the mid-1940s. Here again edu- ness certificate, and gradually there also cation was an important element. For The postage stamp and a coherent price developed a public demand for specific example, Chicago TV College in around mechanism for post was one of the hist- course contents. The Central Bureau for 1960, was an important forerunner of the orical prerequisites for the growth of Statistics wrote, after reviewing the Open University. Right up to present modern distance education. Another statistics for 1909: times, broadcasting has a particular posi- technological connection was the print- tion in distance education, either as “The available information shows that ing and book trades. Rightly so, there schools broadcasting, or in combination the overwhelming majority of busi- were a number of correspondence col- with correspondence courses and study nessmen have no specialist education, leges which grew from normal schools, circles [4]. In Norway, we experienced and that on the whole they are recruit- and individual creative operations with the first co-operative project in language ed from the lower ranks of society.” stencil machines and similar apparatus. education between NRK radio and a cor- But very often we find a connection with respondence college in 1949, and since Ernst G. Mortensen was successful with a publishing house. In Germany, Gustav 1960, adult education via radio and tele- business correspondence courses, and Langenscheidt (later a well-known pub- vision has been a continuous offering. from 1917 the range of courses offered lishing name!) worked on a self-study NFU, the State Institution of Distance was greatly increased, including techni- course with a Frenchman, Toussaint, as Education, was founded especially to cal and agricultural courses. In 1920 the early as 1856, and a book dealer called organise this type of co-operative app- college offered different courses and Hachfeld produced a course in technical roach, in 1979. combinations for businessmen, shop skills from 1895 [7]. One of the largest assistants, bookkeepers, secretaries, and best known American correspond- The telephone had been in existence long council treasurers, bricklayers, carpent- ence colleges, International Correspond- before it was used for distance education. ers, electricians, machinists and civil ser- ence Schools, was founded around 1890 The first attempts were made as early as vants in the customs, postal and telegraph by a newspaper editor in Scranton, Penn- 1939, but its use became more wide- services. In addition, a course was deve- sylvania, as a result of a series of articles spread from around 1960, especially in loped to help in preparation for the on worker protection in the mine indus- North America [9]. The most common Lower Secondary School examination, try. use today is in telephone conferencing. for those interested in raising their gen- Even though the telephone has a place in eral standard of education. These courses Newspapers have had only sporadic distance education, it has never really were very popular with teachers – so- impact on distance education, but on the taken off in the sense of having a central called seminarists – who wished to gain other hand, connection to a publishing position. Even though it can obviously qualifications to teach at a higher level in house has been common and lasting. function well in telephone conferencing, the school system. Development and production of corre- it has its limitation as an audio based spondence training material has a techno- medium. Obviously, the correspondence courses logical relation to both book and maga- Ernst G. Mortensen established in Nor- zine production. Ernst G. Mortensen is a Video was a new wonder-child, much way were not technology inspired. They good example of this. He was engaged in discussed in the early 1970s. Special had their origin in a social need for edu- book publishing and printing, and estab- companies were set up to develop and cation and knowledge development, lished himself as one of the major maga- market educational videos. Today, we closely connected to practical work and zine publishers in Norway in the 1930s. find little trace of them. However, video industry. The geographical aspect, which cassettes have acquired a foothold in is often stressed, was only one aspect of New media and technologies gradually education. We find both programmes of this social adaptation. created new opportunities for offering broadcast quality for a large market, and education. The gramophone record made simple productions with recordings of Correspondence courses built on a well inroads in language courses at Langen- lectures or a short introduction as a basis understood technology, but even so, rep- scheidt at least as early as 1906 [7], and for group work. As a rule video is inte- resented a pedagogic development that obviously was a great stride forward in grated with a more comprehensive edu- was truly radical. They were received on improving the practising of correct pro- cational project. The length of time it has the one hand with praise, but on the other nunciation. Later, the record was natural- taken for video to take hold has obvious- in the educational establishment, with ly replaced by tape and then by cassettes. ly some connection with price levels and scepticism, even though the ‘seminarists’ These are media which integrate easily how widespread video players have seized the opportunity for further educa- with correspondence courses. become. tion. It took eight years from the foundation of NKS before this style of educa- Broadcasting on the other hand is a con- In the mid-1970s experiments began with tion was even mentioned in the current siderably different medium. The first use of satellite-carried distance educa- education press. attempt at schools broadcasting by radio tion in Canada and the USA. In some came in the 1920s. The radio lecture was cases it was combined with a reverse a popular programme format, and was channel over the telephone network, and early used to supplement correspondence a new form of distance education had courses, e.g. in Germany, Canada and been born. In contrast to the normal tele- Australia. Broadcasting has often been vision it was possible to ring in during concession controlled and consequently the broadcast, ask questions, or join in

10 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 discussions. The media was more inter- The first conference systems began to be education and training should serve three active, and this interactive use of broad- used 10–15 years ago. American institu- main aims: personal development, social casting has become quite popular, espe- tions again were the first, but there has integration and enablement for work and cially in North America [6]. In other also been Norwegian activity and con- social life. How can we relate this to the countries, including developing coun- siderable development [8], [12]. NKI current social developments? tries, satellite is most often used only to introduced its own system in 1987, and carry television programmes, without NKS launched its ‘Electronic College’ The White book points to the multiplicity interaction. In Europe, trans-national two years later. The Ministry of Educa- of factors that affect education’s place in educational broadcasting via satellite was tion had its own ambitious project in this social developments, and there are three initiated around 1990, with programme field, and several higher education insti- chief factors that drive more in-depth input from educational institutions and tutions became involved. The current changes than most. These are: free transmission time. Although funding NITOL project, with the colleges at • Future growth of the information vanished, transmissions continued at a Trondheim, Stord and Agder as central society lower level, and a number of national partners, is in some respects an outcome systems also exist. We also have some of the initiative of the Ministry. • Internationalisation of the economy commercial, quasi-educational channels. • The effects from scientific and techno- In Norway, NORNET represents an Over the last few years it has become logical inventions. attempt to introduce the more interactive clear that the Internet stands out as a sort style of distance education. of common highway for most of what The social changes connected with IT are happens in computer mediated communi- often compared with the effects of the In parallel with satellite use, the tele- cation. The World Wide Web is just a Industrial Revolution. I am certain this vision companies began to send pictures few years old, but today it is the standard can be disputed, but I am also certain that over the telephone network. It is possible domain in the Internet world. In this way, the effects are considerable. First and to send pictures both ways, and multiple de facto standards make it easier to foremost, IT has changed work processes sites can be connected in video confe- develop distance education as well. and the way we organise production of rences. For a long time this was fairly Already today, hundreds of distance goods and services. Mass production is expensive, but with steadily improving courses have found their way onto the giving way to smaller, tailored runs. compression technology this develop- international market through Internet. Work is being organised more flexibly, ment has led to the video telephone, at Also Norwegian institutions, among with teamwork and companies in a net- the same time as the ISDN network has them NKS, prepare new and exciting ini- work. Job contents are more varied and provided a higher transmission rate. This tiatives in this area. demanding, at the same time as people means that cost is no longer the chief become more dependent on each other in problem with this technology, but even What we are now seeing is that many of a complex system of functions. Much so, there are limits when it comes to the technologies I have discussed here routine work is disappearing, and in its organising many participants and many are in the process of blending together. place more skill intensive work and sites simultaneously [10], [11]. Databases, telephony, broadcasting, workplaces are growing up. printing technology, etc. – they will all Computers represent a technology that, come to be based more and more on the If we see this in relation to education, it so to say, has revolutionised the whole of same digital technology. Multimedia means obviously that the content of edu- society since the Second World War. replaces the individual media we know cation should be re-focused, so that it Obviously, it has also been adopted for today. That will have considerable and covers the new skills needs. In addition, a the administration of distance education. important consequences for distance edu- technological convergence is taking It has taken a longer time before IT made cation. place between education and the work- inroads for educational purposes. We place. That will be meaningless if educa- may distinguish between two main tion continues to use a classroom and forms: Which training is suitable blackboard with a teacher at a lectern and • CBL – Computer Based Learning for social development? students with desks in a row – if education should prepare us for life in a mod- • CMC – Computer Mediated Commu- What do we really mean when we say ern society. Computer tools and communication. that education and training should be nications media ought to be natural aids, suited to the development of a society? and training work ought to adopt project Computer based learning has never had a Can we say that distance education as a work, independent responsibility and co- large application in distance education, form fills this need, and in particular, that operation on how to utilise the informa- for many good reasons. These include distance education in Norway is suited to tion resources available in our informa- cost, lack of standardisation, little flexi- the social developments we see? It is eas- tion society. bility, difficult access to equipment, etc. ier to ask than to answer, but even so, I In the 1970s, NKS developed a pro- will try. The second important factor the White gramme for correction and commenting book points to, is the internationalisation of student replies, which can perhaps be Just before Christmas 1995, the EU com- of the economy. We saw a clear illustra- considered in this category. It has not mission issued a so-called White book on tion of that during the recent workshop been maintained. Education [5]. That document pointed to strike in Norway. When the media talked many important challenges and aims about the problems of a long strike, it Use of computer mediated communica- which are relevant to education in a mod- was not the national consequences that tion appears to have a larger application. ern society. Generally, we can say that

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 11 were emphasised, but those for the car • Contribute to the fulfilment of skill Adopt available technology and industry in Germany and Sweden, and needs in working life available information resources the erosion of confidence in Norwegian • Provide access for all to a system of industry internationally. We are all aware In my opinion, education that is to be in lifelong learning of the increasing difficulties we have in step with social development, must use driving a national economic policy in a • Link knowledge in working life and available technology and information market which is more and more open to social conditions resources. This does not mean, at any international competition. In addition, we rate in a negative sense, that it should be • Give cross-disciplinary and cross-cul- should remember the cultural effects of controlled by technological development. tural understanding the globalisation of society. This negative feeling in the expression is • Strengthen a whole, social and ethical connected to two dangers. The first is Again this development has considerable perspective. that people can be tempted to adopt tech- consequences for the education sector. It nology too early, i.e. that technology can is not only the contents that are import- be available but not to the actual users of ant, even more important is the con- Does distance education an educational offering. This leads to the siderable emphasis now being made – in satisfy these demands? possibility that choice of technology does all countries – that the education sector not help to provide good education, but must contribute to enhance a nation’s or When asking if distance education satis- can be a new barrier that prevents users region’s competitive strength. Most fies these needs, I have to reply, in parts from participating in education. You can economists believe that one of the most yes, in parts no, and partly that ‘it easily confirm that by looking at the hist- important competitive factors is a popu- depends ...’. If we start with the last two orical progression. Many technologies lation’s skill level. It is therefore believed demands, there is no conclusive answer. have been adopted, but it has often taken that effort in education can also con- I am afraid that distance education has a long time from the first adoption before tribute to reducing employment prob- not taken up the challenge, any more they reached widespread use and were lems, which has become a bugbear for than ordinary education, of providing a useful in connection with education. our society. It is not enough in this con- complete understanding and perspective. nection to strengthen basic education in What we positively can say, is that dis- NKS has over the last ten to fifteen years the normal education system, access to tance education is often used by people had a systematic, running evaluation and training and skills development must be who wish to gain a greater breadth in testing of new technological possibilities. available to all age groups. their education. An engineer will study In the course of this process we have, management, a secretary marketing, a amongst other things, made a strategic The third factor mentioned, is current social worker reads a little law, etc. In choice – to invest in visual media, pri- scientific and technological inventions. this way, we contribute to a strengthen- marily television and video. There are Here we meet a paradox, fifty to a hund- ing of cross-disciplinary breadth of many reasons for that choice, but one of red years ago most people regarded knowledge among the participants. An the most important is that these two scientific progress as positive and prom- effective system for mature and further media are available to all Norwegians – ising. Today, we gain new knowledge at education must not only provide updating and not only available – people also an increasing tempo, but at the same time of skills from basic education. It is know for the most part how to work the it is increasingly regarded as a threat. equally important to develop breadth and equipment. Look at the environmental problems and combine skills from various skills areas. the discussions on genetics. Much points The second strategic choice we have to science and technology being split off The great advantage that distance educa- made, is to invest in data communication. from cultural development and basic eth- tion has, lies in the middle of the needs This is much more problematic as ical thinking. If we are to get everything list. Distance education was created regards availability. Most people have in the right proportions before the next exactly for the purpose of opening access indeed met and used a computer at work, millennium, it is clear that the education to knowledge and education for new and many also at home. But it is still a sector has an important role to play. groups. It is considerably ahead in being minority that has free access to commu- Above all, it cannot just offer more and an established system for lifelong train- nication. The most recent figures I know more knowledge. It must contribute more ing and updating and renewal of work for connections to the Internet, are 21 %, than previously to creation of under- related competence. As a system it is of which 7 % are home users [1]. Even standing for relationships, perspective flexible, efficient and reasonably low in so, this is several hundred thousand peo- and duties, across the traditional disci- demands on resources. An example: ple, and the numbers are increasing plines and cultures. Since 1989 between five and six thous- rapidly. We have chosen data communi- and nursery assistants have completed a cation as an investment area, because we From these three factors we can formu- basic training for their work through are convinced that shortly, this form of late some general requirements for an NKS, without a single classroom being communication will be normal in most educational and training system which is built, or a new full-time teaching position workplaces, and it is gradually appearing suitable for social development: being created. That would obviously not to be easy and user friendly. have been possible with a traditional • Adopt available technology and avail- training organisation. The second danger which causes technol- able information resources ogy to be viewed with suspicion, is that • Use workstyles which promote com- The two needs at the top of the list bring we use a technology which is inappropri- munication and co-operation us back again to our main problem: dis- ate to our goal, or we use it in an unsatis- tance education, technology and society. I factory manner. There is nothing unusual would like to look at each of them in turn.

12 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 in this, and it is not always the fault of Adopt work styles that style of distance education, and we will the technology. There are times when the build up to communication certainly gain much experience in the technology can be the prime mover, and and co-operation process that will help us to improve. sometimes the driving force, because it is easier to get money for a technically so- The second demand in connection with phisticated experiment than for one that development of the information society, Conclusion is less exciting, so to say. Perhaps it is is for workstyles that reflect the way in Finally, I want to remind you of the pic- technologists and people who are espe- which we have begun to organise our- ture of the ‘Plough Team’ of social and cially fascinated by technology who both selves at the workplace. Organisation of technological development. Distance develop and evaluate projects. It is un- projects, building of networks, co-opera- education should be a plough that opens fortunately harder to pull in sceptics and tion and communication are some of the up for new life and encourages growth in the less capable, and projects can there- buzzwords. I believe that it is right to say the furrows of development. It is ob- fore easily be biased towards technology. that distance education has not come so viously pulled by strong forces. There- far, it is still largely characterised by one- fore, it also requires strong hands to steer But even the non-technical and peda- way communication and communication the plough if it is not to deviate. gogues can make wrong evaluations of between teacher and the individual stu- what technology is best for. When it is dent. The picture has been influenced new, indeed there is no-one who can somewhat by extended use of combined References accurately judge, and so there must be a education styles, where groupwork and proportion of trial and error before we class teaching are regular elements. Even 1 39 prosent av norske husstander har reach firm conclusions. There is reason so, I do not feel we have come far PC. Oslo, Aftenposten, 29.10.96. for stronger criticism when we some- enough. times see that we have not learned from 2 Amdam, R P, Bjarnar, O. NKS : en our errors, but continue on the wrong What is of interest, is that changes in the bedrift i norsk skole. Oslo, NKS-For- tracks. This can be blamed on being in a organisation of work processes are close- laget, 1989. rut, the financial position or organisation- ly connected with technological frame- al inertia. works and tools of different kinds. This 3 Bates, A W. Technology, open learn- also means that the compulsion to be in ing and distance education. London, One of the best known experts on tech- the same location falls to pieces. The Routledge, 1995. nology and distance education, Tony extent of home working increases, and Bates at the University of British companies and projects are held together 4 Cain, J. Mass media : educational Columbia in Vancouver, writes that there independently of geography. This ought television and radio. In: The system are two main patterns in today’s distance to mean that the same technology and of distance education. Papers to the education. Representatives of one stream tools that enable a workstyle, should be 10th ICCE International Conference. maintain that the ideal method of educa- able to be used in a similar way in dis- Ljoså, E (ed.). Malmö, ICCE/Her- tion is group teaching in a classroom or tance education. In this way, we will mods, 1975. lecture theatre, and that the nearer dis- have a style of distance education that tance education can come to that ideal mirrors real life, and contributes to build- 5 Commission of the European Com- the better, and so technology should be ing up co-operative skills. In this sense, munities. White paper on education used that best imitates that ideal. The technology can be a bridge-builder be- and training : teaching and learning other tradition is based on development tween the training system and the work- : towards the learning society. Brus- of a teaching tool, preferably in the shape place. sels, 1995. of printed texts and/or television programmes, which can be supplemented This thought pattern has been the basis 6 Daniel, J S. Satellites in distance edu- with different forms of communication for NKS investing in data communica- cation : Canadian experiments on the between pupil and teacher. New technol- tion since 1989, especially in the use of Hermes satellite. In: Correspondence ogy can often be used as a supplement to computer conferencing systems. Even so, education : dynamic and diversified, this basic model [3]. we have only been partially successful. vol. 1 : The Advance Papers, 11th This autumn, therefore, we are trying World Conference. Wentworth, R B It is not difficult to recognise these two something new, in a different style. (ed.). London, ICCE/RRC, 1978. traditions in Norwegian distance educa- Firstly, we begin with the Internet, using tion. Tony Bates says – and I believe he standard tools. Secondly, we develop a 7 DIFF. Zur Geschichte des Fernstudi- is right – that both these methods of new series, partly in a new style, of ums. Eine Ausstellung des Deutschen using technology are inappropriate and course offerings, which are closely con- Instituts für Fernstudien an der Uni- mis-directed. Technological development nected to central training needs in the versität Tübingen, Tübingen 15. Juni has reached a point where we should workplace, both public and private. We bis 11. Juli 1992. Tübingen, DIFF, begin to develop new educational mod- offer subjects such as practical project 1992. els. The problem is not that we are con- management, systematic improvement trolled by technology, but that we let our management and strategic competence 8 Feenberg, A. CMC in executive edu- past experience come in the way of good planning. Thirdly, we try to build in more cation : the WBSI experience. In: use of the technology that exists. real-life examples, exercises and pro- Proceedings. Nordisk konferanse om jects, that require participants to co-oper- fjernundervisning, opplæring og ate on tasks as a part of learning. As far dataformidlet kommunikasjon. Fjuk, as we are concerned that will be a new

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 13 A Jensen, A E (eds.). Oslo, NKS/ USIT, 1991.

9 Flinck, R. The telephone as an instructional aid in distance education. A survey of the literature. Lund, Department of Education, University of Lund, 1975. (Pedagogical reports, 1975, 1.)

10 Kristiansen, T (ed.). A window to the future : the videophone experience in Norway. Kjeller, Norwegian Tele- com Research Department, 1991.

11 Kristiansen, T. Five years of research into the use of telecommunications in distance education. Kjeller, Norwegian Telecom Research Department, 1993. (TF report R 29/93.)

12 Rekkedal, T, Søby, M. Fjernun- dervisningsmodeller, datakonferanser og nordiske utviklingstrekk. In: Pro- ceedings. Nordisk konferanse om fjernundervisning, opplæring og dataformidlet kommunikasjon. Fjuk, A, Jensen, A E (eds.). Oslo, NKS/ USIT, 1991.

14 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 Field trials – the need for user participation in telecommunications development

BY TOVE KRISTIANSEN

Developing telecommunications for use The users and their needs of a larger group of students. Now, this in distance education is a process of was not needs uttered by the students. As adjusting technical devices to diverse The most important question to answer a matter of fact, many of them were not social and pedagogical settings. In this when considering what technology to particularly enthusiastic about the idea of process it is important that scientists choose and how to use it, is “who are the meeting each other in a telephone confer- and users communicate to make sure users and what are their needs?”. The ence. Many of them had no experience that the services are developed to meet problem is that people are often unaware with telephone conferences and others the user needs. The field trial is a of what their needs or preferences are. thought it to be just a meaningless add- method that allows for direct interac- on. Nevertheless, they agreed to try it, tion between co-operating users, re- An example to illustrate this, is a project and what happened was that they found searchers and industrial partners. An that was run in the northern part of Nor- these telephone conferences to be so use- example of a development process way some years ago, where a further ful that they ended up expecting it to be a based on this co-operating triangle is education course was offered by the local natural part of later courses they register- the development of a Norwegian ISDN upper secondary school. The course was ed for.1 videotelephone and its adjustment to a based upon a correspondence course, the specific distance education situation. intention being to give support through What this example illustrates is that peo- lectures given by a local teacher. This ple often have to experience the technol- model of combined methods is much ogy to become aware of their own needs, Technology must be used in Norway. Typically, the local or rather, what needs the technology can teaching will be given once a week or fulfil. For instance, none of us had any studied in its use once a fortnight. In this case, the students need for a fax machine twenty years ago, lived scattered over such a large area that but now that it is there, and we have The technological development is no it was not possible to gather them on a become used to it, we can hardly manage doubt a major driving force in the devel- regular basis to ordinary classroom without it. Thus, it is true to a certain opment of distance education, and must teaching. As an alternative the teacher extent, that new technology creates new be taken seriously. Knowledge about the decided to broadcast his lectures through needs. At the same time it is important various new technologies that are intro- the local radio once a week. that new technical devices and telecom- duced is necessary in order to further munication services are developed to develop the potentials of distance educa- The question arose; what about the social meet these and already existing needs. To tion. aspects of learning, and what about the achieve this, it is necessary that scientists two-way communication between stu- and users communicate. Telenor R&D Focusing too narrowly on technology, dents and teacher? As an attempt to meet has seen field trials as a convenient however, may be disastrous. We know these needs the project leader thought it a method in this aspect. that technology is but one of many issues good idea to arrange telephone confer- that must be taken into consideration ences in conjunction with the radio lec- when studying distance education. Tech- tures. That would give the students the nology can only be understood when opportunity to ask questions and com- 1 The project is presented in the article studied in its use. To some people new ment on today’s lecture and at the same “Telecommunications in distance edu- technology can be exciting, to others it time give them the feeling of being part cation” in this issue of Telektronikk. can be scaring and alienating. It can bring people together, but it can also leave people in isolation. It can be a helpful tool and it can be a strait-jacket. In other words, there is very little we can say about any technology in distance education without considering the social and pedagogical setting it is going to be used in. FIELD TRIAL

There are several aspects which have to be analysed in every particular distance education situation if the use of telecom- Researcher User munications is to be successful. Technology Needs Attention must be paid to: • The man-machine interface • Pedagogical and communicative aspects • The physical surroundings • The organisational structure Solutions • The social infrastructure. Figure 1 Field trials

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 15 Field trials tools in a particular distance education cost-performance ratio and the physical situation. Researchers at our institute size of the equipment were major break- Field trials as a scientific method may predict the need for some telecom- throughs at that time. acknowledges both the researcher and the munication tool and invite users and in- users as participants in the development dustry to explore its potential, or the As soon as the codec was ready for pre- process. The desirable communication industry may come up with some new sentation we started our first field trials. between researcher and user is achieved. piece of equipment they want to test to This was not an ISDN codec. It had to be It is a method which allows the research- see if there is a market for it. used on dedicated 64 kbit/s digital con- er an opportunity to study the introduc- nections. It must be admitted that there tion of modern technology in a social In order to highlight the importance of were certain limitations to the quality of setting very closely, whereas the users user participation, the story of the devel- sound and image presentations of this get direct influence upon the shaping of opment of the ISDN videotelephone will first Norwegian-made video codec. Nev- technological and pedagogical solutions. be examined in some detail, including the ertheless, the quality proved to be suffi- story of how it was put into use and ad- ciently good for the videotelephone to Telenor R&D has over the past ten years justed to a specific distance education sit- appear as a useful tool for various cate- been running a number of field trials in uation in one of our field trials. gories of users. the area of distance education. Through the field trials we have learnt from the Experiments were carried out in the areas users what they have experienced as The development of ISDN of helpful in the learning process, what videotelephone • Distance education were the barriers, what needed improve- • Remote supervision ment and what should be dropped. The development of the Norwegian • Sign language Through this dialogue with the users we videotelephone was initiated at Telenor • Remote surveillance. have been able to refine and further R&D [1]. Some of our scientists started develop our services, that is, both the studies in the field of image compression These experiments gave us some very equipment and the rules for use. Where techniques already in the late 1970s. The valuable experiences that were chan- appropriate we have involved our indus- main objective was to investigate the nelled back to the scientist developers at trial partners in the development process. possibilities for transmitting live colour our research institute and at Tandberg. Much of our development work is based images with a bit rate of a few hundred Encouraged by its technical success and on a co-operating triangle, consisting of kilobits per second. This would highly several successful field trials, together our research institute, the industry and reduce the requirement for transmission with the emergence of ISDN, our re- the users (ref. Figure 2). capacity in the telecommunication net- search institute decided at the end of work. At that time, there was already 1988 to continue work in the field of The initiative to new or further develop- equipment available on the market for audio-visual telecommunication, concen- ment work may come from either of the transmitting digital video on 2 Megabit trating especially on the videotelephone three partners. The users may express a per second channels. Compared to the service. Work that had recently been need for some specific communication transmission of ordinary analogue video started in international standardisation as we know it from television, much was bodies also played an important role in already achieved. Whereas the transmis- this decision. The aim of the ISDN sion of television signals requires a videotelephone project was to establish a capacity equivalent to 1000 analogue public videotelephone service on ISDN telephone channels, the transmission of on a trial basis from the beginning of digital video on 2 Megabit per second 1993, which was achieved. channels requires a capacity equivalent to 30 analogue telephone channels. By 1984 In the development of this terminal the our scientists were convinced that it scientists paid much attention to the would be possible to transmit live colour experiences that had been made in the images at 64 kilobit per second. That field trials. There was a clear need for would make it possible to transmit video operating procedures and controls to be on only one digital channel. At that time, as simple and easy to use as possible. Telenor R&D very few people really believed that it From the beginning it was decided to would be possible to achieve the necess- incorporate the human factor aspect as ary compression ratio with acceptable part of the project to ensure a high degree image quality. of usability. Much effort was put into designing a terminal that would be just Nevertheless, in 1986 we signed the first one piece of equipment with a minimum development contract with the Norwe- need for connecting cables and wires, gian company Tandberg A/S. During the that would be user-friendly in terms of following two years, a Norwegian low bit installation and use. It should be as easy rate codec was developed, which made it to use as a normal telephone. The termi- possible to transmit live colour images nal has now been industrialised and is ndustry Users over a single 64 kbit/s digital connection. being sold by Tandberg Telecom. It was first presented at the Telecom ’87 Figure 2 Co-operating triangle in Geneva, Switzerland, and both the

16 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 The early field trials proved that in areas buttons. Feedback given by the teachers to spend some time practising on their like for example distance education, at an early stage of the project, led to fur- own before starting their teaching, thus there is a need for connecting external ther refinement of the design and func- ensuring that the presentations would be devices to the terminal. When commu- tions of the cabinet until it had become readable to the students. nicating with a group of people you need the user-friendly solution we had intend- to connect an extra camera, a larger mon- ed it to be (ref. Figure 3). To establish a dialogue between teacher itor, and perhaps also extra microphones and students, earlier field trials had and loudspeakers. These options are In all three courses, the distant teacher proved the audio connection to be more implemented in the terminal. The was communicating with a group of important than the video connection. videotelephone is primarily designed for learners, the size of the group varying Having to use a microphone to address person-to-person communication. When from five to twelve persons. This made it the teacher turned out to be felt as a used in distance education, adjustments necessary to enable the students to see barrier by some students. In other field have to be made, both technical and the teacher and the presented material trials we had seen the interaction be organisational ones. One example of that clearly by installing a large screen. A 46- hampered because too many students is the field trial that was carried out in inch screen was erected, featuring the were sharing one microphone or because one of the largest timber districts in Nor- ability to display a small picture within the students would have to move to reach way, the Trysil project. This project is a the larger picture. This gave the students a microphone. Based on these exper- good example of how our co-operating the opportunity to see their teacher in a iences, special effort was made in the triangle with users and industry works in small video window while the rest of the Trysil project to give the students easy such a development process. screen displayed a written presentation access to the microphones by installing made on the computer. It may be argued one microphone for every two persons. that seeing the teacher’s face is of minor By placing the microphones immediately The Trysil project importance in the learning process. The in front of the learners, the physical psychological value of this “face in the barrier of addressing the teacher was In Trysil the local secondary school window” should not be underestimated, reduced to a minimum (ref. Figure 4). aimed to become a competence centre for however. Experiences show that it gives different target groups in the district. A a feeling of “human touch” which proves An attempt was also made to minimise videotelephone was installed at the to be motivating to the students. the psychological barrier by allowing the school, thus enabling the school to offer students to meet their teacher in person distance education courses to adults who A large screen is in itself no guarantee before the course started. This has proven would otherwise have had difficulty in for clear presentations. Earlier experi- to be of vital importance for achieving a attending any kind of further education. ences had taught us that much attention good dialogue in all kinds of distance Instead of having to travel to a remote must be paid to how the material is pre- education, and is highly recommended school, these adults could attend courses sented. Due to the reduced quality of the irrespective of the type of technology at the local school in the afternoons. coded video signal, it is crucial that the being used. There qualified teachers from other parts teachers do not put too much information of the country would appear on the into their presentations. It takes some At the teacher’s end an image of the screen and communicate with them. In practising to prepare good presentations. whole group of students was displayed this project, the videotelephone equip- The teachers in this project were advised on a small monitor. Due to the quality of ment was used for three different courses [2], [3].

Communicating at a distance, through media, represents a new experience to most teachers. In addition to mastering the technology, there are several factors in such a situation that may place a strain on the teacher. It is important that the teachers be allowed to concentrate on teaching and establishing a dialogue with the students. Effort was therefore made in this project that operation of the technology be as simple as possible. We had in earlier field trials seen this need for integrated, user-friendly solutions.

To avoid a chaos of cables and wires and a multitude of buttons to operate, all the equipment was put into a cabinet, which was designed at our request by a small Norwegian firm called NovaKom. This was an integrated solution, where all the cables were hidden and all the equipment was easily operated with the aid of a few Figure 3

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 17 ual basis with every student. To make this possible, the teacher was given a control panel of the class on his/her screen. The students were equipped with “press-the-button-to-speak” microphones. When a student pressed the button, a cross would appear on the teacher’s control panel at the computer screen. By clicking at that cross, the teacher would open up that student’s microphone. At the same time, this student’s mouse and keyboard would be activated, to allow the teacher and student to communicate person-to-person. Headsets were used in order to avoid dis- turbing the other students.

This cabinet, the “Teleproff” (Figure 5), has been used for distance education given by the engineering high school at Gjøvik to engineers and building constructors in Trysil [4]. Again we can see Figure 4 how participation from the users has been instrumental in the development of technical devices especially designed for distance education.

this first generation codec, it was imposs- offer a distance education course to The need for co-operation ible for the teachers to recognise individ- Trysil, announced a need for simultane- The field trial in Trysil was based on a ual faces on the screen. This was felt ous computer communication alongside situation where a teacher at one location unsatisfactory to the teachers. They soon the video and audio communication. This met with his “class” at a distance. The expressed a need for recognising the gave the impetus to a further develop- “class” was rather small, and the dia- individual students with whom they were ment of the technical set up used in logue played a central part in the teach- communicating. At the same time they Trysil. Again, NovaKom was engaged by ing/learning process. The equipment found it important to be able to see the our research institute to come up with a developed was especially designed for whole group in order to have a feeling of solution that would satisfy this need. this and resembling situations. reaching them all and to know that they were all actually present. To fulfil this NovaKom had already designed a cabinet Other situations may call for different dual wish, extra cameras were installed for use in telemedicine, where this idea technical and organisational solutions. In and connected to the microphones so that of integration was realised. Both sent and some cases, the transmission of lectures every time a student pressed the micro- received video images were displayed at may be offered as a supplement to self- phone button, the camera focusing on the screen of a computer, thus enabling study courses where a large number of him/her would be activated. As soon as the users to operate from one screen individual students spread all over the the button was released, the camera instead of three as it was before. country are mainly working on their own. showing the whole group would be acti- In other cases, the transmission of lec- vated. This solution proved to be much This solution fulfilled the wish for simul- tures held by highly qualified specialists more satisfactory to the teachers. They taneous audio, video and computer com- may be the main issue. The lecture may found it easier to communicate with the munication and was adapted to our new be given to students at the same location students than before. The equipment was version of the cabinet tailored for dis- as the lecturer at the same time as it is implemented by the same company that tance education. Our aim was once again transmitted to other locations, or it may had designed the cabinet, NovaKom, and to make operation of the equipment as be transmitted to distant students only. is another example of how the users’ simple as possible. A short menu was Interaction may be part of the session or needs were identified by our researchers, designed with only a few functions to it may not. who in co-operation with an industrial choose from. The applications were partner found a technical solution to meet placed under Windows and easily operat- Various situations call for various solu- those needs. ed by a mouse. To simplify operation of tions, both technically, communicatively, the equipment to the students, the control pedagogically and organisationally. It has of local and remote cameras was given been argued in this article that it may be Developing a “multimedia the teacher. difficult to predict what will be a good cabinet” solution. To find that out, different mod- The engineering high school expressed a els must be tried out in real social set- While running the Trysil project, an en- need for the teachers of computer pro- tings. Users must be invited to make their gineering high school that planned to gramming to communicate on an individ-

18 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 experiences and come forward with their judgements. New technology is not syn- onymous with new technical devices. New technology is defined by how the technical devices be used. Thus, the development of new technology cannot Photo: Rune Lislerud/SAMFOTO be considered finished before the rules for how it is to be used are developed. This is a process that takes time, and it is important that the users are involved in it.

To sum up, the development of technically functional solutions is not sufficient to make good models for distance education. In addition, effort must be put into developing the pedagogical, communicative and organisational aspects of distance education. To succeed in this, technicians, researchers, pedagogues and organisers of distance education must cooperate. Only in this way can we develop telecommunication solutions and distance education models to meet the needs of the users.

References

1 Kristiansen, T (ed.). A window to the future. The videotelephone experiences in Norway. Kjeller, Norwegian Telecom Research Department, Figure 5 1991. ISBN 82-423-0158-1.

2 Bårdseng, S E. En pedagogisk vur- dering av Trysil-prosjektet. Forsøk med bildetelefon i fjernundervisning. Elverum, Elverum lærerhøgskole, 1991.

3 Bårdseng, S E. En pedagogisk vur- dering av Trysil-prosjektet. Delrap- port 2. Elverum, Elverum lær- erhøgskole, 1992.

4 Hetland, P. Det gjenskapte klasserom : utformingen av teknologi for fjernundervisning. Evaluering av fjernundervisning via Teleprof C200. Elverum, Høgskolen i Hedmark, 1995. (Rapport 8.1995.)

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 19 Cultural and educational barriers to tele-education – Experiences from the use of videoconferencing

BY TOVE KRISTIANSEN

In this article I will give some exam- Videoconferencing is two-way Similarity to classroom ples on how cultural heritage and edu- communication cational attitudes can become barriers education to exploratory use of new technology Contrary to television, videoconferencing The other aspect referred to, the similar- in distance education and thereby also allows the receivers to respond to the ity to classroom education, is positive in possible barriers to efficient learning. message transferred. Videoconferencing the sense that both students and teachers My examples are drawn from experi- is not a one-way medium, but a two-way easily adapt to the situation. Neverthe- ences made in experiments with video- medium. Only when this is understood, less, this similarity too, can in some conferencing. can its potential be fully explored in dis- respects prove to become a barrier to an tance education. efficient use of the medium and the learning potential. I will give some Whether a teacher has the conception of Videoconferencing examples. videoconferencing as a medium for one- In Norway we have during the last ten way or two-way communication makes In most cases, videoconferencing has years run a number of experiments with the whole difference when it comes to been used for ordinary lecturing, in other videoconferencing in distance education, taking on a teacher-oriented or a student- words, for one-way communication. The at first using 2 Mbit/s connections and oriented approach. In order to achieve a students are invited to pose questions later 64 – 128 kbit/s (videotelephony). student-oriented educational situation it much the same way as in a lecture at the The experiments have been run at vari- is necessary to establish a dialogue be- university, i.e. at the end of a 45 minutes ous educational levels from upper tween teacher and students at the very long one-way delivery of information. secondary schools to colleges and univer- beginning. When communication is first Thus, the lecturer’s association to ordi- sities. Telenor R&D has been engaged in established, both parts tend to forget their nary lecturing, sets the standard for how many of these experiments. associations to television. The dialogue is to teach at a distance. not established by itself, though. It must There are two aspects to videoconferenc- be initiated by the teacher and needs This is NOT utilising the medium’s ing which I would like to point out: careful planning to be successful. potential for two-way communication. 1 The resemblance between videocon- Used in this manner, it could be argued As the students’ association to television ferencing technology and television that the lecture might just as well have may become a psychological barrier to technology. been video-taped and sent the remote learning, it must be attacked by the students by post. This would allow them 2 The similarity between educational sit- teacher at once, inviting them to a dia- to look at the tape at their own pace, stop uations established through this tech- logue, letting them immediately experi- and rewind, have discussions where nology and ordinary classroom teach- ence that this is actually very different appropriate, and pose questions and coming. from television and that they are expect- ments to the lecturer afterwards, on the ed to be active in class. telephone, by fax or electronic mail. Teachers and students alike tend to get associations partly to television and Using videoconferencing for one-way partly to the classroom situation when lecturing can of course be justified. The first confronted with this technology. These associations make videoconferencing a technology easy to adapt to. At the same time, they tend to set the standard for how this technology is used, and to a certain extent that proves to be a barrier to an exploratory and potentially excit- ingly new way of utilising this technology in distance education.

Resemblance to television

The associations to television tend to make teachers act as though they were television newsreaders, whereas the students lean themselves comfortably to the back, expecting to be entertained. In other words, both teachers and students get the idea of a medium where information is given one way from a sender to a passive receiver. And indeed, this is television technology, using cameras, monitors, microphones and loudspeakers for the distribution of a message. But videoconferencing is by no means television. Figure 1 Similarity to watching television (The Trysil Project)

20 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 point I want to make here is that our cul- A tool for developing new tural and educational heritage tends to make us copy our traditional way of pedagogical methods teaching when starting distance educa- The resemblance to television technology tion, thus preventing us from exploring and the similarity to classroom teaching its potentials and thereby representing a makes videoconferencing easy to adapt barrier to development. to for both teachers and students. These two aspects may, however, also become Potential for activating the barriers to an exploratory use of this students technology. It should be recognised that teaching and learning through videocon- Distance education through videoconfer- ferencing differs from any other kind of encing could be run quite differently. In- teaching and learning, and has to be stead of the teacher lecturing all the time, explored on its own premises. the remote students could make presentations from their site. They ordinarily As argued in this article, videoconferenc- have the same facilities for presenting ing may be implemented in distance edu- visuals as the teacher and can easily draw cation, not just for copying traditional and write or show preproduced figures teacher-oriented lecturing, but as a tool and illustrations. Few teachers seem to for developing new pedagogical meth- have the fantasy to let the students do ods. To achieve this, the medium’s this, or rather, it does not fit into their potential for two-way communication teacher-oriented pedagogical view, so must be utilised to a much larger extent they do not even consider it a possibility. than what has been done so far, and teachers must take on a more student- This medium does allow a more student- oriented pedagogical approach. oriented focus, though. Not only can the students make presentations for the teacher, but also for fellow students placed at various sites around the country. Some adult students are content with getting one-way lecturing on the screen, but some are by no means satisfied with that. I have met many adult distant students who were frustrated because the lectures had been given in a traditional manner, with very little room for dialogue. Many adult students also get annoyed when teachers fail to make references to their job experiences and help them relate new-gained theoretical knowledge to their daily job situation. They want that to a much larger extent than most teachers seem to be aware of.

Videoconferencing/videotelephony may also be used for direct interaction between students. This has been done in a rather untraditional experiment in Nor- way with great success. At two of our teachers’ colleges located in the western and northern parts of Norway the leaders of the drama sections decided to use videoconferencing as a tool for co-operation. As part of the training they let their students at each college meet on screen, acting various roles in the same screen- play. This worked out very well. Teach- ers and students were all very excited about it, and found it stimulating to meet colleagues and students at another college in this way.

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 21 Distance education in the electronic classroom

BY BJØRN HESTNES AND JOHN WILLY BAKKE

The electronic classroom was develop- tended to reach students at other loca- situations but not with distance educa- ed for distance education purposes. tions. One of the main issues for the tion. They should be able to start using A research team called MultiTeam/ project team was to build a classroom the electronic classroom without hav- Munin was established to find out how which was easy to use for lecturers ing to revise their teaching material or an ordinary classroom could be ex- experienced with regular classroom change their teaching style. When lec-

TANDBERG Vision

UNIK Overhead

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Figure 1 The infrastructure used for the project

22 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 turers became familiar with the class- MultiTeam at UNIK and T R&D, and • Video – used to see who is talking room technology, they were invited to Munin at USIT. The joint project was • Data – used to see what is talked about try out new pedagogical principles and managed from T R&D. Some of the pro- (on the electronic whiteboard). more advanced presentation tech- ject members also participated in a Euro- niques step by step. To gain relevant pean project called ESPRIT MICE Figure 2 shows a typical classroom situa- evaluation results from regular use, (European Strategic Programme for tion. Microphones are mounted in the the classrooms were placed at two dif- Research on Information Technology, ceiling, evenly distributed in order to ferent locations at the University of Multimedia Integrated Conferencing for capture the voices of all participants. The Oslo. Description of the classroom con- Europe) [7]. lecturer used a cordless microphone so as cept and the evaluation results are to be able to move around freely. One described in this paper. The main infrastructure used in this pro- camera had focus on the lecturer and was ject was the Supernet, which was a Nor- placed at the back of the room. This cam- wegian packet switched 34 Mbit/s net- era could handle the flickering of a work connecting the four universities in 1 Introduction whiteboard which for most of the time Norway and T TR&D. In addition, the would be behind the teacher. Two cam- As the first organisation in Norway, more narrowbanded IP-network was used eras were also placed at the front of the Telenor R&D started in 1977 experi- (Figure 1). classroom with focus on the students. A ments with LM Ericsson’s picturephone video-switch selected the camera corre- [1]. Many research projects continued sponding to the microphone with the which resulted in the first public trial 2 The objective loudest input-signal. A trolley with two video conference service in 1983 [2]. The objective of the project was to pro- TV-monitors was placed at the front of Later on, this service grew to sixty video vide lecturing at one of the University the classroom and one at the back of the conference rooms all over Norway. Dis- sites in Norway available for students at room. The two cameras at the front were tance education was one of the main uses other sites, both inside and outside Nor- for the students, so they could be seen by for the service and started in 1987 be- way. Therefore, a concept called “Elec- the remote students. The one at the back tween Båtsfjord, Vardø and Tromsø [3]. tronic classroom” was developed. One of was for the lecturer. When he was look- There were also connections to the the main concerns of the project group ing at the local participants, he would world-wide video conference service. was to make it as easy as possible for the also see the remote students on the moni- The amount of use was not as high as lecturers to start using this new form of tor at the back. Each trolley had one anticipated, which led to a market ana- education. They should be able to bring monitor for incoming video (covering the lysis carried out in Norway in 1991 [4]. with them their regular teaching material remote site) and one for outgoing video. into the classroom without having to A whiteboard was available for the lec- The market analysis was the biggest ever change and adapt it. In addition, they turer for writing and displaying his teach- in Norway concerning video conferenc- should be able to use their usual teaching ing material. To operate the whiteboard, ing and its conclusions were: style, for example moving around and a light-pen was used as a writing, point- • Every year 10 million meetings are being “on the air” all the time. There ing and erasing device. performed in Norway where partici- should be no need for helpers to operate pants travel to the meeting. the classroom, so a high level of automa- At the remote site, there was another tion was built in. Therefore, there were classroom with audio, video and white- • In 2.2 millions of these meetings, the no camera people there, no script girls board information. Thereby, the remote participants themselves were of the and no producer. The only people were students could hear the lecturer and the opinion that the meetings could have the lecturer and the students. students and see the lecturer’s move- been substituted by a video conference. ments and body language. Behind the This potential correlates with other lecturer they could see where he was analysis outside Norway, [5] and [6]. 3 The development of the about to operate on the whiteboard, but • In 1.5 millions of the meetings, it was classroom the video channel had too low resolution also a requirement to see “what is talk- to provide full whiteboard information. ed about”, in addition to see “who is The idea was to design a classroom To see the whiteboard information, they talking”. “What is talked about” is which incorporated video, audio and had to look at the electronic whiteboard. either presented on a blackboard or an whiteboard information. Previous experi- overhead projector. ences from distance education and video conferencing clearly indicated the im- 4 The audio • A large part of these meetings dealt portance of having a shared educational with education in one way or another. Audio was the most important part of a material. It was also considered import- multimedia conference. If the audio was ant to design a classroom not radically This new knowledge of the use led to the poor or lost, it could not be compensated different from an ordinary classroom; start of the MultiTeam project in 1991. by good quality on both video and data. one that could be used for regular class- Later on, a joint project was initiated Without acceptable audio, the conference room teaching, group work and distance with participants from UNIK (Centre for may as well be terminated. Our experi- guidance. Technology at Kjeller, University of ence shows clearly that the importance of Oslo), USIT (Centre for Information the audio hardly can be overestimated. The three main media used in the elec- Technology Services, University of Oslo) tronic classroom were: and T R&D (Telenor Research and Minimal requirements to the audio sys- Development). The project was called • Audio – used to hear who is talking tem was that audio signals from the lec-

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 23 Classroom, UNIK

UiO UiO

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Figure 2 A typical electronic classroom situation

turer should be heard by everyone, and The microphones were mounted in a The audio in the classrooms had a band- that all the other participants should also matrix formation in the ceiling of the width of 7 kHz, which was sufficient for be heard when they took the floor – simi- classroom in order to minimise noise speech. lar to a regular classroom situation. from tables, chairs, etc.

24 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 The ideal solution for audio connection was to have an open, two-way communication channel. To overcome the problems of reverberation and echo, a system for echo cancelling was implemented. Audio from one site was transmitted to the loudspeaker(s) on the remote site, where it was picked up by the microphone(s) and transmitted back again. By subtracting the incoming signal from the outgoing signal, this undesired echo was attenuated. A problem, however, was that the signal from the loudspeakers was changed by the acoustic properties of the room. Available technology claimed to be able to “subtract” up to 40 dB (deci- bel) of the echo. This implied that the cancelling capacity was not sufficient in all situations. To eliminate the echo completely, the loudspeaker volume was reduced when 40 dB was not enough. Figure 3 A lecturing situation 5 The video

The video system provided moving picture from the remote site. The students the lecture. The lecturer might use the The lecturer could load his transparencies could see the lecturer, where he was electronic whiteboard for writing and dis- into the system before the lecture, and writing on the whiteboard, as well as his playing his presentation material. From select transparencies by pointing and gestures and body language. One camera the literature we know these applications clicking on a scrollbar. When a transpar- placed on top of the trolley at the back of as “shared workspace”, “global win- ency was displayed, the lecturer could the classroom covered the lecturer, and dow”, “electronic whiteboard” or “shared write and draw comments on it, using the two cameras placed at the front of the window”. In this project, the whiteboard light-pen. There was also an eraser func- room covered the students. medium was considered the second most tion that allowed him to erase parts of the important medium (the most important content. The video system turned out to be quite was the audio). complicated in the wish to meet the requirements of a high degree of automation as there was no “production team” available for the lectures. Since there were several cameras, a switching system activated the most appropriate camera. This was accomplished by a video switch which monitored the microphone levels and selected the camera corresponding to the microphone with the loudest audio signal. The camera in use had autofocus, was tuned for the best zooming angle and had auto-iris. The camera at the back of the classroom, which covered the lecturing stage, had a specific tripod. A motor controlled the pan and tilt function. The cordless microphone transmitted, in addition to the audio signal, also control signals to the camera tripod. This was the reason the camera followed the speaker so he was in the picture all the time.

6 The data (whiteboard information)

At each site, there was at least one whiteboard displaying the written content of Figure 4 The principle of the whiteboard

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 25 The whiteboard was in principle an ordi- upon pixels were echoed to the white- 7.1 Experiences from the nary computer screen. Since CRT-tech- board(s). Pressing one of the buttons on students nology did not permit monitors larger the side of the pen would produce a cur- than 21” without a big increase in cost, a sor on all the whiteboards. Each site had Two group interviews were undertaken video cannon was used, allowing a 100” their own colour on the cursor so the par- with the students. In addition, they whiteboard (2 metres wide and 1.5 ticipants could see which site was point- answered a questionnaire after each metres high). ing at a given time. Pressing the other class. Members of the project team also button activated an eraser function. The attended most of the lectures, thereby The working area of the whiteboard basic functions of the pen were therefore being able to observe the reactions of the could contain the same amount of infor- similar to the standard equipment of a students. mation as an A4-document or transpar- blackboard: Chalk, pointer, and sponge. ency (950 x 950 pixels). (An overloaded The attendance of the students was moti- text document or a drawing with many As Figure 3 shows, the whiteboard was vated by the content of the course only, details was usually not a good solution, based on a back projected video cannon. not by the fact that the course was given seen from a pedagogical point of view.) The input to the cannon was a computer in the electronic classroom (an exercise With the high resolution whiteboard, it signal meant for a data screen. To reduce in new technology might be a motivation was possible for the lecturer to use exist- the depth requirements in the room for students in informatics). The students ing educational material prepared for the behind the whiteboard, a mirror was also had to pass an examination, another regular courses. This maid it easier for used. The screen of the whiteboard was fact making them attentive critics of the the lecturer to commence using the semi-transparent, for projection and classroom. whiteboard. writing. The overall evaluation from the students For writing on the whiteboard, a light- was positive, referring to the classroom pen was introduced. At one site, the posi- 7 Experiences from the as an environment for learning. There tion of the pen was determined by its users were also several critical responses, serv- iteration with the scanning mechanism of ing as inspiration for further development the video cannon. At the other site, the In any project, the verdict of the end- of both the pedagogical approach and the whiteboard was in principle a large pen- users is the ultimate measure of success. classroom. One reaction was that the lec- pad or digitising board. Therefore, great effort was taken in order turer should have had more experience to evaluate the experiences of lecturer with the classroom before the course The light-pen had three buttons, like a and students. Being used for a series of started, reflecting the fact that the class- three button mouse. The write-function lectures at the University, the appropri- room was completed just before the start was activated when the pen was pushed ateness of the classroom for educational of the course. towards the surface of the screen, where- purposes was evaluated. Regarding the technology in the classroom, the students seemed to be impress- ed by the quality of the whiteboard, whereas the quality of the sound was the source of several critical remarks, con- firming the experiences of the project team.

There were some mixed remarks regarding the video channel. The students at the remote site appreciated the video signal of the teacher, whereas members of both groups of students seemed to be distract- ed by the self-view function, making them uncomfortable with taking the floor. Sometimes the self-view monitors were even turned off.

One important issue in distance education and conferencing was the feeling of presence of the other party or parties. At first, the students at the remote site found the lecturer distant, not just in the literal sense. A great improvement for the remote students was accomplished when he visited their site, thereby becoming a real person, not just a small figure on the screen. This was in accordance with common knowledge from video confer- Figure 5 Lecturer with the light-pen at the electronic whiteboard encing, that meeting in person was valu-

26 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 able for the quality of later interaction via classroom, and he found it difficult to mouse), but not as a device for freehand electronic media. Contrary to our initial feel their presence. He also had to invite writing and drawing. The pen-technology hypothesis, the local students were the them directly to raise questions and par- deployed at the other site proved to be a more critical of the classroom. Halfway ticipate in the discussions. better solution for writing and drawing. in the course, all the students at the remote site voted for the experiment to 8.1.1 Changes and improvements continue, whereas a large minority of the 8 Experiences from the local students voted for a termination of operation of the class- The first version of the whiteboard had the project. rooms the menu system on the right hand side of the whiteboard. After a few lessons, Explanations provided by the students The development of the classrooms was the lecturer found that it would be more were partly that they felt pity for the an on-going process, also being based convenient to have the functions on the remote students, partly that the operation upon experiences gathered during the left hand side, where he was usually of the electronic classroom introduced an project. In the development process, sev- standing during the lectures. A new lay- element of distraction in the lecture. eral lecturers from the University of Oslo out was implemented with the buttons gave valuable advice. placed on the left hand side, making the A further substantiation of their argument lecturer feel more comfortable. may be developed, considering the alternatives of the two groups of students. 8.1 The electronic whiteboard The alternative for the students at the 8.1.2 Scanner remote site was either to commute to the There were several problems with the other branch of the university, or not to operation of the pen, partly due to driver To provide better flexibility and allow a attend the course at all, whereas the al- and hardware problems, partly because larger room for improvisation, the lec- ternative for the local students was a the pen-technology at one of the sites turer wanted some kind of overhead series of lectures without experiments, required that the pen was held orthogon- function so that he could show new trans- interruptions or distractions. ally to the whiteboard, causing some parencies not previously stored in the problems for writing and drawing on the system. One alternative was to use a fast 7.2 Experience from the whiteboard. Another problem with this scanner, but after searching the market lecturer light-pen was that it was activated about no satisfactory product was found. 2 feet from the whiteboard, often producing some unintended results. The conclu- The overall evaluation from the lecturer sion from the project team and the lec- was also positive, and his several critical turers was that this pen was suitable as a remarks were very constructive, and an pointing and clicking device (similar to a important input to the development process. One obvious reaction was to the fact that the classroom was completed just a few days before the course started, making it impossible to get familiar with the classroom.

The lecturer found the whiteboard easy to operate, and the functions available fairly well implemented. There were several additional features he would have implemented in the whiteboard, like the possibility to zoom in on certain areas of the whiteboard, or to display animation.

It was a disadvantage, according to the lecturer, that the system appeared somewhat rigid, because it worked best when the set of transparencies was loaded before the lecture. He found that this property of the whiteboard made it difficult to improvise during the lectures.

He also had some critical remarks to the audio system and the light-pen, while emphasising the overall positive impression of the classroom.

The lecturer complained about a lack of Figure 6 Seen from the lecturer. Remote students on the upper monitor, contact with the students in the remote self-view on the lower

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 27 8.1.3 Document camera The camera on the lecturer provided an them into the discussions. There were overview of the whiteboard and the lec- important challenges in overcoming this A document camera presenting images turer, making it somewhat difficult for feeling of distance. on the whiteboard was another alterna- the remote students to observe the ges- tive proposed by the lecturer. As experi- tures of the lecturer, let alone catch his Two hardly surprising results from the enced from the video conference service eye. This in turn caused the lecturer to project was the importance of the audio, in Norway these cameras did not have a seem somewhat distant. In addition to the and that the whiteboard never could get sufficiently high resolution for the class- hardware codec, there was a software large enough – both important topics for room. The document camera was install- codec as a backup system. further development. ed, however, as a backup facility. Each lecture was videotaped, which References 8.2 Audio opened the possibility for a later review of the session for both students and lec- 1 Jacobæus, C, Blomberg, H. LM Eric- turer. The quality of the audio represented one sson 100 år, Band III : Teletekniskt of the major problems during the first skapande 1876 – 1976. Van Nostrand months of the project. The packet switch- 8.4 Operation of the classroom Reinhold, 1992. ed network could rearrange packets received in the wrong sequence, but there It was considered very important to 2 Nordahl, C K. Fjernsynsmøter : en ny were no mechanisms to compensate for maintain a high stability during the lec- prøvetjeneste i Norge. Telektronikk, packet losses or damaged packages. This tures since this was a regular university 79, (3/4), 1983. latter aspect made some seminars on the course. This in turn called for a support narrowbanded parts of Internet very hard service for the lecturer. Fortunately, one 3 Kristiansen, T. Fjernundervisning i to follow. of the students attending the course was fiskerifag : forsøk med toveis also a participant in the MultiTeam pro- lyd/bilde kommunikasjon over 2 The quality of the audio was continuous- ject. He assisted the lecturer in setting up Mbit/s samband. Kjeller, Norwegian ly improved during the project period by the equipment, and took care of problems Telecom Research, 1989. (TF report increasing available bandwidth in the occurring during the sessions. Similarly, 28/89.) audio channel. Further steps have to be at the other site, there was a member taken in order to obtain an even better from the MultiTeam/Munin project pre- 4 Aardal, A et al. Få fart på Norge med quality. sent, to ensure the proper functioning of telekonferanser! Kjeller, Norwegian the classroom. Telecom Research, 1992. (TF report R 26/92.) 8.2.1 Backup facility The Supernet performed well during the course. There have been some minor 5 Kollen, J H, Garwood, J. Travel/ In addition to the audio channel, a tele- problems with routers at two occasions. communication tradeoffs : the poten- phone conferencing unit was installed in tial for substitution among business the classrooms as a backup system. Then travelers. Bell, 1975. (Bell Canada it would still be possible to carry on with 9 Implications for further Report.) the education in case the audio channel should fail. studies 6 Egido, C. Teleconferencing as a tech- The development process and the opera- nology to support cooperative work : 8.3 Video tional phase provided valuable insights its possibilities and limitations. In: regarding user aspects and technological Intellectual Teamwork : Social and The whiteboard being back-lit was the aspects of the electronic classroom, while Technological Foundations of Co- source of some problems with the light- also pointing out several areas for further operative Work, p. 351–371. Gale- ing. With no extra light, the lecturer research and development. gher, J, Kraut, R E, Egido, C (eds.). appeared as a silhouette for the students Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1990. at the remote site, whereas lamps direct- One set of questions refer to the way the ed towards the whiteboard resulted in users experienced their participation in a 7 Kirstein, P T, Handley, M J, Sasse, reduced readability at the local site. distributed classroom. The results from M A. Piloting of multimedia integrat- Lighting from various angles was tried this project shows clearly that perceived ed communications for European out, the solution being that the lecturer distance is a very important topic. researchers (MICE). In: Proceedings was illuminated from a lamp mounted from INET, 1993. from the ceiling, about 1 metre in front of The students at the two sites perceived the whiteboard. the series of lectures in quite different 8 Clayman, S, Hestnes, B, Kirstein, P. ways. (It is here interesting to note that The interworking of Internet and Automatic camera control in the form of the students at the remote site were more ISDN network for multimedia con- an inexpensive “follow me” camera was positive towards the project, even though ferencing. Information services & also tested, with little success. A more they were complaining about how remote use, 15, (2), 1995. ISSN 0167-5265. expensive equipment was tried out a little the lecturer was.) The lecturer also made later with good results. comments about the distance to the remote students, and that he had to take special measures in order to integrate

28 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 Something in the air – Norwegian experiences with telelecturing in flexible education

BY GUNNAR GREPPERUD

1 Telelecturing in Norway information and labour-market training The actual instruction takes place in the to its users TV studio at the University of Bergen or – the NORNET-project at the University of Oslo and is transmit- • Develop an infrastructure to promote ted through the radio link system to In a collection of articles, “Open and knowledge. Telenor’s earth station at Nittedal, where Distanced Learning Today” (edited by F. the programme is coded and transmitted Lockwood, 1995), D. Keegan presents an Teaching by satellite is (and will be) up to the satellite ‘Intelsat 5’. Every evaluation of an Irish satellite-based pro- mainly given as telelecturing, based on receiving station is equipped with a satel- ject from 1993–94. Keegan assumes that traditional methods. Lectures are sent lite dish, a decoder and a coding card in this is one of the first, if not the first, uni- directly from the studio, and coded their television. versity-accredited virtual classroom through Telenor’s satellite to each recipi- course by satellite in Europe besides pro- ent mainly at a local study centre. The It is necessary to build up a close cooper- jects like Europace and Eurostep which form of presentation used, especially the ation with the individual local authori- he characterises as mainly technological lecture part, is very similar to plenary ties, as each authority is responsible for experiments [1]. lectures that are given at universities and the local coordination of the enterprise. colleges. Most of the time is “one-way- In each of the participants’ local commu- Without putting too much of an emphasis lecturing” with a certain amount of time nity a coordinator or facilitator has been on this, Keegan has in fact made a mis- given to enable students to ask questions appointed. This person is responsible for take in his assumption about “who is first and give comments. giving information, registering course in Europe”. Already in the autumn of participants, preparing the local study 1985, Telenor in Norway, started its first The oral presentation is supported by centre so that it can receive the broadcast experiment with satellite broadcasting as written presentations in the form of pre- and is also the point of contact with the part of an educational course. A small prepared texts, computer-designed project leader in Bergen. The coordinator group of students were able to follow posters, flip-over material and prepared function plays a key role in the project. part of a French course in their own papers. Most telelectures sent from the home, in front of their own television [2]. studios are supplemented by conversa- Since 1990, we have in Norway been tions, guest lecturers and are sometimes 2 The challenge of in- able to achieve a relatively extensive illustrated by video sequences. experience with satellite-based distance creased knowledge – education, mainly through the so-called To give participants the opportunity of the NORNET-evaluation NORNET-project. During the period talking to the lecturer, either by asking from January 1990 to January 1996 more questions or giving comments, time has It is often said of distance education that than 10,000 adult students have been been reserved during each transmission it is an education without any limits or given an educational opportunity. for tele(phone)conferencing at previously boundaries. This statement can be inter- Through the utilization of 360 receiving chosen study centres. The students are preted in many different ways. In the first stations (consisting of 85 study centres, informed about this and prepare their role instance it gives a picture of an educa- and upper secondary schools that have as “public askers of questions or com- tional form which can give possibilities been equipped to receive satellite broad- ment makers” and in this way represent that exceed geographical and time casts (transmissions)), 24 different edu- the rest of the participants. The other boundaries. In its formulation it also cational courses have been given, and groups have the possibility of sending implies that education will become a one has cooperated with educational questions and comments to the lecturer more and more international phenomen- establishments at upper secondary level, via fax and/or telephone. on. The traditional frontiers are no longer university and college level and private a barrier for educational suppliers. Paral- centres of competence. The number of The students are organised in subject lel with the development of education as participating county councils in NOR- groups and work together in a variety of a market product, Norway will also more NET has increased from 3 to 11, and the ways between broadcasts. The subject is frequently experience offers of educa- councils have also appointed coordinat- worked with in local groups, individual tional supplies from different countries. ors to work with this enterprise. The Uni- study and written correspondence. The versity of Bergen’s Media Centre group work is partly followed up by the If we reverse the order of the statement, (UMS), which has had the main respons- central course supplier / educational “education without any limits”, we can ibility for producing and sending the tel- institution. also see that distance education is a electures, has up until today produced boundary breaker, meaning that it chal- 400 hours of telelectures. NORNET is based on both direct trans- lenges our accustomed conception about mission and full television quality. teaching and learning. Through a flexible NORNET (The Norwegian Network for Through the use of satellite technology it educational programme one can see out- Distance Education) was established as a is possible to reach all parts of the count- lines of a qualitatively different form of project in 1989. The aim was threefold: ry at the same time, and this gives the educational organisation, where the tradi- possibility of having an unlimited num- tional mass production paradigm is re- • Distribute further education to the pop- ber of participants. NORNET’s transmis- placed by a more flexible and much more ulation or vocational groups that other- sions are transferred through the broad- individualized approach. “There’s some- wise would have difficulty in taking casting standard MAC. This means that thing in the air”, something new and rad- part in the normal courses given by the broadcasts are coded and can only be ically different, which is about to push educational establishments received by registered addresses with the itself forward into the traditional educa- • Offer industry, commerce and manage- correct receiving equipment. tion system. It points towards solutions ment a distribution ‘channel’ to give

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 29 which are way ahead of the present-day’s and research in the field of satellite-based Two-thirds of the students maintained education system. It is with this perspect- distance education. that satellite teaching was their only ive in mind that one should analyse and chance of being able to study. Incorpo- discuss distance education. The main conclusions in the NORNET rate in the answer and a decisive factor, study coincides with the research which quite naturally, was that they didn’t need Within the NORNET-project a number has been done on satellite-based distance to travel a long way, leave home or take of minor evaluations have been executed education in several countries so far: leave of absence from work, in order to in connection with individual course study. In Norwegian and Scandinavian • It is technically possible, also in Nor- offers [3]. These evaluations have context, it is interesting to notice a devel- way, with its fjords, mountains and brought to light the fact that satellite- opment which points out that geograph- scattered population, to give an educa- based distance education is in fact many ical distance is only one of many reasons tional offer where lectures and teach- things. Even though telelecturing, dis- for developing studies outside education- ing are distributed via satellite. tributed via satellite, has been a common al institutions. In the NORNET-study we denominator, the evaluations have shown • Nothing indicates that the academic find that people living right next to an that there is a diversity within the basic quality or/and the educational level are educational institution, prefer to study organisation, as well as in the preparation in any way damaged by this kind of through distance education. Without of the actual teaching. lecturing. opening up old debates about the concept of distance education, it should be point- • Local study centres are important in The evaluation reports which are now ed out that it is about time we demanded many ways; as receiver stations, as available (only in Norwegian), vary in a new term to cover what we mean by common ground both socially and edu- size, quality and also have different lev- distance education. cationally, as marketing operators and els of ambition. They differ from simple as a “listening post” to register any course evaluation to results given by The NORNET-study also shows that necessary requirements. appointed external evaluators. A com- many students are neither aware of which mon feature is that they have been writ- • The satellite model contributes to “addi- educational possibilities exist on the ten within a somewhat short period of tional knowledge for more people”. market, nor have they done anything to time. Because of that one has neither had provide themselves with this knowledge. the time nor the possibility to go in depth The NORNET-study focuses on a num- One of the courses offered by NORNET theoretically or empirically. The method- ber of situations connected to organisa- was also, at the same time, available as a ological approach has mainly been the tion and teaching. We will present the correspondence course, produced by use of rather limited questionnaires. It is participants’ and teachers’ points of view NKS Distance Education together with also interesting to note that the Nor- in some of these areas. the College of Lillehammer. The course wegian reports and evaluation have offered was marketed over a longer rarely built upon each others’ experienc- period and in different ways throughout es, which makes it difficult to develop 3 What do the students Norway. Even so, few, if any, students specific knowledge in this complicated experience? attending the NORNET-project seemed field of study. to be aware of it. One of the main con- The NORNET-study focuses on four dif- clusions, therefore, is that it is crucial in The most comprehensive evaluation of ferent courses, a smaller course about EC connection with any future recruiting of NORNET was made in 1993. 580 stu- economy, a further education course at students to flexible educational courses, dents, out of a total of 881, were inter- upper secondary level about Welfare Ser- that the information and motivation about viewed via telephone about their experi- vices for the Elderly, two qualifying edu- the courses take place as closely to the ences with television-based education. cational courses at university and college users as possible. For three of the four educational offers level covering Public Administration (5 that were involved, 90 % of the total credits) and Working Life Psychology When students are asked to give a full number of participating students were (10 credits). The largest group of stu- evaluation of the total course package interviewed. The majority of local co- dents (42.5 %) were between the ages of (by giving an estimated value on a scale ordinators (45 of 60) and teachers (30 of 41 and 50. The average age of the stu- from 1–7), “the average grade” given is 45) were also interviewed, partly through dents following the NORNET-courses 4.7, that is a little over average. The eval- the use of questionnaires, partly by tele- was higher than of those following norm- uation varies from subject to subject, phone and partly in private meetings. al distance education courses that are mainly due to the quality of the lectures, Also representatives from the educational otherwise offered in Norway. In three out partly due to the way the course is struc- institutions that had given the courses via of four courses there was a majority of tured and what is stressed in the study. NORNET were interviewed. women. In the course covering Welfare While students on one course were Services for the Elderly the dominance of reasonably satisfied with the lectures, The evaluation and points of view given women students was a natural phe- students on another course felt that they by the three involved groups have been nomenon, because the course was had too few. While students of one sub- summarized, commented upon and anal- directed at the occupational group, which ject felt that two-way communication by ysed in a preliminary report with the is predominately made up of women. The telephone was to a certain extent a waste working title, “Increased Knowledge is courses were primarily taken as further of time, students studying another subject also a Challenge” (from now on referred education, except for one offer, that of felt that this form of communication was to as ‘the NORNET-study’) [4]. Experi- Public Administration, which was taken extremely valuable. ences from NORNET are also compared (especially by women) as a first univer- with national and international evaluation sity subject.

30 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 Students were also asked if they would 4 What then are students The students were relatively positive to follow another course with a similar the lecturers’ use of supportive material structure. The answers were mainly concerned with in during their lectures, whether it was com- encouraging, 50.9 % said that they would connection with their puter designed posters, flip-overs or use definitely think about repeating the expe- of the document-camera. But a number rience, 31.5 % said that they might, and a evaluation of tele- of students would have liked to have clear 13 % of the participants were quite lectures? been sent the visual material beforehand. definite that they would not be taking a similar kind of course again. There are a Both because satellite transmission The fact that telelecturing distributed via number of conditions connected to played a central role, but also because satellite has functioned well is confirmed whether one would take such a course telelecturing was primarily the basic ele- by a number of investigations in a number again or not. The NORNET-study shows ment in the educational programme, it of countries. Wong, for example, reaches that the amount of work involved, the was of special interest for the NORNET- a similar conclusion in her evaluation of extent to which one has been a student study that this aspect was evaluated. Both satellite-based distance education at the before and the distance of time since students and teachers were therefore University of Saskatchewan [8]. In his being a student or pupil, play a decisive asked to evaluate different aspects of tel- evaluation from 1995 (see above) D. Kee- role. It appears that women to a lesser electuring. gan asked students on two different occa- degree were interested in taking part in sions to evaluate whether these kinds of further courses organised in this way. Even though one finds some variation courses were able to sustain the academic between the groups of students, subjects level of excellency. Mid-way evaluation Other Norwegian evaluations of satellite- and gender, the main conclusion was that results gave 86 % positive answers, and based distance education is more positive the students were satisfied with this form the final results were the same. Only 1 % with regard to the evaluation of the con- of delivery. Compared with other Nor- felt that it was a disadvantage not to have tents and organisation. In Vaagland’s wegian evaluations in this field the face-to-face contact [9]. evaluation from 1990, 90 % of the stu- evaluation results given in the NORNET- dents say that they would not mind study were very positive. The same can The positive reactions do not totally repre- attending similar courses again, and over be said if one compares the distance edu- sent a united front. Collins and Murphy 96 % thought that form of distance educa- cation students’ evaluation with evalu- show results where participants are in tion was practical [5]. Lorensen, and oth- ations given by students studying on agreement that the lecture form does not ers, reported that all the students that campus at universities and colleges. suit satellite distribution. One becomes completed the questionnaire recommend- quite quickly passive and bored. This ed that one should continue teaching in The lectures were, as far as the students explanation is primarily based on the fact this way [6]. Even in the project that has were concerned, well planned, especially that the teacher is in control and domi- received the most negative remarks in with regard to the contents they present- nates the situation, as well as seeming to connection with content and form, it was ed. Another way of putting it is that parti- want to present too much material in too found that the participants had not been cipants experienced that the lecturers short a time [10]. A natural conclusion to scared away by their more negative expe- knew what they were talking about, and this is that bad teaching becomes twice as riences. One could quite well continue to the majority felt that the lecturers gave bad when presented on television! work in this way under specific circum- them a better understanding of the con- stances [7]. tents both by stressing the central points With regard to the contact between in the study, by presenting new and teachers and students the latter are not Not surprisingly, the use of satellites and exciting material and by helping students quite as positive in their evaluation. This telelecturing received great attention both solve their given tasks. is primarily due to the technical problems among students and in the communities. in connection with tele-conferences, and Telelectures sent directly via television There is more criticism with regard to to problems concerned with audibility. It was something new, and involved the presentation, and about a third of the stu- was the technical problems that caused setting up of a large technical and organ- dents said that the lecturers could have the students to give a rather negative izational apparatus. Quite a lot of invest- been better at organising their material “grading” here compared with the evalu- ments were made to supply the necessary more pedagogically. It was pointed out, ation given to the lectures. equipment and the media focused upon especially, that the lecturers kept up such this as it was new and exciting (but also a tempo that it was difficult to keep up From a didactical point of view tele-con- caused problems). with writing notes, and that it was diffi- ferencing was not particularly successful cult to follow everything that was said. either. Three conditions are deciding fact- In one of NORNET’s minor evaluations it This was regarded as somewhat of a ors for this conclusion: The situation was is stated that the focus on satellite and dilemma by the lecturers themselves, and perhaps not put to good enough use, nei- television created an unfortunate situation one never actually found out how one ther students nor teachers had been given by taking the attention away from the should compensate for not having stu- information about various possibilities as main intention, which was to try out an dents in the studio with them. Many dif- to use, and one had too high ambitions for “in-service-training model” for teachers in ferent tricks were tried out. One of the what actually was possible. Therefore, upper secondary schools. Instead of con- teachers, for example, said that he used two-way communication was rather an centrating on their own processes of learn- the camera-man as if he was a student, artificial element, and represented more ing, the teachers were only concerned and talked to him. of an illusion about conversation than a about how the lectures were dispatched. conversation in its own rights. The com-

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 31 munication became more like a concept use (more or less) traditional lecturing Why are teachers so positive? When they of narrative in the actual programme. methods. They were placed in quite a dif- are asked to give reasons, they give a ferent context, in a television studio number of different answers: The didactical problem with two-way where they were to be responsible to a • It is part of the future communication is also a visible concept camera, and see no students. • The possibility of reaching many in other research and evaluation work. • Become well-known (a star) Wong, in a similar way as Collins and When they look back on their experience • Challenging/exciting Murphy, points out that students were the teachers are nevertheless very positive. • Technically informative obviously rather reluctant about speaking • Different working methods, new challenges directly over the air. They were clearly They do not think that telelecturing is as • Like lecturing influenced by the context in which com- good as normal lectures on campus. But • No reason for not trying munication was taking place, and the having the opportunity to give lectures in • It must be possible to do better. result of this was that the local assistant a new medium was regarded, in itself, as teachers had to take responsibility for a positive experience. 70 % of them said This evaluation seems to coincide with asking questions on behalf of the stu- that it was positive, while only 1 (out of other evaluations given by those that dents. In line with Vaagland’s observa- 30) said that it had been a very negative teach on flexible education studies. tions one found that students were con- experience. cerned about what the other groups saw The following is taken from Dahlén and and did. Partly, one competed to become When asked what they regarded as being Lundgren’s summary of their evaluation a visible participant in the studio, and most positive about telelecturing the comments [14]. those who didn’t manage to get to the answers were mainly divided into two fore had a tendency to lose interest [11]. parts. Firstly, it was pointed out that by Teachers take it for granted that dis- using this organisational form, one was tance education requires another kind In an evaluation of multi-point video able to reach more people (at the same of planning and gives less room for conferencing G. Holden verifies Wong, time). Secondly, it was pointed out that improvisation than normal teaching Collins and Murphy’s opinion. Even by working in this way one also learnt situations. On the whole, distance edu- though a number of students say they and developed oneself (“It demanded cation demands that teachers give far want to ask questions, they don’t do so. much more thought about what one more of their time. Partly because the teacher dominates, should present” / “a challenge” / “a new Teachers emphasise distance educa- partly because they dare not. G. Holden’s way of teaching” / “learn other forms”). tion and the distance students in a overall evaluation is that it is the organ- much more positive way. They believe isation of teaching and not the medium On the negative side the lack of direct that contact between them and these that is responsible for this passivity. A contact and possibility of a dialogue with students functions well, that the dis- number of those who didn’t participate the students were the things mainly tance students are motivated, inde- actively in the interaction sat on the doc- remarked upon. Some also mentioned the pendent, full of initiative, have critical ument camera and then left, and very technical problems and the general ideas and take more responsibility for often the teacher did not even notice that uncertainty of teaching via this medium, their studies. they had left the studio [12]. “I’ve been worried about the situation for a long time”, one of the teachers said. A more or less compulsory question to teachers involved in flexible education is 5 What do the lecturers With regard to this latter remark it is whether the contents attain just as high a interesting to note that three of the teach- experience? level of excellence as normal studies. Of ers actually said that they didn’t experi- the 10 teachers connected to the NOR- After the first year of satellite-based dis- ence any difference between satellite lec- NET study, who gave an answer to this, tance education Wong concludes in her turing and their normal lecturing situa- eight of them say that compared with the study that much of the success is due to tion. This can indicate, without making a normal course the students’ results are the fact that one had managed to recruit point out of it, that some teachers even much better or better. Only one says that experienced and charismatic lecturers for on campus apparently have little or no they are somewhat poorer. Even though this role [13]. Even though one should contact with their students. But the the number of answers are few, they ver- not perhaps be quite so generous with answers can also be interpreted as mean- ify the evaluation from other similar one’s praise when mentioning lecturers ing that they were not influenced by the course offers. A summary of 12 qualify- in the NORNET-project, the students did situation, even though the surroundings ing distance educational courses in 1993 say that they thought they should be were different. shows that in 9 of the projects the results complimented for their work. In spite of were evaluated as good or very good, 2 the fact that teachers were just left to sink The teachers are not so equally satisfied were evaluated as average and 1 was or swim, the students have mainly evalu- with satellite lecturing as the students evaluated as weak. For 3 of the 12 course ated their contribution as positive, even seem to be. Even so, the majority don’t offers it was shown that the results were though there are some differences to be mind giving it another go. 26 said yes, 1 better than those of an ordinary study, found from subject to subject. said maybe, and 3 said no. Almost half of and for 6 projects that they were equally the teachers find that form of flexible as good [15]. Nearly all the teachers who participated education very useful, while the other were new beginners with regard to tel- half say that it is “usable”. There is therefore no specific reason to electuring. They were mainly the worry that flexible education course academic staff who in their normal role

32 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 results are qualitatively weaker than as possible. In connection with telelectur- 5 Vaagland, O. Økt kunnskap er også those of on-campus studies. Moreover, ing one has primarily contributed to en utfordring. Tromsø, UNIKOM, the examination results show that one is improving the traditional lecturing within University of Tromsø, 1996. (Work- faced with a hard-working and motivated a television setting. ing draft.) group of students. Even though one would have liked to see 6 Lorensen, M et al. Fleksibel utdan- Experiences with distance education in greater technical and didactical develop- ning via satellitt : et pilotprosjekt for Norwegian higher education has shown ment than was shown in the project, one embetsstudieundervisning i syke- that teachers themselves profit from must, as a main conclusion to the project pleievitenskap. Oslo, University of working with distance education compar- as far as it had come in 1994, say that it Oslo, Institutt for sykepleievitenskap, ed with teaching on the campus-based was positive. 1991. (UiO, 1/91.) courses. Did the teachers participating in the NORNET-studies feel the same? The results show that flexible education 7 Nordkvelle, Y, Fritze, Y. Vurder- based on satellite-based presentation ingsrapport for “Prosjektarbeid som 7 of the 30 teachers say that they haven’t seems to have found a form which func- læringsvei”, second draft. Lilleham- learnt anything new compared to their tions in relation to different user groups. mer, Høgskolen i Lillehammer, 1995. normal teaching. Otherwise, the follow- This conclusion is also supported by ing comments were made: other internal and external investigations, 8 Wong, A. Televised courses at the besides NORNET, in Norway and University of Saskatchewan : Some- • The importance of good planning, abroad. thing old, something new. Saskatoon, structure and clarity Canada, The University of • No matter what the setting a need to Perhaps the most important conclusion is Saskatchewan, Division of Extension get away from one speaker/monologue that this study conforms with other re- and Community Relations, July, search and evaluation work in this field, 1989. (Evaluation Report.) • Prepare a more complete lecture than and establishes the fact that educational is usual in an auditorium results and the quality of the studies are 9 Keegan. Televised courses at the • More aware of one’s performance in no way behind those which one finds University of Saskatchewan : Some- in the ordinary education system. This thing old, something new. Saskatoon, • Put more stress on details means that if one continues to develop Canada, The University of • Self-assurance, more routine flexible education courses one also has Saskatchewan, Division of Extension the opportunity in the future of establish- and Community Relations, July, • Significance of how one looks (!) ing a qualitatively better education and 1989, 114–115. (Evaluation Report.) • Rely more on the manuscript than on system of learning. As a clear distinction the performance part. from the ordinary education system, 10 Collins, V, Murphy, P. A new adult which has about reached its maximum student : learning by interactive satel- Which advice does one have to those potential, flexible education is just in its lite. In: Developing Distance Educa- who plan to give telelectures? beginner stages. Perhaps we have reach- tion. Konferanserapport fra ICDEs ed the time when one should begin with verdenskonferanse i Oslo, 1988. • Jump right out into it, it will probably more radical changes? be all right 11 Wong. A new adult student : learning • Plan well – not too much material by interactive satellite. In: Develop- References ing Distance Education. Konfer- • Try and get some variation anserapport fra ICDEs verdenskon- 1 Keegan, D. Teaching and learning by • Take it easy feranse i Oslo, 1988. satellite in a European virtual class- • Find a relaxed approachable form. Use room. In: Open and distance learning 12 Holden, G. Multipunkt videokonfer- simple language – not too much sub- today. Lockwood, I F (ed.). London, anse : evaluering av fjernundervis- ject jargon Routledge, 1995. ning via video, p. 45 and p. 66. Oslo, • Try to imagine there is an audience – SEFU, 1994. 2 Blom, D, Kristiansen, T. The Jev- use body language naker project : two experiments with 13 Wong. Holden, G. Multipunkt • Activate the students in their groups / live interactive television. Kjeller, videokonferanse : evaluering av fjer- use your imagination Norwegian Telecom Research, 1988. nundervisning via video, p. 45 and p. (TF report R 58/88.) • Divide the teaching into smaller por- 66. Oslo, SEFU, 1994. tions. 3 Vaagland, O. Satellittoverført fleksi- 14 Dahlén, S, Lundgren, H. Sjuksköter- bel utdanning i Hordaland : vurder- ska på distans. Uppsala, Uppsala ing av et forsøksprosjekt. Bergen, 6 The beginning of some- Universitet, Pedagogiska Institu- University of Bergen, Institutt for tionen, 1995. thing new? massekommunikasjon, 1990. The NORNET-project cannot be regard- 15 Grepperud, G. Fra prosjekt til per- 4 Grepperud, G. Økt kunnskap er også ed as standing for new approaches in the manens. Tromsø, SOFF, 1993. (Rap- en utfordring. Tromsø, UNIKOM, field of didactics. One has, mainly, kept port 4.) University of Tromsø, 1996. (Work- to the ‘known’ and tried to do this as well ing draft.)

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 33 Telecom and Open Learning – a challenge to institutional cooperation

BY HARALD HAUGEN AND BODIL ASK

Introduction Future role of databases for interesting extensions to his lessons on the present situation in the 1996 was declared the European year for professionals Middle East. But is it realised as equally life long learning, stating the fact that important for a social science/biology Life in the information and knowledge there is an increasing demand in all teacher or an environmental adviser to society puts new demands on profession- walks of life for updating and refreshing manage system dynamics and simulation al roles and performances. Not only does of existing knowledge and skills in order models in order to understand or the technology itself change the charac- to keep abreast with professional and communicate the challenges of local or teristics of traditional work, it also shifts social requirements. With significant global pollution? the required skills for certain operations revisions of methods as well as in content into completely different levels of under- of professions, with tight working sched- Telecommunication seems to play an standing or detailed knowledge. In one ules and continuous challenges by new increasingly important role in future soci- direction the visible results of efficient tasks and requirements, most profession- ety. Capacity, bandwidth and speed of working in a store is changed from that als tend to postpone the extra effort to transfer for large amounts of digitised of manually noting and adding numbers embark on traditional continued educa- data, including sound and graphics, is to that of pressing the correct buttons on tion or in-service training programmes. covering greater parts of the world every a calculator or cash register – or moving month. From being a separate technology the bar codes past a photo cell or similar New information and communication it is now accelerating its integration into device. On the other hand, the engineer technology (ICT) has for a couple of computer and other information tech- does not need the same drawing skills as decades posed increasing challenges to nologies, changing the PC from a stand- before when constructing a house or a the working force. A few adventurers and alone device into a small node in a ship, but must control the drawing facili- enthusiasts, on their own or by initiative world-wide network of information. ties of a computer, requiring a higher from their employers, threw themselves Large databases are included in the same level of understanding and insight into into the technical whirlpool in the early network and professionals of all kinds practical consequences of certain deci- 1980s. Gradually, they were mastering are meeting in the virtual space to discuss sions. different operating systems, obscure user their problems and points of interest. interfaces and arbitrary pieces of soft- In teaching as well as in company train- ware available for their purposes. Im- ing programmes the role of the presenter proved user friendliness as well as escal- Open and Distance or trainer is gradually changing from that ating capacity/price ratio and popularisa- of being a knowledge provider and a well Learning (ODL) as a tool to tion of the technology have all contribut- of solutions to all problems, into being a ed to an increasing application of ICT at cope with new demands guide or adviser for learners to find and all levels. choose from the information and instruc- The ever increasing demand for updated tional material available. In a society skills and knowledge in different fields The combination of life long learning where information and our access to it makes it impossible to cover it all and ICT naturally lead to programmes are growing exponentially, it is becoming through traditional education or training for provision of in-service training increasingly important to assist learners systems. Companies and public institu- through the use of computers and elec- in acquiring skills of information handl- tions have long traditions in arrangement tronic networks. Both trans-European ing. An important part of this is to of courses in-house or at hotels, etc. and different national initiatives have develop a critical and reflective way of when new skills or principles were to be been launched in order to exploit the pos- sorting, discriminating and interpreting introduced into their activities. No credits sibilities incorporated in the new technol- the information provided. They must also or formal qualifications were attached to ogy. Several projects are in progress, be able to turn the acquired information most of these courses. It was part of the gathering experience and developing new into knowledge and understanding of in-service training offered by the methodologies to suit both course provid- their immediate surroundings and the employer and a requirement to be up- ers and learners. The electronic learning challenges facing them. dated on the task to be performed. environment may be a challenge to the traditional auditorium, classroom and An alternative for raising the qualifica- hotel based seminars. IT and telecommunication tions of the staff was to let a selected few attend formal education programmes, Cooperation between course providing Particular requirements are related to acquiring new degrees or diplomas. institutions seems to be a fruitful track new technology as part of new profes- Expenses related to such programmes for saving efforts and resources. Through sional roles. ICT is not only a tool and a could be borne by the employer, by the different projects in the field of ICT source of information, it is also in its own professional her-/himself or as a joint based ODL one has found that partners in right an important part of workmanship agreement between the two parts. Costs production of learning material benefit a and required skills of future citizens. It is could be considerable for study pro- lot from exchange of electronic lessons, well accepted that a clerk expecting to grammes running over several years in examples, programmes, etc. They tend to maintain his work in the future must order to obtain a degree, even in cases save much on development costs, know how to apply word processing, and where the education or training was pro- administrative systems and infrastruc- that an accountant will be obsolete if he vided outside regular working hours. ture, and at the same time increase the does not know how to handle computer quality of final products and offers to the based accounting systems. Maybe it is Distance education has long been a prac- target groups. also accepted that a journalist or a history tical way of taking courses and obtaining teacher must know how to search in

34 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 qualifications. Specialised institutions Challenges to institutions has the responsibility for updating their like correspondence schools and open staff, but by now we more often see a universities have provided thousands and The enormous efforts and resources combination of updating the staff by millions of citizens with interesting needed for providing ODL material to offering them formal qualifications. offers of initial and further education. In new target groups of learners simply Development of necessary curriculum to the age of new ICT it is natural to apply requires that parallel work and develop- obtain formal qualification is based on the technology for distribution of learn- ment of products should be avoided. All cooperation of enterprises, between the ing material. As a consequence of this partners will benefit from cooperation companies and the formal educational the importance of distance in the learning instead of competition, exchange of system, where the companies play a cen- process is changing. It is now becoming material instead of protection, specialisa- tral role in describing the needs and also more essential to talk about open learn- tion of competence instead of covering are the ones to find or provide the knowing, possibly combined with learning at a all fields at every institution, sharing of how. distance into open and distance learning, duties instead of performing double ODL. work. In particular, the learners will ben- Introduction of electronic networks, e.g. efit from the products and facilities Internet, increases the functionality and The definition of ODL varies according resulting from such cooperation. facilitates practical activities among co- to organisation, structure and possibilities operating institutions. Both academic included. In this paper we will stick to There must be regulations and rules to staff, learners and the outside learning the interpretation where the openness is play by, however. Models for coopera- society are supposed to benefit from particularly directed to the open access of tion between academic institutions for diverse specialisation and expertise, shar- learning material through electronic net- the purpose of ODL have been tried out ing of duties between institutions. works. The distance of the students is not in several European projects, providing of the same importance to us; they may valuable experience as a basis for revi- Together, the collaborating institutions well be regular students inside the insti- sion of models and development of new may become able to provide a greater tution, staff members or individuals in ways for providing ODL to the optimal variety of studies to their learners than another part of Europe. The important benefit for both students, staff and the any one of the institutions can manage on principle is that university courses, learn- institutions as such. Most valuable results its own. Collaboration should emphasise ing material as well as exercises and and experiences have been acquired the importance of being able to utilise the examinations are available to the learners when both academic institutions and various profiles, specialities and profes- in their part of the world. With certain receiving organisations have been work- sional expertise of the different institu- restrictions the services should also be ing together in the planning and develop- tions and enterprises. This should in- available to them when it is required, i.e. ment of ODL courses and material. crease both the width and depth of the asynchronous distribution and availabil- Examples of such activities will be pro- learning environment. ity is the general rule. vided in the following sections. One example of how institutional cooper- Further and in-career training through ation has been practised is the way the ODL therefore makes it more easily Institutional cooperation NITOL project has organised their work. available, costs and regulated working (NITOL = Norway-net with IT for Open Cooperation between academic institu- hours can be saved and the traditional Learning). Four academic institutions in tions seems to be an educational policy, universities and colleges may be opened Norway have successfully practised their nationally as well as internationally, to the public for life long learning pro- own model of cooperation since 1994. including the establishment of an educa- grammes. The effort for traditional uni- Much of the success in this pilot project tional cooperative network between cen- versities in order to change some of their is probably based on long-standing rela- tres of higher education and research. traditional mass lectures and demonstra- tions and trust between the key personnel Several countries throughout Europe tions into transferable, ICT-based learn- involved. The project’s primary goals state in their White papers or other politi- ing material is quite a scary exercise. It were to: cal documents principles and guidelines may not even be possible or desirable in for cooperation and sharing of expertise • Gain experience and develop methods many cases, in particular subjects or top- between educational institutions. As an for ICT based, open, flexible and dis- ics. The latter is certainly the case for example of how cooperation between tance learning at university level some of the special aspects, e.g. in train- institutions and exchange of experience ing of nurses or in teacher education, • Facilitate cooperative research and are stressed, the European Commission’s where important values can hardly be development between geographically Socrates programme has partnership be- detached from the human touch. There separated academic units and person- tween educational institutions as one of are, however, lots of topics and courses nel. their criteria to allocate funding to pro- related to teacher and nurses training that jects (Socrates guidelines 1996). may successfully be offered through ICT In order to approach these goals partners based ODL, and where positive results had to: Enterprises throughout the world claim are already observed. that there is a huge need for updating of • Establish an open network making personnel. To meet this need we already education within Norway-net available see a growing tendency of real coopera- to students and other groups and tion between enterprises and the formal individual participants from business, educational system in order to update schools, administration, etc. their employees. Normally, the employer

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 35 NITOL Organising NITOL existing, stable solutions and introduction of new, improved facilities for the project Despite the close relations services. Responsibility for these techni- Common course "pool" and friendship between the cal decisions lies with the project group, active partner representatives while implementation and support are in the project, a formal organ- placed with one of the partners. Different modules isation had to be established presented in order to be prepared for Objects of collaborative in a disagreements or conflicts common that might arise over econ- activities catalogue omy, responsibility for students, networks, software, Course material academic property, etc. To meet this requirement two Together, the collaborating institutions Institution 1 Institution 3 formal contracts were estab- are able to provide a greater variety of Institution 2 Institution 4 lished, one general agreement studies to their students than any one of of cooperation between the the institutions can provide on its own. four institutions, signed by The collaboration emphasises the import- the heads, and one particular ance of being able to utilise the various Figure 1 The Open Access Model NITOL contract signed by the academic profiles, specialities and project representatives from professional expertise the different each institution. institutions stand for. The colleges are able to enhance their curricula at both The signed contracts are undergraduate and graduate levels, thus mostly dormant. In a few providing their students with a greater cases it has turned out very variety of subjects than can be offered at Institutions Course useful to have them as refer- any one institution alone. In addition, ence and guidelines for dis- quite a few students want a more flexible putes that arise. The project programme that allows them to study at Common agreement is mainly in line the time and pace of their own choice, module with the project group’s feel- with fewer restrictions on attendance and ing of common sense, while place of study. Collaboration around the institutional contract is an flexible and open learning makes this important document when possible. institutional authorities sometimes forget their commit- Because of the variety of professional Special- ments to NITOL. profiles at the co-operating institutions, ised close collaboration strengthens the whole module I Technical support and stand- teaching and research environment at ards have proved to be im- each institution. Experience is that portant issues for an ODL through electronic communication it is project based on ICT. This possible to work together in a close and Spesi- always turns out to be a efficient manner in a “virtual” environ- alised touchy issue between experts. ment of co-operation. This has already module II Among the ‘experts’ in such a been established between the NITOL project are tens of teachers institutions, and is spreading throughout and hundreds of students – the rest of the IT environment. This is a who all have their own, well system that effectively establishes and founded preferences for soft- utilises contacts across the boundaries of Figure 2 The Composite Model ware and communication sys- institutions, regions and countries. tems. On the other hand, there are also hundreds of ‘non- Course material is developed along three experts’ or novices who need different paths or models for institutional • Gain experience on distribution of edu- to be given simple solutions that fill their cooperation: cational materials through electronic present needs. Among the latter group networks are also some of the course providers. It The Open Access Model (Figure 1) is is therefore of utmost importance that the one of several models within the NITOL • Test the use of electronic conferences project group is able to make firm deci- activity. This was the first one tested, and mail systems as the basis for group sions, stick to the solutions given, and where each institution offered some of work and co-operative learning that there are able and committed people their traditional courses, revised or re- • Develop an extensive, dynamic and to support the technical system decided developed for electronic transmission to creative electronic learning environ- upon. As new technology develops and their own students as well as to outsiders. ment based on local and wide area becomes available – outside the project – electronic networks. a careful balance must be found between

36 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 The beneficiaries of this model were Mutual services Cooperative development of modules mainly the students, having easier access and more courses to choose between. The An important issue in the part- Institution I, II & III compose modules institutions and the professors gained nership agreement is the mutual Institution IV has the main responsibility for the experience in dealing with distant stu- recognition of credits, courses final structure of the module and for organising dents and the colleagues’ ways of pre- and modules between the part- formalities (assessment, credits etc) senting learning material. A golden ners involved. Students may opportunity to have a look at how col- thus choose modules and leagues presented and designed their courses from a larger menu, teaching material was a fringe benefit. combining it into more varied and specially tailored lines of IV The Composite Model (Figure 2) is study. It is, however, still up to II practised when the institutions compose the institution that issues the larger courses by joining two or more certificate to recognise the final smaller modules developed at different combination of subjects and institutions. courses. I III The result could be a tailored study for External funding has played a special purposes or just an extension of a central role in the early stages of small course, which a single institution is NITOL. Applications and pro- not able to develop alone, due to restric- posals for funding have turned tions on time, staff, expertise, etc. This out to be more positively model seems to have its strength espe- viewed in cases where a collab- Institution 1 Institution 3 cially when colleges/institutions are orative organisation has already Institution 2 Institution 4 small or medium sized, where resources been established. The NITOL and the variety of the staffs’ expertise is partners have therefore in sev- Figure 3 Joint Venture Model limited. eral cases joined forces in the process of application, and after- In the composite model, the institution wards shared the benefits obtained responsible for the specific module, also through decisions by the project takes responsibility for the students’ group. The basic principle is sharing of exercises within the actual module. Elab- funds acquired in equal parts. Often the oration and marking of exercises are also group agrees to reserve particular sums Visions tried out as a collaborative, composite for special services, e.g. technical sup- The models for ODL through telecom- work, while assessment normally has port, printing of catalogues, administra- munication, taking advantage of the insti- been dedicated to one institution. tion, etc., and then to share equally the tutional cooperation described above, remaining sum. may open up for simpler access and high- Joint Venture Model (Figure 3) is a er flexibility for all kinds of professionals model where the main idea is continuous, Marketing to obtain in-service and further educa- real collaboration between the professors tion, as well as taking new formal in the development of course work. This Instead of competing over the same targ- degrees, without leaving their regular means that two or more institutions with- et groups with parallel courses in related work/duties or their families. With the in the network join forces in developing fields, the NITOL group has consequent- growing familiarity of Internet, telecom- open, flexible learning materials in the ly, from the start, issued a common munication and similar facilities in form of lessons. One or more lessons course catalogue for all the courses pro- homes and work places, the time may forms a module, and the final course con- vided by the group. Even though the soon be ripe for higher education mod- sists of several modules. Mature students courses are provided by individual staff ules to be available when and where the and professionals jointly contribute to the members at separate institutions, and learner finds need or desire for it. This understanding and learning of a topic or marked this way in the catalogue, there will compose an important aspect in the subject. This is not utopia, it is already a are great advantages in joint marketing. policy and possible success of lifelong reality in the joint venture model. As an Distribution of information becomes eas- learning. extension of the model, a virtual, joint ier, potential students get a better venture learning society on the network overview, and large scale customers, like does not seem far away. the Navy, can find a more varied offer for their members. A first evaluation of collaboration, assessing the intentions and the models After only two years the NITOL concept described, identifies characteristics like already has more meaning to a lot people inspiration both to students and profess- interested in ODL, than the name of each ors, improvement in the quality as well as of the partner institutions. At the same an increase in quantity of the courses time, each institution benefits from be- offered. All parties involved seem to be longing to this group. satisfied and inspired to further efforts for open and flexible learning

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 37 From electronic mail to Internet – where does it take us?

BY TORSTEIN REKKEDAL

Introduction 1 Student support and communication for administrative, social counselling and teaching/learning purposes. Our This article discusses the theoretical understanding was that the developments background and practical reasons behind The individual adult learner has generally within computer communication would the decision of one specific institution, a great need for support to be able to constitute teaching and learning possibil- NKI (Norsk Kunnskapsinstitutt), to re- cope with the studies normally in compe- ities which really could change distance search on and develop distance education tition with other demands from job education dramatically. This article based on computer mediated communica- and/or family responsibilities. Research accounts mainly for this research, ex- tion, and reports experiences from teach- has shown that distance education sys- periences and achievements (see e.g. ing through electronic communication for tems should develop administrative and [15], [16], [18], [19]). nearly 10 years. Thus, perhaps a more teaching support systems to help the stu- correct title of this article could have been dents adapt to the demands of part-time ‘From correspondence teaching to organ- studies to succeed and complete. In this Technology and ising individual and group learning on the connection we have researched on fol- competitiveness of Internet’, as our decision to direct our low-up systems, initial and continuous efforts to develop a distance education counselling, training in distance learning distance education system based on electronic communica- study techniques, turn-around time in- institutions tion, was taken as a result of our continu- volved in two-way communication and ous experiments on developing the NKI specific training for distance tutors (see The rapid developments concerning new distance education system. Computer e.g. [21]). media and communication technologies mediated communication was in this con- constitute both new possibilities and pos- nection considered to be a medium quali- 2 Media research sible dangers for distance teaching insti- tatively different from all other techno- tutions. The new media create, at least in logical developments of media for dis- theory, new possibilities for preparing The correspondence teaching system of tance education because of its flexibility better and more cost-effective learning. the 1960s has gradually been changed and its potential of integrating presenta- At the same time these developments into a multi-media distance teaching sys- tion of learning material in different have resulted in new types of institutions tem by the introduction of video-tapes forms and capacity for individual, small entering the market of education, and (both video-taped lectures and complete group and large group communication. have incited traditional schools, colleges learning programmes) audio-tapes, com- and universities to offer media based puter software and laboratory kits, as NKI is a multiform teaching institution teaching. Thus, distance teaching institu- well as, in some cases, video-conferenc- offering full-time and part-time pro- tions and universities have encountered, es, radio- and TV-programmes. Some of grammes on secondary and tertiary level. sometimes unexpected, competition on our research projects in this area have NKI courses and programmes are offered the educational market. This situation been carried out in co-operation with on-campus, by distance education or as was stated in extreme form by Tony other distance teaching institutions and decentralised courses. The distance edu- Bates in an introductory article in an Telenor. Supported by and in co-opera- cation programmes may be supplemented issue of “Open Praxis” focusing on tech- tion with Telenor we have carried out by local face-to-face classes or seminars. nology under the title: “Hello technol- experiments on telephone tutoring [22], NKI Distance Education offers a number ogy! Goodbye, distance teaching institu- telefax as a medium for individual tutor- of programmes at university and college tions?” [1]. The changes in distance edu- ing and guidance [24], audiographics level. Some of these are organised in co- cation caused by the emerging technolo- [25], video, local cable television, satel- operation with Norwegian universities or gies have made some writers describe the lite distribution and video conferencing our own “Polytechnic College” (Den new initiatives as ‘third generation’ dis- [7], [8]. Polytekniske høgskolen). The majority of tance education [12], the first being cor- the NKI distance education programmes 3 Computer mediated respondence education and the second are secondary level studies preparing for communication multi-media teaching. Bates foresee that public or internal exams. the technological developments require new types of organisations, these new Computer mediated communication has types can either develop from distance been one specific priority branch of the Distance education and education institutions, universities and media research since 1986. NKI launch- colleges or new institutions created from new media ed the so-called “EKKO Project” in scratch. Until now, it seems that distance 1986. The acronym, EKKO, denoted During the last 25 years distance educa- education institutions have not changed “Electronic Combined Education” (in tion nationally and internationally has dramatically concerning the organisation Norwegian the combination of distance generally changed from organising indi- of their teaching and their application of education and local face-to-face classes) vidual learning based on printed material new media. For instance, Bates ([2], p. a name that signified that the computer and two-way communication via the 20) states: software should constitute a virtual ordinary postal system to multi-media school or classroom substituting the need “There is more talk than action about learning based on an integration of print for physical presence in a local class. The the use of technology in distance edu- based media and new media and commu- aim was to develop what we called the cation. Even in the most technologi- nication technology. NKI has followed “Electronic College”, a teaching system cally advanced of our member these developments closely and tried to offering study programmes independent (EADTU) institutions, print, corre- develop and modernise the distance edu- of time and space and facilitating flexible spondence and face-to-face teaching cation system along different lines:

38 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 still predominate. For most European Margaret Gamlin [5] of the New Zealand The virtual school distance learners, these are still the Correspondence School discusses the only media currently that really mat- transition of distance teaching institu- The basis of our ideas for establishing the ter.” tions from print and postal-based deliv- ‘electronic college’ was largely taken ery of traditional correspondence educa- from [6] as introducing computer confer- There is reason to believe that this is the tion to a more immediate interactive encing as a means to establish a ‘virtual situation also today, even after the explo- technology-based delivery. She points classroom’ with computer-based commu- sion of interest in the Internet since 1993. out that the drive in many countries today nication structures similar to those norm- According to Bates [2] there are good to a competitive education system en- ally taking place in the normal class- reasons why the technological develop- courages conventional providers to use room. The ‘virtual school’ as, we con- ment has been so slow in the distance technology for innovative delivery of ceived our aim, should not only emulate education institutions. One is, obviously, courses. However, most current tech- the classroom activities, but all other that distance teaching institutions have nologies (such as audio and video con- places and activities within the school long traditions and investments bound up ferencing, including audio graphics) tend system. in the ‘old’ technologies and the natural to support the replication of the con- inertia of large institutions acts against ventional classroom – the extended class- Morten F. Paulsen, the manager of the rapid changes. However, there are also room model. She stresses the ‘openness’ EKKO project [14], pointed out the fol- rational reasons for the slow technologi- of the correspondence education model lowing requirements for the virtual cal developments. Print, correspondence and stimulated among others by Bates’ school: and face-to-face are well tried methods. article [1], she foresees a development in 1. It should emulate all the main tasks of As Bates ([2] p. 21) puts it: her institution, which builds on this open- a school: teaching, administrative and ness and flexibility and learner centred “The use of more advanced technology social. focus, and changes the school’s teaching can be justified only if it meets one or into a ‘multi-media’ model. 2. It should be generally available con- more of the following criteria: lower cerning geography, technology, econ- costs; greater teaching effectiveness; The above considerations are the reasons omy and student competence. increased accessibility to students. behind NKI’s decision to go for the These are proving hard criteria to 3. It should be independent of time, i.e. development of computer-based commu- meet, so it is not surprising that there continuously available and accept nication and the development of ‘The is still major academic and manage- asynchronous communication. Electronic College’. ment resistance to the use of new tech- 4. It should emulate the different needs of nologies in most of our member insti- human communication, one-to-one, tutions.” NKI Electronic College one-to-many and many-to-many. We shall briefly comment on two other – 10 years experience of writers who have discussed the options computer mediated Some important functions available for distance education provid- of computer conferencing ers to be able to compete in the new tech- communication in nological environments, one representing in distance education the distance teaching universities, the distance education other representing secondary education. Based on NKI experiences and informa- In one of our early papers on computer John S. Daniel [4], vice-chancellor of the tion from other sources (e.g. [13]) some conferencing titled ‘Computer conferenc- British Open University, concluded in his important functions for the computer ing – a breakthrough in distance learning analysis of the competitive advantages of conferencing system in distance educa- or just another technological gadget?’ the ‘mega-universities’ that: tion were identified: [17] we discussed developments of “... networking students from their media and technology and concluded that Distribution of information: Distance home computers should reinforce the computer conferencing or computer- teaching systems have a large need for competitive advantage of the mega- mediated communication constituted a increased efficiency in updating and universities. Distance education has development qualitatively different from distributing information to the students, already evolved through two genera- all other media with exceptional possi- full-time and part-time teachers and tions, correspondence courses and bilities for developing flexible and open administrators. multi-media packages. The knowledge distance teaching of high quality. After media (‘the coming together of 10 years of experiences we believe that Examples: Information about courses, telecommunications, television and we may conclude that computer mediated seminars, student associations, examina- computing is producing a media envi- communication in some form will tions and updating of learning material. ronment for distance education that is become an important technology in dis- more than the sum of its component tance teaching and learning and over Two-way communication between elements’ (p. 11)) represent a third time change the whole concept of what tutor/counsellor/administration and generation of supported open learning distance education is. On the other hand, student: In most distance teaching sys- that enriches distance education by this has not at all happened so far. tems, submission of assignments for cor- giving students rapid communication rection and comments is an important with the people and learning resources element. It has been demonstrated that of the academic community.” [4] long turn-around times may have

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 39 Free-flow discussion: A number of educational conferencing systems have formally established informal meeting places for continuing discussions such as the “Cafeteria”, or “Local Pub”. Through the computer, informal discussions and student association activities may be included.

The Library: A collective database can be developed within the conferencing system, to facilitate the availability of relevant articles, short lectures, etc. to the distance learner.

Registration, administration, teacher conferences, etc.: Modern distance learning systems have developed complex administrative systems for student monitoring. These systems can and should be integrated with the conferencing facilities.

Home page of the NKI Electronic College Development of teaching material: The system may efficiently be used for co- operative development of printed mate- destructive effects on course completion Examples: While face-to-face teaching in rial – both within the institution and be- [20]. It also takes a long time for students distance learning systems often seems to tween institutions. to receive answers from their tutors when have developed into lecturing/presenta- they really encounter problems in their tion of subject matter, computer confer- User directory: The system contains studies. To some extent, the telephone encing concerns information exchange information on its users, e.g. where one has been applied as a means of communi- and discussion. Discussions taking place may find fellow students with common cation. Electronic mail is independent of in the classroom can develop into excit- interests. Phone numbers and addresses both time and space. ing experiences of group learning. The can be made available. The information discussion is time and space independent, actually increases possibilities for direct Examples: The student may ask ques- the medium seems to foster equality of communication and via other media. tions at any time, without the time delay status between students, and between stu- of mail services. In principle, draft solu- dents and tutor. Specifically designed tions may be submitted and commented group learning methods may be applied, Initial stages of the EKKO on, thus introducing a more flexible such as group submission of assign- organisation of tutoring and assessment. ments, group learning and presentations, project If desired, student answers may be made group seminars and project work. The aim of the project was to: Develop a available to other students, before or after computer based conferencing system for the submission of their work. Included in The public tutorial: Student questions distance learning and apply the system the system can also be on-line computer- of a general academic or administrative for experiments in different contexts to scored tests, as a substitute for off-line nature may be accessible to all students, gain pedagogical and administrative/ testing which we have seen in some dis- as a question from one student normally organisational experiences within distance learning systems. On a higher will be of interest to others. Pre-produced tance education based on computer con- level, the two-way communication may comments on general aspects of a course ferencing – in order to install conferenc- serve as a guidance for individual student can now be distributed on-line, and the ing as a standard option for NKI distance projects. tutor is given an opportunity to expand students. on the pre-produced learning material. A substitute for face-to-face teaching, The project followed these stages: introduction of group discussions and Peer counselling: As peer counselling project work: A number of distance and informal co-operation is a natural 1. Introductory search in the field learning systems include the possibility part of the on-campus activities of any 2. Development of a specific conferenc- of face-to-face meetings with tutors teaching institution, the possibilities in ing system on the NKI mini computer, and/or fellow students. For many dis- computer conferencing are obvious. It HP 3000 tance learners, the possibilities of taking has been demonstrated that computer part in such activities are restricted. conferencing in general may give peer 3. Pilot experiments with “on campus Some theorists have argued that direct help in solving problems – often from an students” teaching may have disruptive results on “unknown friend”. In large-scale sys- 4. Study visits to institutions in Europe student autonomy and ability for self- tems, where hundreds of students are and North America study. studying the same subject, peer help may be of particular importance.

40 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 5. Pilot try outs in distance learning tions; subjects emphasising individual It seems necessary to have an active con- study, subjects with emphasis on group ference moderator in the conference. The 6. Introducing computer conferencing on discussion and in project work. To be tutor (or another person) must take the a larger scale in distance learning. able to exploit the possibilities for dis- role as organiser, active contributor, cussion, group learning and peer support, and/or social integrator. After we form- The First Generation: most of the initial courses required the ally engaged one student as host of the students to start at the same time and fol- ‘on-line cafe’, the social activity and stu- 1986 – 1993 low a fixed common progression during dent satisfaction and motivation seemed the semester towards the exams. This to increase considerably. The first version of EKKO – the com- made the computer conferencing courses puter conferencing software emulating less ‘open and flexible’ than the ‘corre- The teaching/learning and administrative the ‘Electronic College’ – was designed spondence type distance courses’. Many functions which can be handled by the and implemented during 1986. During students express clearly that they prefer – system, and the quality and quantity of autumn 1986 we carried out the first pilot or demand – the freedom known from contributions depend on whether partici- experiments with on-campus students, un-paced individual study. Thus, courses pation in the system is voluntary or autumn 1987 the first distance education where the students can start whenever obligatory. Voluntary participation may course was delivered to a small group of they wish and study at their own pace has result in low activity which may become 4 students. The next semester, spring also been offered. The students who have a self-fulfilling circle of diminishing 1987, two additional courses were offer- experienced this individual freedom in interest. ed. From the spring semester 1990 NKI their studies have also been generally Distance Education has been offering a positive, and we see a great challenge in In our computer conferencing courses we complete college programme (equivalent developing didactic arrangements com- have experienced a somewhat higher to one year of full-time studies) based on bining the flexibility of individual un- number of non-starters than in compar- computer mediated communication. This paced study with the possibilities for able correspondence courses, probably programme in ‘Administrative comput- social interaction in the virtual school due to initial technical difficulties, and ing’ includes 10 different courses totally. environment. higher completion rates among the start- In addition, from the same semester, NKI ers. Students having completed courses offered its distance training programme We also learned during the first genera- based on computer conferencing, achiev- for distance tutors through the same sys- tion experiments that teaching via com- ed better at exams than both correspond- tem. puter conferencing often becomes ence students and face-to-face students. “labour intensive” on the part of the We do not have data to make certain During its most intensive period EKKO tutor. Originally, we had a hypothesis whether these differences are a result of served more than 3000 users, including that the supposed increase in learning characteristics of the media/methods or on-campus students, prospective stu- quality in the “virtual school” could be by differences in recruitment. dents, active distance students, former compensated for through less emphasis students, tutors and administrative staff. on the development of learning material. In general, the students report favourable The system included an e-mail system, So far, our experiences have not support- attitudes to computer conferencing as a closed and open conferences for adminis- ed this assumption. Thus, it seems that form of study. They seem to be more trative, teaching and social purposes, and investments in pre-produced learning active in the social conferences than in bulletin boards. During the first genera- material will be approximately the same the academic conferences. This may be a tion period the ‘Electronic College’ de- as in other large scale systems if the total result of the fact that most NKI courses livered more than 1000 courses with an quality is to be satisfactory. depend highly on individual work and average completion rate of above 80 %. assignments for submission rather than The tutors have reported that teaching via group discussions. Most students state The following were some of the effects EKKO has been very stimulating, but that the mail system is the most import- and experiences of the first generation of very demanding concerning the number ant subsystem of the first generation of the ‘Electronic College’ at NKI: of hours used and the “continuous” atten- EKKO. This may indicate that the opti- tion needed. We see a challenge in devel- mal way of organising the studies has not From 1990 NKI was one of a few institu- oping teaching/learning strategies that yet been found. On the other hand, it tions world-wide delivering a complete stimulate student-student communication seems that many part-time distance learn- study programme based on electronic without putting unrealistic demands on ers have to find time efficient study communication. Prospective distance tutor resources. strategies to be able to cope with the tutors could qualify for their work demands of study beside job and family through distance education based on com- Concerning student participation, NKI demands. This means that many would puter communication. The system was experiences and experiences in other set- not give priority to social or academic applied also for administrative communi- tings, such as the British OU [11], prove interaction relative to individual study cation and discussions. Full-time staff that conferences may become too small and exercises in preparation for their members had been qualified to teach or too large. The users fall into groups of exams. These experiences seem to be in through the conferencing system, and a ‘active’, ‘less active’ and ‘passive users’. line with other findings indicating that part-time staff of competent computer There must be a sufficient number, or ‘a part-time distance learners often adopt conferencing tutors has been built up. critical mass’ of active users to make the time saving techniques in their approach conferences attractive. to learning to survive the demands of Computer conferencing had been applied study beside job, family and society pres- in subjects with different didactic solu- sures [9], [10].

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 41 The Second Generation: As mentioned, for the second generation Some conclusions system NKI decided to use Internet fo- from 1994 cusing on SLIP, e-mail and ListProcessor We consider the decision to base the (a Unix version of the Listserv confe- electronic college on Internet, public NKI considered the first generation of rencing system). Listserv offers an available software and with ‘open’ solu- the electronic college to be quite a suc- advanced distribution system which may tions, to be a sound conclusion. There is cess – both as a computer system as such, be explained as a conferencing system reason to believe that more efficient and and also concerning how we managed to based on e-mail. Such systems can sup- user friendly software adapted for teach- organise the distance learning system. port more users than any other confe- ing and learning will be introduced and We continuously followed other develop- rencing system because they communi- available for our purposes. ments in teaching/learning methods and cate with the system via e-mail. The lists software on the market and examined can be configured as open or closed, for Access to Internet and use of Internet are different products, such as CoSy, Porta- instance open to members of the whole appreciated by students and tutors and Com and FirstClass, with the aim of electronic college (such as the ‘on-line open opportunities for sharing of experi- developing an improved ‘second genera- cafe’), a class or a specific group (such as ences, learning from others and new pos- tion’ system. When we had to introduce teachers). Lists can further be configured sibilities for arranging effective learning new solutions because of retirement of as one-to-many (information and bulletin situations. the old host computer, the requirements boards) or many-to-many (conferences/ were that the system should class discussions) lists. Each list is man- Designing attractive and effective learn- • Be based on standard software aged by a ‘list owner’ via e-mail. In addi- ing is no easy task. To repeat what we tion to the lists directly related to teach- have said many times, there is a long way • Provide access to the Internet ing, social and administrative purposes of to go before we know how to design for • Be attractive to all NKI departments the electronic college, the system includ- learning adapted to the ever changing and available from any computer net- es some international lists: ‘Andrea’, an possibilities of computer mediated pre- work within NKI open one-to-many list for distance edu- sentation and communication. cators in Europe‚ ‘Norwaves’, an open • Be attractive to possible collaborators one-to-many list for distribution of Adapting organisational and administra- • Be as user friendly as possible. ‘News from Norway’; and ‘Norweave’, tive procedures and systems to the activi- an open many-to-many list for ‘Inter- ties of the electronic college is not a triv- From January 1, 1994 the new ‘open’ national friends of Norway’. ial matter. It may include major changes Electronic College was introduced. This in organisational systems, working styles second generation system was based on a The first semester with the new genera- and administrative computer systems. philosophy of being as open as possible tion was marked by transitions and to other networks and services. Accord- adjustments to the new system. In some Computer based communication is ingly, it was based on Internet, e-mail ways, the old system was felt more to demanding and time consuming both for and the Listserv conferencing system. emulate an ‘image’ of a virtual school. administrators, student counsellors and From the beginning the user interface for The open system introduced new prob- tutors. modem users was text-based. From Jan- lems due to lack of standard interpreta- uary 1995 modem users were offered tions among e-mail systems. However, There are still many questions that communication software developed for students and staff seem to have adjusted remain unanswered or that are only par- MS-Windows and SLIP (Serial Line and become familiar with the new sys- tially answered. For instance, how will Internet Protocol). The second generation tem. The general access to Internet students generally accept electronic com- stimulated the development of many new resources outside the NKI realm seems to munication in distance education? Today, courses and study programmes, such as a be an advantage appreciated by the stu- after nearly 10 years of delivering the complete programme on Information dents. Access to Internet is offered to all NKI computer science programme via Networks and courses in the use of Inter- students at tertiary level and at the NKI computer mediated communication and net, WWW-presentations, Java-program- Technical College and consequently, the same study by correspondence meth- ming, etc. application of Internet resources can be ods, two thirds of the students (who integrated in some of the study pro- study computer science, who have to All the courses and programmes develop- grammes. apply computers and software as part of ed after the introduction of the second their studies) prefer correspondence edu- generation system are un-paced and put Recently, NKI introduced the first three cation rather than computer mediated no limits on times for enrolment. This courses based completely on electronic communication. One reason might of solution has been chosen as a conse- distribution and communication, Java course be the differences between these quence of our conclusions from an inter- programming, WWW-presentations and two options concerning flexibility and view survey among EKKO students on Multi-Media networks. In these cases the freedom. recruitment and study barriers: learning material is available on the Internet/WWW only. An important question remains: How can “... it is a major challenge to develop this technology be applied to represent a methods and organisations in distance We have just started to adapt the Course more attractive and efficient learning envi- education based on computer confer- for Distance Tutors for presentation on ronment for distance students, and how encing systems which take care of the the WorldWideWeb with links to internal can we design the courses and tutoring and students’ need for autonomy and flexi- and external national and international administrative systems to make distance bility.” ([23], p 92) resources.

42 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 education based on computer mediated 7 Holden, G. Videokonferanser som del in Oslo. Sewart, D and Daniel, J S communication really cost-effective? av undervisningsopplegg i fjernun- (eds.). Oslo, ICDE, 1988. dervisning. Bekkestua, NKI/SEFU, Sometimes it seems that educators be- 1992. 18 Paulsen, M F, Rekkedal, T. The elec- lieve that presenting the students to the tronic college. Selected articles from Internet as a resource of information and 8 Holden, G. Multipunkt videokonfer- the EKKO project. Bekkestua, NKI/ means of communication solves the anse : evaluering av fjernundervis- SEFU, 1990. problem of offering effective and effi- ning via video. Bekkestua, NKI/ cient education at a distance. Our con- SEFU, 1993. 19 Paulsen, M F, Rekkedal, T. Technol- clusion is that this is not at all the situa- ogy for adult learning in Norway : tion. The challenge for distance teaching 9 Lockwood, F. Activities in self- including a case study on the NKI institutions is to find ways of planning, instructional texts. London, Kogan electronic college. Report for the organising and carrying out teaching in Page, 1992. OECD Study B6 on ‘New Delivery ways who help students learn according Systems and Changing Demand on to individual needs independent of time 10 Marland, P et al. Distance learners’ Education’, 1996. and place restrictions. This means that interaction with text while studying. the medium itself does not solve any Distance Education, 11, (1), 71–91, 20 Rekkedal, T. The written assign- problems [3]. We must learn how to 1990. ments in correspondence education : design instructional programmes includ- effects of reducing turnaround time. ing student learning activities based on 11 Mason, R. Refining the use of com- Distance Education, 4, (2), 231–252, this new medium to achieve optimal out- puter conferencing in distance educa- 1983. comes for different kinds of learners in tion. In: Distance education : devel- different subjects having different aims opment and access. Croft, M et al. 21 Rekkedal, T. Introducing the per- and objectives. (eds.). Caracas, ICDE, 1990. sonal tutor/counsellor in the system of distance education. Stabekk, NKI, 12 Nipper, S. Third generation distance 1985. References learning and computer conferencing. In: Mindweave : communications, 22 Rekkedal, T. The telephone as a 1 Bates, T. 1994. Hello, technology! computers and distance education. medium for instruction and guidance Goodbye, distance teaching institu- Mason, R and Kaye, A (eds.). Lon- in distance education. Bekkestua, tions! Open Praxis, 2, 5–7, 1994. don, Pergamon, 1989. NKI/ SEFU, 1989. 2 Bates, T. The challenge of technol- 13 McCreary, E K and Van Duren, J. 23 Rekkedal, T. Recruitment and study ogy for European distance education. Educational applications of computer barriers in the electronic college. In: In: Media and technology in Euro- conferencing. Canadian Journal of Paulsen, M F and Rekkedal, T. The pean distance education. Bates, A W Educational Communication, 16, (2), electronic college. Selected articles (ed.). Heerlen, EADTU, 1990. 107–115, 1987. from the EKKO project. Bekkestua, NKI/ SEFU, 1990. 3 Clark, R E. Media will never influ- 14 Paulsen, M F. En virtuell skole. Del ence learning. Educational technol- I. Fundamentet i EKKO-prosjektet. 24 Rekkedal, T. Telefax som medium for ogy, research and development, 42, Bekkestua, NKI/SEFU, 1989. toveis kommunikasjon i individuell (2), 21–29, 1994. fjernundervisning. Bekkestua, NKI/ 15 Paulsen, M F. EKKO : experiences. SEFU, 1992. 4 Daniel, J S. The mega-universities In: Media and technology in Euro- and the knowledge media : implica- pean distance education. Bates, A W 25 Rekkedal, T, Vigander, K. Forsøk tions of new technologies for large (ed.). Heerlen, EADTU, 1990. med bruk av telewriter i matematikk- distance teaching universities. Mas- undervisning. Bekkestua, NKI/ ter thesis. Quebec, Concordia Uni- 16 Paulsen, M F. The NKI Electronic SEFU, 1990. versity, Department of Education, College : five years of computer con- 1995. ferencing in distance education. In: Paulsen, M F. From bulletin boards 5 Gamlin, M. Distance learning in tran- to electronic universities : distance sition; the impact of technology : a education, computer-mediated com- New Zealand perspective. Keynote munication, and online education. address to EDEN Conference ‘The University Park, Pennsylvania, The Open Classroom’ Distance Learning American Center for the Study of and New Technologies in School Distance Education, 1992. Level Education and Training, Oslo, 1995. 17 Paulsen, M F, Rekkedal, T. Com- puter conferencing : a breakthrough 6 Hilz, S R. The virtual classroom : in distance learning, or just another building the foundations. New Jer- technological gadget? In: Developing sey, New Jersey Institute of Technol- distance education. Papers submitted ogy, 1986. to the 14th ICDE World Conference

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 43 Design guidelines for WWW-based course environments

BY ANKE EEKMA AND BETTY COLLIS

WWW-based course environments are guidelines are illustrated through their WWW-based course rapidly appearing, before there has application to a particular case, the been time for much theoretical devel- redesign of a WWW-based course environments opment with respect to guidelines for “Environmental Management”, now in WWW technology is increasingly being their design. In this article we describe operation, with more than 120 learners used to support course delivery, for both a set of 20 guidelines which could be a in six countries. face-to-face and distance learners (see [3] contribution to this development. The for an inventory and analysis). In some cases, the support is a new feature of an existing course, outside of the course Guideline 1: Be consistent in designing an interface, especially when using text, itself. For example, the WWW is being pictures or icons to instruct the learner. used as an information system for Guideline 2: Use metaphors that correspond to the user’s daily life, so that he has courses, with both one-way broadcast- concrete expectations about the result of an action. type communication from institution and instructor to students as well as integrat- Guideline 3: Set as few heading styles and subtitles as are necessary to organise ed access to information related to the the content, then use the chosen styles consistently. specific learner. The WWW is already familiar in the role of “virtual library”, Guideline 4: Many basic typographical guidelines for paper lay-out design apply also providing hyperlinked access to course to designing texts for computer screens. The page should look attractive, so make a resources, including those specific to the structured pattern on the page. study material of a course; those involving multimedia databases of images, text Guideline 5: Consider carefully which colours to use and in which situation. and even audio; those located external to the course but linked to the course by the Guideline 6: Because icons and virtual metaphors are not unambiguously under- course designer; and those found by the stood across all computer interfaces and international borders, they should be learner himself with the use of embedded investigated before put into a page. search tools. In addition, the WWW can now integrate various forms of communi- Guideline 7: Do not confuse the user by putting more than seven (navigational) icons cation support to course information and on a page. The preferred number of icons on a page is five, plus or minus two. resources, where the communication can take many forms and modalities. Contin- Figure 1 Design guidelines for presentation aspects of WWW-based courses ual technical developments in the WWW now allow integration of other digital materials, such as tutorial and simulation programs as well as various forms of Guideline 8: The user should get a clear overview of the structure of the hyperlinked interactivity via CGI scripting and Java site. This can be accomplished by adding navigational buttons which link to the pre- aplets. Groupwork and collaboration, vious and the next page in the same sequence, as well as a link to a local homepage. both in real and deferred time, are also now supported by WWW-based tools. Guideline 9: The user automatically generates a mental model of a hyperlinked site. Furthermore, many courses are now The user should be helped to make this model a structured one, by adding functional being entirely offered through WWW and graphic continuity between the various components and subsections of the site. environments (for examples, see [4]). Guideline 10: Menus lose their value if they don’t carry at least four or five links; text or list-based menu pages can easily carry a dozen links without overwhelming the Instructional design for user or forcing users to scroll through long lists. WWW-based courses Guideline 11: Page design in hyperlinked environments should emphasise the power of hypermedia links to take full advantage of this medium. Given all these possibilities, it is not surprising that an increasing number of Guideline 12: The user should know what kind of information he can expect when courses are including some combination following a certain link. Therefore, make the name of the link clear, or add some addi- of these WWW functionalities, and as the tional information to the link. combination increases the WWW site becomes more and more the central Guideline 13: Don’t let the user get lost in the information. A page for a hyperlinked medium for the course. Through one environment should contain no more than two to three 640x480 screens worth of WWW-based user interface, the learner information. can access a wide range of resources and be able to carry out a wide range of activ- Guideline 14: Keep in mind that some users want to save or print the material rather ities. However, the rapid development of than interacting with it as hyperlinked material from the computer screen. Make a the WWW technology and the ideas separate print file or design the pages so that the user (particularly the networked being put into practice via the technology user) is able to print pages of the course in a reasonable fashion. have not yet been supported by cohesive sets of instructional-design principles to guide their form and logic when they are Figure 2 Design guidelines for WWW-based course environments relating to the to be applied to course design. Such prin- hyperlinked aspects of those environments

44 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 Guideline 15: Enable the learner to study whenever and wherever he wants by making the learning materials accessible at any time and anywhere. ciples need to reflect at least four streams Guideline 16: Learner commitment and motivation can be increased by integrating of considerations: traditional instruction- questions into the instructional materials. al-design insights relating to how learning takes place and can best be organis- Guideline 17: The learner should be able to answer questions within the learning ed; design insights from human-com- material. The answers to the questions should also be available for the learner, puter interface and human-computer preferably after he has answered them. interaction research relating to principles relating to the usability of systems, in- Guideline 18: The learner should be able to get in contact with other learners, in the cluding design considerations relating to form of co-operative working or discussion as well as informal contact. layout and presentation on computer screens; design considerations specific to Guideline 19: The learner should be able to get some form of (local) tutoring. hyperlinked learning environments; and Figure 3 Design guidelines for WWW-based course environments from the design aspects unique to the WWW en- educational perspective vironment itself.

Design guidelines for Guideline 20: Both the learner and the tutor should have access to support services WWW-based courses to help with technology-related aspects of the course experience.

We have responded to this need for a Figure 4 Design guideline for WWW-based courses related to implementation support cohesive set of design guidelines for WWW-based courses through a careful literature review of the various design aspects noted above [7], and have devel- presentation hypertext pedagogy technology oped a set of 20 design guidelines as a contribution to this need [6]. We are now applying these guidelines in a number of 1 3 5 6 8 9 10 11 13 15 16 18 19 20 ways, to test their applicability and to supply insights for their on-going revi- 2 4 7 12 14 17 sion. The guidelines themselves can be grouped into four categories: presenta- Figure 5 Map of the design guidelines for an individual learning environment tion, hypertext, pedagogy, and technology. We present them briefly here.

Presentation aspects Presentation aspects relate primarily to the user interface of WWW-based courses, how the course is presented to the learner (and instructor). Guidelines in this context are strongly influenced by HCI and user-interface design experience, and relate not only to specific considerations such as typography, colour, and the use of images, but also to overall aspects of interface design, such as the application of metaphors. From relevant literature, (see for example [12]), we have extracted the following seven presentation guidelines as particularly relevant for WWW-based course environments (Figure 1).

Design guidelines for hypertext-related aspects of WWW- based courses From the literature relating to hypertext systems, (see for example [11] and [10]), particularly the problems that users may encounter when navigating such systems and the problems that learners may face in using such systems as learning environments, we know that making the structure of a hyperlinked system clear to the Figure 6 Index of the course materials

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 45 Guideline 6: Because icons and virtual metaphors presentation hypertext pedagogy technology are not unambiguously understood across all com- 1 3 5 6 8 9 10 11 13 15 16 18 19 20 user is a key consideration. From this and puter interfaces and inter- other insights ([9] is particularly recom- 2 4 7 12 14 17 national borders, they mended), we derived the following seven should be investigated design guidelines as particularly relevant before put into a page. to WWW-based courses (Figure 2).

Design aspects relating to pedagogical aspects The educational literature offers many Guideline 8: The user different insights into what can be ob- should get a clear overview presentation hypertext pedagogy technology tained relating to the design of WWW- of the structure of the Web based course environments even though site. This can be accom- 1 3 5 6 8 9 10 11 13 15 16 18 19 20 the insights were developed before plished by adding naviga- WWW environments existed. Some of tional buttons which link to 2 4 7 12 14 17 these insights relate to the individual’s the previous and the next interaction with learning materials in page in the same se- themselves; others (particularly from the quence, as well as a link distance education literature; see for to a local homepage. example [8]), relate to the support of adult learners who are studying at a distance from their instructor and class- mates. The following design guidelines were extracted as particularly important for WWW-based course environments (Figure 3). Guideline 16: Learner commitment and motivation presentation hypertext pedagogy technology Design guidelines relating to can be increased by inte- use of the WWW technology grating questions into the 1 3 5 6 8 9 10 11 13 15 16 18 19 20 itself instructional materials. 2 4 7 12 14 17 Finally, WWW environments are a new form of technology for all concerned. From decades of experience with the implementation of technological innovations in education, we know that instructors and learners alike predictably encounter confusion and frustration when Guideline 2: Use meta- confronted with a technology that is new phors that correspond to presentation hypertext pedagogy technology to them (a review of this appears in [3], the user’s daily life, so that Chapter 7). Unless appropriate help is he has concrete expecta- 1 3 5 6 8 9 10 11 13 15 16 18 19 20 available, many never go past this frust- tions about the result of an ration in order to continue with the new action. 2 4 7 12 14 17 technology. Thus, the last of our design guidelines relates particularly to this important aspect of WWW-based course design, an aspect that may be outside of the course itself but critical to it (Figure 4).

We find it convenient to represent all the design guidelines in one graphic. Figure 5 shows this representation. Guideline 18: The learner should be able to get in presentation hypertext pedagogy technology Applying the guidelines contact with other learners, to the redesign of the in the form of co-operative 1 3 5 6 8 9 10 11 13 15 16 18 19 20 working or discussion as “Environmental Manage- 2 4 7 12 14 17 well as informal contact. ment” course

An important way to validate and improve design guidelines is to apply them in practice. From the designer’s perspective, the usefulness of the guidelines during the design process can be

46 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 evaluated. From the learners’ perspective, the influence of the design guidelines within a course developed around those guidelines can be indirectly evaluated based on the learner’s reactions to the overall course and its component aspects. Both of these perspectives were employed during the application and validation of the design guidelines with respect to a WWW-based course called “En- vironmental Management” (Version 2). In the following sections, we briefly describe the course, illustrate a few of the ways that the design guidelines were applied to its redesign, and give a summary of learner reaction to the course.

The Environmental Manage- ment course

Version 1 of the Environmental Manage- ment course was developed in 1995 in the framework of the TeleScopia Project, for trans-Europe delivery of courses making use of a variety of technical platforms (see [1], [5]). One of the course Figure 7 Index page of a module deliverers in TeleScopia was the UETP- EEE (University-Enterprise Training Partnership in Environmental Manage- ment Engineering), a network of Euro- pean universities, enterprises and professional organisations involved in environmental engineering. The Environmental Management course was especially designed for the TeleScopia Project [13], and was the only WWW-based course in that project.

Various evaluations were carried out of the first version of the course, and a second version, for a cohort of approximately 120 learners participating during the period October 1996 and March 1997, was designed1 [6]. Learners access the course via a WWW environment (http://www.dipoli.hut.fi/EEE; note that a password is needed to enter, contact the first author for a guest password) via a

1 The second version of the course was developed and is used within the scope of the ATLAS (Atlantic Mobility for Academic Studies in Engineering and Environment) Project funded by the European Union. The Lifelong Learn- ing Institute Dipoli at the Helsinki University of Technology, working together with the University-Enterprise Training Partnership in Environment Management Engineering (UETP- EEE), is responsible for the re-design of the course. Figure 8 Example of a question integrated in the learning materials

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 47 modem or ISDN connection. Through the course environment, learners access not only the course materials and information about the organisation of the course, but also a variety of forms of communication among themselves, and between themselves and local tutors and others involved with the overall delivery of the course. Local face-to-face tutoring sessions are also available. In addition, the course includes three international video-conferencing sessions which currently are not integrated technically within the WWW environment. The language used in the course is English.

Application of the design guidelines in the design of Version 2 The design guidelines were applied to every aspect of re-design of the Environ- mental Management course, Version 2.0 (see [6] for a detailed summary). Because of space constraints here, we can only give a sample of how this application occurred. Figure 9 Netscape newsgroup interface used for discussion in the EM course For example, the original course did not use many graphics. In the materials section of the new EM course, use has been made of graphics, although they have been kept as simple as possible, and small in size (in kilobytes) because of the long loading time that can occur when using sophisticated graphics. Figure 6 shows an example of the presentation design of the course, in this case, the menu from the “Materials Index” component.

Guideline 6 was thus taken into account in this design decision: icons should be investigated before put into a page.

Arrows are used in many user interfaces, perhaps the most universally understood ones relate to the interface of a radio-cas- sette player, with play, fast-forward and rewind buttons. Arrows suggest movement; an arrow that points to the left is interpreted as going back, an arrow pointing to the right usually refers to moving forward. An arrow pointing to top means usually “up”. Figure 7 shows the index of Module 3 of the course. The double arrows that point to the top refer to the “material index”; the double arrows pointing to the left take the learner to the index of the previous module; and the double arrows pointing to the right bring him to the index of the next module. These decisions were made in reference to Guideline 8, the user should Figure 10 Class of ’96-page

48 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 get a clear overview of the structure of the Web site.

Arrows are in this case navigational buttons which link to the previous and the next page in the same sequence. This at least helps the user to have a sense of his immediate location in the site.

Questions integrated in the learning materials can increase motivation and interactivity (Guideline 16). The EM Course integrated several questions into the learning materials. Figure 8 gives an example.

In addition to the video-conferencing portion of the EM Course, Guideline 18 is also applicable to a WWW-based two- way interactional element of the course, namely the Discussion component. From the discussion page, the learner can join two newsgroups (see Figure 9). In the design of this part of the course, Guide- line 2, the use of metaphors was particularly important.

On the screen two buttons are visible that each link to a different newsgroup. In the first newsgroup, learners can discuss the content of the course with other learners, with tutors, and with experts, as recommended in Guideline 18.

Since it is impossible to send the learners in the EM course all over the world to meet their fellow learners, an introduction via video-conferencing has been added to the course. But the video-conferences are only short, and not all the learners get the chance to talk to each other. This is the reason that the Class of ’96 pages have been integrated in the course (see Figure 10). These pages are based on the idea of the “yearbook” or “almanac”, where pictures and small Figure 11 Form for adding a “personal homepage” biographies about the learners are presented. At the Class of ’96 site, the learner is free to look around in the pages of the tutors, to get a glimpse of the tutors, the experts, and of course the presentation other learners, if they have added their hypertext pedagogy technology own “homepages”. 1 3 5 6 8 9 10 11 13 15 16 18 19 20 In the virtual workshop, associated with the “Class of ‘96” component, the learner can easily create his own Web page. This 2 4 7 12 14 17 activity is not compulsory, and does not have any impact on the learner’s study used one time results. In the virtual workshop, the learner can fill in a standard CGI-based used two times form, displayed in Figure 11. used implicitly throughout the whole design process

Figure 12 Guidelines used in the design of the new EM Course

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 49 As can be seen in Figure 11, the learner mative evaluation of the learners’ tional Science and Technology, Uni- is restricted in the amount of text and WWW-based products. The course site, versity of Twente, The Netherlands, pictures he can add to his own page. This integrating study materials discussing the 1996. is done because the pages are mainly design guidelines and various instru- meant for introduction, but also because ments for formative evaluation of WWW 7 Eekma, A J. Guidelines for educa- there should be some consistency be- sites based on the guidelines, is open for tionally oriented WWW sites for tween the learners’ homepages. inspection, so that this aspect of the vali- cross-cultural use. Internal report, dation process for the design guidelines Faculty of Educational Science and The above are just a sampling of exam- can be seen in operation [2]. Technology, University of Twente, ples of how the design guidelines were The Netherlands, 1996. used to inform the many decisions that In conclusion, to date it appears that the were taken in the re-design of the design guidelines form a valuable contri- 8 Gastkemper, F H D. Pedagogy. In: WWW-based EM course. Figure 12 bution to support the design process for Open and distance learning : critical shows a general summary of how often WWW-based course environments. success factors. Davies, G, Tinsley, the design guidelines were applied to However, it is also clear that the guide- D (eds.). Proceedings International Version 2 of the EM course. lines should be continually evaluated and Conference, Geneva, 10–12 October revised, to refine their usefulness and test 1994. Berne, FIM, Erlangen, 1994, Learner validation of the their applicability in a variety of contexts. 19–21. guidelines 9 Lynch, P J. Yale C/AIM WWW style The EM course is in session from Octo- References manual. Yale Center for Advanced ber 1996 through March 1997; thus, at Instructional Media. [WWW docu- the time of writing of this report (No- 1 Collis, B (ed.). The TeleScopia ment] URL: http:// info.med. vember 1996), only a first impression of courses : experiences with the adapt- yale.edu/caim/StyleManual_Top.HT the course could be obtained from the ation process for trans-European ML, 1995. learners. A survey returned by the learn- tele-learning. TeleScopia Deliverable ers after their first experiences with the UT/ DL1001/WG 3.3. Bonn, Deut- 10 Minyoung, S. Hypermedia. Seoul, WWW-based course shows very positive sche Telekom AG, Generaldirektion, Korea, Seoul National University, responses: the learners feel they have a 1995. Department of Computer Engineer- clear understanding of the structure of ing, 1995. [WWW document] URL: the course environment and particularly 2 Collis, B. The course ISM-1. 1996. http://mmlab.snu.ac.kr/course/mm- value the easily-made personal home [WWW-based course, Faculty of seminar/hyperdoc/ node1.html. pages within the course. These and a Educational Science and Technology, variety of other comments from the University of Twente: see 11 Nielsen, J. Multimedia & hypertext : WWW-based learner evaluation are http://www.to.utwente.nl/ism/ism1- the Internet and beyond. London, given in detail in [6]; the important con- 96/home.htm] Academic Press, 1995. clusion to date is that the WWW-based course environment appears to be well 3 Collis, B. Tele-learning in a digital 12 Preece, J et al. Human-computer received by its distributed learners. This world : the future of distance learn- interaction. Wokingham, Addison- in turn implicitly supports the design ing. London, International Thomson Wesley, 1994. guidelines on which the course is based. Computer Press, 1996. [see WWW document: http://www.itcpmedia. 13 Taukojärvi, S, Järvilehto, P. In: The com] Other validation TeleScopia courses : experiences with the adaptation process for 4 Collis, B, Andrenach, T, Diepen, N approaches for the trans-European tele-learning. Collis, van. The Web as process tool and B (ed.). TeleScopia Deliverable design guidelines product environment for group-based UT/DL1001/WG 3.3. Bonn, Deut- project work in higher education. In: Certainly more than one experience of sche Telekom AG, Generaldirektion, Proceedings of WebNet ’96, 1996. application of the design guidelines is 1995, 43–51. Maurer, H (ed.). Charlottesville, VA, needed for their validation and refine- AACE, p. 109–116. [see also WWW ment. Another type of validation is also document: http://www.to. taking place: the use of the design guide- utwente.nl/ism/ism1-96/bookctr/san- lines within a course focused on the spe- fran/title_1.htm] cific topic of the design of WWW-based learning materials themselves. Such a 5 Collis, B, Parisi, D, Ligorio, B. course (WWW-based itself) is in opera- Adaptation of courses for trans-Euro- tion at the University of Twente [2], and pean tele-learning. Journal of Com- the design guidelines have been integrat- puter Assisted Learning, 12, 47–62, ed into the Study Materials for the 1996. course. In addition, they are being used as the criteria for the learners’ formative 6 Eekma, A J. Defining guidelines for evaluation of their self-designed WWW an individual learning environment. materials, and will be used as the criteria Graduate thesis, Faculty of Educa- used by the course instructors for sum-

50 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 Learning in collaborative virtual environments – Impressions from a trial using the Dovre framework

BY OLA ØDEGÅRD AND KARL ANDERS ØYGARD

This paper focuses on aspects of col- • Experiences and views on using laborative virtual environments (CVE) Part I avatars3 or Televirtuality. The first part will be • Co-operation, how do the participants related to interaction issues and the 1 Introduction experience being in the same virtual results of a field trial based on Tele- environment and work together to virtuality. The next part of this paper The last 20 years the telecommunication solve tasks will focus on technical aspects of a evolution has found its form in a huge generic framework for such systems, range of application areas and services. • Views on networked VR as a medium and how these utilise the network and This evolution has coexisted with the in education the technical platforms in an optimal information revolution and the media • Views and expectations on networked way. merger between telecommunication tech- VR as medium. nology, computer technology and content Part I providers. We have seen the birth of LAN, WAN, connected through About the application This part deals with the subject in the modems, leased lines, ISDN, ATM. The Based on the platform development (see perspective of other conferencing sys- wide spread of IP-based services like the second part of the paper) an application tems. It pays special attention to Vir- Internet, email and The WorldWideWeb. scenario was developed. The idea was to tual Reality (VR) as a medium and We can use services like videoconferenc- give the users the possibility to co-oper- how it can be used to support social ing and multimedia conferences. The ate on a city planning process in a dis- interaction and collaboration between personal computer in networks seem to tributed environment. The virtual world persons located in remote areas. A net- be the winning medium as its perform- consisted of a piece of virtual landscape worked application, based on the idea ance and rendering capabilities seem to with several objects like houses, a hospi- of city planning (The Little Houses on double every two years. This is the back- tal, a ruin (historical), streets, a gas sta- the Cyber Prairie), has been used in a ground for the next generation of com- tion, etc. The objects were scattered trial consisting of several VR stations munication medium; the networked vir- around in disorder, and the objective for linked in a local area network. In each tual reality. The advantages seem quite the participants was to put the objects group three persons have entered the obvious, as it can overcome the obstacles into an order of a city. The system was city, confronted with some tasks which of traditional remote telephone confer- also created in a way so that it would they had to solve in collaboration with ence meetings, videoconferences, multi- require co-operation. Before entering the each other. This paper reveals some of media conferences and computer confer- virtual environment, the participants the findings and experiences the test ences. These obstacles are related to limi- were given a list of tasks that they should users had. The experiences so far tations in the various media and first of try to perform. seems promising in using this new all the ability to make the participants medium in distance education and fully engaged in the conferences. To feel remote work. Avatars and sense objects, be able to determine The three users were represented in the its own viewpoint, appearance and utilise Part II 3D environment with so-called avatars or a variety of functionality seems to be Virtual Identities (VID) (see Figure 1). This part gives an introduction to what we can expect of a future telecon- The use of avatars is crucial in collabora- DOVRE1, which has been used to ferencing system. The alienating nature tive virtual environments, as they repre- build the application for city planning. of many traditional media can be over- sent the point of view of each participant. This system makes it possible for sev- come in virtual reality conferencing. The The avatars used in the Cyber Prairie eral users to enter a shared virtual participants can experience a new kind of were designed as humanoids, but they space and interact with enhanced func- presence with each other and with the could have been without resemblance to tionality. Then it describes briefly the three dimensional objects and documents humans. To a certain extent we were also Dovre framework, what design goals it they collaborate on, as they are present in interested in examining the effect of is based on and some of the technical the same virtual room. using avatars, and how they were com- solutions we used when implementing prehended. a first version of the framework. 2 Field trial: Interaction in The Cyber Prairie Interface It was possible for the users to move The initiation of the networked trial was their avatars and their subjective point of that we wanted to know more about the view with 6 degrees of freedom in space. following topics The application did not use collision detection to objects or surface. The main • Interface, how do the participants input device was a joystick for direction experience the use of HMDs2, and joy- and movement along the X- and Z-axis, sticks in the virtual world equipped with buttons for object (house) selection and rotation in the Y-axis.

1 Distributed Object oriented Virtual Reality Environment. Incidentally, Dovre is also the name of a much 2 Head Mounted Display with head- 3 Avatar, from Hindu; half god, half cherished mountain range in Norway. tracking. human.

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 51 Figure 1 Avatars on the Cyber Prairie

2.1 Technical configuration and In this way, the researchers could follow attempt to solve. These tasks were related method the interaction both by choosing their to environment issues, like where to put own point of view and listening to the the hospital and where to put the villas. Each of the three VR stations consisted conversation between the test persons. of a Pentium 200 with a Head Mounted The idea was not to interrupt the test The background for the test was based on Display4 with head tracking and a simple users unnecessarily, and to let them learn the following assumption: joystick. The application Cyber Prairie by doing. On a couple of occasions one It is easier to collaborate and learn in performed in a frame rate around 10 of the client applications crashed, or the networked virtual environments than frames per second in 640 by 400 pixel test person got lost in the virtual world. in other teleconferencing environ- resolution. The three users were placed in Then it was easy for us to help when ments. separate rooms. Each VR station ran a needed. client application, and they were We wanted to acquire experiences with connected through a Local Area Network In addition to the trial a questionnaire the use of avatars and the possibility to to a server which ran on a Silicon Graph- was developed6. The test persons were choose their own point of view. We ics workstation5. This server also ran a given a hands-on experience using the wanted to observe the shared awareness client application. This made it possible VR equipment. Then they were intro- of the participants. Compared to tradi- for the researchers to observe the interac- duced to some tasks which they should tional videoconferencing or multimedia tion in the virtual world. The VR stations conferencing some difficulties have been were equipped with microphones which recorded in sharing objects and knowing were connected to a mixer that sent 6 The questionnaire and methodological who is doing and seeing what. We sound back to the HMDs. approach were developed in co-opera- wanted to observe if these problems were tion with Marianne Skogerbø, who is more easily overcome in virtual environ- using this material for her master 4 I-O Glasses from Virtual I-0. ments. thesis in Pedagogics at The University 5 SGI Indigo2 Maximum Impact. of Oslo.

52 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 Figure 2 Three VR stations configuration

2.2 Interface, avatars and “In the beginning the head tracking Using an avatar: co-operation did not work, but later it did, and then The avatars had various colours which it became much more alive.” were the only identificator, or difference The tests were carried out with three between them. They were static in the “I thought we just should watch it in groups of three persons each. Two of the sense of body limb movement. They the head mount. I did not know that we groups were high school students around could, however, see from the position of were able to go around and do 16 to 17 years of age. The last group con- the avatar which direction they were things.” sisted of three researchers in the thirties. looking. Here are some quotes: After the test a structured interview was “Some limitations on how and where “It was no problem using an avatar; conducted with each group. to move had made it easier.” however, you did not see yourself, just the other avatars.” Each group spent around sixty minutes Interface: inside the virtual environment. All “Even though I was flying around, I In general, the youngsters had more ex- groups used around half the time to fig- did not feel that I had any different perience in using the joystick. None of ure out how to use the joystick and the body.” the test persons had any significant ex- HMD. There were two ways to choose perience in moving in virtual space or direction of the movements, either by One observation we did was that none of using an HMD. Here are some quotes using the joystick, or by using the HMD the groups had any difficulties in using about the interface: by turning their head in the desired direc- avatars. To most of them this was just a “I had no control of the joystick, the tion. natural extension of themselves in the houses just flew back and forth, then I virtual environment. Some of them had to learn how to use the joystick.”

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 53 expressed a special kind of freedom in operate and organise themselves in the Reflections on VR as a medium: virtual space: planning and to put the plan into (virtual) “This is a different experience; I have life. Here are some quotes: been some place else, I have escaped “I felt as if I were identical to my from the normal world.” avatar, but I felt a bit handicapped not “In the beginning I had quite enough being able to use my hands.” moving and orienting, but after a while “You have a TV screen in front of your we started co-operating.” eyes, and you move into these pictures, “This is a real experience, different to there is nothing dangerous there, you a movie, because you are in the “We did not have any leader, but that can be driven over by a car and movie.” worked fine.” nothing happens, go through walls, “It would be real nice to travel into “It is easier to work face to face, but if go underground and into space.” space with your friends.” I had this system at home for one “We were in for 60 minutes, but the month, it would have been easier.” time just disappeared.” Co-operation: “I experienced it more intense to co- “Good for emergency meetings.” The next thing to do for the participants operate in VR than in real life. after getting used to the joystick and Because you were there all the time.” HMD, was to figure out how to select Reflections on VR in schools: “More fun and more interesting than objects (houses) and to move them. As “Go to school in VR? Then there actual co-operation!” they had managed this, the next thing would be a lot of dropouts!” would be to move them to desired posi- “It was really important for co-opera- “In schools first of all, the pupils tion. The participants had to discuss tion that we could both see the avatars should have their own PC, then the among themselves to come up with an and speak to each other.” books should be on CD-ROM and on agreement on the desired position or the Internet, then they would be less desired plan of the city. There was no expensive and more up-to-date.” city plan that was “right” or “wrong”. The main idea was that they should co-

Figure 3 The Cyber Prairie

54 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 “The teacher in future VR schools will Active objects be the little avatar that flies around” Part II During the design phase of Dovre, we took much inspiration from the real “I sometimes felt that it was the com- world. Most notably, this has resulted in puter that had control over me, I hope 4 Design issues the introduction of active objects. Rather this is not how the school of the future 4.1 Rationale than being passive objects that must be will be.” manipulated by higher level algorithms, When we set out to write our first appli- Dovre objects are active and have their 3 Conclusions on Part I cations that would demonstrate some of own behaviour and state. The active the principles of Televirtuality, we soon object paradigm is supported by a It became apparent for us that all test found that there existed no frameworks strongly object oriented line of thought users had no problem in enjoying this for developing distributed Virtual Reality and greatly simplifies tasks such as experiment. All three test groups man- applications on low end computer equip- implementing agents with artificial intel- aged during the period of sixty minutes ment. While solutions such as DIVE ligence. to agree on some plan for the city, and to existed for Silicon Graphics class ma- some extent to realise this plan. Here we chines, we thought these unsuitable for Biased towards ATM and TCP/IP observed that all groups were good in consumer Windows PCs. Also, many One of our main goals was that Dovre organising themselves. In order to get the Virtual Reality application frameworks should utilise the ATM network technol- best result, all groups had to place one of were strongly biased towards visualisa- ogy to its fullest. Since ATM is in- the avatars above the city (birds eye per- tion of the virtual worlds, neglecting herently connection oriented, this effect- spective). This user had to guide the basic features such as interaction with the ively excludes connection-less protocols. other users as they moved the houses. virtual world itself. Standards for multicasting over ATM are Most of the groups took turns in perform- still rudimentary, so the initial imple- ing the various task. One of them always In the end, we decided that in order to mentation was based on a symmetrical took on this leadership. We were also a easily implement the application we client/server model. Future versions of bit astonished by how naturally they re- wanted, we needed to develop a new Dovre, however, may be extended to use lated to using avatars. All participants got framework. To this purport, we started multicasting in a server-less environ- used to the joystick and HMD, but they work on Dovre. ment. expressed the need for a better 3D input device, like a glove for grasping. After 4.2 Design goals The TCP/IP protocol is a standard com- spending sixty minutes using an HMD, ponent of nearly all networking capable we expected that some of them might When we designed the Dovre framework, systems and works with most network feel sick, but this proved not to be the we had the following goals in mind: layers, so we chose to base the initial case. Some of them of course felt a bit dizzy. The VR application Cyber Prairie was just a research prototype, and could have been improved in lots of ways to make interaction easier, but it still proved promising for this kind of collaboration. The three groups gave many similar views on the experience. The greatest difference was between the youngsters and the researchers. The researchers seemed much more analytic in their approach to the tasks they should perform, but they were not so clever at performing them. The youngsters were more spontaneous and explorative in their approach to the virtual worlds. In this test we observed two kinds of learning; first they learned how to move and orient themselves in the environment, then they learned how to collaborate on specific tasks in a virtual environment. The results of this trial have given us more confidence in Collaborative Virtual En- vironments as a useful way to learn and interact.

Figure 4 Features of the Dovre framework

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 55 implementation on TCP/IP. Note that the mus Fasttrak allows for six degrees of objects and containers. Domains may be I/O system of Dovre has been completely freedom in a fixed space. In order to sup- connected with portals, allowing for very abstracted, so that implementing support port the various sensors in a generic man- large worlds. for other network protocols is completely ner, a scheme for querying the sensors invisible to applications and most of the for their capabilities has been implemented. All hosts (i.e. both clients and servers10) framework itself. have at least one domain. This domain is Currently, Dovre supports the following entirely built up of real objects, objects sensors: which are local and belong to that host. High degree of abstraction All objects that are imported from other In order to construct a system that is • Mouse hosts become virtual objects, objects architecture and operating system inde- • Joystick which are mirrored from another host. pendent, a high degree of abstraction is • I/O glasses required. In the Dovre framework we • 5th glove When two hosts connect, they will have used abstraction to hide operating • Polhemus Fasttrak. attempt to exchange object hierarchies system, rendering engine and sound sys- with each other. This is first done by the tem details from the application. Dovre offers full object and ray intersec- hosts exchanging any portals they might tion detection in the object hierarchy. have with each other. If the hosts have The current implementation supports the portals which may connect, they will following operating systems and render- Efficiency then proceed with distributing the hier- ing engines7: To maximise throughput and to construct archies of those portals to each other. • Windows NT 4.0 and 95/OpenGL a system that scales well, we have gone Eventually, all hosts in the network will • Windows NT 4.0 and 95/RenderWare8 to great lengths to streamline and fine have a local copy of the part of the hier- • IRIX 6.x/OpenGL tune Dovre. The framework is based on archy that is relevant to that particular • Linux 2.x/Mesa9. the hierarchical world model, which host. All these imported objects are vir- allows for many optimisations. We use tual objects. Any changes to the hier- Sound is supported on all platforms. our own highly optimised math library archy or its objects will be distributed to and advanced template mechanisms that, all hosts that need to know about it. The framework may be used without when inlined properly, generates code visualisation and sound support, which that rivals that of hand coded assembly All this is automatically done by Dovre, can be highly useful for generating auto- (see for example [8]). and is completely transparent to the pro- mated agents. Such agents are entirely grammer. computer driven and act only on interac- The OpenGL implementation uses many tion or triggers from other participants, of the most common optimisation tech- 5.1 Real objects and have no use for visualisation of niques in order to achieve high frame sound locally, but may otherwise use all rates, as well as special features of more Real objects are, as the name implies, the the functionality that the framework expensive SGI hardware, such as anti- real objects in the hierarchy. They may offers. aliasing (multisampling) and real time receive messages and act upon them. If shadows. the real object chooses to act on a Support advanced sensors and request, it reissues the request as a com- interaction With high end computers with multiple mand to itself, which is distributed to all In order to support interaction with the processors becoming cheaper, it is also its virtual counterparts on other hosts. virtual world, Dovre supports sensors important to consider how performance This implies that both the real objects such as gloves, motion trackers, joy- may be increased by the parallelisation of and all its virtual objects have the same sticks, etc. The sensors may be used for accesses to the hierarchy. For example on state, and integrity is ensured. navigating, triggering actions and gener- high end computers, much of the render- ally interfacing with the computer. ing engine has been implemented in hardware, which may execute in parallel 5.2 Virtual objects Sensors used in Virtual Reality applica- with the main CPU. On these systems, tions exhibit different behaviours and parallelisation is not only desirable but Virtual objects are mirrors of real have their own output formats. While a imperative in order to get reasonable per- objects. They may receive requests, but mouse gives merely two degrees of free- formance. may not themselves take on any action, dom, with no point of reference, a Polhe- rather they must pass them on to its real objects. Virtual objects receive com- 5 Object organisation mands from their real object which they 7 Dovre may be ported relatively easy to must then do their best to fulfil. The Dovre framework is strongly based any operating system which supports on the hierarchical model. This allows networking and threads. for many optimisations, and is used 8 RenderWare is supported because of extensively for scene culling, fast inter- 10The only thing that differs between a its higher performance on inexpensive section detection, efficient structure client and a server is that a server can PCs. manipulation, etc. accept connections from several 9 Mesa is a freeware rendering engine clients, while a client connects to one The world is partitioned in domains, with an API which closely matches the server. Note that a client can operate which are separate hierarchies built up of OpenGL 1.1 specification. without a server.

56 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 Node

Viewpoint Listener Sound_Source Lightsource Element Portal Mirror Container

Figure 5 The class hierarchy of Dovre Billboard Coordinate_system

may give some surprises when using 6 The message system 7 Object types intersection detection and similar. The Dovre framework is an event-driven The following is a short description of • Viewpoint system, in that all interaction between the basic object types in Dovre. These Viewpoints implement a means of objects must be done with messages. object types are the building blocks for looking at object hierarchies. By bind- Indeed, the very core of Dovre is the virtual worlds, and may be subclassed ing a viewpoint to a window, the scene message system. The message queue is and overloaded to get new behaviour. can be rendered real time on the basically a distributed queue with mess- screen. • Node ages that can be updated if they lose The Node class is an abstract base • Sound_Source scope, not entirely unlike the updatable class, from which all objects that can A sound source emits sound which queue described in [6]. The message sys- be put in the hierarchy have been sub- may be heard by listeners within the tem may change, however, with the classed. It simply implements the domain that the sound source is locat- advent of MPEG4. capability of being a child (i.e. having ed in. Sound sources may read sample a parent). data from a file, or may receive it Messages may be sent directly to the directly from a microphone. They may receiving object, for time critical pur- • Container also have different characteristics as poses, effectively bypassing the message The Container node can contain any regards sample rate, number of bits, system, or it may be queued for delivery number of nodes, and may be used for etc. In the future we plan to implement when the system has time, optionally grouping objects and optimising the advanced features such as customis- with a time delay. hierarchy. able filtering of sound sources (for • Coordinate_System example flanging, chorus or distor- 6.1 Messages In order to specify spatial position, co- tion). ordinate system containers may be • Listener Any real object may issue a message to used. A Coordinate_System has a Listeners hear sound sources which are another object. The message will then be transformation matrix which trans- located in the same domain as the delivered to the real object. The receiving forms the co-ordinate system of all its listener itself. Sound is spatialised object may choose to act on the message children. according to the relative positions of or ignore it. Note that the receiving • Element the sound sources. object may not update internal state Elements are the visual objects in the according to the message, as this would • Mirror object hierarchy. These have a geo- introduce inconsistencies in the hierar- Mirrors make simple reflections of metrical model, which can be generat- chy. This has to be done with commands. objects located perpendicular to the ed dynamically or loaded from file. mirror. It actually only redraws the File formats currently supported scene with a new transformation 6.2 Commands include DXF, NFF, 3DMF and some matrix that has the Z axis inverted. more obscure formats. VRML support Mirrors should be used with care, as Commands are used for updating internal is planned. they effectively double the number of state in an object. When a real object • Lightsource elements that need to be drawn in the needs to update internal state, it issues a Lightsources provide light in the scene. command, which is distributed to all its scene. Lightsources may be direc- virtual objects, as well as itself. In this • Portal tional, positional or spotlights. way, the hierarchies of all hosts are up- Portals are used to connect different dated simultaneously, and consistency is • Billboard hierarchies with each other. This is ensured. Note that only real objects are Billboards are containers that always useful for a number of reasons. Two allowed to issue commands. turn to face the viewpoint. This may be portals that can connect may be locat- useful for implementing menus and ed on different hosts and will not similar. Note that billboards can be rendezvous before a connection be- pretty non-deterministic to work with; tween the hosts has been made. This they are relative to the viewpoint, which allows for distributed worlds.

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 57 Portals also allow splitting a very large 8.4 Java 5 Ødegård, O. Social interaction in world into smaller domains, which will televirtuality. Paper for Virtual Real- improve performance considerably. Java is making a great impact on the ity World ’96, Stuttgart, Germany, During rendering of a scene, the portal computer world, and is particularly inter- 13–15 February 1996. itself is tested for intersection with the esting in the context of active objects. http://televr. viewing frustum, similar to the Poten- We are looking into how Java amongst fou.telenor. tially Visible Set technique described other things could be used for agents no/papers.html in [7]. with programmable intelligence. 6 Kessler, D G, Hodges, L F. A network communication protocol for 8 Future development 9 Conclusion on Part II distributed virtual environment systems. 1996. Available at Dovre is a platform for constant research So far, we have had very good experi- ftp://ftp.gvu.gatech.edu/ Dovre. and development. Some of the most ences with The framework pro- pub/gvu/tr/96-03.ps.Z. important features that we are currently vides us with a platform for further Tele- working with include: virtuality research and a quick and sim- 7 Luebke, D P, Georges, C. Portals and ple way of implementing new concepts mirrors : simple, fast evaluation of and ideas for distributed virtual reality 8.1 Inverse kinematics potentially visible sets. Proceedings applications. of the 1995 Symposium on Interact- In order to simulate the real world as ive 3-D Graphics, 1996. Available at Performance is excellent, and Dovre has closely as possible, natural and realistic http://www.cs.unc.edu/ no problems handling relatively large movement of avatars is necessary. ˜luebke/publications/ worlds. We have more ideas for optimis- Inverse kinematics provides a solution to portals.html. ations that should increase performance this problem, but is computationally even further, and we will continue adding intensive and currently difficult to use. 8 Veldhuizen, T. Expression templates. support for new technology. We are undertaking research on how to C++ Report, 7, (5),26–31, 1995. optimise such algorithms, so they may be Available at http://monet. The object oriented, active object point applied in real time simulation. uwaterloo.ca/˜tveldhui/ of view provides a good basis for deve- papers/Expression- loping distributed virtual reality applica- Templates/exprtmpl.html. 8.2 Dynamic models and tions. Since objects have their own be- MPEG4 haviour and state, they can virtually act on their own. In the future we will con- Currently, Dovre does not have the capa- tinue to explore how the active object bility of coding models and distributing paradigm can be used to bring virtual them to other hosts. Work is being done environments to life and to implement that will change this. We will proceed intelligent user interfaces. with implementing support for audio and video streams, most likely through support for MPEG4. References 1 Bowers, J, Pycook, J, O’Brien, J. 8.3 Graceful degradation of Talk and embodyment in collabora- network services tive virtual environments. In: Proceedings of CHI’96, New York, With ATM comes a wealth of new possi- ACM Press, 1996. bilities as regards controlling the quality of the network services provided. In 2 Bowers, J, Pycook, J, O’Brien, J. order to handle the highly variant nature Practically accomplishing immer- of the data streams associated with sion : cooperation in and for virtual Dovre, we need to support QoS manage- environments. In: Proceedings of ment and graceful degradation of net- CSCW’96, New York, ACM Press, work services. The current implementa- 1996. tion does not do this, but we are working actively with supporting it. The MPEG4 3 Pycook, J, Bowers, J. Getting others SNHC11 group is performing research in to get it right : an ethnography of this field, which we hope to put to use in design work in the fashion industry. Dovre. In: Proceedings of CSCW’96, New York, ACM Press, 1996.

4 Søby, M. Cyborg and the prosthesis : about socialisation in Cyberspace. Paper to the 5th National Conference 11Moving Pictures Experts Group, Syn- on Pedagogic, Stavanger Nov. 1996. thetic and Natural Hybrid Coding.

58 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 Distance education in Norwegian manufacturing industry and the education sector – Current situation and future needs

BY TOM ERIK JULSRUD

1 Introduction rated in time and/or space.2 We also official documents, focusing on the gathered information in fields which national need for a more competitive Over the last decades we have witnessed could tell us about the possible long-term industry.3 In the White Paper “Knowl- a very rapid diffusion of telecommunica- needs for telebased education. For exam- edge for all” (“Mer kunnskap til flere”) tion and computer technology in private ple, the surveys of manufacturing indus- this was made very clear: homes as well as in the education and try cover all kinds of training and educa- “To develop knowledge is a precon- business sectors. These new communication within the enterprises, and the sur- dition for strengthening Norwegian tion tools have radically changed the veys of the education sector cover the use economy, ensuring full employment, scope and potential for distance educa- of external teachers and lecturers in tradi- achieving effective changes and pre- tion, and they are gradually giving new tional education. paring the way for new activities in the meaning to the concept itself. Still, there economic life. (...) in the economic is reason to believe that we are only This article presents some main results sense education is of strategic import- beginning to see a new generation of dis- from the quantitative user-need research ance for our value creation.” [14] tance education, based on advanced at Telenor Research and Development, broadband communication technology focusing on the changing patterns of dis- The quotation reflects a central theme in and digital networks.1 tance education over the five year period the discussion of education for new skills from 1989 to 1994. Manufacturing indus- within the industry: To elevate the level Telenor Research and Development has try and the education sector, including of competence of employees represents a closely supervised this development, and upper secondary schools, regional col- major strategic weapon to meet new, the first comprehensive survey on the use leges and the universities, will here be international competition. At stake here of telebased distance education in Nor- treated in separate chapters. One of the is not only the question of strengthening way was launched in the late eighties reasons for this is, as will appear from the local labour markets. Inability to cope [24]. A field study of higher education the discussion, that the areas are quite with the challenge of upgrading skills in and universities was followed by a simi- different regarding the way distance edu- the industry will threaten the competi- lar study of manufacturing industry [10]. cation is initiated, managed and imple- tiveness in the future information society. Five years later the two surveys were mented. Each of the chapters will, how- ‘Knowledge’ is the keyword for every- repeated, using the same questionnaires ever, report both on the current situation one who wants to take part in the new (but not the same sample) [12], [13]. and the future needs. Finally, I will pre- information-intensive global economy. sent some general conclusions and rec- These broad field studies cover the rapid ommendations on further research and The dynamics behind the growing diffusion of new telebased distance edu- development within the field. importance of skills and competence cation within the crucial part of society within the labour market are of course concerned with education, teaching and many-faceted and complex. Neverthe- training. In retrospect, this gives us an 2 Distance education in less, it is possible to emphasise at least interesting view of the rapid changes manufacturing industry some central factors: First, the fast intro- within this field. The object of these duction of new technology into the studies, however, was not restricted to 2.1 Introduction labour market has raised new demands recording only the number of students or for knowledge and skills. The extended teachers using new technology for educa- A central idea in Norwegian educational use of information technology in almost tional purposes. In addition, the research policy has been the principle of “lifelong every sector of the industry, has on the intended to explore the future needs for learning”, where knowledge and compe- one hand radically changed the work distance education, both in a latent and tence is maintained, renewed and extend- operations involved, demanding new more overt sense. For this reason the sur- ed throughout a lifetime [22]. The ability skills to make an optimal use of the tech- veys deploy a broad view of the concept to build personal knowledge is viewed as nology. On the other hand, the deploy- of distance education, including all activ- a common good which as many as possi- ment of new technology has in some ities where teacher and student are sepa- ble should have access to. Education and knowledge open the doors to individual development, and are an important 3 This is true on a European level as premise behind a living democracy. In well. A report from the European this context, education and skills is a Committee for Research and Develop- founding element in the Norwegian ideal ment (IRDAC) states that; “the output 1 It has been discussed if this technolog- “welfare society”. At the same time, of education and training systems (...) ical change is best characterized as a competence and knowledge represent a in terms of both quantity and quality of “paradigm shift” or a “shift in gener- factor of major importance for the econ- skills at all levels, is the prime determ- ations”. Some scholars have presented omic development of the country. During inant of a country’s level of industrial this development in different phases the last 10–15 years, the value of educa- productivity and hence competetive- (generations), from traditional letter- tion and training has been emphasised in ness. (...) If sufficient attention is not based education to education through given to the skill shortage problem, in computer networks. Rekkedal and Søby particular technological advance, [25] have remarked that it may be 2 The definition of distance education Europe’s competitive position will be more correct to view these chategories used in this article is as cited in the threatened.” [9] as a pool of technologies and methods article “Telecommunications in dis- to choose from when organizing distance education” in this issue of Telek- See also [4], [21] and [28] for similar tance education. tronikk. argumentation.

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 59 2.2 The implementation of In this context, tele-based distance edu- Distance education distance education cation represents expanded opportunities Internal training External training for enterprises to develop their compe- The training and the development com- tence, and more specific, the skills and Formal training petence at the workplace include a lot of knowledge of the individual employee. It A perceived need for new skills and knowledge different activities. In a very general comes as a result of the same needs as way, the concept of competence refers to ordinary education and training (see Fig- “knowledge and skills which are used or ure 1). The difference is that the teachers may be used in professional activities”4 are seated at a distance from the students, Figure 1 The relation between distance [9]. This is the way we will make use of and different communication media are education and formal training the concept here. In a more extended used to support the learning. Although sense, the concept may refer to a collec- the most common organisational form is tive body of knowledge, reflected in an to use technology to bring the distant cases substituted for jobs and tasks, organisation or a social system. competence into a group of employees in resulting in a need for re-educating the organisation, it will also include more employees. The development of competence in an complex forms: Students may be located organisation may be described as a pro- at different places, as well as the teachers Second, there has been a growing glob- cess of both planning, implementation and different sources of information used alisation of trade and commerce activities and exploitation [20]. Various internal or for instruction. in the last 10–15 years. One effect has external changes may trigger a need for been that major parts of traditional indus- higher education or development of The advantage of distance education try have been re-located to countries with skills. This may come as a decision from compared to regular face-to-face educa- lower wages and expenses. Technical the management, but also as a demand tion is first of all that it may be more effi- and industrial co-operation has expanded from the employees. The experienced cient and economic than traditional edu- between nations, together with the rise of need for new competence in the organis- cation. The amount of money spent on more global markets. For Norway and ation may be met with new employment transporting employees to and from the other European countries, this has fuelled or development of the skills internal to external locations is significant, and will, an engagement in more knowledge-based the organisation, which in turn may be it is argued, soon compensate for the nec- industry, and more specialised produc- implemented and exploited. This is what essary investment in communication tion. One of the consequences has been a may be called “the chain of competence”. technology. When this investment is general expansion of jobs generated from (Ibid). done, however, it will open up a wider market and non-market services such as range of education possibilities than finance, banking, tourism, consultancy, The development of competence in the before. For instance, implementing a etc., at the expense of manufacturing and organisation includes several possible video conference studio will in principle products. choices, such as investing in more re- give access to every learning institution search, or trying to strengthen the work and university with similar equipment. Third, it should also be mentioned that ethic or organisational culture. Of special Moreover, the equipment can easily be the amount of knowledge is growing interest to the use of distance education, used for other purposes, such as business very fast, and still more efforts are need- however, is the more traditional formal meetings and video conferences. ed to keep informed. Today, a consider- training of the personnel. This training is able number of those employed are en- either organised by the organisation itself, The factors of special importance for gaged in the production of new informa- or by external institutions. The former is development of distance education in tion, and even more people are busy col- more common in larger enterprises or industry are therefore the access to the lecting and structuring this. It is estimat- official organisations, while small and desired knowledge (both in time and ed that the total amount of information in medium sized enterprises mostly use space), and the economic situation of the the country is doubled every 10 years externally organised courses or seminars enterprise. [23]. One effect is that constantly more in co-operation with universities or other efforts and skills are required to stay well educational institutions.5 [19] 2.3 Distance education in man- informed. ufacturing industry Thus, the process of strengthening the 4 Original formulation: “... kunnskaper Let us then turn to the result of the re- competence of employees has been og ferdigheter som er i bruk eller som search on the use of distance education strongly advocated by representatives of kan brukes i rollen som ansatt.” among Norwegian firms in the manufac- the state and the government. There 5 There are certain differences between turing industry. The survey was based on seems to be an urgent need for industry internally and externally organized telephone interviews with representatives to redevelop and upgrade the internal training, with respect to motivation by from 795 enterprises, which provided a level of competence. In practice, how- the organisation. While internal train- representative sample of about 7 % of the ever, it is local industry who will have to ing in most cases is triggered by cer- population. The respondant was in most invest money and time in new compe- tain needs within the organization, cases the manager of the enterprise or the tence, and there are several barriers to external education appears on an open person responsible for internal training. overcome to manage this. market. For this reason the latter may As mentioned in the introduction, the be less dependent upon the needs and 1994 survey succeeded a former study in strategies of the single enterprise or the field. organisation [8].

60 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 Firstly, the survey showed that there has 80 been a growing demand for distance edu- Training cation in the training programme of the 70 Distance education enterprises. While in 1989, 7 % had used Plans for next year distance education in their training pro- 60 gramme, the survey showed that this had increased to 11 % five years later. Acc- 50 ording to the general penetration of communication technologies in the industry, 40 this does not indicate a very rapid diffusion of distance education (see [27]). The 30 major explanation for this seems to be in the general economic conditions during this period. This becomes more evident 20 when we compare the results to the general investment in training programmes, 10 which in the same period was cut by almost 20 % (see Figure 2). In relation to 0 this general reduction, the share of dis- 1989 1994 tance education in training programmes Figure 2 The extent of training programmes, distance has actually increased by 9 %. An inter- education and estimated future use of distance education in esting supplementary finding was that the the manufacturing industry, 1989 and 1994, in per cent number who reported that they “did not know” if their enterprise used distance education, had dropped from 16 % to 1, suggesting that general knowledge of the topic had been strengthened.

Most of the distance education consisted employees had used distance education computer based communication (CMC) of small-size projects, involving no more in the last years, but for the enterprises played an increasingly important role. than 1 – 5 employees. There were, how- with less than 30 employees, the corre- The result also confirmed earlier find- ever, some large projects pushing the sponding number was only 5 %. These ings, showing that ordinary telephony is average up to 11 employees per pro- findings are in accordance with the an important means for consultations be- gramme. Altogether, there were not results from the 1989 survey, and they tween teacher and students (see [3]). The many long-lasting projects, and every reflect a pattern known from similar re- telephone service was used to an equal second one had been started during the search, reporting that the smaller enter- extent by small and medium sized enter- last three years. prises have problems giving their staff as prises, as by larger. The number of avail- much training as the larger ones (see [2]). able media technologies in general in- Secondly, the survey showed that there creased with the number of employees. were certain differences among the firms, Furthermore, the results showed that dis- both in respect to number of employees tance education was more common in the 2.4 Future needs for distance and line of business.6 On average, the sectors of “chemical production”, follow- education large enterprises more frequently made ed by “basic metals” and “food, bever- use of distance education in recent years, ages and tobacco”. The high number of There are several ways to estimate the than the smaller. In enterprises with more distance education in the latter two is future demands for distance education. than 150 employees, 25 % of the partially explained by the many big The easiest way is simply to ask the enterprises in these sectors. “Chemical informants what they intend to do in this production” and “food, beverages and field in the coming years. On the ques- 6 The enterprises were analysed in tobacco” were also characterised by high tion of their future preferences, 6 % of all accordance with the Standard Indus- rates of regular training, as were “Other the enterprises answered that they were trial Classification used by the official industries” (see Figure 3). planning to launch a project next year. Statistics in Norway [31]. The classifi- These were mostly large corporations cation of manufacturing industry con- What kind of communication technolo- which expressed interest, with a predom- sists of nine main activities (lines of gies did the enterprises use in their dis- inance of companies from “textiles” and business): Manufacture of food, bever- tance education programmes? Letter/post “food, beverages & tobacco”. There was, ages and tobacco; Manufacture of tex- services was the most frequently used however, a certain interest for starting tiles; Manufacture of wood and wood technology, mentioned by nearly 70 % of distance education in every industrial products; Manufacture of paper and the respondents, followed by ordinary branch, ranging from 3 to 10 %. This paper products; Manufacture of chem- telephone, used by 20 %, and electronic kind of self-reported judgement, how- icals; Manufacture of mineral prod- mail / computer conferences and video ever, is not necessarily a very reliable ucts; Manufacture of basic metals; cassettes used by 15 %. Hence, the tradi- index: In the 1989 study we asked the Manufacture of fabricated metal prod- tional ways of carrying out distance edu- respondants about their preferences for ucts, machinery & equipment; and cation were still dominant, although the next years. Compared to the actual Other manufacturing industries.

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 61 70 larger enterprises. Still, these fluctuations in the demand for formal training make it 60 difficult to predict the future use of distance education.8 50 Secondly, it appeared that the use of 40 external teachers or lecturers was very common, and had increased over the five year period. In 1989 every third enter- 30 prise relied totally on their internal teachers, but five years later, this constituted 20 only 8 %. In 1994 every second training programme was held by an external spe- 10 cialist, and over 40 % used both internal and external teachers.9 In reality then, 0 Food, b&t Paper and Wood and Chemical Basic metall Textiles Other industry over 90 % of the enterprises had used products products products products teachers from other institutions, or organisations in their courses. This finding was supported when we considered the venue Training Distance education for the courses. In 1994 the number of enterprises who held their training out- Figure 3 The use of training programmes and distance education in manufacturing side the company building had increased industry and activity classification, 1994, in per cent from 31 % to almost 80 %. The majority preferred a combination of internal and external courses. Thus, it seems to be the case that the use of external teachers and external courses is supplementing, and not substituting, the regular (internal) registered number of distance education situation in the country was worsening, training. The use of internal teachers or programmes in the later study, this resulting for instance in a reduction of lecturers was more common among the proved to be a rather poor indication. the number of people in employment.7 enterprises with many employees, while This may be part of the explanation smaller enterprises as a rule hired the A more indirect way of valuing the future behind the reduced efforts in training. necessary competence (see Figure 4). need for these services, is to take a closer This was evident in both the surveys. The look at the way the enterprises are struc- The reduction was most evident in the increase of external organisers and tutors turing their regular training activities. In smaller firms; many of the larger enter- seems to be the result of higher demands the introduction above, we made the prises had actually increased their formal for training in the larger companies, assumption that both internal and extern- training. For instance, 50 % of the small- al circumstances were facilitating the est companies (less than 30 employees) need for formal training programmes. did not have any training at all the pre- Thus, a new market situation may trigger vious year, but all of the larger firms did. 8 There are signs indicating that the decisions to change the products, to The number of enterprises where more investment in education has been engage in new markets, to adopt new than 50 % of the staff had enjoyed a increasing in the last year, at least in technologies in production, etc. Internal training programme, had also increased some lines of business. A recent survey training is here one of many alternative among the largest firms, but decreased of European business and enterprises responses. The strategic reason for among the smaller ones. Hence, the train- showed that the Norwegian private implementing distance education is that it ing programmes in the larger firms seem sector was spending about 3.5 % of offers easy and fast access to the educa- to be less vulnerable to economic cycles their salary expenses on competence tion providers with lower expenses, when than in the smaller. Interestingly, dis- development, only surpassed by a need for training already exists. Dis- tance education seemed to hold its Swedish, French and Swiss enter- tance education may therefore be viewed ground, despite the general cuts in inter- prises. The results showed, however, as a product of 1) high demand for train- nal training, probably due to the fact that that the local government in Norway ing, combined with 2) distance to the most of this activity was taking part in spent minimal amounts on educating knowledge/competence, and 3) a need their employees, pulling Norway down for reduction in training budgets. in the international statistics (Aften- posten, 17.10.96). 7 From 1989 to 1991 the number of How is the outlook, with respect to these employees in manufacturing industry 9 There are some differences in the way three conditions? Firstly, it appeared dropped by 13,000 people [31]. Dur- the registration was done in 1989 and from our analysis that the general use of ing the period 1986 to 1990 there was 1994, on this question. In the first one, internal training in the industry is rather a reduction of the total investments in the answers were registered as either unstable. As mentioned above, there was development of skills and knowledge in “internal” or “external”. In the latter a significant reduction in the training the industry, even if the non-material one was added a registration possibil- programmes in the period 1989 – 1994. investments were kept relatively con- ity for “both”. This might have influ- This was in a period when the economic stant [6]. enced the reliability of the data.

62 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 resulting in extended use of supplement- 100 ary providers. 90 Summing up, this might point in the 80 direction of higher demands for distance education, which in essence is a very 70 efficient way of getting access to know- 60 how located outside the enterprise. On the other hand, there may be several rea- 50 sons for bringing an external expert into the organisation, and it is not easy to say 40 to what extent distance education can 30 substitute for this. In a very similar way, there may be different reasons for letting 20 the staff go to externally arranged 10 courses, reasons that are not easily substituted by distance education. Examples 0 could be: to get away from the everyday <30 30-44 45-75 76-149 150< environment, have a new experience, enjoy a trip together with colleagues, or Both External Internal to get an award. To gain knowledge Figure 4 The use of internal and external lecturers in manufacturing industry, and about these circumstances would require number of employed, 1994, in per cent further research of a more qualitative character.

Thirdly, the enterprises reported having large expenses on training activities. Most of the enterprises have separate city areas, suggesting that geographical tion. Secondly, the training activities in budgets dedicated for this, and the aver- distance may be of importance. The low the enterprises seem to be very vulner- age sum spent on training was almost budget for training in smaller firms indi- able to changes in external factors, par- 5,000 NOK. The respondants who report- cates that the economic situation is more ticularly among smaller and medium- ed having no training budget were in critical here than in larger firms, even if sized enterprises (SME). 90 % of the cases representing firms with this has not resulted in more distance less than 30 employees. Compared to the education. Thus, the political arguments for more total budget, however, it was the education and training in the industry are medium-sized enterprises which spent not necessarily followed up by the indi- the largest sum on education. “Other 2.5 Summing up vidual corporation or enterprise. The industry” had the highest proportion of reduction of education programmes indi- their total budget dedicated to formal The survey on the use of distance educa- cate, on the contrary, that more insecure training; about 4 % on average. When it tion in manufacturing industry showed economic situations make enterprises comes to expenditure on travelling, the that there is a growing number of enter- reduce their training activities. The gen- geographic location of the enterprises prises which use distance education, eral investment in necessary technology proved to be a decisive variable. In despite a general decrease in formal and equipment seems to be difficult to densely populated areas (Akershus, Oslo, training, during the period 1989 – 1994. manage, especially for smaller enter- Nord-Trøndelag) almost half of the Distance education is primarily used by prises, even if distance education in the respondents reported that they did not medium-sized and larger enterprises, par- long run could help reduce the expenses use any of the training budget on travel- ticularly within “chemical production”, of training. This may end up in a “vicious ling. In contrast, every second enterprise “basic metals” and “food, beverages and circle” where the SMEs are closed off located in certain districts on the west tobacco”. There was also more distance from sufficient development of training coast (Aust-Agder) and in the north education among enterprises outside the and education, while the larger corpora- (Finnmark) reported using more than half city areas. tions enhance their lead. of the total training budget on travelling and accommodation. Moreover, there appeared to be a certain interest for more distance education 3 The education sector Hence, the budget on training and travel- among the respondants. The increased ling interacts closely with the rate of use of external education and externally 3.1 Introduction training in general, as well as the number organised courses, and the rapid diffu- of employees. The prediction value of sion of computer based communication The debate on the use of information this variable is therefore not very strong, also suggests a higher adoption of this in technology in the education sector has and the analysis did not investigate the the future. Still, it is difficult to predict been very intense in recent years. The need for cutting costs related to the train- the development. Firstly, because there background for this is a general aware- ing. The analysis showed, however, that are different needs accounting for the use ness and understanding of the prospec- the use of distance education was more of external competence, not all of them tive importance of this technology in common among enterprises outside the can be supplemented by distance educa- almost every higher level study, occupa-

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 63 40 3.2 Distance education in the 1989 education sector 35 1994 The number of Norwegian schools using 30 distance education appeared to have increased markedly in the period from 25 1989 to 1994. In upper secondary educa- 20 tion institutions 13 % were offering distance education in 1994, which repre- 15 sents a 10 % increase, compared to the former survey (see Figure 5). Among the 10 regional colleges, about 35 % of the schools were offering distance education, 5 indicating an increase by more than 0 20 %. The fastest implementation of distance education, however, was registered Upper secondary schools Regional colleges University faculities at the universities, where 14 out of 37 faculties were offering distance educa- Figure 5 Number of upper secondary schools, regional colleges and university fac- tion in 1994. Compared to the 1989 fig- ulties offering distance education, 1989 and 1994, in per cent ures, when only 3 out of 45 faculties used distance education, this implied an increase by more than 30 %. It was the regional colleges that included the largest group of students, and in the school year 1993–94, a total of 7,825 college stu- tion or workplace. It appears to be of cru- been put forth to speed up the develop- dents were receiving distance education. cial importance to provide students on ment of such activities, and considerable every level with a good understanding of expenses have been invested in equip- Most distance education in upper second- technology, and how it best can be ment [14]. A recent survey shows that ary education involved subjects such as exploited. Moreover, it has become evi- there were 5.9 students per PC in upper “general and business studies”, “health dent that information technology has a secondary education institutions, and 6.1 and social studies” and “music, dance potential for making the education itself in the colleges, which indicates a fast and drama”. At the regional colleges, the better and more efficient. The very rapid implementation [15], [16]. typical distance education was taking diffusion of the Internet in recent years place within “pedagogics”, “general and has demonstrated the great advantages Telenor Research & Development con- business studies” and “technical this may imply for students and teachers; ducted its first survey on the education science”. At the universities this involved the innumerable databases connected on system in 1989, and a subsequent study a wide range of subjects, including social the network offer a unique opportunity to was launched in 1994. The latter, which science, humanities, medicine, law and enrich and supply the education sector. will be emphasised here, included a rep- technical studies. resentative sample of 733 institutions, The discussion in Norway has also in- including 560 upper secondary education Distance education played a role in cluded a regional dimension. Since the institutions, 192 colleges and 38 univer- schools all over the country, but in upper education sector has a very decentralised sity faculties. Both studies were directed secondary education there was more dis- structure, it has been an intention to use towards all schools, colleges and univer- tance education in schools located in telecommunications and IT to link the sities in Norway.10 In this chapter, I will rural parts of the country. In northern and institutions together in a “knowledge-net- present some of the main results from western parts (Finnmark, Nordland, work” (“Norgesnettet”). In that respect, this work. For the purpose of the present- Møre- and Romsdal) the rate of schools an infrastructure has been established ation, I will discuss the results from all who used distance education was twice between the central universities and the levels in parallel. It should be men- the total average. This difference was rel- regional colleges, with the intention of tioned, however, that the entities here are evant to the distance between regions and co-ordinating the development of not entirely comparable, since universi- city areas. The predominance of distance specialised competence and training. In ties are organised differently from the education outside the central areas addition, a broadband network has been more traditional upper secondary educa- became even more evident when we con- implemented between the universities tion institutions and colleges. There are sidered the schools which were receiving (34 Mb/sec), and a wide access to the also important differences regarding the this from other institutions. While less Internet has been provided for all the way they are managed and financed: than 18 % of the upper secondary educa- upper secondary education and regional While universities and colleges are state tion institutions in the cities were receiv- colleges. owned, upper secondary education is ing distance education, 35 % of the financed by the local administration. schools in rural areas did. This was the The acknowledgement of the importance case even for regional colleges: At the of information technology and telecom- city colleges, approximately 30 % offer- munication in education has led to an 10This included students from private ed distance education and 17 % received interest for telebased distance education colleges, but no private upper second- it. Among the rural schools, in contrast, in the education sector. Actions have ary education.

64 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 46 % were offering and receiving dis- 80 tance education. Upper secondary school 70 Regional colleges Furthermore, the occurrence of distance 60 Univerity faculities education was related to the number of students at the regional colleges and fac- 50 ulties. Among the largest colleges (with more than 700 students) more than 60 % 40 had given distance education, but only 20 % of the smallest schools (fewer than 30 300 students). Among the biggest facul- 20 ties (more than 1,000 students), 69 % had used distance education, but only 8 % of 10 the smallest (fewer than 500 students). 0 Which medium was used in the education sector? In upper secondary education institutions and the universities ordinary telephone was the most used technology, used by 50 % and 77 %, respectively (see Figure 6). In the colleges letter/post was the most frequently used medium, mentioned by over 60 %. In the upper Videorecorder conferences Video CD-rom Interactive video Search on databaes Electronic mail Post Slides Document camera Telephone meeting Telephone Telefax Television Radio Videophone secondary education institutions 48 % Figure 6 Media used in distance education in upper secondary schools, regional had used letters in distance education, colleges and university faculties, in per cent and the equivalent figure for the faculties was 62 %. It is interesting to see that at the regional colleges, e-mail is being used more frequently than for example telephone conferences and television. By without distance education planned to dent among the regional colleges as well and large, however, the colleges and uni- launch projects. as universities. Every second regional versities used more “advanced” technolo- college had provided decentralised edu- gies than upper secondary education To gain a better understanding of the cation to students in 1994, a 10 % institutions. Telefax, e-mail, telephone future possibilities, however, we should increase since 1989; and every third uni- conferences and databases were more take a closer look at the underlying needs versity faculty, representing a 15 % often applied on the higher levels. that may trigger further distance educa- increase. This indicates that the potential tion in the educational sector. The con- for reducing travelling among teachers 3.3 Future needs for distance text of distance education is quite differ- may be one important reason for the education ent to what we found in manufacturing great interest in distance education. It industry, primarily because the education also suggests that there may still be a The results presented above document a system in essence is directed towards considerable potential for substituting very rapid implementation of distance training and teaching, and not imple- travelling activities by distance educa- education in the education sector. If we menting products, as in industry. The tion. look at the respondents’ plans for the schools consist of larger entities, more future, there will be no slowing down of controlled by political decisions and res- Another aim for using distance education this development. First, at all levels the olutions than fluctuations in commerce is to gain fast and easy access to external majority planned to escalate their dis- and business. On the other hand, the teachers. It appeared to be quite usual to tance education activities. At the upper advantages of using distance education draw upon externally employed person- secondary education and college level, are more or less equal; easy and fast nel in education. At upper secondary approximately 86 % of the schools which access to knowledge, reduction of ex- education level, two thirds of the schools today have distance education pro- penses in relation to travelling and reported to have obtained competence grammes, reported that they where going accommodation. from other schools or institutions. This to extend the activities. At the universi- was done by 89 % of the faculties, and ties, 11 out of 14 faculties which cur- Thus, one major reason for using dis- almost every regional college. Despite rently offer distance education, reported tance education is to reduce travelling this, however, the schools reported re- that they would extend their activities. for employees at schools and universi- ceiving a lot of inquiries from students Second, a lot of schools which had not ties. In Norway, there is quite a tradition on subjects which they were unable to yet used distance education, planned to for “decentralised education”, where accommodate. This was most prominent start new projects within the next years. teachers travel to small groups of pupils. among the regional colleges where 60 % 20 % of the schools on the upper second- Our survey found that 164 upper second- admitted that they had received this kind ary education level and 30 % on the col- ary education schools practised this type of enquiry, followed by 50 % at universi- lege level were planning to launch a pro- of education, that is almost one third (see ties and 40 % in upper secondary educa- ject during the following three years. At Figure 7). Further, this was a 20 % in- tion. At the same time, there was a lot of the universities, 9 out of 23 faculties crease since 1989. This pattern was evi- competence among teachers not currently

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 65 50 competence. Since a lot of schools have 1989 limited budgets, distance education is 1994 often an acceptable substitute for hiring 40 competence or launching regular courses. The increased demands for specialised knowledge may be the single most 30 important factor behind the push towards more distance education. 20 4 Conclusions

10 4.1 Differences and similarities

The building of a high capacity inform- 0 ation and telecommunication network is Upper secondary schools Regional colleges University faculities said to represent one of the greatest long- term investments in the 20th century Figure 7 Number of upper secondary schools, regional colleges and university fac- [26]. Distance education is in this con- ulties offering decentralized education, 1989 and 1994, in per cent nection repeatedly emphasised as one of the applications which justify this investment [28], [4]. There seems to be a general agreement that education will be one of the most important elements in the future information society, both in used in education. Every other college have increased at all levels. Upper sec- respect to personal development, busi- and upper secondary education institu- ondary education has the highest rate of ness and industry, and culture. tion reported that the school was in pos- distance education projects, while the session of competence that was not education at regional colleges involves In many ways, this trend has been visible applied, and 40 % of the university facul- most students. The fastest implement- for several years already; the number of ties. At all levels, there was more “sur- ation rate, however, has taken place at higher-level students is still increasing in plus” than “deficiency” of competence in the university faculties. To a certain all western countries, and it is estimated most subjects. However, certain subjects, extent, this must be considered a deliber- that the working part of the population such as “general and business studies”, ate consequence of the official politics in must be prepared to re-educate them- appeared to be a field where there were this field, which since the late eighties selves at least four times during their parallel needs for more competence and a have been emphasising the use of dis- career [26]. lot of unused knowledge. tance education in various forms (see [14]). This development costs money and time, Interestingly, this reported “deficiency” and industry and the education sector and “surplus” of competence seemed to New computer and telecommunication should have a shared interest in applying have increased over the period. For media play an important part in this information technology and telecommu- instance, the number of regional colleges development, and e-mail has been greatly nications to make education and training with unapplied competence had increas- adopted by distance education in recent more efficient, and of a higher quality. ed by 30 %, and the number without nec- years, especially at the regional colleges Computer mediated communication has a essary competence by 10 %. This tend- and the universities. Here, e-mail is more potential to function as a common ency was apparent for upper secondary frequently used in distance education knowledge-network, enhancing the con- education schools as well as for faculties. than television and telephone confer- tact between industry and teaching. Our This would suggest that the education ences. The broad range of media indi- survey research on the manufacturing sector has become more “competence- cates that education has become more industry and the education system has intensive” over the five year period, with media-intensive, even if it is difficult to proved that the education sector is in the higher demands for knowledge and tell how the technology is used (as sup- vanguard, implementing distance educa- teaching capacities. This seems to be of plement, consulting means, etc.). How- tion on a much faster scale than manufac- particular relevance for subjects which ever, subjects such as “music, dance and turing industry. While the rise of distance fall within the category “general and drama” reported on the list of distance education in both upper secondary educa- business studies”. education, suggest that the technology tion, regional colleges and university fac- often plays a secondary or supplementary ulties must be characterised as signifi- role. 3.4 Summing up cant, manufacturing industry is developing at a slower pace. Moreover, the analysis indicates that the The analysis of the education sector doc- education sector has become more umented that distance education has The differences between the two sectors dependent on technology, as well. There changed, both qualitatively and quantita- must be viewed against the background is a general demand that schools offer tively during the years 1989 – 1994. The of very different contexts surrounding the more diverse and specialised education number of distance education projects, industrial enterprise and the school or and training, putting pressure on the and the number of students involved, faculty. For the enterprise, training activ- schools to develop and expand their own

66 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 ity is only one among several strategic cussion above. First, the investigation References initiatives to develop the organisation, shows that there is no obvious link be- and in turn be more competitive. An tween the political requirements of an 1 Bates, A W. Educational aspects of investment in internal competence is bal- escalation of knowledge and education, the telecommunications revolution. anced against the long and short term and the actual development in the small- In: Teleteaching. Proceedings of the assets and expenses. This makes the est parts of the system. Small enterprises IFIP TC3 Teleteaching Conference, efforts behind the use of distance educa- and schools have generally less access to Trondheim, Norway, 20–25 August, tion far more vulnerable to changes from distance education with telecommunica- 1993. Davies, G et al. Amsterdam, external sources or internal strategies. tion and computers. In Norway, where North Holland, 1993. (IFIP transac- The school, on the other hand, is part of a the majority of enterprises are small and tions A-29.) greater education system, more politic- medium-sized, there are only vague signs ally controlled and co-ordinated. It has a of a regional knowledge network. The 2 Berg, L. Verkstedindustriens langsik- responsibility to provide education to stu- challenge will be to help these organ- tige kompetansebehov : personalop- dents connected to the school (even if isations gain easy access to both the plæring i verkstedindustrien. Oslo, there are differences regarding the three global and the regional networks. Lower NAVFs utredningsinstitutt, 1987. levels) and is not in a position to change prices on simple technological solutions (Notat nr. 7.) this from day to day. relevant for distance education, may be one important effort. Still, it is important 3 Carmichael, J. Voice mail and the These different contexts explain the dis- for the managers to orientate themselves telephone : a new student support tinct patterns for adopting distance edu- in the new possibilities for getting access strategy. In: Distance Education, 16, cation. Regarding the use of telebased to training via distance education, that is (1), 1995 distance education, however, there are to say, to “be competent in competence”. also certain interesting similarities. First, 4 Club de Bruxelles. The future of the in both sectors, distance education is Second, it is to a certain degree possible information society. ANNEXE II. dependent on large institutions. The to trace a development of polarisation Brussels, 1994. (Bangemann group small schools, as well as the small enter- between different regions. In the educa- report.) prises, did not apply distance education tion sector, the universities seem to on the same scale as the larger ones. The appear as the “knowledge providers” for 5 Fredrikson, C. De nya nordiska före- size of the institution seems to be closely upper secondary schools and the col- tagen. København, Nordisk Minister- related to the ability to invest in neces- leges. None of the university faculties råd, 1993. (Nord-rapport nr. 26.) sary technology, but also the willingness were receiving distance education from (and financial capacity) to experiment external institutions, while this was an 6 Frengen, G. Immaterielle with new organisational forms. Second, important trend in the regional colleges investeringer i oljeutvinning, the geographic location had to a certain and the upper secondary education bergverksdrift og industri for extent impact on the use of distance edu- schools. This approach to the problem is 1986–90. Oslo, Statistisk Sentral- cation, among both schools and enter- relevant for the development of knowl- byrå, 1993. (Notat nr. 14.) prises. This was most evident in the edge-based products in different parts of upper secondary education schools out- manufacturing industry as well. There is 7 Garrison, D R. Understanding dis- side regional areas, but also regional a risk for transforming the city areas tance education : a framework for enterprises were more prepared to use (where universities and most of the the future. Routledge, London, 1989. distance education in their training pro- industry are located) to “knowledge grammes than the central industry. Third, providers”, and the regional areas to 8 Gooderham, P. Bedriftsintern there were parallel patterns in respect to “knowledge users”. opplæring. Trondheim, Norsk Vok- the use of media technologies: Post/letter senpedagogisk Institutt, 1985. and telephone was still the most used Third, the analysis indicates that a lot of technology in distance education, al- the distance education projects are rather 9 Gullichsen, A H. Strategisk kompe- though at the regional colleges and uni- short lived. This is especially apparent in tanseutvikling eller profesjonsstyrt versities, the telephone was more used manufacturing industry, where every sec- etterutdanning : en analyse av than letter/post. E-mail appeared as the ond project has been launched during the opplæringsatferd i et utvalg kom- most rapidly growing medium for dis- last three years. It has not been within the muner. Trondheim, Norsk Vok- tance education purposes, both in the range of this work to analyse the distance senpedagogisk Institutt, 1992. education sector and among industrial education projects in detail, but this pro- enterprises. Altogether, however, the vides some hints of the problems con- 10 Helljesen, L, Rasmussen, T. education sector used a wider range of nected to developing good technical and Telekommunikasjon, fjernundervis- electronic media in their education, par- organisational solutions. To get a clearer ning 2 : en undersøkelse av indus- ticularly at colleges and universities. view of the situation, more research trien. Kjeller, Televerkets Forskn- should be conducted in this field, prefer- ingsinstitutt, 1992. (TF report R 4.2 Future challenges ably trying to analyse the individual dis- 2/91.) tance education projects in a concrete organisational setting. 11 Industrial Research and Development What, then, are the future developments Advisory Committee of the Commis- appearing from this analysis? I will con- sion of the European Communities tent myself with pointing out some major (IRDAC). Skills Shortages in challenges, which follow from the dis-

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 67 Europe. Brussels, IRDAC Opinion, 23 Norges Offentlige Utredninger. Med 1991. viten og vilje. Oslo, 1988. (NOU 1988:28.) 12 Julsrud, T E. Fjernundervisning i norsk industri 1989–1993 : resultater 24 Rasmusen, T. 1990. Telekommu- fra en survey-undersøkelse. Kjeller, nikasjoner i fjernundervisning : en Telenor FoU, 1995. (FoU report undersøkelse av skolesektoren. R 6/95.) Kjeller, Televerkets forskningsinsti- tutt, 1990. (TF report R 4/90.) 13 Julsrud, T E. Fjernundervisning i skolesektoren, 1989–1994 : resul- 25 Rekkedal, T, Søby, M. Fjernun- tater fra en survey-undersøkelse. dervisningsmodeller, datakonferanser Kjeller, Telenor FoU, 1996. (FoU og nordiske utviklingstrekk. In: Fjer- report R 19/96.) nundervisning : utvikling og mangfold. Oslo, Norwegian Centre for 14 Kirke- og Undervisningsdeparte- Distance Education, 1993. mentet. Mer kunnskap til flere. Oslo, 1989. (Stortingsmelding nr. 43/89.) 26 Rodriguez-Rosello, L. Existing and future technologies for teleteaching. 15 Kirke- og Undervisningsdeparte- In: Teleteaching. Proceedings of the mentet. IT i opplæringa 91/92. Oslo, IFIP TC3 Teleteaching Conference, 1992. (Rapport fra spørreunder- Trondheim, Norway, 20–25 August, søkelsen.) 1993. Davies, G et al. Amsterdam, North Holland, 1993. (IFIP transac- 16 Kirke- og Undervisningsdeparte- tions A-29.) mentet. IT i norsk utdanning : plan for 1996–98. Oslo, 1995. 27 Rusten, G. 1995. The diffusion of telecommunications among firms : an 17 Kristiansen, T. Fem års forskning empirical regional approach. Bergen, innen fjernundervisning : erfaringer Stiftelsen for samfunns- og fra forsøk med telekommunikasjon. næringslivsforskning, 1995. (SNF- Kjeller, Televerkets Forskningsinsti- rapport 93/95.) tutt, 1992. (TF report R 17/92.) 28 Samferdselsdepartementet. Den 18 Ljoså, E. Brev eller ny teknologi. norske IT-veien : bit for bit. Oslo, Administrative og økonomiske sider 1996. (Rapport fra statssekretærut- ved bruk av ny teknologi for fjernun- valget for IT.) dervisning. In: Fjernundervisning : utvikling og mangfold. Oslo, Norwe- 29 Sentralorganet for fjernundervisning gian Centre for Distance Education, på universitets og høyskolenivå 1993. (SOFF). Det nasjonale kunnskapsnet- tet : fleksibel læring i Norgesnettet. 19 Nordhaug, O. 1985. Effekter av per- Tromsø, 1993. (Rapportserie nr. 5.) sonalopplæring : individ og organ- isasjon. Trondheim, Norsk Voksen- 30 Statistisk Sentralbyrå. Standard for pedagogisk Institutt, 1985. kommuneklassifisering 1994. Oslo, SSB, 1994. 20 Nordhaug, O. Kompetansekjeden i organisasjoner. In: Kompetanses- 31 Statistisk Sentralbyrå. Industristatis- tyring, chapter 3. Nordhaug, O et al. tikk 1991 : næringstall. Oslo, SSB, Oslo, TANO, 1991. 1991.

21 Nordisk Ministerråd. Utveckling av kompetens för den lokala arbets- marknaden : flaskhalsprosjektets slutrapport. Oslo, 1993. (Nordiske Seminar- og Arbejdsrapport nr. 580.)

22 Norges Offentlige Utredninger. Livs- lang læring. Oslo, 1986. (NOU 1986:23.)

68 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 The globalisation of education BY ROBIN MASON

Do we need it? gogical rationale for a global student be geographically remote, time constrain- body or a global curriculum is the pri- ed, financially constrained, house-bound, The reaction of many people to the mary consideration. Undoubtedly there is disabled, or simply unable to find a notion of global education is resigned a case to be made for global courses on course on the subject they want locally, exasperation, querying whether we really purely educational grounds, and I have there exist large unmet educational needs need yet another revolution in the teach- divided these according to the reach of which every research report, policy study ing/learning paradigm. The spectre of the course, the access to the course and and educational analysis shows is in- people dotted in continents here and the development of the course. creasing. there around the world studying the same Physics 101 course does not conjure up The strongest argument relates to the For an institution which has an access images of a high quality learning envi- benefits of a global student body: remit in its mission statement, global ronment comparable to the cosy picture education is now part of the moral high The diversity of participants made for of student-led seminars, heads bent over ground and new technologies are provid- a far richer course than I could ever books in library carrels, passionate argu- ing them with the means for reaching out teach myself. Take, e.g., the time our ments in late night coffee houses, and to people anywhere, anytime, who want correspondent in Istanbul reported on a brilliant lecturers spellbinding young to learn. The UK Open University lecture given there on medieval Chris- undergraduates. Why is global education (UKOU) is one of the most prominent tian philosophy by a Franciscan priest then such a burgeoning phenomenon? examples of an institution enshrining to the faculty of the (Islamic) Univer- Are we being driven to this by non-edu- access to educational opportunity and sity of the Bosporus. Well and good, cational pressures, or are we expanding openness to students of all backgrounds the faculty opened when it was over, in this direction voluntarily? And who is not only into its name and mission state- but it’s too bad Christianity is not a it that is leading the pack? ments, but into the very heart of the truly rational religion, like Islam. organisation: its preparation of course Leaving aside the question of compar- I begin by considering the extent of the materials, its enrolment procedures, its ative rationality of religions, I think it phenomenon – how much education on tutorial support provisions and its com- is undoubtedly good for my students at an international scale is actually taking mitment to developing similar organisa- Penn [State University], taking a place? It is hard to avoid encountering tions around the world. This is how the course on a very traditional, ‘western’ the avowedly evangelical predictions UKOU rationalises the extension of this figure, to be reminded that the whole about the educational implications of the approach into a global strategy: picture looks quite differently if you digital this and the electronic that, and happen to be in a different seat. ([20] The University is committed to add- the triumphalist announcements of the p. 113) ressing educational disadvantage and optimists introducing the education widening educational opportunities for superhighway here and the virtual uni- Here is the case of a course on the work an increasingly large and diverse num- versity there. It would be easy to think and thought of Augustine, taught face-to- ber of learners. Its mission statement, that global education is already establish- face to undergraduates and beginning with its emphasis on openness to peo- ed practice, with courses, programmes graduates on a traditional campus, being ple, places, and methods, underlines and whole institutions jostling for posi- offered over the Internet in order to sup- the University’s commitment to re- tion in the global marketplace. Whilst plement the intake on such a specialised spond to need and demand wherever competition amongst tertiary education topic. Over 550 subscribers from around the means of delivery exist. In the past, providers is certainly brisk in most devel- the world – Bangkok to Istanbul – joined limitations of educational technology oped countries, the market in question, up and undergraduates, scholars, and and funding have confined that ability even for those offering distance educa- Internet-surfers all contributed to the dis- to deliver to fairly strict geographic tion courses, is primarily regional, in cussions. The taste of global interaction limits. Those constraints are rapidly some instances national, but rarely inter- given to this teacher by his first venture diminishing. The OU now has the national. In fact, the number of truly onto the information superhighway, left potential to extend educational oppor- global courses, let alone programmes or him concluding: tunities to a much wider body of learn- institutions, is still very limited. Never- ers not only in the UK but throughout theless, I can only conclude from my I cannot imagine ever passing a Europe and more widely in the world. studies that global education is a phe- semester in the classroom again with- In doing so, it has the ability more nomenon to be reckoned with for all out the umbilical cord to the network fully to satisfy its mission. It has the those in higher education and training. to energize, diversify, and deepen what power to transform peoples’ lives, with- we do. (op cit, page 114) out regard to geographic frontiers. [21] The arguments for global O’Donnell’s experience is echoed by Related to the notion of access is the many others who have discovered the education third purely educational rationale for educational benefits of a global student global courses: that the expertise of the There are a good many economic, socio- body. What is particularly welcome in few can be made available to the many, political and technological reasons this example is that the globalisation of such that those in remote areas can have underpinning current developments both the course countered the usually domi- the same access to educational resources, of the plans for and the practice of global nant western world view. specialist courses and renowned experts education. Perhaps they will prove to be as those located in large cities and devel- the strongest forces driving change. The second most compelling educational oped parts of the world. A student who However, committed teachers and educa- justification for globalised education is signed onto a Web-based course on the tionalists would prefer to feel that a peda- that of access. Whether potential students

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 69 Principles of Protein Structure offered by matic in their approach to cooperating creasingly across national frontiers. Birkbeck College, London, listed one of with each other, and more daring in [11] the main advantages of this virtual course their attitude towards trans-national as the easy and informal contact it pro- collaboration. ([28] p. 40–41) Field contends that trans-national educa- vided with a large number of fellow sci- tion represents both an outcome of and a entists around the world. These, then are the major advantages to primary factor in the intensification of global education as cited by some of the global interconnectedness. Education, he Everyone is on first name terms and practitioners teaching and learning at the points out, used to be regarded as an the mailing lists, along with the group coal face. At its most visionary, the ideal essential element in nation-building. As structure, provide a convenient way to of global education is one of a movement with other social and political trends, discuss issues raised by the course away from the bounded classroom, seen education is increasingly being thought material, and to deal with any prob- as a haven from the world, self-contained of as a commodity to be shaped accord- lems people may be having. [22] and static, to a dynamic synergy of teaching to consumer demand. ers, computer-mediated instructional Athena University, one of the newly devices, and students collaborating to Some commentators on globalisation see established electronic universities, sees create a window on the world. Interaction the trend towards student-as-consumer as its mission as providing high-quality edu- with learners on a global scale leads to an having positive educational outcomes. cational opportunities on the Internet as increased awareness of the extraordinary Teachers and course developers are being inexpensively as possible. It is able to complexity of interrelations and a rela- forced to consider the requirements of carry out this mission by utilizing the tivistic comprehension and tolerance of learners, and the global telecommunica- Internet resources of the entire globe diverse approaches to understanding. tion systems allow students’ opinions to (http://www.athena.edu). be embedded into the learning environ- Other advocates of the movement in this ment. The expertise located at one university in direction, however, see a range of less the United States is shared with ninety Technologically-mediated knowledge idealistic factors driving education onto students in three other countries: Mexico, provides the basis for individualising the Superhighway. Finland, and Estonia, providing access to learning in a more complete and active a Certificate Programme in Distance way ... Here distance is subservient to Education, through a combination of Pressures encouraging the discourse of open learning and audioconferencing, computer conferenc- ‘educative’ processes are displaced ing and recorded media. [5] global education and reconstituted as relationships between producers and consumers in The reasons behind the, in some cases, Finally, and some might say most impor- which knowledge is exchanged on the drastic reduction in funding of public tantly, a good many areas of the curricu- basis of the usefulness it has to the universities, as well as the falling popula- lum are inherently global in nature and consumer. It is therefore a discourse of tion of traditional 18 – 20 year old stu- some particularly lend themselves to open learning which might be said to dents, at least in western countries, are course development on an international more fully govern the practices of outside the scope of this article. Suffice it scale, providing students with a much those operating at a distance in the is to say that financial pressure on institu- broader perspective than a course pre- post-modern moment, as increased tions of higher education world-wide is sented by a single lecturer or developed marketisation is introduced into the probably the most critical factor forcing by a single institution. A good example provision of learning opportunities and administrators and policy makers to look of trans-national course development is mass markets fragment and become to global markets as a way of making up that of the European Association of Dis- more volatile across the globe. [8] for falling government revenues and fall- tance Teaching Universities which has ing numbers of traditional learners. encouraged the joint authoring amongst For Edwards, the globalisation of educa- its members of two programmes: the tion through the use of telecommunica- While the search for new sources of rev- European MBA and a comprehensive tions technologies will empower the enue has provided the impetus for uni- course in the humanities, entitled ’What learner and force the providers of educa- versities to look for new markets, larger is Europe’. The advantage of this kind of tion to concern themselves with students’ social changes have steered that search international collaboration is elaborated needs, rather than with the transmission towards globalisation. In fact, global edu- by Trindade, President of the Portuguese of a pre-established canon of knowledge. cation is a reflection or extension of soci- Open University: Educators, just like businesses, will have ety’s increasing understanding of the to become more flexible – in their staff- In Europe, the very old universities interrelatedness and interdependence in ing ratios, in their approach to students, tend to perpetuate rigid (not to say the physical world. The development of and in their considerations of the curricu- extremely conservative) educational this global consciousness has been lum. Various structural rigidities of tradi- systems ... This weight of tradition is heightened by the spread of global com- tional universities will have to be over- reflected in university programs that munication systems and particularly the come: constraints on what constitutes the have scarcely varied in format or des- entertainment media. academic year, on where credits can be ignation for at least half a century, Distance open learning appears to be accumulated, and on how courses can be despite intense basic and applied re- uniquely suited to the emerging world modularised. The kinds of courses which search activity in advanced or innova- order. As borders open up across the the global consumer is demanding are tive fields ... Distance Teaching Uni- globe to traffic of almost every kind, flexible, adaptable, portable and inter- versities seem to be more accepting of so distance open learning flows in- active. new ideas or new models, more prag-

70 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 Dangers of global sion. However, just as there are many replacement by virtual community no who do not accept its value in a whole matter how educational: education range of social services, so there are There seems to be a great difficulty in those who view the growing competitive, Although the enthusiasts for the globali- holding onto the truth – as obvious as consumer spirit amongst educators as sation of education are more prominent it is – that ease and flexibility of detrimental to the learning outcomes in the media, they are probably equalled switching do not constitute ease and (see, for example [19]). This marketplace in number by the voices crying for a halt depth in making human contact. Cer- philosophy of higher education is partic- to the headlong expansion of global edu- tainly the connectivity makes commu- ularly associated with distance education, cation on the Superhighway. I have nication ‘easier’, but it achieves this which in turn is the foundation of the found it useful to classify their arguments precisely by rendering contact more movement towards globalisation. as primarily cognitive, educational, incidental, more shallow. social and cultural. One example of the shoddiness of global I suspect that every major technical competition in education is the number advance in communication since the The cognitive argument is based on the of MBAs offered by a range of Western invention of writing has marked the fact that the new delivery mechanisms institutions in the advanced countries of path away from community rather than for most global education are electronic the Pacific Rim. Some are outright cons; toward it. Community is, in the first and rely largely on the digitisation and others are just poor quality; many are instance, something to be salvaged computerisation of knowledge. Many ‘sold’ for high prices which are then used from information technology, not people decry the cognitive effects of to defray the deficit incurred by students furthered by it. ([26] p. 74) learning from screen-based information taught face-to-face in the home institu- rather than traditional text-based mate- tion. Together with legitimate, high qual- Others warn about the loss of our funda- rial, pointing to the breakdown of linear, ity, well supported programmes, they all mental assumptions regarding identity narrative structures associated with the jostle in the marketplace to the bewilder- and subjective meaning by moving from book, and the resulting fragmentation ment of prospective students, who have the physical and substantial to the virtual and superficiality induced by the hyper- fewer standards for and less experience and electronic. The notion of community linked structures of the Web and multi- with assessing the quality of global has always been rooted in a sense of the media CD-ROMS. One of the more elo- courses than they have in judging local particular and this has characterised our quent apologists for the culture of books programmes. experience over millennia. The essence is Sven Birkerts, who tots up the cogni- of our education system has been the tive losses we are encurring with the rise Social arguments against globalisation community of the classroom and the of an electronic culture: are related to the breakdown of commu- physical reality of the textbook. It has In the loss column are (a) a fragmented nity. This phenomenon is part of a much changed relatively little over the past few sense of time and a loss of the so-call- larger, more complex web of changes hundred years. ed duration experience, that depth phe- associated with Post-modern society; What we will have in the next few nomenon we associate with reverie; nevertheless, education which has always years is an education system that is (b) a reduced attention span and a gen- been a net contributor to the positive ben- part of computer culture. It is not just eral impatience with sustained inquiry; efits of physical communities, is now the physical environment that will be (c) a shattered faith in institutions and seen as undermining still further the transformed. Whereas books have in the explanatory narratives that for- physical experience of community and encouraged us to think in terms of a merly gave shape to subjective experi- offering instead a much less substantial stable body of knowledge, a form of ence; (d) a divorce from the past, from substitute in the form of virtual commu- content that we can read, digest, learn, a vital sense of history as a cumulative nities. and know, computers dispose us to or organic process; (e) an estrangement think differently – to be engaged in a from geographic place and commu- The global classroom does have a com- constantly changing process where nity; and (f) an absence of any strong munal atmosphere: it has interaction be- information is not stable or fixed. ([25] vision of a personal or collective tween students and teachers, and net- p. xxiii) future. ([3] p. 27) working and serendipitous encounters with other learners both those following The effects of this destabilisation on Birkerts acknowledges that these are the same course and those simply out social and personal assumptions has been enormous generalisations, but he feels browsing, searching or talking on the analysed at length by Poster [23], who that they accurately reflect the comments Internet. There is evidence of many of speaks of the dispersal of identity of his students about their own experi- the elements of traditional communities: through computer networking. ence. people help each other (by forwarding information to each other which they Finally, the cultural arguments against The educational argument against global think will be of interest; they answer global education systems are equally education centres on the undesirable queries from strangers, providing them compelling, and harken back, of course, aspects of consumerism, wherein learn- with the benefits of their expertise, for no to old concerns about imperialist atti- ing ceases to be about analysis, discus- personal gain; they trade confidences and tudes, the loss of indigenous cultures and sion and examination, and becomes a intimacies; they play games together; the relentless imposition of Western val- product to be bought and sold, to be they meet regularly. Nevertheless, some ues. Global educators are seen as the new packaged, advertised and marketed. In observers of this new phenomenon see colonisers, insensitively spreading their the previous section I presented the case great danger and significant social loss in own views of the world onto developing in favour of competition in course provi- the demise of physical community and its

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 71 nations in the mistaken belief that they these criteria; indeed, I have not found a 1 A global student body are actually helping people: single course which has all of these char- By far the largest number of ‘pseudo- acteristics. My list is roughly in order of The access to this sort of provision can global’ courses – and most originate significance: be seen to have considerable educa- from North America – have no face-to- tional (and possibly, social and eco- 1. students spread roughly evenly in three face requirements, and all course mate- nomic) benefits to a developing nation. or more countries of the world rial, administration and support are pro- However, as an invasion, it can be seen vided either electronically or by post. 2. an express aim on the part of the to weaken national initiatives to The majority of students are North teacher or institution to attract interna- develop local educational provision Americans, but occasionally a student tional participation which might be better suited to local abroad (British or Australian perhaps) needs. It also creates the potential for a 3. course content which is devised with will hear of the course and ask to enrol, post-colonial dependency on another trans-national participation in mind particularly in specialist areas where a ‘developed’ nation. [9] similar offering is not available locally. 4. support structures – both institutional More commonly, a number of North and technological – to tutor and Evans argues that despite the value of Americans move abroad or are sent by administer to a global student body. global education in offering diversity of their company during the period of the choice, this comes at the expense of course or programme, and they continue For the purposes of this article I am not encouraging local initiatives which value their studies from the new country. These going to consider the various global ini- local culture and promote national be- courses are global in fact but not in spirit tiatives operating at the level of primary liefs, skills and knowledge. The potential – the content has not been altered; the and secondary education. While some of power of globalised teaching to spread interactions are amongst people of the the issues I discuss will also apply to dominant ideologies and to crush emerg- same culture; the institution has not been some extent to these schemes – cultural ing structures, whether wittingly or re-engineered for a global mission. benefits and threats, cognitive effects of unwittingly, is the main cause for con- computerisation and screen-based learn- cern. Moore, who also expresses concern Nevertheless, there are some courses and ing, educational value of a global cur- about the cultural implications of global even programmes currently taking place riculum – I want to focus primarily on education, says that truly international which have students from a number of the higher education sector (including distance education courses would involve different countries and cultural back- training and professional updating), and all participants (including the teachers, grounds. For example, many training on the notion of a university without experts and Western students) in a re- programmes offered by global companies place, rather than on a classroom without examination of their educational philoso- have trainees in North America, Europe, walls. phies, their views of the subject being Asia and Africa following the same taught and their cultural perspective of course. The delivery medium is usually Secondly, I know that there have been a the content of the course. In practice, he satellite television with the employees number of global programmes running feels, Westerners tend to be arrogantly accessing from the workplace. for some time, even quite large-scale uncritical of the assumptions underlying operations, which are based on print and their teaching and unreflective of their 2 An international aim postal systems only. I do not intend to fitness for teaching across cultures ([19] include these non-telecommunications A most interesting class of courses are p. 189). based programmes within the compass of those where the instructor, often a single my discussions, because I consider that enthusiast within the institution, designs Current practice they have been effectively superseded by and writes a course (usually Web-based) the advent of the Internet and global and makes it available globally to anyone I have presented some of the most signif- telecommunications systems. In fact, with access. In many respects this ‘early icant views of the enthusiasts and practi- many of these programmes are already adopter’ class of courses provides the tioners of global education and have out- beginning to introduce elements of model of best practice for true globalisa- lined the wider pressures leading to the telecommunications into their support or tion. The big difference obviously, is that global expansion of higher education. I administrative procedures. these courses are free, are not accredited have also represented the arguments of and usually ‘one-off’. Because of their those concerned with the negative impact As is apparent from some of my argu- outstanding success, the instigators move of global education. So having briefly ments so far, I will include current de- on to institutionalising (accrediting, considered why it is happening, I turn bates surrounding Virtual Universities charging, marketing) them. One example now to an analysis of what is happening and on-line courses, whether or not they has already been mentioned: the Princi- under the guise of global education. are actually operating globally, because ples of Protein Structures at Birkbeck the issues and outcomes of these prac- (http://www.cryst.bbk.ac.uk/PPS/index.ht I suggested earlier that there is a good tices are fundamental to global educa- ml). Others in this category continue to deal less global education being practised tion; indeed they are the forerunners of it. be offered in their original form: for than would be imagined from reading example, Roadmap is a free, twenty- newspaper articles, browsing the Web or Using the four attributes of a global seven lesson Internet training course listening to media hype. Let me begin course listed above, I can discuss current which 80,000 people in 77 countries had with a listing of the various elements practice on a continuum from courses taken by email in 1994, and by 1995, the which characterise global education. with global aspirations to those already number had increased to 500,000. Spec- Many self-designated global courses are in operation. trum Virtual University offers free in progress which do not meet all of courses about the Web and the Internet,

72 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 as well as ‘focus groups’ for ‘hands-on’ 4 Global support structures • global research projects, in which par- learning in small exploratory teams ticipants communicate, exchange data Very few universities have developed (http://horizons.org). and draft joint reports and books elec- truly global support structures; the train- tronically, using simple email, audio- ing programmes within globalised indus- A few courses specifically aimed at a graphics, videoconferencing and tries are probably closer to realising this global audience, which nevertheless are CUSeeMe on the Internet aspect of global education. Whilst the fee-paying, accredited and on-going, do Internet (in the form of electronic mail) • consortia development activities, in exist, and many more are in the planning provides a relatively trouble-free mecha- which perspective partners develop stages. See, for example, the Graduate nism for administration, sending in mutual understandings which are Certificate in Open and Distance Learn- assignments and receiving one-to-one intended to lead to global educational ing by the University of Southern tutoring, none of these features scale up partnerships, or, as with the Globewide Queensland (http://www.usq.edu.au), and to handling large numbers of students. Network Academy satellite videocon- the UKOU’s Masters Degree in the same Indeed, what we find most commonly, is ferences, which foster a climate for subject (http://www-iet.open.ac.uk/iet/ that any course or programme operating global educational activity iet.html). globally, is only doing so with very small • conferences held electronically, using numbers of students (typically under 100, 3 A multi-cultural course the Web, computer conferencing, list- and usually closer to 20). Frequently the content servs or videoconferencing, either as a course is administered and tutored by the substitute for any face-to-face meeting There have for many years been twinning course author – what can be categorised or as a method of extending access to projects between universities in which as a one-man band! those unable to attend physically (two one (usually a Western) institution devel- examples are Teleteaching 96, Virtual ops a course or programme in conjunc- In many respects, the technology is not in University Web-based discussion at tion with one or several (usually non- place yet to manage large-scale global http://www2.openweb.net.au/TT96Uni Western) institutions. Recently, the teaching. The aspects of support required versity/, and [1]). courses resulting from these collabora- in global courses include: tions have been delivered electronically. • global programmes in which the • a system for many-to-many communi- The Télé-université in Quebec has car- administrators and/or the tutors com- cation, such that students can interact ried out this kind of course development municate electronically, but the stu- not only with the tutor, but also with with other French-speaking nations [29] dents do not other students, and is accessible at rea- for example, and many universities have sonable speeds and reasonable cost on • global videoconferencing in the work- long standing arrangements with institu- a global level place for such activities as presentations in South America, Asia and Russia. tions to all employees, for product pro- • a system for handling the electronic motions, job interviewing, or interna- A number of franchise arrangements also submission of assignments, both for tional project work. fall into this category – the core content the purposes of annotating, comment- remains the same, but the local institution ing and marking by the tutor, but also The point is that these activities promote adapts the material (by translation, by for recording, monitoring and storing understanding and acceptance of including local case study material, or by by the accrediting institution telecommunications media and develop customising the length or degree of diffi- • a system for marketing courses and relevant technical and social skills in culty of the material). The resulting programmes, handling registrations, handling global communications. course is often of very high quality, con- fees and queries from around the taining the best of both worlds – an inter- world, preferably electronically. national perspective with a grounding in Global institutions local or national concerns. The UKOU Examples of these systems operating has large programmes in Eastern Europe, What I have presented so far is a picture, more or less successfully do exist, but Singapore and Hong Kong which demon- not of a revolution in the higher educa- certainly not on any large scale. Monash strate this quality of globalisation [27]. tion sector, but more of a sliding scale University has a system for managing the from ‘traditional’ distance education, to electronic submission of assignments Finally, there are a range of collabora- international distance education, to on- [17]; a number of universities use various tively developed courses across all areas line courses to virtual universities and computer conferencing systems on an of the curriculum which encompass the finally edging to globalisation. Most of international level for many-to-many perspectives of different cultures and the operations are piecemeal, consisting communication [13] and a combination approaches to the discipline. Gayol de- of a good deal of flag-waving from of Web pages, Web forms and email, scribes the activities of NADERN, the senior staff, or idealistic visions of new allow many on-line courses to be advert- North American Distance Education and educational paradigms from educational ised electronically and for perspective Research Network [12] and the ‘What is technologists, or financial officers rubb- students to register and obtain further Europe’ course authored by several Euro- ing their hands in expectation, but at the information. [7] pean institutions is another example. end of the day, a very few academics actually delivering something that could While the number of truly global courses The shortcoming of most of these pro- be called global in parts. is quite small, there are many global grammes is that the student body remains activities and events taking place within national, and therefore does not benefit I turn now to the question of who is lead- the higher education and training sectors. from interaction with students or teachers ing the globalisation movement. One These can be categorised as: from a mix of countries.

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 73 response can be given with certainty: it is stages of consolidation and have not life-long learning opportunities and just- not the established institutions! This is established a reputation. Without a doubt, in-time training resources to what has not surprising considering their invest- consortia of all kinds will become the always been the market monopolised by ment in physical buildings, their aca- norm in the long term development and universities and continuing education demic traditions and their self-imposed large scale build-up of global education. units, has caused ripples of alarm in all guardianship of quality, standards and The complexities of teaching, administer- but the most un-reconstructed universi- research. One then looks to the newer ing, supporting and developing global ties [18]. The natural advantages which institutions as being more flexible, more programmes makes this an obvious solu- these new providers have over the estab- in need of making their mark and more tion for the university sector to adopt in lished education sector are: desperate to find sources of income. Cer- responding to the pressures for globalised • in many cases they control the means tainly this sector has adopted computer education. of delivery technology more wholeheartedly and is experimenting more readily with various Another, slightly different solution has • they do not carry the academic ‘bag- forms of distance education. However, it appeared very recently, arising from the gage’ of established institutions and faces many internal barriers: university sector but based on the new are free from their bureaucratic and cyber-speak. These are the virtual univer- entrenched attitudes to education • lack of appropriate staff training in sities, designed for a global platform and order to teach with new technologies • as ‘green field’ sites they can set up operating purely electronically. Some are systems geared specifically to a global • lack of an appropriate reward structure idealistic and visionary in aim, such as market, rather than having to adapt to attract staff to adopt new methods the Globewide Network Academy (http:// existing procedures uu-gna.mit.edu:8001/uu-gna/index.html), • lack of resource to fund the develop- although this originated in 1994, Spec- • they hire content specialists from tradi- ment of global courses. trum Virtual University (http://horizons. tional universities, but do not suffer the org) and Virtual Online University expense of supporting a research pro- In fact, many of the ‘one-man band’ (http://www.athena.edu); others are gramme from the teaching revenues. global courses do come from institutions avowedly ‘for profit’ such as Phoenix (usually teaching face-to-face) where one University (http://www.uophx.edu) and These points raise many questions about or two early adopters are enthusiastically IMLearn (http://www.imlearn.com). The quality, accreditation, and ultimately the going ahead with little institutional sup- scale of these operations is variable: notion of graduate-ness and the purpose port and much hard work, simply be- many of them on investigation prove to of universities. They are not issues spe- cause they are committed to the princi- be working from one office; others have cific to global education, nor are they ples or enjoy the actual practice. significant numbers (e.g. 2000 registered new problems to the education sector. for on-line course at Phoenix University), Several examples include: The distance teaching universities are although very few students will be non- obvious candidates for leading the field • The Global Telecommunications nationals. On the whole, these are not in the globalisation movement. While the Training Institute is a brokerage ser- universities in the commonly accepted UKOU is one of the most prominent, vice of distance learning courses to sense of the term: they borrow academics many distance teaching institutions supply training on-line for staff of from other institutions rather than fund whether dedicated or dual mode, have telecommunications companies world- their own established full-time faculty; some partially global courses – franchis- wide. It is based in Geneva, and is cur- they do not cover a full range of disci- ing systems, arrangements with one or rently in the planning stages. pline areas; they do not fund research two other countries, or a few Web-based (http://www3.itu.ch/VTC/gtu_gtti.htm) programmes and they do not support courses being piloted to test the global what is usually called an academic envi- • Microsoft Online Institute (MOLI) is waters. Nevertheless, these institutions ronment. Nevertheless, they provide an on-line education programme which also have entrenched attitudes, bureau- courses which people want; they are cap- at the moment is used only for promot- cratic procedures and general inertia to italising on the phenomenal growth of ing Microsoft product training and cer- overcome before launching themselves the Internet and are trail-blazing the tification. Trainees download course as global institutions. Re-engineering an global pathways for others. materials from the Virtual Campus educational institution to teach in new Environment, and can engage in real ways, with new media, to new kinds of There exists one final model which might time discussion and feedback sessions students is not an overnight task. be said to be leading the field: the new with the tutor and other participants. educational providers. This group con- The system is built around Microsoft If one institution finds it difficult to gath- sists of organisations whose primary Network which ships with Windows er the necessary resources, train its staff business is not, or has not been, educa- ‘95. (http://www.microsoft. com) and provide whole programmes rather tion. Often they have services or products than odd courses, what about consortia? • Motorola University, Schaumburg, Il which have now become central to the In fact, many of these exist both nation- is part of the growing trend for corpo- delivery of global education. The obvi- ally and trans-nationally to share delivery rate universities to move to the Virtual ous examples are the telecommunications technologies, course development, Campus model, by making strategic providers, whether satellites, cable, tele- accreditation mechanisms, marketing and alliances with universities and on-line phone or combinations. Other examples registration procedures and programme providers. For example, using the en- come from the computer and software planning. Some of these are well-known, gineering courses offered by the industries. The advent of these new such as the National Technological Uni- National Technological University providers offering professional updating versity; many others are still in the early (NTU), Motorola has over 300 engi- programmes, adult education courses,

74 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 neers in North America and Asia fol- The implication of this list is that text, Those accessing from abroad usually use lowing masters degree programmes. audio and video are discrete media. the Internet; those living locally use a By acting as NTU’s main customer in While this is partially true today, the evo- modem over telephone lines. The pri- Asia, they made it possible for NTU to lution of all these systems is towards mary use is for students to ask questions establish an Asian service, and now integration – of real time and asyn- of the tutor, but an additional use is the other global companies such as chronous access, of resource material and electronic submission of assignments, as Hewlett-Packard have joined, making communication, of text and video. an attachment to a mail message. This is it possible to justify one full transpon- the simplest and most accessible of all der devoted to delivering NTU pro- I have not included multimedia CD- the telecommunications technologies, grammes in Asia. ROMs in this list. Although they com- with the possible exception of FAX. (http://www.mot.com/) bine elements of text, audio and video and have tremendous potential as stimu- More commonly in distance education, a • Mind Extension University is founded lating learning resources, they lack the proprietary computer conferencing sys- by Glenn Jones to extend equality of main ingredient of person-to-person tem is used. FirstClass is a very success- opportunity for higher education to interaction. Furthermore, they are diffi- ful product amongst educators, and Lotus those unable to attend on-campus cult and costly to update, and problem- Notes is common particularly in Business classes. Using a satellite and cable atic as a global distribution medium. All Schools and in training organisations. television network dedicated to dis- of these disadvantages of CD-ROMs are Microsoft Exchange is a new system tance education, it offers many courses overcome, however, in my fourth tech- which is expected to have very wide- and degree programmes through 30 nology, which is the rising star of global spread use. Several others are also popu- regionally-accredited universities and education delivery: lar, and a number of institutions have education providers. (http://www.meu. designed their own, with a purpose-built edu:80/meu/) • the World Wide Web, which integrates interface for the facilities they offer. text, audio and video, both as pre-pre- Computer conferencing systems allow pared clips and as live interactive sys- students on one course to share discussion Technologies for teaching tems, both real time and stored to be areas, to have sub-conferences for small accessed later, and furthermore pro- at a distance groups, and to have easy access to all the vides text-based interaction as well as course messages throughout the length of That computer technologies change and access to educational resources of the course. Computer conferencing sys- evolve more quickly than books about unprecedented magnitude. tems are slightly more complex than them can be published, is obvious fact. email: they may require the student to But educational use of computer and I will discuss each of these four media in have client software; a faster modem may telecommunications technologies, or at turn, looking at the main educational be necessary or at least highly desirable; least widespread take-up by institutions, advantages and disadvantages and con- and in the case of Microsoft Exchange, a is much slower, so that it is possible to sidering their potential for global course personal computer of a particular specifi- discuss current delivery technologies and delivery. cation is necessary. speculate about trends with some degree of certainty about the direction, if not the Text-based systems MOOs are a text-based virtual reality details, of global education delivery Without a doubt the most commonly development from MUDs, an acronym media. As I mentioned earlier, it is dis- used technology for communicating with for Multi-User Dungeon, a class of pro- tance education, as presently practised students at a distance, is computer con- grams for playing dungeons and dragons usually on a national scale, which is the ferencing. Text-based interaction, over a network. From these real time, forerunner and first pioneer of global whether many-to-many in conferences, text adventure games evolved the MOO, education. It therefore makes sense to or one-to-one in electronic mail, is prac- which stands for MUD, Object-Oriented. study the technologies in use today, in tised at most institutions of higher educa- Unlike conventional chat rooms, MOOs order to assess the benefits and limitation, whether students are geographically allow the manipulation and interaction tions of various media for the global edu- remote, or actually on campus. In fact, with cyber-objects as part of the commu- cation of tomorrow. with the change towards the new major- nication with other people. When inte- ity (students who are older, or have some grated into the learning experience, There are three broad categories within kind of part-time employment, or have MOOs can be used to create an environ- which current technologies can be divid- family commitments or other barriers to ment in which students interact more ed: attending campus full-time), many face- directly with the course ideas than they • text based systems, including elec- to-face teaching institutions use text- would in an unstructured discussion. tronic mail, computer conferencing, based interaction as a means of commu- real time chat systems, MUDS/MOOs, nicating with students, thereby reducing Text-based systems can be divided acc- and many uses of the World Wide Web their dependence on physical attendance ording to whether they are primarily syn- on campus at specific times. The term chronous or asynchronous in use. More • audio conferencing and audio exten- ‘close-distance education ‘ is used to accurately, while the technologies usu- sions such as audiographics, and audio describe this new phenomenon. ally support both, in practice, one or the on the Internet other is the primary intended use, and • videoconferencing, one way and two Some institutions use standard electronic this influences the design of the interac- way, video on the Internet with prod- mail systems (which include the facility tion features. Most text-based communi- ucts like CUSeeMe, and other visual for sending messages to a group) to com- cation systems are used primarily to sup- media such as video clips on the Web . municate with students at a distance. port students (with the contents of the

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 75 course delivered through some other are deterred from putting in messages ISDN, which stands for Integrated Ser- medium); however, some educators run themselves. Finally, the openness of vices Digital Network, is a set of interna- ‘on-line courses’ in which the primary these systems to anyone, anytime to tional switching standards to which content of the course is the discussions make their opinion known, to respond to world-wide telecommunications provid- and activities taking place amongst the other viewpoints and to engage in dia- ers are recommended to adhere. How- students. As this technology has been in logue, is true in theory, but in reality, ever, to date there is no universal agree- use on a relatively large scale for nearly messages not following the main thrust ment regarding the standards. As an inte- ten years, and as some of these uses have of the discussion (i.e. keeping up with the grated digital network, it can be used for involved students in many different ongoing conversation) tend to be ignor- more than one service, and in most edu- countries, it is the most obvious area to ed. Abuses of the openness of the system, cational contexts, this involves telephony study for issues arising from global edu- such as flaming, harassment, and anti- (voice) and data (graphics or moving cation. social behaviour, have driven participants image). away and generally damaged both the One of the major advantages of text-based image and the value of text-based com- Audio over the Internet is a developing media is that they facilitate interaction for munication (although this is much less technology which a number of educa- those using their second language. Most prevalent in educational than social tional institutions are trialing. RealAudio, people are better able to write in another uses). So what was originally hailed as a for example, is a product which allows language than speak. Furthermore, asyn- new democratising medium, inherently real time lectures on a global scale chronous systems allow time for reading more open than other modes of commu- (http://www.realaudio.com/), but interna- messages slowly and composing a nication has been shown in practice over tional Internet connections are too slow response with the aid of a dictionary. Not time to be as flawed as the human beings to permit multi-way audio interaction. surprisingly, there are a range of very suc- who use it. Nevertheless, for some Many distance education systems have cessful asynchronous text-based pro- groups of people, text-based interaction involved sending audio cassettes out to grammes at an international level for sec- allows access to education in a form students through the post. With audio on ond language teaching. Usually they pro- ideally suited to their situation. the Internet products like RealAudio, it is vide natural language practice with possible for large numbers of students mother-tongue speakers, which is much Audio systems around the world to access these ‘broad- more engaging and profitable education- casts’ in real or delayed time. Straight audio conferencing using ordi- ally than artificial classroom practice. nary telephone lines is a ‘low-tech’ solu- The UKOU is developing the use of tion to supporting students around the Another primary advantage of any text- RealAudio to deliver a global lecture and world, due to the near ubiquity of the based system for global education is that discussion session with a series of telephone. Many print-based distance many people world-wide can access them experts. The interface which has been education programmes use audio confer- using a personal computer and telephone developed on the Web to support the encing to help motivate students, and it line from their home. In fact, although events, is called the KMi Stadium, and has also been used for small group col- there are a few uses of real time chat or provides facilities for slides associated laborative work at post graduate level even computer conferencing in which with the lecture. Plans are in hand to [4]. Nevertheless, there are few uses of students go to a study centre, campus develop a range of other tools to provide this technology in group discussion mode computer room or training centre, most a greater sense of a global audience: indi- (as opposed to simple student to tutor uses of these systems are from the stu- cations of how many concurrent partici- phone calls) in international programmes dent’s own machine (whether at home or pants there are, buttons to show agree- of distance education. Audio conferences in the workplace). ment or disagreement with the lecturers are difficult to manage with more than ideas etc. half a dozen sites, although it is possible My third advantage of text-based systems to increase the number of participants by KMi Stadium is an experiment in very is rather more contentious. Much has having groups of students at each site. large scale telepresence. We are been made of the equalising effects of enhancing existing media and develop- textual communication – the concentra- An extension of pure voice interaction is ing new media intended to give partici- tion on what is said rather than who says audiographics: voice plus a shared screen pants a sense of ‘being there’ at events it. While it remains the case that the dis- for drawing or sharing pre-prepared of all kinds, including master classes, abled and the disadvantaged can partici- graphics. Whilst this technology has had performances, tutorials, conferences, pate without the usual judgmental reac- more extensive use in distance education, workshops, ceremonies, parties, jam tions, text-based systems do not remove and examples of it being used between sessions, recitals, industrial training bias and ‘advantage’, they merely shift it two sites in different countries do exist, I sessions, university lectures, training around a bit. Clearly those who have reg- know of only one international, multi-site on demand, town hall meetings, ular access (for example, from both work use in an educational application [16]. As debates, and so on. For us, ‘being and home) or have no concern about the with audio conferencing, audiographics there’ is not primarily about Virtual cost of access, are advantaged in terms of use with more than two sites requires an Reality per se, although VR can cer- being able to participate in discussions audio bridge to connect all the lines tainly help. Rather, it is a question of more easily than those who have together. There is no technical barrier to capturing the right participative restricted access and cost considerations. doing this internationally, except cost. aspects of audience presence (such as Furthermore, those who have good writ- Some systems use the Internet to carry applauding, laughing, shouting, asking ing skills tend to dominate by the very the data; others combine both voice and questions, whispering to neighbours) quality of their messages, in that less lit- data on an ISDN line. and harnessing those aspects to convey erate participants defer to them or simply

76 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 as much of the mood of an event as cally for the education market user’s machine) requests a particular doc- possible. We are interested in telepres- (http://www. picturetel.com/). Socrates is ument from a Web server (a program ence at both live events and on- an integrated presentation station with a running on a computer whose purpose is demand replays, because we believe touch sensitive screen which allows the to serve documents to other computers that both types of event are enhanced lecturer to see, on one window of the upon request). Having transmitted the by a sense of the presence of others. lectern, exactly what is being shown to documents, the server then terminates the (Eisenstadt, http://kmi.open.ac.uk/sta- students locally and remotely, and on connection. This procedure allows dium/) another window, to preview the visual servers to handle many thousands of aids prepared for the lecture or to browse requests per day. Videoconferencing the remote sites. Exciting new Web developments which Some educators feel that video is not Streaming video on the Internet is anoth- add features useful for students and func- necessary in supporting students at a dis- er developing technology, technically tions appropriate for course delivery are tance, and that audio, especially audio- feasible today, but restricted by the band- announced regularly. Some examples graphics works better because it concen- width available internationally. In theory include: trates attention on content rather than dis- this allows the image to be downloaded • functionalities for supporting anima- tracting the learners’ attention with the by remote sites in real time. What is tion effects, thus making documents visual image of the speaker. For them, more realistic today, is video clips inte- more dynamic the significantly higher cost of providing grated with text-based material, to illus- video is not justified by the educational trate and highlight, rather than to deliver • facilities for handling forms, and input benefits. Others feel that we live in a large amounts of course content. to forms (useful for course registration, visual age in which it makes no sense to evaluation, and other kinds of restrict the learner to audio exchange. The Web questionnaires) Video, when well used, contributes to the There is little doubt that the Web is the • support for presenting tables, footnotes motivation of the student, makes the most phenomenally successful education- and mathematical symbols learning environment more social, and al tool to have appeared in a long time. It facilitates the delivery of exceptional • features to simplify page development combines all the media described above: learning materials in almost every area of and editing text, text-based interaction, audio and the curriculum (see [15]). video as clips, and, with somewhat less • improvements to the search facilities robustness, multi-way interactive audio One way video (with two way audio) • greater functionality to the communi- and video. Its application in global edu- systems have widespread application in cation systems linked to Web pages. cation is unquestioned. Although access North American distance education and to the Internet is hardly universal, and training in national and international I have referred to the possibilities of large segments of the global population companies. Many of these systems use audio and video on the Internet. One of are more remote from access to it satellite delivery to extend coverage. The the mechanisms for implementing this is (whether through cost, or through un- educational paradigm of most pro- through the programming language call- availability at any cost) than they are to grammes is the lecture at a distance, with ed Java and the HotJava browser: print and post based systems of distance students watching either from smaller education, nevertheless, vast numbers of HotJava interprets embedded applica- colleges, in the workplace, or (most com- people world-wide do have access, many tion tags by downloading and monly) later on recorded video at home. from their home, and this access is grow- executing the specified program within A very great deal of distance training is ing exponentially. the WWW environment. The specified carried out by videoconferencing, some program can be an interactive game, of it internationally. The Web is merely a collection of proto- animation or sound files, or any other cols and standards which define access to interactive program. Also, when a file Two way videoconferencing over ISDN information on the Internet. The three or application requires particular view- is beginning to take over from the one defining characteristics of the Web are: ers, such as for video, Java anticipates way systems, and a number of multi-site this and calls these viewers up auto- applications are in use, for example, in • the use of URLs (Universal Resource matically. ([6], Interface 3) Australia [14]. Global interoperability of Locators) which provide the address- ISDN systems is still problematic due to ing system Now that it is possible to download pro- the lack of agreement about standards, • the HTTP standard (Hypertext Trans- grams from the Web along with data, and but international point-to-point and even fer Protocol) by which the delivery of to receive the appropriate software to multi-point videoconferences do take requested information is transacted handle the program automatically, the place daily in the workplace and are rela- institution wanting to deliver course tively frequent occurrences amongst edu- • the development of HTML (Hypertext material can manage the maintenance cational institutions, although usually not Markup Language) through which and updating of any software required for directly for teaching. As with internation- links between documents and parts of the course. The student no longer needs al audio conferencing, the barriers to documents are made. to struggle with the installation of mass- extensive use are primarily financial, not ive packages, and, furthermore, can use a technological. Fundamental to the nature of the Web is relatively low cost machine – even a its client-server architecture, whereby the portable. PictureTel has designed a videoconfer- client (Web software residing on the encing system called Socrates specifi-

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 77 Synchronous versus asyn- • time to reflect – rather than having to of synchronous interaction included are react ‘on one’s feet’, asynchronous almost as varied as the number of institu- chronous distance educa- systems allow the learner time to mull tions providing distance education. Here tion over ideas, check references, refer are just a few examples: back to previous messages and take • University of Twente, the Netherlands, As is apparent in this description of dif- any amount of time to prepare a com- an advanced level course about tele- ferent technologies for delivering educa- ment learning developed and taught by Dr. tion at a distance, some of the systems • situated learning – because the tech- Betty Collis, consisting of some face- rely on real time interaction, while others nology allows access from home and to-face meetings as well as extensive can be accessed asynchronously. This work, the learner can easily integrate use of the Web for resource material, difference has major implications for the the ideas being discussed on the course for collaborative activities and for dis- design and delivery of distance educa- with the working environment, or cussion. In 1996, for example, the tion, as well as for the study require- access resources on the Internet as course had two students participating ments of the learner. There are advan- required on the job from outside the Netherlands, and all tages to both forms and in the end, 33 students operating in their second personal learning styles and the larger • cost-effective technology – text based or third language. (http://www.to. educational context determine what is asynchronous systems require little utwente.nl/ism/online96/campus.htm) most appropriate. bandwidth and low end computers to operate, thus access, particularly • The Open University of Catalonia, Collis [6] identifies four basic patterns of global access is more equable. Spain currently offers courses to over communication in the learning environ- 200 students in the Catalan region, ment: Synchronous delivery beginning with programmes in business studies or educational psychol- • telling, which in the asynchronous There are four equally compelling advan- ogy. Delivery mechanisms include mode has traditionally been the printed tages to synchronous systems, although I print, multimedia CD-ROMs, videos text, but increasingly is taking on a am less confident of general agreement and tapes; support media include elec- new form in hypertext Web pages, al- about the order: tronic mail and study meetings held though many conventional linear texts, twice a semester in resource centres articles, reports and original works are • motivation – synchronous systems linked up by fibre optic cable for also available on the Internet focus the energy of the group, provid- videoconferencing. (The Financial ing motivation to distance learners to • asking, which can take place through Times, October 3, 1995) keep up with their peers and continue text messages via email or computer with their studies • Nova Southeastern, Florida, has an conference, through real time text chat M.S. and Ed.D programme in instruc- systems, or through any of the audio • telepresence – real time interaction tional technology and distance educa- systems with its opportunity to convey tone and tion, using electronic mail and bulletin nuance helps to develop group cohe- • responding, which also is supported in boards, and audio conferences and sion and the sense of being part of a delayed time through asynchronous face-to-face ‘summer institutes’. They learning community systems, and much more immediately claim to have graduates in 50 states of through synchronous systems • good feedback – synchronous systems the US and 35 foreign countries. provide quick feedback on ideas and (http://alpha.acast.nova.edu/) • discussion, or collaborative work support consensus and decision mak- amongst small groups of students, • George Washington University, Wash- ing in group activities, both of which which can take place over an extended ington D. C. is a member of the Mind enliven distance education time period through computer confer- Extension University (ME/U), a cable encing, or for much shorter periods via • pacing – synchronous events encour- television network dedicated to dis- audiographics. age students to keep up-to-date with tance education. The universities affili- the course and provide a discipline to ated with ME/U offer undergraduate The following list details the major bene- learning which helps people to priori- and graduate courses in a range of sub- fits of each mode in an educational con- tise their studies. jects, using cable and satellite tele- text. vision and text-based asynchronous There are many distance teaching pro- conferencing. Students outside the US Asynchronous delivery grammes which are entirely asyn- are sent video recordings. (http://gwis. chronous (for example, those using print circ.gwu.edu/) There are four crucial advantages to the plus computer conferencing, or those asynchronous media and I have arranged • The Fuqua School of Business, Duke using the Web for both course delivery them in descending order of significance: University, North Carolina, offers a and interaction), and others which are global executive MBA using multiple • flexibility – access to the teaching (almost) entirely synchronous (for exam- international programme sites for resi- material (e.g. on the Web, or computer ple, those using videoconferencing for dential meetings, as well as email, bul- conference discussions) can take place delivery and interaction). However, the letin boards and streaming audio on at any time (24 hours of the day, 7 trend is very much towards combining the Web. Desktop videoconferencing days a week) and from many locations synchronous and asynchronous media in and CD-ROMs are also used occasion- (e.g. oil rigs) an attempt to capitalise on the evident ally. (http://www.fuqua.duke.edu/pro- benefits of both modes. The various per- grams/gemba) mutations of media use and the amount

78 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 • CALCampus, New York is an interna- Even though global videoconferences are With convergent technologies, this tional on-line learning centre offering held with some participants accessing at means that the subscribers, through high school and vocational courses ‘unusual’ times, other solutions involve their respective learn stations, may be through the Internet. Two formats are something which might be called ‘fast able to see and talk to each other in provided: directed independent study asynchronous’. For example, the Univer- real time; to review a real-time discus- (using text-based material sent elec- sity of Phoenix operates an on-line text- sion that occurred earlier and perhaps tronically or by post) and live format based interactive system which is tightly make a non-real time follow-up contri- (using real time chat systems). (http: structured to provide daily flexibility but bution; as well as to participate in //www.calcampus.com) pacing and feedback similar to syn- familiar asynchronous computer con- chronous teaching: ferencing discussions. And even the • School of Industry and Technology, familiar asynchronous computer con- East Carolina University, has an M.S Each of your class meetings and the ference will benefit from the possibil- degree in Industrial Technology using accompanying class discussions will ity of multiple representational forms real-time chat, email, listservs, the be spread out over a full seven days, through the learner station – the tele- Web and CUSeeMe interactive video. giving you the weekends to get much learner may choose to send her contri- (http: //ecuvax.cis.ecu.edu) of your reading and papers completed. bution by text, by voice, or by video As discussions build throughout the • The Virtual College, New York Univer- clip; any combination of forms can be week, it is important to visit your sity, offers a small number of courses stored as a incoming contribution to an classroom at least five days out of using digital video and video for Notes asynchronous discussion, waiting to be every week, but at times you choose software from Lotus, which can be read, heard, or watched when the other and that best suit your individual cir- viewed in real time or downloaded for participants come to participate in the cumstances. Before each week of class local storage and viewing. [24] discussion. ([6] 10–10) begins, your instructor will typically • The Sloan School of Management, submit a lecture and review the assign- What is so remarkable about the Web, MIT, Massachusetts has combined ments for the upcoming week. Then, and undoubtedly accounting for its popu- satellite videoconferencing (to Singa- throughout the week, he or she will be larity with such a diversity of users, is its pore and China) and Web materials involved in the class discussions – pro- capacity to bring together a range of oth- and email communication with MIT viding expertise, guidance, feedback erwise disparate technologies, opportuni- students and faculty. [10] and answers to questions. ties for designing courses, and competing • OnLine Education, University of Pais- At the conclusion of each week, you providers of resources for learning. Its ley, Scotland, supplies course materi- will be asked to provide a summary of versatility can be summed up in the als both in hard copy and on a com- the concepts covered. Based upon your notion that anyone can publish and puter, which along with a modem and summary and contributions to the class broadcast on the Web and thus reach printer are delivered and set up in the discussions, your instructor will let large numbers of intended and unintend- student’s home. Live events take place you know how you are doing and ed receivers. Users can choose to access both face-to-face and by teleconfer- respond to any issues or concerns you learning materials, to communicate with ence, and students (in Hong Kong) might have. ([7] p. 328) fellow learners or to prepare their own communicate with their local tutor and personal pages. It supports real time per- with students in Scotland by email. Another solution might be called ‘pan- sonal interaction with its high telepres- (http://www.online.edu/online/online. synchronous’ to describe global events ence through visual and auditory connec- htm) such as the KMI Stadium lectures, which tion, yet it also provides outstanding many will access synchronously, yet oth- facilities for asynchronous resource shar- • Birkbeck College, part of London Uni- ers can access individually or form ing and communication. versity offers a global Web-based groups to participate in on-demand course on the Principles of Protein replays anytime thereafter. Regardless of how technology evolves in Structures which includes the use of a the foreseeable future, the Web has defi- MOO to provide real-time interaction. nitely set the benchmark against which (http://www.cryst.bbk.ac.uk/PPS/index Merging synchronous and any new media for global education will .html) asynchronous learning be measured. It would be difficult to overstate the Much of the above discussion implies importance of flexibility to most distance that learning itself happens syn- Global technologies here education students. The pressures of chronously or asynchronously. In fact, modern life are such that most people and now what we have been describing are tools, demand programmes which allow them materials and events which aid the learn- If the Web is so powerful and so success- to fit their studying in and around many ing process. What is at issue is how to ful, and so appropriate for global educa- other commitments. Nonetheless, it is meet students’ needs, both for consider- tion, why are other media still being equally the case that most people find able flexibility in when and from where used? I will outline a range of reasons synchronous events very beneficial for they access course material, as well as which apply to current conditions: their learning. Obviously synchronous for the galvanising power of real time events raise even more problems in events to keep them on track. The fol- Inertia global education than in asynchronous lowing scenario by Collis provides a distance education, because of the vast Many institutions have been using other vision of how technologies are converg- differences in time zones world-wide. media for a number of years, have natu- ing to satisfy both these needs:

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 79 rally built up professional expertise introduction of remote students at other CBT (computer-based training). In addi- amongst the teaching staff, have develop- sites does have some effect on the teach- tion to on-line registration, scheduling ed courses to work with those media and ing strategy (the need to acknowledge the and testing, the system allows the institu- have attracted a market to fill those remote sites while lecturing, the extra tion to determine how many trainees are courses. These are persuasive reasons for work involved in preparing visual teach- accessing the CBT courses, how much remaining with the status quo, while the ing materials) and requires administrative time each individual spends working Web technologies begin to stabilise and and technical support in managing stu- through the material and whether they the early adopters have begun to develop dents at other sites, on the whole the passed the test at the end. some indicators of best practice. These delivery and presentation of the course arguments apply particularly to the large material need not alter. Translating a lec- The kind of tracking which is important numbers of organisations using computer ture-based course to the Web, even in the education sector, is slightly differ- conferencing. What will persuade them assuming that clips of lectures were ent. Tutors using text-based interactive to move to Web-based courses is a con- included, would require a significant re- systems need to know how often their ferencing system integrated with Web engineering of the course, from an essen- students are logging on, whether they are pages and offering the full range of facil- tially didactic model to a resource-based contributing regularly, and who has read ities they have relied on in current propri- model. Although many lecturers will particular messages. This information is etary computer conferencing systems. welcome the opportunity to make this useful both on a daily basis throughout While Web-based interaction, similar to transition from videoconferencing to the the course, and at the end to assess the computer conferencing, is already avail- Web, some of those in areas of the cur- overall success of the course. If students able, the ‘look and feel’ of these systems riculum which are based on the accumu- are being marked on the quality of their is much less friendly and conducive to lation of factual information and under- contributions to discussions, it is impor- intimate, collaborative, and small group standing, will find their old approaches to tant for the tutor to be able to call up all interaction than current conferencing sys- teaching much more difficult to adapt. the inputs of an individual student. Most tems. This situation will definitely have Web-based conferencing systems do not changed within 12 to 18 months, and the Development costs provide this kind of support; some pro- added advantage of using the Web for prietary systems do have at least some of Apart altogether from entrenched delivery of course material, is bound to these features. Email and listservs of approaches and valued expertise, there is prevail. course have none of these. the cost of developing Web-based Approach to teaching courses. While it is common to hear academics talking glibly about putting their Conclusions Studies show that the approach to teach- lecture course on the Web, and it is sadly ing of those currently offering on-line all too common to find teaching materi- I have provided an overview of the pre- courses by computer conferencing is very als designed for a different delivery sent state of global education and dis- much a student-centred one [2]. The medium, ‘dumped’ on the Web, in fact it cussed the delivery media currently in environment of on-line text-based inter- is generally accepted that good Web use on distance education courses, divid- action, especially in asynchronous mode, materials need to be tailor made for the ing them into four categories according lends itself to a facilitative teaching role, medium, and should exploit at least the to whether they are based on text, audio rather than to a didactic or authoritarian graphical if not the audio and video capa- or video. I have described the ways in model. On-line courses usually centre bilities of the medium. Course content which the Web integrates all three, so around collaborative activities, simula- needs to be re-thought for the hypertext acting as the fourth category. tions and problem-based learning. This structure, for the possibility of collabora- paradigm of guided discovery learning is tive group work, and for the opportunity There is no perfect medium however, and the most obvious direction for Web- of interaction with the course materials. I have tried to highlight the primary based courses as well, because of the As with CD-ROM, this requires a team advantages and disadvantages of these combination of interactive multimedia approach, because the skills demanded systems, based on the often conflicting capability and the many-to-many com- range from content expertise and distance needs of learners. munication facilities, most of which will learning educational technology, to be used in asynchronous mode for some graphical design and broadcast skills. While it is still appropriate to talk about time to come. Consequently, the earliest synchronous and asynchronous systems, migration onto the Web will be from It will take time for sufficient resources this difference is falling away, as new those currently running on-line courses to be accumulated to produce high qual- developments aim to integrate the best of via computer conferencing, and perhaps ity programmes on the Web across a both worlds. The Web is the main tech- to a lesser extent via real-time chat sys- range of disciplines. Nevertheless, many nology to which all the others are con- tems. of these are in progress, and new courses verging, and its success derives from the are being offered on the Web every day. fact that it can be ‘all things to all peo- Most of the courses currently operating ple’. Except of course, if you do not have over videoconferencing systems are Administering global courses access or are never likely to be able to founded on an expository approach to afford it. There will continue to be a Systems such as PerformTrac from Com- teaching. One of the key advantages of place for ‘lower tech’ systems such as puter Knowledge International, have this medium particularly to large-scale computer conferencing and electronic been developed to provide basic adminis- adopters is that it does not disturb the tra- mail, and the length of this period trative functions for computer or ditional model of lecturers on the face-to- depends on how the Internet continues to telecommunications-based courses, par- face teaching campuses [15]. While the be funded in the future. Equally, there ticularly those in the training field using

80 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 will continue to be a place for distance 10 Feller, G. East meets West – Online. 22 June 1995. An international WWW taught courses, operating globally, but Internet World, March, 48–50, 1995. course. OLS News, 1995. not using any form of computer or telecommunications technology. All of 11 Field, J. Globalisation, consumption 23 Poster, M. The mode of information : these technologies, even those which use and the learning business. Distance poststructuralism and social context. unsophisticated computers or low band- Education, 16, (2), 1995. Cambridge, Polity Press, 1990. width, are less flexible, more costly and more complicated than the technology of 12 Gayol, Y. The role of culture in the 24 Reinhardt, A. New ways to learn. the book and ‘snail mail’. integration of distance education : the BYTE Magazine, March, 1995. Mexican perspective. In: Inter- nationalism in distance education : 25 Spender, D. Nattering on the Net : References a vision for higher education. M. women, power and cyberspace. Mel- Thompson, (ed.). Pennsylvania State bourne, Spinifex, 1995. 1 Anderson, T, Mason, R. International University, PA, 1996. (ACSDE computer conferencing for profes- Research Monograph No. 10.) 26 Talbott, S. The future does not com- sional development : the Bangkok pute. Sebastopol, CA, O’Reilly, project. The American Journal of 13 Harasim, L et al. Learning networks. 1995. Distance Education, 7, (2), 5–18, Cambridge, Mass., MIT Press, 1995. 1993. 27 Tait, A. From a domestic to an inter- 14 Latchem, C, Mitchell, J, Atkinson, R. national organization : the Open Uni- 2 Berge, Z. Personal communication, ISDN-based videoconferencing in versity UK and Europe. In: Interna- study to be published early 1997. Australian tertiary education. In: tionalism in distance education : a ISDN application in education and vision for higher education. Thomp- 3 Birkerts, S. The Gutenberg elegies : training. Mason, R and Bacsich, P son, M (ed.). Pennsylvania State Uni- the fate of reading in an electronic (eds.). London, The Institution of versity, PA, 1996. (ACSDE Research age. New York, Fawcett Columbine, Electrical Engineers, 1994. Monograph No. 10.) 1994. 15 Mason, R. Using communications 28 Trindade, A. Globalization of dis- 4 Burge, E, Roberts, J. Classrooms media in open and flexible learning. tance education : setting a trans- with a difference : a practical guide London, Kogan Page, 1994. Atlantic policy for collaboration. In: to the use of conferencing technolo- Internationalism in distance educa- gies. Toronto, The Ontario Institute 16 Mason, R. Evaluation report on tion : a vision for higher education. for Studies in Education, 1993. courses over JANUS – vol. 1. Brus- Thompson, M (ed.). Pennsylvania sels, European Commission, 1994. State University, PA, 1996. (ACSDE 5 Collins, M, Berge, Z. Student eval- (Delta Deliverable.) Research Monograph No. 10.) uation of computer conferencing in a (primarily) audioconferencing dis- 17 Mason, R. Using electronic network- 29 Umbriaco, M, Paquette, D. Courses tance learning course. In: Inter- ing for assessment. In: Open and dis- and graduate program development nationalism in distance education : tance learning today. Lockwood, F in DENAID (Distance Education, a vision for higher education. M. (ed.). London, Routledge, 1995. National and International Develop- Thompson, (ed.). Pennsylvania State ment). In: Internationalism in dis- University, PA, 1996. (ACSDE 18 Mason, R. Old world visits new. tance education : a vision for higher Research Monograph No. 10.) Innovations in Education and Train- education. Thompson, M (ed.). Penn- ing International, 33, (1), 68–69, sylvania State University, PA, 1996. 6 Collis, B. Tele-learning in a digital 1996. (ACSDE Research Monograph No. world : the future of distance learn- 10.) ing. London, International Thomson 19 Moore, M. Is there a cultural problem Computer Press, 1996. in international distance education? In: Internationalism in distance edu- 7 Corrigan, D. The Internet university : cation : a vision for higher educa- college courses by computer. USA, tion. Thompson, M (ed.). Pennsylva- Cape Software Press, 1996. nia State University, PA, 1996. (ACSDE Research Monograph No. 8 Edwards, R. Different discourses, 10.) discourses of difference : globalisation, distance education and open 20 O’Donnell, J. Teaching on the learning. Distance Education, 16, (2), Infobahn. In: The Internet university 1995. : college courses by computer. Corri- gan, D (ed.). USA, Cape Software 9 Evans, T. Globalisation, post- Press,1996. Fordism and open and distance education. Distance Education, 16, (2), 21 Open University. International strat- 1995. egy review. Internal Memorandum, 1995.

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 81 The future of learning BY ANTHONY W. BATES

It is argued that the rapidly changing lucrative market. Is there an alternative to The costs of hardware and the cost of context of adult learning requires Japanese and American-originated ‘low producing multimedia materials are also equally rapid and radical changes in quality edutainment’? Is this the educa- dropping rapidly. ‘Stand-alone’ com- teaching methods and methods of de- tional equivalent of cheap textiles and puter-based learning will become even livery, with profound implications for cars? Does it matter if multinational more powerful as artificial intelligence the organization of post-secondary media organizations turn education into a and virtual reality develop. institutions. business, and people buy their products? However, while ‘stand-alone’ applica- The multimedia WWW-presentation1 While there are important roles to be tions of multimedia will continue to be on which this paper is based gives played by private sector organizations in important in education, a much more sig- examples of some of the new teaching the education and training of adults, there nificant development is the application of strategies that are being developed are many reasons why a strong public high-speed multimedia networks for edu- which are moving in the directions sector presence is needed in adult educa- cational purposes. As well as the conver- needed. As the technologies converge, tion. However, in order to win and main- gence of different media within a com- and as access to computers and high- tain public sector support, the public sec- mon computer platform, we are also see- speed networks increase, it will tor will need radical changes in its app- ing the convergence of the previously become increasingly possible to pro- roach to teaching and learning. This will separate technologies and industries of vide learners with any course, any time require a clear and shared vision of the computing, telecommunications and tele- and anywhere they need it. future that we want, a determined and co- vision. For instance, in April 1994, Sten- It is critical for government, employers ordinated policy approach, and partner- tor, an alliance of Canadian telephone and educational institutions to work ship between government, employers and companies, announced an $8 billion, 10 towards this goal, because in an age labour, and the public sector institutions. year initiative, called BEACON, that will where knowledge and information is This paper concentrates on a vision for bring broadband, multimedia services to the basis of economic growth, those learning in the future, and attempts to 80 % – 90 % of all homes and businesses societies that successfully harness suggest some of the issues that need to be in Canada by the year 2004. information technologies to the learn- resolved in order to achieve such a ing process will become the economic vision. The implications for education and train- leaders of the 21st century. ing are immense. Learning can be independent of time and place, and available This paper was first presented at the Technology change at all stages of a person’s life. The learn- Minister’s Forum on Adult Learning, ing context will be technologically rich. Edmonton, Alberta, 30 November – Within the next 10 years, we will see the Learners will have access not only to a 1 December, 1995. following important technological devel- wide range of media, but also to a wide opments so commonplace that they will range of sources of education. However, be found in the majority of homes and the speed and extent to which these new businesses in most developed countries: Alternative futures technologies are being developed and • Integration of computers, television, applied is both revolutionary and deeply In a speech to a Labour Party conference and telecommunications, through digi- challenging to established educational in London on 17 October 1994, David tization/compression techniques institutions. Puttnam, the producer of ‘Chariots of Fire’ and previously head of one of • Reduced costs and more flexible Hollywood’s largest film companies, is uses/applications of telecommunica- The need for vision reported as saying [1]: tions, through developments such as “If you don’t know where you’re ISDN/fibre optics/cellular radio “Multinational media companies are going, any road will do.” creating education programmes which • Increased processing power, through The White Rabbit, in ‘Alice in Won- leapfrog over schools and appeal new micro-chip development and derland’ (Lewis Carrol) directly to children and their parents ... advanced software techniques. one senior executive has predicted that The way educational technology is devel- educators would be paid more than These developments, all available or cur- oping somewhat resembles the frenetic film stars by the end of the century ... rently under development, will result in a activities of the White Rabbit in ‘Alice in but this international ‘edutainment’ single, integrated entertainment/commu- Wonderland’; because it does not seem material would be driven by baby nications/learning ‘box’ in each home to know where it is going, any road will commercial values ... we risk losing and business. This will provide a much do. Educational technology applications out to a tidal wave of relatively low wider range of applications than now though should be driven by our vision of quality and certainly low cost material available, such as television programmes education and training in the 21st cen- with just enough educational content to and music, home shopping and banking, tury. It is necessary to develop a shared make it attractive to parents.” and education and training, all available vision of what we want the education and on demand. training system to achieve. That vision The market analysts have targeted adult should take into account the potential of education and training as an even more Multimedia, through the integration of technology, but not be driven solely by high quality graphics, audio, video and what is possible technologically; what it text, and more powerful editing and auth- can do may not be what we want it to do. oring software, provides a major en- 1 http://bates.cstudies.ubc.ca hancement of computer-based learning.

82 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 The need for change you have learned to use a computer. How At the same time, these governments much of this was due to formal training, have reached the limit of tax elasticity; Those from the business sector are well with an instructor, and how much was the public is unwilling to increase the aware of the global economic changes picked up piece-meal by trial and error, amount they pay in taxes. In other words, that are affecting our societies. One of with a bad manual, and help from coll- governments are expected to do more these changes is the need for a much eagues? This is not to say that the learn- with less. Consequently, many public more highly skilled workforce to remain ing would not have been much more sector institutions are looking on private economically competitive and to sustain effective if it had been structured and sector training as a cow to milk, rather a prosperous society based on high directed all through by a skilled tutor, but than to feed. wages [2]. This is making the training of what drives such learning is not the con- the existing workforce a high priority, trol of an instructor but the needs and the Lastly, many employers and members of and this training must be continued motivation of the learner. the public are growing increasingly criti- throughout a person’s lifetime. Invest- cal about the quality of education being ment in training is or will become as Employers, however, cannot rely entirely provided through the public sector. There essential for company survival as capital on the self-motivation of their em- seems to be a mis-match between the or plant investment [3]. ployees. This kind of learning, although skills taught and the requirements of the widespread and surprisingly effective, is labour market [6]. It is hard to quantify the need for ‘work- not efficient. Management consultants force’ training, but assuming that a per- have identified that most companies use In some ways, this is an unfair criticism, son will need to re-train at least five less than 10 % of the capacity or capabil- since educational attainment of students times in a working life-time, and that ities of the computer technology in which in public schools has increased over the such re-training requires the equivalent they have invested. In blunt terms, most last 20 years; the problem is that the of three months full-time learning (prob- employees do not know how to use their demands on the workforce have increas- ably a gross underestimate), then the machines properly. As companies in- ed at an even faster rate [7]. For instance, capacity of the current education and creasingly look to higher skill levels production line workers need greater training market, public and private, needs from their employees, not just in com- literacy skills today to deal with written to be doubled [4]. puter skills, but in the broader skills of instructions, manuals, etc.; they now verbal and written communication, prob- need more than just an arm and a leg to This is because of increased demand lem-solving and management, the operate the production machinery; they from two sources. The first is from employers themselves will need to take need intellectual skills as well. Similarly, young people continuing into post-sec- greater responsibility for making this with greater emphasis on teamwork and ondary education. This demand will con- kind of learning more effective, both to worker involvement and motivation, the tinue to increase slightly in most deve- keep valued staff, and to increase pro- level of communication and social skills loped countries (between 2 % to 5 % per ductivity. required from managers and supervisors annum for another 10 years at least) as has increased. While a great deal of more and more young people realise the Traditionally, large companies have done attention is being paid to the gap between importance of further education for their this by establishing their own training the skills of those entering the workplace future prosperity. However, the major centres and programmes; small and and the needs of employers, less attention increase in demand will be from all of us medium sized companies have relied is being paid to the much wider gap be- in the workforce who need to continue more on ‘out-sourcing’ the training, to tween the skills of those already in the learning if we are to stay employed, and private training companies or to the pub- workforce and the demands of the work- if our employers are to remain economic- lic sector institutions. All of these meth- place. For instance, the older the worker, ally competitive. ods, however, are labour-intensive, and the lower the functional literacy level in any increase in such activities will lead to most developed countries. The requirements of this new market for proportional increases in cost, at a time learning are very different from those of when companies need to be more cost Another area which needs more attention the youngsters the system has tradition- competitive. is the gap between the way educational ally served. Much of the learning in the services are provided, and the needs of workforce market will be initiated by While employers will be faced with the employers and working people. Working individuals as part and parcel of their need to keep their current workforce people are unable or cannot afford to working and leisure lives. It will be highly skilled and up-to-date in the field give up jobs or move house to become informal (i.e. not leading to any formal in which they are working, they will not full-time or even part-time campus-based qualification), self-directed, and piece- be able to rely on the public sector to students again. meal (broken into small chunks of learn- provide, free of charge, the training ser- ing, some as small as a few minutes a vices they require, for several reasons. In Jobs are changing day, to some several hours in length). It many countries, the public sector institu- will be driven as much by short-term tions still concentrate mainly on pre-ser- While countris like Canada and Norway needs as by any conscious plan of study. vice education and training. Furthermore, will remain dependent on primary Thus, it will not be determined by some governments in many developed coun- resource industries for their economic master instructor, but by the task at hand tries are in serious financial difficulties; well-being, the sources of employment [5]. they have borrowed too much. Merely are rapidly changing, due to increased servicing the debt is taking away funds mechanization, the need to diversify to To see just how prevalent this kind of that otherwise could be used for public ‘value-added’ secondary industry (e.g. learning is already, just ask yourself how services such as education and training.

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 83 furniture, paper), and the growth of new • Teamwork working day. Learners will also need to industries and services not directly be able to work from home, or from a • Ability to adapt to changing circum- dependent on the primary resource indus- work-site, or while in transit. They will stances tries, such as communications, informa- need the following: tion technology, financial services and • Thinking skills: problem-solving; criti- • Access to information (searching, international trading. cal/logical/numerical downloading) from multiple sources in • Knowledge navigation: where to get/ multiple formats Most of the new jobs are either in service how to process information. industries, in companies employing less • Selection, storage and re-ordering/re- than 20 people, or require highly skilled creation of information specialists in the larger, resource-based Learning in the 21st • Direct communication with instructors, industries, each ‘new’ employee often colleagues, and other learners replacing many existing staff. Many of century the new jobs are on a part-time or con- • Incorporation of accessed/re-worked Modern learning theory sees learning as tract basis, with at least two-thirds of the material into work documents an individual quest for meaning and rele- new jobs going to women, and a majority vance. Once learning moves beyond the • Sharing and manipulation of informa- of new jobs are relatively low-paid [8]. recall of facts, principles or correct pro- tion/documents/projects with others. Nevertheless, nearly half the new jobs cedures, and into the area of creativity, created require graduates or people with problem-solving, analysis, or evaluation Learners will need to access, combine, the equivalent of 17 years full-time edu- (the very skills needed in the work-place create and transmit audio, video, text, cation [9]. in a knowledge-based economy), learners and data as necessary. If we take this as need inter-personal communication, the the design requirement, there is then a The traditional picture of work as a life- opportunity to question, challenge and need to build systems that support this time commitment to a particular trade or discuss. Learning is as much a social as form of learning, both for formal and institution, with a secure pension at the an individual activity. However, for informal learning. end, applies to an increasingly smaller someone working in a small company, proportion of the population. In particu- the nearest person with similar interests lar, secure middle management jobs of a and expertise may be somewhere on the New models of teaching general kind, requiring little or no profes- other side of the country, particularly in sional or technical expertise, are dis- A number of factors are leading many leading-edge technologies. appearing rapidly. A very small propor- Canadian post-secondary institutions to tion of the youngsters leaving school will experiment with new information tech- Learners will interact with their desk-top find employment in the traditional nologies for teaching. There is pressure or portable workstations in a variety of resource-based industries as unskilled or from governments for greater efficiency, ways, determined by the nature of the semi-skilled workers; the majority of requiring institutions to take more stu- learning task, and their preferred style of those already unemployed, and a good dents, while at the same time reducing learning in the work situation. These pre- proportion of those already working in funding. Another influence is the use by ferred styles will vary considerably, both large companies or in primary-resource governments of earmarked funds for within a single person, depending on the industries, need to be re-trained in the innovation (funds often established by task, and, for the same task, between dif- next few years. holding back a proportion of ‘regular’ ferent individuals. funding). The most significant development is that The learning context will need to encom- many of the new jobs will require a much Another factor is the increase in student pass the following: higher level of skill than the jobs they are fees, leading to more and more students replacing, especially in management and • Working alone, interacting with learn- becoming part-time, in order to work resource based industries; people will ing material (which may be available their way through university. For retain existing jobs only if they are re- locally or remotely) instance, almost half the students in the trained to higher standards; even for the universities, and two-thirds of the college • Working collaboratively (and in an majority of new jobs that will be low- students, in British Columbia now are equal relationship) with fellow work- paid and require generally low skill lev- part-time. Also, the trend towards life- ers at different remote sites, either syn- els, training or re-training will be neces- long learning and the need for re-educa- chronously or asynchronously: both sary, especially in basic skills, just in tion and training for people already in the these modes are likely to be multi- order to keep the job. workforce is leading to a changing stu- media dent population, with many more older With respect to the skills needed in the • As an ‘apprentice’ or ‘student’, work- students, working and with families, workforce, these have been well defined ing with a more experienced worker, returning to post-secondary education (or by the Conference Board of Canada [10]: supervisor, or instructor in some cases never leaving it). These students need greater flexibility in the • Good communication skills (reading/ • As an instructor, supervisor or more provision of learning, to fit it around writing/speaking/listening) experienced colleague for other less their already busy and demanding lives. experienced colleagues. • Ability to learn independently It is not surprising then that many institu- • Social skills: ethics; positive attitudes; The same persons may find themselves tions are now turning almost in despera- responsibility in each of these roles within a single tion to multimedia technologies as one

84 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 possible solution to their increasingly approach from regular classroom instruc- though Hypertext provides a basic con- pressing problems. It is from these often tion, and appears quick and easy to ferencing facility. Protocols also have to prototype developments that we will see mount. However, unit costs are higher be established to ensure that only those some of the newer models of teaching than regular classroom teaching, it does who have paid their fees can access and learning developing that will meet need considerably more preparation time, either the content or the interactive part the needs of the changing adult learning and students still need to be at a fixed of the course. market. place at a fixed time. The main constraint of using the Web for For instance, at the University of British The biggest explosion in teaching tech- direct teaching, once one goes off-cam- Columbia, almost $4 million of its nology in the last couple of years at UBC pus, is the speed (or rather the slowness) operating grant has been held back over has been the WorldWideWeb (the Web), at which pages can be accessed or down- the last two years by the government for due to the development of relatively loaded. It is one thing to make material an innovation fund for the university. user-friendly hypercard technology such available on campus over high-speed net- The university has used approximately as Netscape. This enables ‘creators’ of works and high-end modems; it is anoth- 50 % of this for investment in technology materials to store primarily text and er to deliver a substantial amount of infrastructure, such as fibre optic cabling graphics on ‘screens’ that provide links course materials over public telephone across the campus, computer networks in to any other ‘screens’ located anywhere networks, through low-speed modems to buildings, computer labs, networked on the Web. Thus, by merely clicking on the kind of computers that students are servers, and video-conferencing facili- a highlighted or coloured section of text, likely to have at home. We will be moni- ties, and the remaining 50 % for technol- a link can be made to another screen on toring this aspect quite carefully. It may ogy applications. Almost all the applica- another computer anywhere in the world. in many cases be better to provide the tion money has been used for projects (in materials on a CD-ROM, with only up- each of the 12 faculties) using either The main use of the Web to date has dates being made available via the Web. World Wide Web or CD-ROM technolo- been for accessing (and downloading) gies. information. However, a number of insti- Computer-based multimedia tutions have started designing courses This has led to a great deal of innovation using Web technology. For instance, at There has been a rapid development in across the 50 or so projects that have UBC several courses were designed in recent years of computer-based learning, been funded in this way, and some 1995 using Web software and local due to technological developments both important lessons have also been learned. servers for on-campus students. The first in the computers themselves, through Also, some lessons learned in other con- of UBC’s distance education courses faster processing, greater storage capac- texts, such as the use of technology for using Web software is in Continuing ity and ‘embedded’ software that enables distance education, have also proved just Studies, which began offering a course the integration of graphics, sound and as relevant for on-campus use of technol- ‘Mastering Cyberspace’, primarily aimed moving visuals from external sources, ogy. I will describe briefly some of the at people who want to use the Web for and in the development of ‘peripheral’ lessons learned and some principles to business purposes. In January 1997 UBC equipment, such as CD-ROM and video- apply when creating multimedia courses will deliver several Web-based credit discs. This has led to the development of and products. courses to students off-campus. computer-based multimedia materials (defined as textual data, sound, graphics Two-way video-conferencing, using eith- Netscape software lends itself particular- and moving visuals integrated into a sin- er compressed or full motion television, ly to subject areas where there is a need gle computer platform). has been the major new technology used for extensive colour illustration in still for delivery in many universities and col- graphic form. Thus one of the most suc- Computers have for a long time been leges across North America. One of the cessful applications at UBC has been in used for drill and practice. However, the most technologically advanced systems Geology 202, where the combination of a combination of sound output, in the form of video-conferencing operates between structured approach to teaching with stu- of a digitized human voice and musical the University of Calgary and the Uni- dents able to access UBC-generated data- tones, recognition and analysis of human versity of Alberta. Video-conferencing bases of graphics such as rock slides and voice input, and feedback of results, has has been slow to take off at UBC, but in rock formations, together with on-line enabled the UBC Music department to 1995/96 one fourth year undergraduate access to other geology Web sites across apply off-the-shelf commercial software plant sciences course was delivered in the world, has considerably enhanced the for the teaching of music. Students are this mode, interestingly with the teaching flexibility of access for students. asked to recognize either sheet music or originating from a community college, tones generated by the computer and the University College of the Fraser Val- At this stage there has been little evalua- match that with their own singing input. ley, because there were insufficient stu- tion of the use of the Web for the direct dents at UBC in this specialist area (tem- delivery of distance education courses. Off-the-shelf software, such as Super- perate fruit management) to justify a The UBC use is primarily that of inform- card, can also be used for constructing local teacher. Because of the excellent ation transmission, with some self-testing teaching materials, making it much easier teaching technique and careful advance through multiple choice questions and in for instructors to develop materials for a preparation of the instructor (Tom Bau- one case simulations. However, at the particular context. There have been a mann), this has been a very successful time of writing (November, 1996) Web wide number of projects at UBC in this course. Video-conferencing has the software lacks the interactive flexibility area. Mark Broudo and colleagues in the advantage, from an instructor perspect- of dedicated computer conferencing tech- Faculty of Medicine have developed ive, of not requiring a radically different nology such as CoSy or First Class, al-

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 85 teaching materials from scratch to assist and some provide skills development, but shorter periods and study the rest of the students develop skills in the area of some of the examples, particularly the program at home. This will allow many cardiovascular measurement, using ani- turf grass and forestry management more students to benefit from such inter- mation, integrated full video and sound, examples, go further and develop prob- national programs. The benefits to Cana- and text, with multiple choice-type ques- lem-solving techniques which students dians of being able to make contacts with tions providing feedback. The material is can practice. Brian Holl’s and Liz Ham- and understand the business practices and structured in modules, with students able mond-Kaarreemaa’s approaches require culture of different countries, and the dif- to access the material when they need it. students to develop research skills. Some ferent perspectives brought to common of the examples also enable students to problems, are obvious. Brian Holl, a specialist in turf grass man- provide open-ended responses using nat- agement at UBC, has developed a ‘vir- ural language, and all provide learners Thus, one interesting use of the Web has tual’ office and laboratory to allow stu- with much greater control over their been for networking post-graduate students to diagnose and treat turf disease. learning, but within a clearly defined and dents in different specialist areas. For Students can click on a number of ‘tools’ structured learning environment. Such instance, the School of Architecture at in the office and laboratory to access approaches are particularly valuable for UBC, together with Schools of Architec- information. In addition, there is a virtual adult learners in the new learning con- ture at the University of Sydney in Aus- workbook that allows students to enter text. tralia, the University of Hong Kong, their own diagnoses and treatments, MIT, and several other universities which is automatically transmitted to the New models around the world, have been using the instructor for checking. The interface Web to allow graduate students to pre- also includes links to the World- sent and critique each others’ design pro- However, these examples by no means WideWeb, and e-mail and messaging jects. exhaust the range of new teaching mod- capabilities. els needed. These examples still reflect the early stages of a new paradigm for Resource-based tutoring One of the more exciting uses of multi- learning, rather like Max Sennett’s Key- media is the development of expert sys- stone Cops were merely a necessary step Another model is aimed at students seek- tems that allow the user to test hypo- towards Jurassic Park. ing accreditation within a particular sub- theses and simulate different conditions ject area who already have a good found- and see the outcome. One such module UBC has not for instance moved yet into ation, but who are working towards a developed by Dr. Hamish Kimmins at the area of on-line collaborative learning, more advanced level of study and a per- UBC allows users to test different app- using computer mediated communica- sonally relevant area of expertise. In this roaches to forestry management. The tions such as listserves, computer confer- model, the learner is put in touch with a module shows the relationship between encing systems such as FirstClass (used tutor with specialist expertise who can different forestry practices in terms of extensively at the Open Learning Agency guide the learner to sources of informa- revenue yield, sustainability, bio-diver- in BC), or the Virtual University model, tion and pre-prepared multimedia learn- sity and the aesthetic features of the land- based on integrating new tools with Web ing materials relevant to their interests. In scape, and shows the impact of a particu- software, being developed at Simon this model, the tutor helps the learner lar decision over the various time periods Fraser University. These models encour- navigate remote databases, or institution- of five, ten and forty years. age learners to work together from differ- al libraries, which contain the multimedia ent sites and asynchronously on common instructional materials needed by the The increased user-friendliness of multi- projects, to construct new knowledge. learner, sets and evaluates relevant learn- media development tools enables even ing tasks such as project work, and puts the learners themselves to create their One interesting use of the Web is the the learner in contact with other learners own instructional materials. Liz Ham- design of courses around material public- and experts with similar interests. This mond-Karreemaa, a college instructor at ly available on the Web, where students model is not very different from learner- Malaspina College on Vancouver Island, are guided or encouraged to seek inform- centred teaching practised in British pri- has developed a multimedia package on ation through the Web, and incorporate it mary schools, except that it operates at a killer whales, based on local wildlife into assignments. Some courses at the distance via telecommunications. resources, in such a way that learners can Open Learning Agency in British create their own reports from the materi- Columbia are planning to use this strat- als she has assembled. Just-in-time training in the egy. workplace There are several lessons to be learned These technologies now enable us to from these experiences. With the excep- It is not difficult to build a convincing consider new approaches to teaching and tion of the video-conferencing example, portrait of learning at the work-place. We learning that meet the needs already de- the construction of learning materials can envisage a computer software defined. For instance, it is now possible to frees the instructor from the need for signer or television animation artist, call- offer students truly international courses, direct ‘real-time’ delivery of the teaching ed Wayne, probably working from home, with faculty and other students drawn material. Once created it can be used any needing information on a certain tech- from across the world. Millions of dollars time, anywhere by the learners. The nique or approach, or advice on how best are spent by many countries in sending examples also progressively move away to create a certain effect. From previous students to Canadian universities and col- from using the technology just for in- experience and contacts, or on the advice leges for extensive periods. The technol- formation transmission. There is some of a colleague, he has the name of some- ogy now allows students to come for simple feedback and testing of students, one half-way across the country (Sue).

86 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 From his work-station, Wayne calls Sue, Many other new curriculum models can Table 1 talks about the problem, and Sue loads be suggested (see [11], for instance). The up some software which she ‘shares’ challenge for educators and trainers in a Industrial society . . . . to . . Information society with Wayne via the network. Wayne asks world where information is multiplying a few questions, tries a couple of things so fast that even specialists in a particular technology peripheral . . to . . multimedia central on-line while Sue watches and com- field cannot keep pace is to ensure that once-only education . . . to . . lifelong learning ments, then downloads the software. Sue learners have the learning skills and the and Wayne are both registered with an preparation to go beyond accessing and fixed curriculum ...... to . . flexible/open curriculum educational institution that has been set navigating information to making sense institutional focus . . . . . to . . learner focus up to enable the exchange of commerc- of that information, and applying it in ially sensitive material for learning pur- ways that are relevant to their lives and self-contained ...... to . . partnerships poses. Wayne’s work-station has auto- their work; in other words to move matically displayed the cost per minute beyond information to knowledge. This local focus ...... to . . global networking of consulting Sue, and the cost of rights means being able to construct new for downloading the software. However, knowledge, by finding new ways to do Wayne was also able to give Sue some things, based on knowledge already information, and this is charged back to acquired, and to communicate that to oth- Sue’s account. Wayne now not only has ers. institutions “are moving to reconstruct the software he needs, but also can con- their infrastructure, redesign policy and tact Sue (on a chargeable basis) any time Many would argue that this is exactly realign external relationships to gain he has a problem with the software. The what a traditional liberal arts education comparative advantage in the Informa- learning context has been established. develops in learners. Employers on the tion Superhighway environment”. He Note it is fragmented, on demand, and other hand argue that workers are not argues [12] that there is a transformation charged at cost. coming to them with the necessary skills, taking place (a ‘paradigm shift’) in post- and students should be trained to be more secondary education, characterized by Lastly, the whole question of delivery of job specific [6]. There is not necessarily a Table 1. learning has been implicit in the discus- contradiction here. It can be seen from the sion of new models of teaching. Adults examples given that good teaching In particular, he argues that the new tech- need flexibility. They have families, and approaches can develop both good generic nological environment “opens access to work commitments around which they skills and be applied at the same time. study across sectoral, disciplinary and have to fit their learning. This means that cultural boundaries”, which “will quickly learning should as far as possible be However, it is important to note that erode traditional ideas of the course of accessible at any time and at any place. problem-solving and decision-making study”: selective access, sequenced and This means making use of delivery to the approaches such as those found in the carefully integrated content, and level- home, to local learning centres, such as turf and forestry management examples based progress rules that are pre-deter- the Community Skills Centres being depend on expert systems, in other words mined by the institution. On the contrary, established in small towns in BC, in the knowledge bases developed from re- he argues, “curricula will be increasingly workplace, and into other institutions. search, which are then applied to a par- disassembled, modularized and custom- ticular problem. Secondly, in a world ized to suit a wide range of clients requir- One project with an innovative method where jobs change for most people every ing flexible delivery ... What constitutes of delivery in British Columbia is five years, it is extremely dangerous to a course will be increasingly negotiated SkillPlan. This project was developed as train for just the skills large companies between provider institutions, students a result of a partnership with construction say are needed here and now. The new and client groups.” industry unions. The unions found that jobs are less and less with large industrial their members, many of whom were or resource-based companies, and much If he is correct, this will require some doing contract work at different sites, and more with the small entrepreneur. These major changes in the organization of often had some spare time between jobs, need skills that allow for adaptation to post-secondary institutions. were needing to up-grade their basic changing conditions, not narrowly focus- literacy, numeracy and communication ed skills that may become redundant in a skills. The Open Learning Agency identi- few years. Who’s in charge? fied a computer managed learning system Managing multimedia developed by the Jostens Corporation in What is required then is a teaching and the USA that provided adult basic educa- learning environment that more closely projects tion courses aimed at adults who have integrates basic research, navigation and The most common procedure adopted by not completed high school graduation. understanding of information, application faculty when embarking on multimedia Workers who need to improve their read- of knowledge, and skills development. projects is to develop a proposal, usually ing and writing skills can ‘drop in’ at the around a particular technology or soft- Agency’s local centres, and use the sys- ware (e.g. video-conferencing or tem when it suits them. The system keeps The challenge for public Netscape). Once funding is received, fac- track of each individual’s progress, and institutions ulty order equipment and software, and enables learners to carry on where they find some willing, interested and com- left off the last time they were able to Daryl Le Grew, the Vice-President (Aca- puter-skilled post-graduate student to drop in. demic) at Deakin University, Australia, help with the development of the com- has pointed out that many post-secondary

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 87 puter-based material. This I call the Lone Lastly, each project will need a manager. Institutional change Ranger approach, with the post-grad as The project manager sets up meetings, Tonto. breaks up the design and development Consequently, a number of issues need to process into discrete stages with estimat- be addressed. Most universities and col- There have been several advantages in ed amount of work and sets deadlines for leges are aware of the need to put in a this approach. First, it has brought a lot each piece of work, monitors work flow comprehensive technology infrastructure of faculty into exploring the use of new and deadlines, manages the budget, and on campus. However, probably the most technology who would not otherwise works on delivery and student support. important step to be taken is to provide have done so. Secondly, by choosing a The project manager may also handle support to the people who will be most cheap and (apparently) easy approach, liaison with external contractors and pub- affected by technological innovation: faculty are able to make the most of lishers, and marketing activities. faculty and students. materials already prepared, such as lecture notes and student handouts, which The importance of teamwork Human resource development are then converted into multimedia materials. Most important of all, faculty them- Some people will be able to combine Bluntly, faculty need training, not just in selves retain control of the project, and more than one role. However, each role how to use the technology, but more learn, usually the hard way, that there is needs a high level of expertise. Team- importantly, in understanding how learn- more to multimedia design than they had work, and a recognition by each member ing takes place, and how to design teach- anticipated. In fact, the experience in of the team of their own limitations, and ing approaches based on that knowledge. general is that faculty become excited by the contribution that other members of Without this fundamental understanding the potential, underestimate the work and the team can make, are critical to of the teaching and learning process, it is problems they eventually have to face, success. almost impossible to design high quality and finally recognize the need for more multimedia learning experiences. help. Project management and a team of experienced specialists will initially seem like There are at least three practical steps Another approach, and one used extens- an expensive way to produce material, management can take in this regard. The ively in the private sector, is to develop but in the end, it is almost always more first is to organize regular workshops on project teams to create multimedia mate- cost-effective than just ploughing on with teaching practice and the use of technol- rials. Thus, as well as faculty, there a multimedia project, and learning as one ogy (which in some institutions will would be an instructional designer, who goes. In particular, it can reduce the time mean creating or strengthening faculty will help with choosing the most app- spent by faculty in mastering skills that development departments). The second is ropriate technologies, with structuring they do not necessarily need, thus freeing to provide rewards, in terms of tenure the material and defining the teaching them up for other activities. A good pro- and promotion criteria, for successful, strategies and learning activities to be ject team will also substantially reduce innovative teaching. Thirdly, while deployed in the multimedia materials, the time needed to complete the project, workshops are important, there is a need recommend student assessment strate- compared with a faculty member and a for more comprehensive and systematic gies, and design the piloting and evalua- research student soldiering on alone. courses or programs aimed at teachers of tion of the product. Lastly, if a higher quality product is pro- higher education. These are minimum duced, there are more possibilities of cost requirements. An even more radical step Secondly, it is important to construct a recovery from other applications than the would be to require successful comple- ‘screen’ environment that allows the original ‘targeted’ use. tion of a higher education teaching quali- designers to maximize the learning fea- fication for tenure appointments; unfor- tures of high quality multimedia materi- Faculty often criticise multimedia devel- tunately such courses, if they exist at all, als. This means designing an interface so opment as too expensive or too demand- are not available in a manner that makes that learners can interact in a variety of ing of faculty time. It is also very chal- it practical for most faculty, i.e. part-time ways with the learning materials. This lenging, requiring faculty to try methods and at a distance, even if faculty associa- requires an interface designer to work and technologies with which they are not tions could be persuaded into accepting with the subject expert and instructional familiar or comfortable. These are all such a policy. designer. There is also need for someone valid concerns. Multimedia teaching will with specialized multimedia graphics be more expensive, time-consuming and design skills to make screens look pro- The convergence of on-campus threatening if it is merely added on to all fessional. and distance teaching the other duties of faculty, within an organizational environment that has not Someone is also needed who has the However, while such strategies are been modified to support such activities. skills to obtain video and audio record- important, they do not necessarily pro- Just as automation required major ings, and the ability to edit and convert vide any solution to faculty overload. changes in industrial manufacturing these recordings into digital format, for This has to come from re-organizing the methods, so too is there a need to re- incorporation in the learning materials. way that teaching is provided. One of the structure universities and colleges to en- And someone is needed who can develop impacts of technological innovation on able the benefits of the new technologies a working script, integrate all these campuses is the convergence of on-cam- to be realised. different elements into a well-edited and pus and off-campus or distance teaching. well-constructed final format, and who Once materials are developed for on- can choose appropriate software to facili- campus students, they can, if designed tate the various production processes. with this in mind, be just as easily avail-

88 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 able to off-campus learners. Also, many such a deal, allowing students local call Original multimedia materials created more learners can access the same mate- access to the Internet and OLA’s services from scratch have a higher ‘starting’ or rial, once it is created. Thus, the use of from most parts of the province). Gov- fixed cost than classroom teaching, but technology can allow for more students ernments may even install or buy leased after production, the only additional costs to be accommodated for the same num- network facilities for educational use, as are the cost of making and distributing ber of faculty, with scope for re-alloca- in New Brunswick, Canada. compact discs (assuming that students tion of resources to free up faculty for the have their own computer and CD-ROM development of teaching materials. Comparative costs of multi- player). Classroom or lecture hall teach- media and conventional ing, however, increases roughly in pro- Furthermore, is a student registered as education portion to the number of students. In fact, full-time who opts to take most of the costs increase in steps, depending on the course from home a distance student or assumption about maximum class or A more fundamental issue is the change an on-campus student? Does it matter? group size before the level of teacher/stu- in cost structures resulting from the The introduction of multimedia courses dent interaction, and hence the quality of development of multimedia courses. In opens up questions about the relevance the teaching, is considered to drop. Thus, the conventional higher education model, of residential and prior qualifications for as student numbers increase, extra ses- costs have tended to increase with stu- entrance; if space is not a limitation, why sions or classes have to be opened, and dent numbers, or quality drops. In other restrict students who want access? What additional teachers or instructors found. words, if the student/teacher ratio is kept becomes clear is that once courses are Figure 1 shows the relationship between constant, more teachers are needed. If created in ways that allow for open and the costs of classroom teaching and the more teachers are not recruited, class flexible learning, accessible anywhere costs of pre-prepared multimedia. sizes increase, interaction with the teach- and at any time, careful consideration er drops, and hence quality declines. We needs to be given as to who needs access Most universities and colleges have have seen over the past 10 years in many to a campus, and for what reasons. absorbed extra numbers of students in countries access to higher education recent years by either increasing class being increased by increasing the stu- size, or by using more and more low-paid Student access to technology dent/teacher ratio, or by the hiring of and inexperienced teaching assistants (or young Teaching Assistants scarcely more both); in other words, the quality of There are though two large assumptions than a couple of years ahead of the stu- teaching has been reduced. being made about the use of multimedia. dents they are teaching. The first is that students will have access to computers, Internet, CD-ROM players, However, the cost structures for pre-pre- Quality comparisons between etc. Student access to computers is in- pared multimedia materials are quite dif- conventional and multimedia creasing, but there is also a need for a ferent. They cost a good deal of money teaching clear policy to help students access the up-front to create, but once created, they necessary technology being used for can be used by as many students as nec- The second assumption is that the quality teaching and learning. While many stu- essary with minimal increases in costs. of interaction with pre-prepared multi- dents now arriving in universities already This becomes even more pronounced media materials is the same as between have their own computers (about 40 %), when the life of the course materials are individual students and a teacher. This in many do not. In any case, there is a need taken into account. fact is not the case. Well-designed multi- for common standards; multimedia materials require medium- or high-range personal computers and fast networks. These are often not available off-campus or in students’ homes.

Again, there are several strategies that can be adopted. Institutions can negotiate $ leasing arrangements with suppliers, so students can pay a modest rental fee with the option for low-cost purchase at the Conventional education end of the leasing period. A college can (fixed student/teacher ratio) ensure there are ports on campus to allow students to plug in their own computers (much cheaper than providing computer labs). Capital funds for buildings (and car parks) can be re-allocated to support stu- Multimedia materials dent’s off-campus access to courses, (assumes students have own computer) thereby reducing the demand for campus facilities. Institutions can form consortia to block-buy long-distance Internet access throughout a province or state for No. of students students (the Open Learning Agency in British Columbia has recently negotiated Figure 1 Conventional classroom teaching vs. Multimedia materials

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 89 media materials can both present inform- Comparing cost and quality multimedia technologies offer the hope ation and provide a large amount of the of maintaining or increasing the quality interaction and feedback previously pro- Figure 2 not only indicates the cost of of teaching as student numbers increase, vided by teachers. This frees up the time providing on-line student/teacher and at relatively less cost than conventional for the teacher then to concentrate just on student/student interaction (via computer classroom methods. those areas where person-to-person inter- conferencing – arrow C), but the cumula- action is critical. However, computers are tive cost of multimedia materials plus not smart enough to anticipate all the computer conferencing (arrow D – see Conclusions questions, misunderstandings, and more [13] for a methodology for costing edu- It is more than unfortunate that at a time importantly, original and creative outputs cational technologies). when there is a need for major changes in that students can generate. Thus, there is the structure and operation of the post- still the need for some form of provision, It can be seen in this model that for secondary education system, governments not only for student/teacher interaction, smaller numbers of students, convention- across Canada are threatening reductions but even more importantly for interaction al classroom teaching is likely to be less in resources. This is unfortunate for two amongst students. This can be provided costly than multimedia and computer reasons. Now is not the time to reduce either in the traditional face-to-face small conferencing combined. However, as activity in adult education. There is a group seminars, or ‘on-line’ and at a dis- numbers increase the new media become major new market, those in the work- tance by using e-mail or computer. increasingly more cost-effective. force, and students coming from high schools need new approaches too. Nor is Basically, with multimedia, the teaching The need for cost-benefit there any clear evidence that the applica- falls into two parts: presentation and analysis tion of new technologies and methods of interrogation of information, some feed- teaching will save money; indeed they are back, and some skills development It must be stressed that this is a hypo- likely to cost more, and there is certainly through the use of interactive, pre- thetical model. There is a great lack of a substantial cost of change. The second prepared multimedia materials; and hard data on the actual costs, not only of reason is that the threat of cuts is likely to counselling, student guidance, knowl- the new media, but even of conventional lead to defensiveness and a retreat to ‘the edge building, argument and creative teaching in post-secondary education. good old days’. thinking, hypothesis development and Thus we do not know (a) if the model testing, inter-personal skills develop- will hold in real-life, or (b) even if it At the same time, many of the new activ- ment, and group work through either on- does, where the critical point ‘y’ is, i.e. ities in adult learning do not need to be line or face-to-face group contacts. The the number of students where the new directly funded by the state. People who aim is to use the most valuable and costly media become more cost-effective. What are working and in good jobs, and resource – that of the teacher – more effi- is needed is at least some cost-benefit employers who want to keep ahead of the ciently, by allowing teachers to concen- analyses of the actual applications of competition, get direct benefits from re- trate their time with students on what these new technologies in post-secondary education and re-training. We are likely they can do best, namely encouraging education. There is no guarantee that to see then increasing entrepreneurship and responding to the great variety of these new technologies will be more from the public sector, and increasing contributions that students make to the cost-effective. Nevertheless, it can be competition with the private training learning process. seen that, in theory at any rate, the new sector. Indeed, competition generally is likely to increase, as the provincial and national borders of education are power- less to stop educational offerings through electronic networks. For instance, there are four out-of-province MBAs available at a distance in BC already. The main $ A D threat though to the public sector institu- Conventional education tions will come not from out-of-province (fixed student/teacher ratio) universities and colleges, but the large multinational media organizations, who see adult learning as a major new busi- C ness for them. B Lastly, it is easy to get hung up on the Multimedia materials technology, which is exciting, challeng- (assumes students have ing and not without major risks and haz- own computer) ards. However, technology is not the Computer issue. There is more than enough technol- conferencing y ogy available already for us to teach in more or less any way we like. The issue is No. of students the changing needs of adult learners, and the need to find new ways of teaching and learning that will prepare them for the Figure 2 Conventional classroom teaching vs. Multimedia materials uncertainties of the 21st century. combined with computer conferencing

90 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 References 12 Le Grew, D. Global knowledge : superhighway or super gridlock. 1 MacLeod, D. Educational films ‘will Applications of Media and Technol- flood Britain’. The Guardian, 18 ogy in Higher Education. Chiba, October, 1994. Japan, National Institute of Multi- media Education, 1995. 2 Porter, M. Canada at the crossroads : the reality of a new competitive en- 13 Bates, A W. Technology, open learn- vironment. Ottawa, The Business ing and distance education. New Council on National Issues/Govern- York, Routledge, 1995. ment of Canada, 1991.

3 Reich, R. The real economy. The Atlantic Monthly. February, 1991.

4 The Open Learning Agency. Lifelong learning and human resource development. Burnaby, B.C., The Open Learning Agency, 1992.

5 Weimer, B. Assumptions about university-industry relationships in continuing professional education : a re- assessment. European Journal of Education, 27, (4), 1992.

6 British Columbia Labour Force Development Board. Training for what? Victoria, B.C., Ministry of Skills, Training and Labour, 1995.

7 Drouin, M-J. Workforce literacy : an economic challenge for Canada. Montréal, The Hudson Institute, 1990.

8 Kunin, R. Canadian Business Review, Summer, 1988.

9 Canadian Labour Market Product- ivity Centre. The linkages between education and training and Canada’s economic performance. Quarterly Labour Market and Productivity Review, Winter, 1989.

10 Conference Board of Canada. Employability skills profile : the critical skills required of the Canadian workforce. Ottawa, Ont., The Confer- ence Board of Canada, 1991.

11 Bates, A W. Educational aspects of the telecommunications revolution. In: Teleteaching. Davies, G, Samways, B. Amsterdam, New Hol- land, 1993.

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Special

93 94 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 Protocols for multimedia multiparty conferencing – a presentation of the ITU-T T.120 series recommendations BY TROND ULSETH

1 Introduction The following types of conferences can be described: • Data conference* Among telecommunications people the term conferencing has been associated with audio conferencing, that is audio only, or • Audio conference video conferencing, that is audio and moving image. • Audiographic conference (i.e. audio and data/graphics)* The term conferencing is also used by data communication • Video conference (i.e. audio and moving image) people. Data conferences may be synchronous, that is real-time • Multimedia conference (i.e. audio, moving image and conferences, or asynchronous, that is messages are sent to the data/graphics)*. other participants of the conference. The T.120 protocols can offer control functionalities, e.g. chair- The introduction of ISDN and multimedia communication have man control, to all these types of conferences, and in addition led to a need to add data communication functionality (e.g. text offer data communication functions to those types indicated by or graphics) to audio and video conferencing. In the same way an asterix. people would like to add audio and moving images to data conferences. 2.2 Structure Thus, the term multimedia conferencing is introduced. Fur- thermore, there is a need for multiparty multimedia confer- The T.120 protocols can be separated into three groups as de- ences. The ITU-T T.120 series recommendations are defining scribed in Figure 2. These groups are: the data communication service for use in a multipoint multi- • Network related protocols media conferencing environment. • Protocols addressing multipoint communication service and This article presents an overview of the existing and planned conference control ITU-T recommendations, and highlights some technological • Application protocols. and market trends.

2 The basic principles 2.2.1 Network related protocols 2.1 Area of applications ITU-T Recommendation T.123 specifies the network related protocols. Protocol stacks are defined for: The ITU-T T.120 series of recommendations primarily address- • ISDN. es multiparty conferencing. This protocol stack is based on an MLP data channel established by the audio-visual framing and in-band signalling sys- The initial application was audiographic conferencing, i.e. tem defined in ITU-T Recommendation H.221. All terminals speech and data/graphics. The introduction of video coding that are conforming to ITU-T Recommendation H.320 supp- algorithms enabling the transmission of moving images both on ort this in-band signalling system. the ISDN and recently on the PSTN, led to an expansion of the • Line-switched data networks (X.21). application area. The recommendations now address multimedia The MLP channel shall be established by the audio-visual conferencing, i.e. simultaneous transmission of speech, video framing and in-band signalling system defined in ITU-T Rec- and data/graphics. ommendation H.221. Single medium subsets (data conference or audio only conference) are of course possible.

To set up a multiparty conference an MCU (Multipoint Control Unit) is used as described in Figure 1. Point-to-point connec- Terminal tions are established between each conference participant and MCU the MCU. The protocols can also be used in point-to-point communications between two users, however, some of the protocols are addressing multiparty functionalities.

The protocols also cover conference scenarios where two or more MCUs are used to establish the conference as described in MCU MCU Figure 1. Terminal The protocols are designed to set up and control multimedia conferences. The functions and protocols defined are free from platform or network dependence. The present versions are addressing the data part of a multimedia conference and the Terminal Terminal Terminal Terminal conference control, while the audio and moving image parts of the multimedia conference need to be predefined similar to the present video conference service offered by a number of service Figure 1 A conference set-up using three MCUs providers.

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 95 • Packet-switched data networks (X.25). User application(s) • The analogue telephone network (PSTN) via (Using both standard and non-standard application protocols modems. • Other networks or leased lines where audio- User application(s) Node User application(s) visual framing and in-band signalling system (Using std. appl. protocols) controller (Using non-std. protocols) defined in ITU-T Recommendation H.221 is used. • ATM-based networks (B-ISDN). • Local Area Networks. T.127 (MBFT) ... The protocol stacks covered by this recommenda- T.126 (SI) ... tion are described in Figure 3. Application protocol entity Non-standard application protocol entity The protocol stacks for ATM-based networks and ITU-T T.120 LAN are in the 1996 version of the recommenda- Application protocol tion. recommendations By using these protocols conferences between users attached to different networks can be set up. These aspects are further elaborated in Section 2.4. Generic Conference Control (GCC) T.124 It is worth noting that the standardised protocol stack for ISDN communication requires use of the framing and in-band signalling system defined in Multipoint Communications Service (MCS) ITU-T Recommendation H.221. The 1996 version T.122/125 of ITU-T Recommendation T.123 describes some alternative profiles, • Based on ITU-T Recommendation Q.922 (i.e. without the MLP data channel) Network specific transport protocols T.123 • Based on the telematic protocols defined in ITU-T Recommendation T.90 • Based on start/stop characters as defined in ITU-T Recommendation V.120. Figure 2 Structure of the T.120-series protocols None of these alternatives are fully standardised in the Recommendation. Furthermore, there is no procedure to identify the profile used apart from the procedures described in the referenced recommendations.

Multimedia applications will normally use the H.221 framing and in-band signalling and will thus have no problems. But there is a problem for both T.125 Multipoint communication service data conferences and applications where there is no simultaneous audio and moving image communication. X.224/0 X.224/0 X.224/0 X.224/0 X.224/0 X.224/0 2.2.2 Protocols for multipoint communication and conference control null + SCF null + SCF null + SCF null + SCF TPKT The Multipoint Communication Service is de- X.25 scribed in ITU-T Recommendation T.122, and the Q.922 Q.922 Q.922 Q.922/AAL5 LAN associated protocols are defined in ITU-T Recom- mendation T.125.

H.221 MLP H.221 MLP X.21 Modem I.361 LAN ITU-T Recommendation T.124 (Generic Confer- ISDN X.21/X.21bis X.21 bis start/stop I.432 Medium ence Control – GCC) provides a set of services for setting up and managing the multipoint conference. It provides access control, chair control functionali- Figure 3 Protocol stacks defined in ITU-T Recommendation T.123 ties and control of priorities for the data communi-

96 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 cation between the participants in the conference. Four levels of priority are defined; the highest level is reserved for the confer- Node Controller User application(s) ence control based on GCC.

2.2.3 Applications

So far, two applications are standardised: • Still Image (ITU-T Recommendation T.126). The Recommendation includes JPEG encoded colour still images, JBIG encoded black/white still images and facsimile Generic Application Resource Application group 3/4. Five profiles are defined. Procedures for creating Conference Service Control Manager drawings and the control of pointers in a multipoint environ- (ARM) Elements(s) ment are defined, (ASE) • Multipoint Binary File Transfer (ITU-T Recommendation T.127). The Recommendation defines procedures for file distribution and file retrieval. Multiple files can be transferred simultaneously to a number of addresses that can be defined for each file.

There will be few application recommendations among the Multipoint Communication Service ITU-T T.120 series of recommendations. The objective is to standardise the principles for the communication between non- standard applications and the standardised protocols for the ser- Figure 4 The Generic Application Template Model vice. ITU-T Recommendation T.121 describes a model for application protocols. The recommendation is presented in Sec- tion 2.3.

2.3 Model for application protocols terminals of diverse capability, on multiple different networks To assist application developers ITU-T Recommendation T.121 and across administrations. An example is described in Figure 5. Generic Application Template (GAT) presents a generic model for T.120-conforming applications. Apart from the ITU-T standardised protocol stacks, DataBeam offers solutions for communication on Novell Netware IPX net- Figure 4 describes the principle of the generic model. works and on TCP/IP networks (e.g. Internet or Intranet) as described in Figure 6. The scenario described in Figure 5 can The model consists of two functionally distinct parts: therefore be extended to include Novell networks and TCP/IP • The Application Resource Manager (ARM) which is respons- based networks. Since the version of ITU-T Recommendation ible for managing GCC and MCS resources T.123 approved at WTSC was completed by ITU-T SG 8, ITU-T has decided to accept normative references to IETF doc- • The Application Service Element (ASE) which provides uments (i.e. RFCs). The next version of T.123 will therefore application-protocol-specific functionality. include a protocol stack for TCP/IP. All standardised application protocols are based on this model. The network bandwidth restriction may create problems. The It is recommended to use this model when developing non- bandwidth of an ISDN B-channel is 64 kbit/s, while the band- standard applications. width when using standardised modems for the PSTN is restricted to maximum 33.6 kbit/s when using the recently app- The use of this model ensures that all non-standard applications roved extension to ITU-T Recommendation V.34. However, the have equal structure. It will simplify the communication be- modem bitrate depends on the quality of the connection; it tween non-standard applications developed by several compa- might be lower. On Local Area Networks the delay may create nies, but it cannot guarantee the communication between these problems for real-time communication. applications; the guarantee can only be achieved by standardis- ing the applications. As stated previously the present versions of the recommendations focus on data communication and conference control. 2.4 Network independence Bandwidth variations or delay introduces no serious problems for that part of a conference, but the impact on the audio and The T.120 series recommendations support a broad range of moving image parts of a multimedia conference may be dra- transport options, including the Public Switched Telephone Net- matic. Furthermore, different video coding algorithms may cre- work (PSTN), Integrated Switched Digital Networks (ISDN), or ate problems, transcoding between different video coding algo- Local Area Networks. Conferences might be set up between rithms might be expensive and introduces a significant increase to the delay of the connection.

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 97 The approval process of a new edition takes some LAN A Public Networks time. For the benefit of the users ITU-T has issued an ‘Implementor’s Guide for the ITU-T T.120 Rec- LAN Gateway Terminal Terminal ommendation Series Data Protocols for Multimedia Router Conferencing’. This document is a compilation of reported defects. It is a ‘living’ document freely ISDN ISDN available. The document resolves defects in the fol- Terminal Terminal ISDN lowing categories: MCU MCU • Editorial errors • Technical errors such as omissions or inconsis- PSTN tencies LAN B ISDN Multiport • Ambiguities. LAN Gateway Terminal Router In addition, the document may include explanatory PSTN text found necessary as a result of interpretation PSTN difficulties apparent from the defect reports. Terminal Terminal Terminal Multiport Terminal The document does not address proposed additions, deletions or modifications to the recommendations that are not strictly related to implementation diffi- Figure 5 Example of a mixed-network conference topology culties in the above categories.

As already mentioned this is a living document. The latest version can be obtained at IMTC’s ftp- site at the address ftp://ftp.imtc-files.org/imtc-site/IMPGUIDE

T.125 Multipoint communication service or ITU-T’s Web-site http://www.itu.ch/itudoc/itu-t/com8/implgd.html.

X.224/0 X.224/0 X.224/0 Usually, new versions are available on the IMTC ftp-site earlier RFC 1006 than on the ITU-T Web-site. X.224/0 null + SCF null + SCF null + SCF 3 Market actors and products available 3.1 Participants in the standardisation activities Q.922 Q.922 Q.922* North-American companies have been the major contributors to the standardisation of the T.120 protocols. Mr. C.J. Starkey, COM.DRV H.221 MLP NWIPXSPX.DLL WINSOCK.DLL Vice President of DataBeam and co-founder of this company, has been a key person and was rapporteur for the question PSTNISDN IPX TCP/IP addressing the T.120 protocols in CCITT (now ITU-T) for 6 years until the middle of 1993. Figure 6 Protocol stacks supported by DataBeam Other major contributors have been AT&T, Bellcore, BJ Com- munications, BT (British Telecom), France Telecom, Picture- Tel, PolyCom and VideoServer. Other contributors are Intel, BNR (Nortel), ConferTech, Multilink and VTEL. MicroSoft has been participating in 1996.

Apart from BT and France Telecom, European companies have been less active. GPT Video Systems has attended most of the meetings addressing the T.120 protocols. Other European companies attending some of the meetings are Teles, KPN (Dutch 2.5 T.120 implementor’s guide PTT) and Austrian PTT. Other European network operators as well as Japanese and South Korean companies have been pre- Even though all possible effort has been made to avoid errors sent at a few meetings. and/or phrases that can be interpreted incorrectly, such problems can hardly be avoided. ITU-T has no procedures for cor- IMTC (The International Multimedia Teleconferencing Con- recting errors in an approved document; a new edition has to be sortium, Inc.) is an important actor that is founded to facilitate prepared. and promote the creation and adoption of international standards for Multipoint Document and Video Teleconferencing, specific-

98 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 ally the ITU T.120 and H.320 standards suites. The work on A toolkit on application sharing has been launched, but is now supporting the T.120 series recommendations was initiated by withdrawn, probably because ITU-T now is working on a rec- CATS (The Consortium for Audiographics Teleconferencing ommendation on application sharing (T.SHARE). Standards, Inc.). In 1994 CATS and MCCOI (The Multimedia Communications Community of Interest) were merged to form The modules are: IMTC. • Multi-Point Communications Application Toolkit (MCAT). MCAT is the basis module which provides a general-purpose Most of the CATS members were North-American companies, facility for establishing, servicing and managing the simul- while the membership of MCCOI was based on both North- taneous delivery of data between multiple users connected via American and European companies. Telenor was a member of LAN, WAN, and dial-up networks. MCAT is based on the MCCOI, and is now a member of IMTC. ITU-T Recommendation T.122/125 and T.123. In December 1995, IMTC merged with PCWG (the Personal • Generic Conference Control Application Toolkit (GCCAT). Conferencing Work Group), and the major network operators, This module offers facilities for establishing and managing suppliers of video conferencing equipment as well as compa- meetings, as well as controlling the communications re- nies like MicroSoft and Intel are now participating in the work sources required by the conference applications. of IMTC. • Node Controller Toolkit (NCT). This module streamlines the establishment and management of conference connections. It is worth noting that, unlike other fora, IMTC is no alternative NCT furnishes a generic standard for an undefined portion of to the standards organisations, the fundamental goal is to bring the T.120 infrastructure. all organisations involved in the development of multimedia teleconferencing products and services together to help create • Session Manager Toolkit (SMT). This module offers a flex- and promote the adoption of the required standards. ible abstraction of the session management functions common to all T.120-based applications. SMT is based on ITU-T 3.2 DataBeam Recommendation T.121, and secures a standardised communication between the applications. 3.2.1 Introduction • Shared Whiteboard Application Toolkit (SWAT). This module allows developers to rapidly add powerful T.126 compli- DataBeam is one of the active companies in the work on the ant document conferencing or whiteboarding functions to ITU-T T.120-series recommendations. Co-founder and Vice their applications. SWAT is based on ITU-T Recommend- President of DataBeam, Mr. C.J. Starkey, was rapporteur for the ation T.126, work in CCITT, and is currently president of the IMTC. • File Transfer Application Toolkit (FTAT). This module offers a simple way to embed multi-point background file transfer DataBeam has established agreements with several partners on functions into an application. FAFT is based on ITU-T Re- joint activities. Examples are: commendation T.127. • Agreement with MCI to deliver new real-time services for multi-point collaboration via the Internet CCTS can be considered as an implementation of the principles described in ITU-T Recommendation T.121, and is probably the • Relationship with Cisco on new Internet server with confer- only commercial available tool for development of T.120-appli- encing capabilities cations. • Agreement with MicroSoft to facilitate the development and deployment of real-time multi-point data applications in corporate Intranets and the global Internet Non-standard • Strategic co-operation between Cisco, MCI, MicroSoft and applications Sun on development and marketing of neT.120 SWAT (T.126) • Agreement with AT&T Paradyne and Multilink on development and marketing of technology for multiparty audiographic conferencing. FTAT (T.127) The products offered by DataBeam are:

• CCTS (Collaborative Computing Toolkit Series), a develop- SMT (T.121) Node controller ment tool • FarSite, a software product

• neT.120 Conference server, a data conferencing server. GCCAT (T.124)

3.2.2 CCTS

CCTS is an integrated set of software development tools based MCAT (T.122, T.123, T.125) on the T.120 standards. It is organised in 6 modules which corresponds to one or several T.120-series recommendations. Figure 7 CCTS modules

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 99 3.2.3 FarSite protocols will be used in other MicroSoft products (e.g. MicroSoft NetMeeting). MicroSoft and DataBeam have sign- FarSite is a software which offers the tools needed for remote ed an agreement on development of T.120 application for use collaboration based on the T.120 protocols. FarSite provides on Internet. both application sharing and shared whiteboarding, in point-to- • PictureTel, one of the major suppliers of video conferencing point connections and in a multipoint conference. equipment, is active in the ITU-T work on the T.120 recommendations. PictureTel is also active in the interoperability Multipoint Binary File Transfer conforming to ITU-T Recom- testing events organised by IMTC (Event 120). mendation T.127 is offered. The whiteboarding function in the present version (FarSite 3.0) is probably not fully conforming to • The major supplier of video conferencing MCUs, ITU-T Recommendation T.126, although this is the objective of VideoServer, is actively participating in the ITU-T work on DataBeam. the T.120 recommendation, and offers some T.120 functionality in software version 5 for their MCUs. FarSite is available as a separate product and is included in several multimedia conferencing terminals and systems. 4 Trends

3.2.4 neT.120 4.1 Market trends

The neT.120 Conference Server is a data conferencing server No doubt the T.120 protocols will be a success. Several observ- based on T.120 technology. It can be connected to the networks ations supporting this statement can be made: identified in Figure 6, that is ISDN, PSTN, IPX-based networks a) Important market actors such as MicroSoft and Intel are now (Novell) and TCP/IP-based networks (Internet and Intranet). actively participating in the standardisation work, and are However, the present marketing of neT.120 indicates that actively promoting these protocols. DataBeam strategic decision is to offer products for data conferencing on Internet and Intranet. The agreement with b)Computer Supported Co-operative Work, teleworking and Cisco, MicroSoft and Sun clearly documents this decision. multiparty multimedia conferencing have become important strategic elements for a number of companies. A software-only server, the neT.120 Conference Server lever- ages existing web browsers and desktop applications. The mini- Another aspect is the introduction of the T.120 protocols in the mum requirement for participating in a neT.120 based confer- Internet environment. So far, real-time multiparty video conference is an Internet browser such as MicroSoft Internet Explorer, ences can be set up by using MBONE, a virtual network using Netscape’s Navigator or NSCA Mosaic. IP multicast on Internet. The information is distributed to all hosts who have expressed interest in becoming a member of a By using terminals conforming to the T.120-series recommend- certain multicast group. Like the present version of Internet, ations more functionalities can be offered. there is no Quality of Service guarantee. By the use of the Time To Live (TTL) value the distribution of the information can be 3.3 Suppliers of T.120-based products restricted. The introduction of neT.120 is the first step towards multimedia In the past standardisation has not been given high priority by conferences on the Internet that include a well-defined group of computer and software manufacturers. Usually, the market participants. New functions such as chairman control can be forces, strategic alliances, etc. have been used to establish de offered. Extensions to the present IP protocols which offer facto standards. In the development of video conferencing term- guaranteed bandwidth are available, and the Internet Engineer- inals several suppliers have developed alternatives to the standing Task Force is working on a new version of the Internet Pro- ardised solutions. However, the last year a trend to choose tocol (IPv6) which can guarantee Quality of Service. When the standardised solutions can be observed. Examples are: new version of IP is implemented, world-wide multimedia con- • Intel ProShare 2.0 which conforms to ITU-T Recommenda- ferences offering functionalities and Quality of Service similar tion H.320, and offers T.120 functionality. Although not offi- to those offered on public networks, can be set up. This service cially confirmed, Intel will probably use MicroSoft developed will at the beginning be introduced on corporate networks data conferencing functionalities. Intel’s development will be (Intranets). Multimedia conferences set up on Intranets where restricted to the audio and video part. Co-operation between some participants may be attached via public networks will be Intel and VideoServer is established, and the VideoServer an important market segment. MCU is compatible with Intel ProShare 2.0. From a technology point of view multimedia conferencing • Apple’s video conferencing system, QuickTime is also con- including moving images is the most exciting application. From forming to ITU-T Recommendation H.320. Apple has a the users’ point of view audiographic conferencing and data licence agreement with DataBeam, and plans to introduce conferencing might be more interesting on the short term. QuickTime with T.120 functionality in 1996. The licence Today, video conferences where the quality of the moving agreement with DataBeam allows the QuickTime users to image is acceptable for professional use requires connections set develop T.120-based applications without an extra licensing up via ISDN or networks offering higher bitrates. Audiographic agreement with DataBeam. conferences or data conferences can be set up on PSTN, Internet • MicroSoft has indicated that support of T.120 protocols will or a combination of PSTN and Internet (e.g. the audio connec- be a part of the successor of Windows 95, and that the T.120 tion on the PSTN, the data connection on the Internet). The

100 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 required investment in terminal equipment will usually be low, 3. Data conferences a telephone, a modem and a PC are required. New modem This scenario will be based on PSTN or Internet communica- standards offering simultaneous transmission of voice and data tion. on a single telephone line may also be an alternative. Combinations are of course possible. One alternative is to use Another important trend is the evolution from the business Internet for the data part of a multimedia or audiographic con- market to the domestic market. In the future multiparty games ference. might be an interesting market segment. Where guaranteed Quality of Service can be offered Internet/ 4.2 Network platforms Intranet is a realistic alternative for multimedia conferences too.

As already described standardised protocol stacks for public 4.3 Interoperability testing telecommunications networks (PSTN and ISDN) and for public data networks are available. Protocol stacks for LANs and Experiences gained by the introduction of new protocols such as TCP/IP networks are also available. facsimile and videophony indicate that the risks for misinterpre- tations of the requirement of the recommendations, errors in the ITU-T is currently working on a recommendation on audio- recommendations or shortcomings of the recommendations are visual terminals on LANs without a guaranteed Quality of Ser- significant. There is always a need for a verification of a stand- vice (Recommendation H.323). ard or recommendation, as well as a need for verifying that equipment produced by different manufacturers is able to inter- A recommendation on videophones attached to the PSTN is work. approved by ITU-T (Recommendation H.324). However, the size of the screen as well as the audio and video quality are IMTC is addressing these issues. An interoperability testing probably not acceptable for business users. Real-time videotele- event called Event 120 is organised by IMTC. The first event phony on PSTN or Internet has for the time being several short- was held in Santa Clara, California, 25–27 March 1996. 25 comings, due to time delay as well as available bandwidth. manufacturers participated. Approximately 6,000 test sequences Today, the only realistic network platform for multimedia com- were conducted, covering equipment connected to ISDN, munication where moving images are included, is the ISDN. It PSTN, LAN and Internet. is possible to set up conferences where both audio, moving images and data are transported on two ISDN B-channels, i.e. A second session was held in Gaithersburg, Maryland 18–20 Sep- 128 kbit/s. For more demanding applications the bandwidth can tember 1996. At this session 3,000 test sequences were performed. be increased to e.g. 384 kbit/s (6 B-channels). It is claimed that 95 % of these tests were successful. Although Both data conferences and audiographic conferences can be set these results are promising, it is worth pointing out a few up on the ISDN. However, the standardised protocol stack for favourable conditions: ISDN communication is based on the in-band signalling system • One is the leading role of DataBeam. Most of the implement- specified for audio-visual communication. Data conferencing on ation was based on the DataBeam products or DataBeam’s the ISDN not using this in-band signalling system is therefore a development toolkit. When software or development toolkit problem for the time being. from other suppliers is available, the situation could be worse. These considerations lead to the following scenarios: • Another is that the tests were predefined. It is therefore likely that attempts have been made to keep clear of problem areas. 1. Multimedia on the ISDN This scenario is requiring video conferencing terminals, The initiative to start Event-120, however, is positive, and an usually a PC, with T.120 software. Another option is a desk- important condition for interoperability between terminal equip- top videophone or a video conferencing terminal with a PC ment produced by different manufacturers. interface. Some videophones are equipped with a PC interface, but few support the necessary function on the data link In Europe, EV (European Videoconferencing); an organisation layer to enable T.120 communication. where European network operators are participating (among 2. Audiographic conferences these Telenor), has carried out both interoperability testing and This scenario may be based on ISDN communication. There conformance testing of H.320 terminals. is a standard specifying a wideband (7 kHz bandwidth) ISDN telephone where up to 14.4 kbit/s can be reserved for data communication. The in-band signalling system specified in 4.4 Standardisation ITU-T Recommendation H.221 is used. The terminal must be 4.4.1 Applications equipped with an interface to a PC, similar to that of desktop videophones. As already stated, there will be few recommendations on appli- A more realistic short term scenario is to set up two PSTN cations among the ITU-T T.120 series of recommendations. connections, one for audio, the other for data. A telephone Some proposals for application recommendations have been may be used for the audio communication; usually a hands- forwarded. One of these is to expand to T.190 series recom- free solution is preferred. An alternative might be a headset. mendations on Co-operative Document Handling (CDH) to include multiparty scenarios. A proposal for organisation of the work is described in Figure 8.

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 101 Work in ITU-T SG 8 on XAPI (Extended Applications Pro- • In an annex a protocol which secures compatibility with grammable Interface) has so far been addressing point-to-point MicroSoft NetMeeting and PictureTel LiveShare will be CDH. The extension to a general use in a T.120-environment is specified. This protocol will not be maintained, and will be now considered. withdrawn after a period to be defined (e.g. three years).

Other applications related issues are security and encryption in Several observations can be made on this proposal: an T.120 environment. a) It is proposed to standardise a new application, a logical evolution to secure interoperability between applications, but The most important proposal, to develop a recommendation on in conflict with the argument that applications are a subject application sharing in a T.120 conference (T.SHARE), is pre- for competition, not standardisation. sented by MicroSoft, PictureTel and PolyCom. The proposal is supported by a number of other North-American companies. b)One of the sources of the proposal is MicroSoft, a company The proposal is based on technology used in MicroSoft Net- which is large enough to establish de facto standards. Meeting and PictureTel LiveShare Plus. c) It is proposed to standardise principles which are already used in Internet products. This is an indication that in certain areas The principles of this recommendation are described in Figure 9. standards designed for traditional telecommunications applications will also be used in products designed for Internet. In The application runs on a host. The screen information is trans- other words, the communication between traditional telecom- mitted to the other participants of the conference. The other munications networks and Internet will be simplified. participants can control the application by using mouse and keyboard. Windows is not required. However, if Windows is used, d)The proposal, supported by a number of North-American all participants may switch between applications as if the appli- companies, is to some extent in conflict with the decision cations were running on their PC. The only restriction is that made by ITU-T SG 8 to develop CDH protocols for multi- information from the clipboard of other PCs than the host can- party conferences. not be copied into the application(s). e) Intel has accepted that a protocol which is not compatible with their application sharing protocol, is standardised. Fur- The transmission of the screen information and control informa- thermore, Intel has declared that there will not be further re- tion will use traditional T.120 channels, and full T.120 function- vision of the present application sharing software, the new ality is available. software will be based on T.SHARE. T.SHARE will in principle specify two protocols: f) An underlying question is – should protocols covering all relevant scenarios be standardised, or should attempts be made • The main protocol is the protocol which will be maintained to standardise protocols which are simpler and which are and further processed functioning although they may not cover all possible scenarios.

By tradition the Internet environment has prepared their own standards, RFCs. However, some standards developed by ISO or ITU-T on algorithms for coding of audio and moving image Applications have been used. There is also a trend to remove the border between RFCs and formal standards developed by ITU-T and other standardisation organisations. Extend Applications Programmable Interface (XAPI)

T.121 JSE ADP SDP T.126 T.127 Host Mouce A keyboard T.120 Multipoint Point-to-point protocol stack protocol stack

Responsibilities of multipoint group Screen information Screen information

Responibilities of document transfer and CDH group Host

JSE : Joint Synchronous Editing B Mouce C ADP : Asynchronous Document Production keyboard SDP : Sequential Document Production

Figure 8 Proposal for organisation of the work on CDH Figure 9 Principles of T.SHARE

102 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 User applications

Real Real Network specific time time mappings (T.131) Node controller audio video device device

Remote Device Control (T.RDC)) ITU-T Standard Non-standard application application protocol entities protocol entities audio video stream(s) stream(s) control

Audio-visual-control (T.132/T.133) GCC (T.124)

MCS (T.122/125)

Network specific Network transport protocols control entity (T.123)

control data

Network multiplex

Figure 10 Relations between the T.120 series recommendations and the planned T.130 series recommendations

Standards addressing these issues are on the way. Initially, a 4.4.2 Network interworking and applications inter- single recommendation identified as T.AVC was planned. Now working the objective is to prepare a set of recommendations identified as the ITU-T T.130 series. The structure of Figure 2 can be Network interworking is usually no problem for data conferenc- extended as indicated in Figure 10. es and for audiographic conferences where two separate connections are set up. The present standards for multiparty video con- The number of recommendations in the T.130 series is not yet ferences are based on the condition that all participants who fixed. There will be an introductory recommendation, T.130. receive the moving image have to have the same video coding There is work on algorithm, and to transmit/receive the coding image, audio and data at the same speed. In most cases these participants are con- • T.132 – Audio Video Control: Infrastructure Management nected to the same network. However, gateways do exist be- • T.133 – Audio Video Control: Service Management. tween LANs and ISDN which support the principles of the ITU- T H.320 standard, and thus offer the user a possibility to partici- Drafts are available. It is planned to approve these recommenda- pate in a multiparty conference from a terminal on the local net- tions at study group level in 1997. However, there are still a work. Participants may also be connected to the MCU via leas- number of complex, unsolved issues; the plan may fail. ed lines. These conferences where the video coding algorithm and the transmission speed are identical are identified as A network related recommendation, T.131 – Protocol for Net- homogenous conferences. work Specific Mapping of Real Time Audio Video Elements, is planned to be approved in 1998. Conferences where the participants are connected to different networks (ISDN, Internet, ATM, etc.), different video coding One of the issues discussed is whether control of remote devices algorithms are used, and where also graphics and audio might (cameras, microphones, VCRs, etc.) should be an integral part use different coding algorithms, are described as heterogeneous conferences.

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 103 of the already planned recommendations, or be a separate rec- 5 Closing remarks ommendation (T.RDC). The importance of standards can be illustrated by the success of Most of the functionalities specified in the T.130 series are the facsimile. Prior to the creation of the facsimile standards, a based on the use of an MCU or a server. Scenarios where the in- facsimile machine could only communicate with other machines band signalling is based on ITU-T Recommendation H.221 made by the same manufacturer. The consequence was a few, (equipment connected to ISDN or leased lines), or ITU-T Re- expensive machines on the market. Today, people take it for commendation H.245 (PSTN, ATM or LAN) will be covered. granted that when they send a fax, it will work no matter what brand of machines are sending and receiving. The price of a fax A control protocol for network interworking will be defined. machine has reached a level where it is interesting to home Control mechanisms for transcoding (e.g. between H.261 and users as well as business users. MPEG) as well as mechanisms enabling the user to specify and control Quality of Service, will be prepared. In much the same way, the T.120 series of standards defines a means to communicate multimedia across various networks. As Whether T.131 and T.132 should be merged or not is another companies develop software products based on these standards, issue. A decision to merge these recommendations will probab- they will be able to communicate with each other. The T.120 ly result in a delay. series of standards are also creating a bridge between several networks, PSTN, ISDN, Internet/Intranet, ATM and LAN. The ITU-T recommendation T.133 will cover T.120 series standards will be an important element in the multimedia applications that will be developed in the coming years. • Video switching • Video processing (e.g. Continuous Presence) • Mixing of audio information • Identification of audio and video sources • Chairman control.

An example is described in Figure 11. A Continuous Presence function presents images from several sites (e.g. five sites). One of the images is larger than the others. Additional information (video, documents, etc.) can also be presented.

The present Telenor video conference service (Telenor Møtepunktet®) offers a Continuous Presence function where images from four sites are presented on one screen. However, when the new recommendations are in force more flexibility can be offered. Some of the functions overlap with functions specified in the T.120 series recommendations. One solution is to extend ITU-T Recommendation T.124 to cover T.130-based functionalities.

Site 1 Site 2 Site 3 Site 5

Site 3 Document camera

Site 3 stream 1 Site 3 stream 2

Figure 11 A Continuous Presence presentation

104 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 Charging of ATM services BY RAGNAR ANDREASSEN, ØYVIND BREIVIK, EINAR EDVARDSEN, THOR ESKEDAL, NINA KLOSTER, OLAV ØSTERBØ

1 Introduction methods for ATM charging is presented, from the most simple solutions to more sophisticated ones. The chapter is summed up Developing the ATM networking concept to its current state of by introducing the special charging algorithms the CA$hMAN maturity has for several years been a major effort in research project has decided to investigate in more depth. In Chapter 3 is and standardisation. In that process, most important aspects of outlined a general discussion about the billing system as a com- the concept have been studied thoroughly and in depth. plete system for charging ATM services. The discussion covers which components in the network would be involved in billing Charging and billing are traditionally operator internal respons- issues, how different services could be reflected in the billing ibilities. For this reason, and perhaps also for other reasons system, and considerations about the reliability of a total billing related to the competitive nature of the topic, the charging and system. In Chapter 4 we again turn the focus to the work under- billing aspects of ATM have received less attention than other taken in the CA$hMAN project, where investigation of different operational issues. Now that large scale commercial deployment charging algorithms through user experiments are stressed. The is imminent, achieving insight into charging and billing of ATM chapter describes the experiment platform used, what questions services is of vital importance for both customers and operators. we try to answer by conducting experiments, and the results we Generating such understanding over a broad range of questions have achieved so far in the project. In Chapter 5 some conse- related to charging and billing of ATM services constituted the quences for the network operators are discussed, and finally main motivation for forming the European ACTS project Chapter 6 gives some concluding remarks and some ideas of CA$hMAN. The project consists of several European compa- future work to be done. nies, including Telenor R&D and Ericsson from Norway. 1.1 Some aspects of ATM relevant to charging To develop a good and sound billing system many aspects concerning both operators and customers have to be taken into From the initial idealistic ideas of creating a simple and univer- account. For a network operator it will be essential to achieve sal system for asynchronous transfer, ATM [8] has developed customer satisfaction and good network utilisation, for thereby into a highly sophisticated networking concept. Although being to increase the revenue. This means that a network operator has perhaps the most universal standardised networking concept to put requirements on how the charging scheme should operate developed until now, the intended simplicity vanished a long and be implemented. Below is mentioned some of these require- time ago. It should not be surprising then that the sophistication ments [7]: of the networking concept may also imply sophisticated charg- • Cost-recovery (the pricing should reflect the network cost for ing. The purpose of this section is to identify and outline aspects an average over a range of services and customers) of ATM that may have bearing on questions related to charging. • The total billing system should be cost effective and tech- In ATM, fixed size units are switched based on the principle of nically feasible to implement virtual connections. Being asynchronous, the switching and • The pricing structure should be understandable by customers transfer rely on statistical sharing of network resources. Virtual and salespersons connections and statistical sharing of resources are as such old concepts, but a quite revolutionary property of ATM is that • Pricing should be flexible – ability to tailor to customer and these concepts are combined with contractual guarantees on ser- market segments vice qualities. This observation has several far-reaching impli- • Provide economic incentive to upgrade network sufficiently cations, one of them being that the network operator must close- to provide good QoS ly watch ingress traffic, and if necessary impose traffic filtering on the traffic entering the network in order to be able to fulfil • Encourage responsible use of network by customer. the contractual obligations. For the customer the main goal is service satisfaction. Even as When a customer sends a service request for a new connection the operator puts requirements on the charging schemes, the to the network, a proposal is at the same time made for a traffic customer will put requirements regarding charging aspects of contract. There is no guarantee that the network will actually the services offered. These could be: accept the proposal, guarantees apply only after the contract is • Clear, predictable and traceable call charges made. The process of evaluating such service requests is denoted Connection Admission Control (CAC). A possibility (at • Comparison with competitors’ prices possible least theoretically, this is not standardised) may be that the cus- • Clear relationship between cost and service delivered tomer at the same time requests one of several possible tariffs for the service (see Section 2.4.1). Other elements of the con- • Possibility to trade quality against cost. tract proposed will be the type of service to be used for the connection, i.e. the ATM Transfer Capability (ATC), and the This article will give an overview of some different methods of parameters of the policing mechanism (Usage Parameter Con- charging/pricing of ATM services. Since our work on these trol (UPC) parameters). issues was initiated by the CA$hMAN project, we will link general thoughts and considerations about pricing policies for ATM The UPC functions and the transfer capabilities are defined in to the work undertaken by the project. [2]. The transfer capabilities relate to what kind of resources must be allocated in the network to provide a service of a cer- To give a short summary of the article, some introductory tain kind. The type of policing functions to be used is also remarks regarding the special features of ATM relevant to closely related to the choice of ATC. Using ITU-terminology charging follows this introduction. Thereafter follows a short (ATM-forum have their own definitions, also with slightly dif- presentation of the CA$hMAN project. In Chapter 2, some

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 105 fering semantics), four ATCs are defined: Deterministic BitRate able to take advantage of. The CA$hMAN project deals with (DBR), Statistical BitRate (SBR), Available BitRate (ABR) and charging strategies at the ATM level. ATM Block Transfer (ABT). In the CA$hMAN project, only the first three of these have so far been considered. The CA$hMAN consortium consists of skilled people both within teletraffic theory for developing charging algorithms, and For the DBR ATC, network resources must be allocated to sus- within exploration of how charging impacts on network man- tain sources sending at a continuous peak rate. Accordingly, the agement architectures. Experienced hardware constructors are UPC parameters are only related to the peak rate of the offered also part of the CA$hMAN team to build prototype equipment traffic, i.e. restricted to the two parameters defining the peak able to support different charging algorithms. Hence, the con- rate policing: Peak Cell Rate (PCR) and Cell Delay Variation sortium consists of people with many different skills, who to- Tolerance (CDVT). gether form a group that is able to evaluate the charging schemes from different angles. For sources that may not need the same amount of resources allocated, but still require quality guarantees, the SBR ATC is defined. For such connections, the traffic contract will basically 2 Charging algorithms for ATM contain the two peak rate parameters, and two additional para- Generally, there may be a rather broad range of possible charg- meters related to the foreseen burst level variability of the ing algorithms for ATM depending on the parameters and the source, named Intrinsic Burst Tolerance (IBT) and Sustainable measurements they depend on. The simplest one is obviously Cell Rate (SCR). The choices made on IBT and SCR will influ- the flat rate, e.g. the subscriber pays a fixed amount per month. ence the amount of resources that must be allocated in the net- This simple algorithm gives no incentive to use the network work. resources in a particular way. Contrary to the flat rate pricing scheme, which is independent of the actual use, one reasonable The last ATC considered in the CA$hMAN project is the ABR principle is that the charge in a reasonable way should reflect ATC, which is basically a ‘best effort’ service defined with the actual resources a connection occupies in the network. Such feedback rate-control mechanisms. The ATC is defined with a schemes are commonly denoted usage based charging (UBC). Minimum Cell Rate (MCR), denoting a guaranteed lower bound There may be some different ways of achieving this. The UPC on available capacity for the source, a Peak Cell Rate, and an function (with parameters negotiated at call set-up) will upper Allowed Cell Rate (ACR) that will vary dynamically between bound the traffic conveyed by the network over a connection. the peak rate and the minimum rate, reflecting the ‘best effort’ One possibility could be to charge by algorithms derived from component of the service. the traffic contract and the time duration. Another possibility, which is investigated in CA$hMAN, is to charge according to Other quality parameters that may be agreed for a connection in some traffic measurements. In CA$hMAN these measurements a traffic contract, ‘orthogonal’ to the ‘service plane’ spanned by are obtained by introducing the important notion of effective the ATCs, may be related to loss probabilities and delay proper- bandwidth, which reflects the actual usage of network ties of transmitted traffic, and the ‘priority level’ of the traffic. resources. Some important properties and implications of effec- All these parameters will influence the amount of resources that tive bandwidth is mentioned in Appendix I. must be allocated in the network to provide a service, and may thus also be possible discriminators in pricing schemes based on The different possible charging schemes may be listed accord- resource usage. ing to the issues mentioned above starting with the simplest ones. We must, however, not forget that the different ATCs may 1.2 The CA$hMAN project be charged according to schemes which may result from other considerations than pure traffic aspects. As an example it seems The ACTS project CA$hMAN(Charging and Accounting reasonable that ABR services will be charged lower than DBR Schemes in Multi-Service ATM Networks), is a consortium or VBR (for the same traffic volume) because of the lack of consisting of companies from several European countries. Net- guaranteed bandwidth. work operators, hardware manufacturers, universities and software developers are all co-working to solve different tasks relat- Another important issue is the implementability of the charging ing to charging of ATM services. Since some underlying strate- schemes. If the extra cost for implementing a complex charging gies of charging are operator confidential, charging schemes are scheme is very high the benefit in terms of better performance is not an issue for recommendations. The main goal is, as stated in of less value. the CA$hMAN project summary for 1996, to “study, develop, implement, verify and compare charging and accounting In the following some general aspects of some possible and rele- schemes for ATM networks”. The outcome of the project will, vant charging schemes will be briefly discussed. In Figure 1 is however, expectedly impact on standardisation for the structure illustrated how charge and mean rate relate for some of these of accounting models, on the TMN architecture related to schemes. accounting management and requirements on the processing and monitoring capabilities to support the charging mecha- 2.1 Algorithms based on flat rate nisms. To do this, experiments and field trials with real users are highly prioritised, and the use of ATM National Hosts for As illustrated in Figure 1a), this charge is only based on a flat conducting them has been stressed. SUPERNET in Norway, rate (e.g. per month). It will mainly depend on the type of TRIBUNE in the Netherlands and EXPERT in Switzerland are access link chosen including the bitrate. There may, however, all research networks which the CA$hMAN project hope to be also be other parameters defining classes of subscribers. It may

106 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 be worth mentioning that although the charge is independent of Cost the characteristic of a particular connection, both UPC and CAC are applicable to guarantee the QoS.

The flat rate does not give any incentives to use the network resources in some particular way, the charge is independent of the number of connections, the traffic characteristic, and the time duration. Although this charging scheme is simple, the subscribers will benefit from the fact that they always will be able to predict the cost of their communication services.

Flat rate policies are inherently applicable to the Permanent Vir- tual Channel (PVC) services that are now being offered. These Mean rate services form direct rivals to the traditional flat rate leased line Figure 1a. Volume insensitive algorithms services with the asset of offering more flexible capacity agreements. With the advent of Switched Virtual Channel (SVC) services more elaborate schemes may be introduced. Cost

2.2 Algorithms based on traffic contract and call duration

For DBR and SBR services the contract parameters play an important role for the traffic management. For DBR the relevant parameters are PCR and CDVT and for SBR the parameters are PCR, CDVT, SCR and IBT. From these parameters it is possible to calculate an equivalent capacity and the charge could be proportional to that capacity multiplied by the call duration. For a given set of such policing parameters, the charging algorithm Mean rate is still insensitive to traffic volume, and Figure 1a) applies also Figure 1b. Volume-based algorithm to this kind of charging.

The main drawback with a charging scheme based only on traf- Cost fic contract is that the users must pay for an assumed amount of Two different tariffs for traffic with a traffic, whether it is used or not. So this scheme gives no reduc- given peakrate tion in the charge if the traffic sent is substantially lower than tariff 2 the traffic contract. On the other hand, this scheme gives a strong incentive to choose a contract that closely matches the generated traffic. tariff 1 Effective bandwidth curve 2.3 Algorithms based on traffic volume peakrate m m A purely volume based charging scheme is illustrated in Figure 1 2 1b). The main objective to charge according to traffic measure- Mean rate ments is that users should pay an amount that somehow reflects their real usage of network resources. To obtain this goal differ- Figure 1c. Kelly's charging algorithm ent measurements are possible, ranging from plain cell counts to sophisticated estimations of different traffic parameters. Figure 1 The effective bandwidth and charge as a function of the mean bitrate for some different charging schemes The main objection against only using measurements for charging in ATM networks is that this type of algorithms are independent of the traffic contract. This means that users have no incentive to choose a traffic contract that tightly matches the 2.4 Algorithms based on traffic contract, call source characteristics. It is likely that the CAC procedure to a duration and traffic volume great extent will depend on the contract parameters, so for the ATCs bounded by some CAC algorithm (mainly DBR and As mentioned above it is likely that a satisfactory charging SBR), the requested resources at call set-up should somehow be scheme for ATM will contain all the three aspects mentioned reflected in the charge. For the ABR services the situation is dif- above. One part of the algorithm will be a flat rate independent ferent, where apart from the minimum guaranteed cell rate of the traffic sent into the network. In addition, there will be a (MCR), the ABR users may share the unoccupied resources in traffic dependent charge based on both traffic measurements, the network. So for ABR the traffic beyond the MCR could well call duration and traffic contract parameters. It is also possible be charged according to only traffic measurements such as cell that other traffic parameters (which are not part of the traffic count. contract for the different ATCs), such as an estimated mean

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 107 rate, will be a part of the charging scheme. Such approaches, where T1 and T2 are the total duration of intervals of type I and based on the concept of effective bandwidth, have been investi- II; (T1 + T2 = T). Similarly, V1 and V2 are the total volumes of gated in the CA$hMAN project where two charging schemes cell generated in type I and II; (V1 + V2 = V). The value of K is are implemented in the testbeds. These are Kelly’s charging chosen to be less than ht (which is the volume generated by the algorithm and the Two tax-band algorithm, both described peak rate h in the measuring interval of length t, and one possi- below. ble choice is to set K = 1/2ht). The tariffs CT1, CT2, CV1, CV2 and CA may be given as functions of the contract parameters, but also additional parameters may be included. One set of tar- 2.4.1 Kelly’s charging algorithm iffs may be obtained by a similar procedure as for Kelly’s algorithm; however, the expressions get more involved and it also This algorithm is based on cell count and time duration plus a requires that the users must specify their estimate of the mean possible extra set-up charge. The cost of a connection is then values in each tax-band and also an estimate of the portion of given by the formula: time in each tax-band. COST = CTT + CVV + CA 2.4.3 The CA$hMAN approach to usage based where T is the time duration and C is the charge per time unit, T charging V is the traffic volume and CV is the charge per volume of traffic carried, and C is a fixed charge per call. The tariffs C , C A T V Charging and tariffs are not present only to collect money from and C will depend on the traffic contract parameters negotiated A the customers, but can also be actively used to derive informa- at call set-up, but they could also depend on other traffic param- tion suitable to optimise the network utilisation. For instance, by eters, for instance an estimate of the actual mean cell rate of a tailoring the tariffs to the choice of traffic contract parameters, connection. One possible choice of the parameters is derived by the users are encouraged to choose tariff and contract para- Kelly [1] and is given in Appendix I. For this particular choice meters that matches his traffic profile (see Section 2.2). Without of parameters the tariff will encourage the users to give the best such a linkage, the users do not have incentives to give adequate estimate of the mean rate m to get the cheapest charge. How tar- suggestions for contract parameters. By making reasonably iff and mean rates relate in the Kelly charging algorithm good choices, both parties may profit. The users by having scheme is illustrated in Figure 1c): Users submitting traffic with lower bills, and the network operator by using the information mean rate close to m should prefer Tariff 1 to Tariff 2. 1 to optimise network utilisation. However, contract parameters only define the upper limits for the traffic a customer is allowed The charging scheme above may also be a good choice for ABR to send, and do not reflect the traffic he actually will send. An services. The essence in this approach is that the traffic up to idea worth following, is therefore to investigate whether it is MCR is charged at a flat rate per time unit, and the volume possible to derive more information from the users – informa- above the MCR is given a rate per volume which should be less tion that can be used to further increase network utilisation. As than the corresponding rate per volume for DBR and SBR traf- pointed out in Section 2.4.1 the mean value of the traffic has fic. Anyhow, the result will give a charging function which is been proposed to be such a useful parameter. on the same form as above, but the tariff parameters CT, CV and C must be chosen differently for ABR services. A It is not obviously clear that a user is able to estimate the mean value of his intended traffic. But on the other hand, whatever 2.4.2 The two tax-band charging scheme knowledge the user posesses may be of value to the operator in optimising network utilisation. The user may also be motivated A charging scheme based on Kelly’s algorithm will only depend to improve his estimates if he receives the right incentives and on the duration of a connection T and the volume V. This means he may learn by experience, possibly aided by suitable “intelli- that two connections with the same duration and volume will be gent” functions implemented in his communication equipment. charged equally, so there will be no extra charge for burstiness The task to be solved is to implement a charging scheme that by applying this formula. For example, an on/off source with has the necessary incentives for a customer to provide the net- different burst length will be charged the same if it has the same work operator with adequate information. The aforementioned peak and mean rate, in spite of the fact that the source with the algorithms (Section 2.4.1 and 2.4.2) have the needed properties longer bursts will be more difficult for the network to carry. that may encourage the user to give good estimates.

One way to take burst length into account is to implement some As indicated, there are many uncertainties present in the most kind of burst detection by sorting the traffic flow into two cate- advanced implementation of UBC, and there are a number of gories – one for high intensity and another for low intensity. open issues to be investigated. For instance, we do not know Then, by charging the first category higher than the other one, • Whether the potential gain to the network is large enough we are able to better identify and charge bursty traffic according to resource usage. • Whether we can load the customers with more ‘duties than already done’ The above charging scheme is implemented by defining a small • Whether the incentives for the customers are large enough measuring interval t, over which we measure the number of cells carried Vt, and classify the interval of being of type I or II • Whether the incentives can be presented in an understandable according to Vt ≤ K or Vt ≥ K where K is a constant depending format on the interval t. Then the two tax-band charging formula takes • Whether it is technically possible to predict mean rate esti- the form: mates good enough to be used in CAC in order to increase COST = CT1T1 + CT2T2 + CV1V1 + CV2V2 + CA network utilisation.

108 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 To answer these questions the CA$hMAN project has imple- ATM bearer services are offered to the customers at the fringes mented an experimental platform with the most fundamental of the network; with access points that are typically attached to functionality included. The platform incorporates the minimum small edge switches. Within the core of the network a smaller management functions and the capability to present on-line set of high capacity backbone switches allow traffic to be con- charging information to the user. The experiments are described centrated and aim to assure reliable transport and interconnect- in more detail in Chapter 4. ivity across the network.

The provisioning and control of ATM bearer services as well as 3 Aspects of billing support the management of the ATM network infrastructure require a set of support systems. The functions that are required may be In order to introduce and conduct any usage based charging classified into two categories: those that address the operations scheme, a system that supports the operation and the manage- of the network and those that address the related business pro- ment of the entire billing process is required. The billing system cess. The former category is often termed the Operations Sup- is a vital part of an operator’s total network solution as it pro- port System (OSS); the latter the Business Support System vides the means for securing revenue. The billing system is also (BSS). The classification of these functions target two of the essential in the handling of the customer care relation, e.g. main areas of concern for the operator in the context of service traceability and logging of charging events are important in provisioning and customer care, namely, how to automate the defence of customer dissatisfaction with possible subsequent handling of the technology in question (e.g., fault management invoice complaints. Operators strive to meet customer demands. and configuration management) and how to automate parts of New requirements on billing options are important to satisfy as the business process (e.g., customer handling, tariffing and the bill forms an important interface between the operator and invoice processing, marketing analysis applications). the customer. With the introduction of new services, one such customer requirement could be a preference to receive one con- A total billing solution for an ATM network must be based solidated bill that covers the whole range of used services. Fur- upon the usage measurement functions provided by the network thermore, marketing analysis (e.g. who are the big spenders and elements. It must also be integrated with the OSS for surveil- what services are they using?) and tariffing forecasting tasks lance and configuration management and with the BSS for post- (e.g. modelling of the revenue distribution of introducing new processing and tariffing purposes. Some central problems that tariffs) may be alleviated by means of functions of the billing will be encountered in assembling such a system are addressed system. below and outlines of possible solutions are discussed. A complete and comprehensive billing system is not yet avail- To handle billing, among the features that are required is a sys- able for ATM. From a commercial point of view the technology tem that collects the usage data from the network elements and is relatively new, and a flat rate policy has initially been adopted which adapts and relays the collected information to the post- – a flat rate charging scheme does not necessarily require an processing systems contained within the BSS domain. Such a extensive and complicated billing system. With the introduction billing accessory is essential in interfacing the diverse usage of more sophisticated charging schemes a more elaborate sys- measurement capabilities of the network elements. The mea- tem is required. Increased competition resulting from the de- surements and the subsequent data generation (DG) of billing regulation of the telecommunication market may create a driv- information is performed at the switches. For each active ATM ing force for the development and deployment of more sophisti- connection, billing data is associated with and represented in cated charging methods. A system that supports such deploy- Call Detail Records (CDR). These are accumulated in files, ments may represent an important competitive edge towards foreseen to be at 15 minutes or hourly intervals. One of the capturing market segments and new customers. tasks of the billing auxiliary server alluded to is to collect these files from the switches at regular intervals. Connectivity to and In general and in brief, the billing process in a telecommunica- from the billing server with the network elements is therefore tions system may involve required – a virtual billing network takes form, as depicted in • Measuring the usage of offered and utilised services Figure 2. The server must be able to collect different file and CDR formats and handle different decoding rules to conduct the • Collecting and transferring the measured usage to an appro- function on a possible plethora of different switches contained priate tariff system for charge calculations within the network. A proprietary solution, coupled to a specific • Associating calculated charges to the rightful customers, and vendor switch element, will not do. As ATM networks evolve, both in size and complexity, and as new and unforeseen tech- • Forwarding charges to an invoice system for subsequent pay- nology is introduced, novel switch billing capabilities will un- ment processing that eventually turns into revenue. doubtedly enter the picture. In this context, the billing server adaptability is paramount. It must be able to handle the varia- This process is also applicable to ATM. The following sections tions and the mixtures of old and new network equipment in a discuss some of the functionalities and components required at flexible manner. The alternative, replacement or even altera- different phases of the billing process relating to usage based tions of billing components, as new switch technologies are charging schemes for ATM. introduced, is unquestionably an expensive and arduous option. Adaptability is also important in the context of interfacing the 3.1 Components for realising usage based BSS. Existing operators that already offer other services (e.g. charging of ATM-Services telephony) have their own post-processing system that has been exhaustedly exercised and well-carved to meet the particular An ATM network comprises a set of interconnected switches needs of the operator. Integration with the existing post-process- that route the ATM traffic streams to their various destinations. ing system may very well be desired. The implication is that the

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 109 DG Management control Operations Support System (OSS)

• Fault management • Configuration management • Performance management DG • Security management Mediation System (MS) • Accounting management

• Collector system • Queueing system Business Support System (BSS) • Transformation handling • Filtering and correlation DG CDR • Customer contract evaluation CDR • Customer directory assistance CDR Consolidated billing data • Tariffing and invoice system • Customer behaviour analysis • Sales and marketing analysis

ATM Network Mediation System Support Systems

An ATM network offers services at the The Mediation System (MS) function as Two categories of support systems assist fringes of the network. Usage measure- a collector of the CDR files originating in the provisioning of services: The Oper- ments are performed at the switches. from multiple service sources and ations Support System (OSS) and the The Data Generation (DG) part gathers multiple switches with various file Business Support System (BSS). The the usage data pertaining to utilised format and detail combinations. The OSS supports management of the service services into Call Detail Records (CDR). information is consolidated, trans- and billing network technology, whereas These are accumulated into files and formed, and later relayed to the the BSS supports the business process. later collected by the Mediation System. Business Support System domain for The BSS includes tariffing systems. subsequent processing.

Figure 2 A Billing System

billing server must transform or convert the collected CDRs to a vals. The billing server cannot simply collect the desired CDR format and use encoding rules that are appropriate for the partic- once at the time a connection is released, which could be the ular system. There are numerous such post-processing systems case in plain telephony systems. Instead, partial complete CDRs available and the billing server must therefore be able to offer a must be collected regularly (e.g. every 15 minutes or at hourly generic solution to this mediation function. intervals) until the connection is taken down. Additional and to some extent superfluous CDRs will therefore be generated; and 3.2 The bandwidth diversity aspect at some intermediate stage an assemble function must be introduced to merge the related, although partial CDRs. ATM is a broadband technology, promising high capacity trans- With the advent of switched virtual connections a new twist of mission services. Collecting the measured usage of these ser- the capacity problem takes form. The duration of switched vir- vices pose a challenge to the capacity and to the storage capabil- tual connections are found at the other end of the time scale to ities of the entire billing system. The traditional telephony call permanent virtual connections. It may be envisaged that switch- is typically of short duration, in the order of minutes. The main ed virtual connections will have holding times that span periods unit of usage measurement is the time period in which a call of perhaps a few seconds instead of months. Noting that the fre- occupies network resources. In addition to the usual time zones quency of the CDR generation for these types of connections and distance tariffs, this time period historically forms the basis has an inverse proportion to the small duration, it becomes for usage based charging in telephony. The story may be more apparent that the number of CDRs that need to be collected will complicated for ATM. put a serious workload on the billing system. The scene is troublesome but not entirely unmanageable. By means of net- In ATM, the granularity of the measurement unit for a volume work planning, peak hour predictions, and by estimation of the based charging scheme1 – the cell – is next to infinitesimal customer arrival process a certain upper threshold on the busy compared to the bandwidth that is available for use. ATM per- hour call attempts may be approximated. Clearly, the billing manent virtual connections, which are normally held for a long duration, often months at a time, will soon exhaust the switch accumulators that keep track of the volume usage if such a volume based charging scheme is deployed. There is a need to 1 Measured volume may be one of the components in a usage relieve the switches and drain the accumulators at regular inter- based charging scheme.

110 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 Correlation and assembly

CDR= CDR= Ingress CPE1 Ingress CPE2 ------system must be designed to sustain this threshold rate. Further- more, it must cope with exceptional conditions. That is, events that cause the threshold to be exceeded. Such conditions cannot be excluded since an estimate of the threshold is just that, an estimate; and there will be variances and uncertainties bound to CPE1 CPE2 it. On the average, however, the frequency of CDR generation should be below the threshold as peak hours is not the norm. Processing overload conditions may be effectively controlled by means of buffering and queuing mechanisms: During overload Measurements of usage from the Customer conditions CDR files are placed in a queue and during idle Premises Equipment (CPE) at ingress only. times those that have been waiting are served. This mechanism The data generating part of the access switches accumulates information forms a trade-off between capacity and buffer storage at the pertaining to the service in partial Call expense of delay in the billing processing. Detail Records. To address the billed party and consolidate the usage information gathered, the partial records must 3.3 The heterogeneous service aspect be correlated and assembled.

Unlike telephony, ATM offers various bearer services with dis- Figure 3a Usage measurements at ingress only, two locations similar characteristics and quality assurance. The different services give rise to different needs concerning the location of the usage measurements and consequently the CDR generation for a CDR= connection. It is also very much dependent on the charging pol- Ingress CPE2 icy of the operator. Take for instance the case of charging, Egress CPE1 based upon usage, for a VBR service. One approach is to mea- - sure the traffic that enters the network, i.e. at the ingress. Since - ATM connections are bi-directional, and may even be asymmet- - rical with respect to bandwidth requirements, two measurement points must be considered, one at each entry into the network, as depicted in Figure 3a. This will produce two distinct and distributed CDRs, one for each direction, that must be collected, correlated, and assembled to enable the details of the bi-direc- CPE1 CPE2 tional connection to be associated with a billed party. Why not measure the usage at one point only so that just one CDR is created, thus avoiding the need to perform the additional processing? This could lead to an inconsistent charging policy: Measurements of usage from the Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) at ingress and charging based upon what enters the network for one direction at egress, one location only. and charging based upon what exits the network for the other The data generating part of the access direction seems like an odd course to take. Suppose that the two switches gathers the usage data in a CDR sources involved in a connection transmit identical traffic. By which is later accumulated in a file. measuring the two streams at one point only (see Figure 3b), one may end up with a bizarre situation in which the two charg- Figure 3b Usage measurements at ingress and egress traffic, es will differ (since cells may be lost due to congestion and the at one location only measured usage will therefore be dissimilar for the two directions). Measurements for a VBR service should therefore be dis- Correlation and assembly tributed, and either take place at ingress or at egress of the network depending on an entry or an exit charging practice. A more elaborate policy might be devised to differentiate the CDR= CDR= charge for cells of different cell loss priorities. Cells that are Ingress CPE2 Ingress CPE2 tagged at the entry of the network (and hence are given lower Egress CPE1 Egress CPE1 - - priority than those that are not) are not assured deliverance to - - the destination in case of network congestion. One policy is to - - charge only for those cells that are delivered. Measuring only at the ingress (after the UPC function) is insufficient in this case. In such a scheme one may require that all four measurement combinations be taken into account (see Figure 3c). For the VBR service category, low priority cells are treated in a best effort service fashion. There is also a separate service category CPE1 CPE2 for best effort traffic, namely UBR, that treats all cells with the lowest priority. Given that all cells are treated equally, it is only required to measure at the two egress points to handle a scheme Measurements of usage from the Customer that aims to charge for the delivered volume. There are still Premises Equipment (CPE) at ingress and other cases. If one considers multicast services the number of at egress and at both access locations. CDRs that must be collected proliferates. And that is not the end of the story. There is also the case of performing measurements Figure 3c Usage measurements at two locations, both ingress and egress and at two locations

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 111 at the interface between operators for traffic that is in transit. 3.5 Charging and billing of composite services There is a variety of possibilities with various degree of sophistication; and they all consume capacity of the billing system. It The discussion so far has been confined to ATM in isolation. is important, however, that the billing system does not constrain Taking a wider perspective, tomorrow’s broadband networks the choice of charging policy. Ideally, there should be support will offer other and more intelligent services (e.g. Frame Relay for all combinations by enabling the desired and appropriate and ATM Interworking, LAN Emulation, Video Conferencing, configuration to be set from the Accounting Management func- Shared Multimedia Applications, Voice over ATM, and so on), tion of the OSS. in addition to the pure ATM access and transmission functionality. The networks will also reach out and extend into other 3.4 Reliability aspects related technologies (e.g. residential broadband access). Indeed, ATM might very well become the common transport technology that other services and higher layer protocols will make use The reliability of such a system is vital: if the billing system of, but these latter will be charged differently. The introduction malfunctions, the operator will be unable to collect payments of these value added services will require additional system from the customers for services offered and carried. The reli- components, such as access devices, application servers, gate- ability does not merely depend on the mediation functions and ways, and interworking units, that may have their own charging the BSS but, since it depends on the virtual billing network, also capabilities. A tremendous challenge is to integrate these com- on the ATM network. For instance, one can easily imagine a ponents in a common billing system framework. scenario in which one of the network links goes down. If such a broken link was used to carry billing information streams, from one or more switches, the function of the billing system is dis- 3.6 Perspective rupted. There are various technology solutions to this one scenario, among them is protection switching. In a network with A system to support billing is complex and expensive. The situ- protection switching, nodes that detect severe link failures will ation is no different for ATM. This chapter has given a brief re-route the traffic using other available links. But suppose then overview of some of the issues that must be considered in con- that the billing mediation function breaks down and that there structing a billing system for usage based charging of ATM ser- are no backup solutions. What policy should the operator pur- vices. There are other topics that are closely related and to some sue? One could argue that, since the operator cannot get paid for extent coupled to the billing domain that have not been brought the traffic being carried, the result should be revocation of the forward. One such topic is fraud detection, another is customer services, until the billing system is operational again. The alter- subscription handling. Security mechanisms is yet another native is to offer the services free of charge in the recovery important subject. Billing spans across many complicated areas. period. The latter might seem like the most obvious policy, but Billing systems, in the context of ATM, are still immature and a there is a pitfall: customers might grow suspicious of the opera- lot remains to be explored. This is the crux of the problem, and tor’s billing system; and the very last thing an operator wants is yet, it is what makes it so important. There may be good com- breeding customers that question the operator’s invoice func- mercial opportunities in this field for early vendors of ATM tions. These customers will soon enough shun the particular charging and billing systems. operator and move their business to other providers2. Fault situations are not the only events that may endanger the operational state of the system. For instance, bringing new functionality or 4 Experiments in CA$hMAN equipment into service must be performed in such a way as not In Chapters 2 and 3 we have discussed different charging meth- to jeopardise the ongoing billing process. The key issue is that ods and considerations which have to be taken into account in once a billing system is established and made operational it constructing a billing system based on the ATM technology. must remain operational, lest the operator faces the possibility Constructing a total billing system is a major undertaking. of loss of revenue and customer dissatisfaction. The depicted Within the CA$hMAN project limits only pieces of such a bill- scenarios aim to stress the importance of reliability and reliabil- ing system would be implemented. The aim of the project, as ity on all components introduced to handle billing functions. stated earlier, is to implement different charging schemes and investigate their feasibility through conducting user experi- As is the case for any new technology system reliability cannot ments. By doing this the projects gain experience of the imple- be guaranteed until initial unforeseen problems have been eradi- mentation costs involved by implementing different charging cated. ATM is a relatively new technology and ATM networks schemes, how it effects the hardware construction and network have yet to be exhaustively exercised in commercial environ- utility and how users react to different charging policies. In this ments. With heavy investments in the introduction of novel ser- chapter we summarise what kind of experiments have been con- vices using new ATM technology, a provider must clearly avoid ducted in the first round of the project, what our goals for the dissatisfied customers. New ATM services may promise new experiments were, and the results obtained within the first pro- revenue and more customers, but if the billing system is unreli- ject year. A brief overview of the experimental platform is also able or even unpredictable both revenue and customers will be given to describe the experimental environment. lost. Reliability is crucial in any telecommunication system component, but perhaps even more so in the context of billing. The novelty of the ATM technology makes this a difficult area. 4.1 Background

In the CA$hMAN approach the charge of a call is due to time and volume usage based on a given traffic contract. By using 2 Billing is the main source for customer dissatisfaction. Often the experimental platform developed, the user has an opportu- as much as 50 % of customer complaints stem from billing nity to also offer an estimate of the mean bitrate of traffic to be functions.

112 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 generated. This mean rate estimate actually constitutes a choice each site, who are willing to take part in the trials. Vital condi- of tariff for the call to be made, so within one set of traffic con- tions for carrying out these user trials are that participating net- tract parameters, the user may choose among many mean rates, work operators are willing to allow these kinds of trials on their i.e. different tariffs. A typical call can go like this: The user networks, and that representative and willing customers may be decides what kind of traffic the call will generate onto the net- found for experiments. work and chooses a tariff that he thinks will give him the lowest charge. If the user has chosen an expensive tariff, he should be 4.2 The CA$hMAN charging experimental able to renegotiate the choice of tariff. This gives the user the platform ability to influence on the charge for every call by selecting tariffs based on e.g. QoS limits, bearer capability, contract para- An important idea in the formulation of the CA$hMAN project meters, bandwidth, CDV restrictions, etc. Since the user earlier was the requirement to validate the implementation feasibility did not have this opportunity, the proposed charging concept of the theoretical charging models developed in the project. introduces many questions of how a user understands the new Among the evaluation criteria for any charging model, the tech- concept and how he reacts to it. nical implications with regard to charging management will be an important factor. Making prototyping of the charging man- In the user experiments, we wish to examine user behaviour and agement systems will also make possible the investigations of the possibilities an operator has to influence the user in order to user behaviour and user acceptance. General sources of inform- achieve good network utilisation. Some of the questions we try ation for the system described in this section are [9] and [10]. to answer regarding user behaviour are: • How does the user understand the relation between a tariff and the traffic he is going to send/receive? What does the user know about traffic characteristics, i.e. usage of bandwidth? • How does the user understand the relation between time duration cost versus cost per volume of data? Is it cheaper to send an amount of data with short time duration and high bandwidth, or vice versa? • Does the proposed charging scheme give the user a strong incentive to choose a tariff that gives the network an optimal utilisation? • How willing is the user to trade quality against cost? Charging management centre As pointed out earlier we also want to investigate the implications the charging system has on network utilisation, and how Manager Tariff data the charging algorithms and billing management system operate as a billing architecture. Questions we try to answer in these Information experiments are: required to issue bill • What cost reductions can be gained by influencing the traffic Operator terminal with graphical process, i.e. shaping? "Advice of charge" user interface • How well does the proposed charging algorithm reflect the cost of network resources? • What knowledge have we gained regarding implementation issues of the experiment platform? Call detail Configuration retrieval primitives • How well does the charging algorithm reflect the network primitives cost of different traffic characteristics?

Both types of experiments are vital to carry out. The experiments regarding network utilisation and architecture can, and Network should be, conducted in a controlled environment. These experi- element ments have therefore been carried out within a laboratory en- ManagerAgent MIB vironment. The user trials, however, are more difficult to conduct. To get good and sound results many “ordinary” none- Low level Low level Configuration data resource Call detail records ATM knowledgeable people should be experiment users, and configuration in standardised usage primitives formats their choice of tariff should affect the payment of a service. information Today, this is difficult to achieve. Also the user behaviour experiments have therefore taken place inside a laboratory en- ManagerEPCU vironment. One possible way to conduct real user trials is to make use of ATM National Host networks. Both in Norway, User traffic Switzerland and the Netherlands testbeds have been installed to be charged with the ability to connect to the National Host networks. The aim would be to interconnect a group of experimental users at Figure 4 The CA$hMAN charging management system

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 113 Motivated by the above, a substantial effort has been made in the operator terminal, it is possible to configure charging and the project to realise prototype charging management systems. policing parameters for a connection, choose between charging The functional structure of this system is shown in Figure 4. algorithms and select tariff profiles. A ‘Manager’ is responsible for maintaining the tariff data base, and to handle the communi- Describing the system ‘bottom up’, the user generated traffic cation with the proxy agent. In the CA$hMAN implementation, enters the ‘Ericsson Policing and Charging Unit’ (EPCU). This the operator terminal is equipped with functionality to perform unit carries out the ‘low level’ operations involved in the charg- continuous advice of charge, and also graphically display run- ing. For the simplest charging algorithm, these functions ning billing information for a connection. As the complete man- amount to cell counting and time measurements. Such measure- agement system is implemented in a Unix environment running ment functionality would be a natural part of a switch in a real the X-protocol, the operator terminal may be displayed on any system, but in the CA$hMAN project the functional entity is X-server, e.g. also the X-server on which the user application is realised in a separate piece of equipment developed from the located and executed. In this way, the user may get the running general Ericsson exchange terminal unit ET-34 (see photograph charging information displayed, simulating an ‘advice of in Figure 5). For the 34 Mbit link rates used for the transmission charge’ service. In the development of the project, a more real- through the EPCU, implementing the time critical charging istic advice of charge service based on user/network signalling operations by general off-the-shelf processors is sufficient to is under consideration. fulfil real-time requirements. The EPCU essentially consists of two exchange terminals linked together through a specialised The above described management network is of course a simpli- backplane. By combining two exchange terminals, the EPCU fication of a realistic charging management network. As pointed thus forms a bi-directional integral ‘low-level’ charging device. out previously, there will be a large number of charging agents to be controlled, charging information for a single bi-directional Management systems work on abstract data models representing connection will be generated at different locations and must be the network, so an abstract model of the charging unit is con- assembled consistently, and the configurations of charging and structed and realised as a ‘Management Information Base’ policing parameters for connections must be consistent. The (MIB). A set of primitives are defined, operating on this base. diversity of services offered in ATM networks will thus give These may typically be defined as ‘Set()’ and ‘Get()’ operations new challenges for management network designers. Not the on the elements of the base. The ‘Agent’ receives these primi- least of these challenges will be the dimensioning and traffic tives from the ‘Network management centre’, and must ensure handling in the charging management network itself! Even so, that the state of the MIB is consistent with the actual state of the the efforts made in the project have contributed towards demon- EPCU. To this end, a specialised ‘low level’ control interface is strating the feasibility of constructing a management model for defined between the Agent and the EPCU. As the Agent is usage based charging, and also shown that the single prototype implemented on a general purpose computing platform, separate components required to implement the charging model may be from the EPCU, it may be described as a ‘proxy’ agent. For rea- realised within the limits of a moderately sized project team. sons of simplicity, consistency and dependability, a preferred solution would have been to integrate the two. 4.3 Experiment results Overall control of the charging system is executed from the Results from the first round of experiments in the CA$hMAN ‘Charging management centre’ via the operator terminal. From project are documented in [11]. In these experiments the simple charging scheme by F. Kelly was evaluated against a backdrop of general and more detailed questions as stated in Section 4.1. The questions addressed the following areas of study: • Properties of the scheme in relation to implementation • Relation of the scheme with network operation • Perception of the charging by user and customer.

Within all three areas useful information has been gathered.

In relation to the first and second bullet, developing and experimenting with the tools provided a number of insights into implementation issues. Some of the issues evaluated were • Speed of calculation and transfer between hardware and software components • Implementation complexity within hardware and software • Construction design of a user friendly graphical user interface.

How the charging scheme reflects network operation and utilisation has been investigated by simulation with real traffic traces. Different experiments involving shaping and multiplexing of connections have been carried out, which verify the Figure 5 The EPCU (Ericsson Policing and Charging Unit)

114 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 theoretical calculations. An interesting result is the reduction of The charging algorithms mentioned in Chapter 2 influence the charge caused by shaping, thus demonstrating that the chosen above factors in various ways. Maybe none of them match the charging algorithms provide an incentive for users to improve complete set of requirements a network operator may have. characteristics of submitted traffic. There is, however, a fundamental difference between flat rate charging (FRC) and the other charging schemes. While FRC Regarding the third bullet above, many interesting results were does not require any measurements or logging functionality, all attained. The users participating were non-project colleagues the others do. This leads to a dilemma. If one believes that the willing to run the CSCW (Computer Supported Co-operative advantages of the FRC’s simple scheme more than compensates Work) application Isabel and give us feedback regarding their for missing properties (Chapter 4.1), one may decide to build a understanding and feelings about the CA$hMAN approach to network without charging functionality. However, charging pol- charging ATM services. The main results from these experi- icy depends on the market situation. What one actor does, ments were influences immediately on the others. Consequently, to be able to respond to changing market impulses, one has to be prepared • A user has a strong desire to adopt his traffic characteristics for shifting views of charging. This means that one has to make to suit the charge he is willing to pay, e.g. by means of shap- a choice flexible enough to respond to each demand from the ing. market. If first excluded, it may be impossible to implement • A user prefers tariff choices explained by words in an under- usage sensitive charging schemes at a later stage, due to techni- standable way, instead of mathematical figures. cal limitations. • Some services are more difficult to predict than others as to If the technical infrastructure for a complete billing system must what would be the best tariff choice. be implemented whatever the choice of charging policy might • A user needs some knowledge of the traffic characteristics of be, then the main difference between FRC and the other the application he is running. schemes is much less apparent.

In the next round of experiments the project will continue to examine many of the same issues taking into account different 6 Concluding remarks and future work charging schemes, more elaborate network management for the Charging and accounting in ATM networks is a challenging and billing system and also more automation regarding advice to the important field. A goal is to obtain a stable and well performed customer about choice of tariffs. network, both from the user’s and from the network operator’s perspective. To achieve such a goal it is necessary to gain ex- 5 Consequences for the network perience both from theory and experiments. In the CA$hMAN operator project these objectives are strongly focused. The results obtained so far supports the idea of usage based charging (UBC). Two Charging policy is one of the most important tools available for schemes have been implemented in the laboratory testbeds justi- a network operator to control the utilisation of network invest- fying that UBC may well be introduced in a commercial ATM ments. Tariffs may be used to differentiate between customers. network. Due to the lack of paying experimental users the effect For instance, if he wants to attract the big market of household on the revenue for the network operators and on the network customers, he creates a tariff that matches their situation as performance is difficult to predict, however, we believe that regards price profiles. High volume users or service providers both the customers and the network operators can benefit from will have other demands, and must be approached by other tar- charging based on UBC. iffs. We do not intend to give answers as regards what price level or tariff structure should be used in special cases. The Still, there are open and yet unsolved questions to be addressed. main factor that establishes prices and tariffs, is the market. One example is how to charge the ABR services. Another area of interest is the question of making some advice of tariffs for The choice of charging policy depends upon a number of fact- the users. The network may possibly guide the user to obtain the ors. For instance: best tariffs depending on his traffic profile, and thus raise the question of renegotiating of traffic contract and tariffs for on- • Tariffs offered by other competitors going connections. • The present utilisation of the network The questions raised above, which are important both from the • A general wish to attract/exclude special kinds of usage operator’s and customer’s perspective, are among the issues that • Coverage of investments and network maintenance will be examined in the future CA$hMAN work. • The run for even higher profit • Improve utilisation of network resources References • Avoid cannibalisation 1 Kelly, F P. Tariffs and effective bandwidths in multiservice networks. In: The Fundamental Role of Teletraffic in the • Protection against resellers Evolution of Telecommunications Networks. Proceedings of • Network stability the 14th International Teletraffic Congress-ITC14, p. 401–410. Laboutelle, J, Roberts, J W (eds.). Amsterdam, • Network flexibility Elsevier. Antibes Juan-les-Pins, France, 1994. • Cost of implementing and running billing/charging systems.

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 115 2 ITU. Traffic control and congestion control in B-ISDN. ITU The transform above has some nice features which are import- Recommendation I371. Geneva, 1995. ant in practical use. First of all, the effective bandwidth defined above is linear, which means that the effective bandwidth of a 3 Hui, J Y. Resource allocation for broadband networks. IEEE sum of two or more independent cell streams is the sum of the Journal on selected Areas in Communication, 6, 1988, effective bandwidth of each individual stream. Secondly, the 1598–1608. effective bandwidth lies between the mean and the peak arrival rate of a source (up to the time t). The time parameter t and 4 Gibbens, R, Hunt, P. Effective bandwidths for the multi- space parameter z are left undefined in the definition above and type UAS channel. Queueing System, 9, 1991, 14–28. will be decided upon by the resource parameters such as capacity, buffer space and scheduling policy. To see this we refer to 5 Guerin, R, Ahmadi, H, Naghshineh, M. Equivalent capacity the following important result concerning the cell loss L(c,b) on and its application to bandwidth allocation in high-speed a link of capacity c using a cell buffer of length b [6]. networks. IEEE Journal on selected Areas in Communica- tion, 9, 1991, 968–981. Let

α Σ α 6 Courcoubetis, C, Weber, R R. Buffer overflow asymptotics T (z,t) = i(z,t) for a switch handling many traffic sources. Journal of i Applied Probability, 33, 1996. be the sum of the total effective bandwidth on the link. Then the cell loss is approximated by the following expression: 7 Songhurst, D. Charging schemes for multiservice networks. logL(c,b) ≈ sup inf[ztα (z,t) – z(ct + b)] In: Proceedings of the thirteenth UK Teletraffic Symposium t z T (IEE), 1996. Let z*,t* be an extremating pair in the expression above, then a QoS demand that the cell loss is below e-γ will limit the effect- 8 Prycker, M. Asynchronous Transfer Mode ; solutions for ive bandwidth in the following simple way: broadband ISDN, third edition. Prentice Hall, 1996. ISBN α γ 0-13-342176-6. T(z*,t*) ≤ c* = c + 1 / t* (b – /z*) 9 CA$hMAN Consortium. Design specification of testing Stated in words: The sum of the effective bandwidths must be platform for round 1 equipment. ACTS Project AC-039, below an equivalent link capacity. Deliverable d04, 1996. Although the expression seems to be linear in the sum of the 10 CA$hMAN Consortium. First years result on pricing mod- effective bandwidths the relation is not quite easy to use as a els. ACTS Project AC-039, Deliverable d06, 1996. CAC algorithm, since one needs to re-calculate a new pair of z*,t* for each new call arrival. 11 CA$hMAN Consortium. Evaluation of experiments for α round I and report on selection of user groups. ACTS Pro- Another fundamental issue is the problem of estimating T (z,t) ject AC-039, Deliverable d07, 1996. for real traffic sources. One possible solution could be to make an on-line estimate of the effective bandwidth from the formula above. This needs a large number of calculations of exponential Appendix I. Effective bandwidth terms and seems for the time being not to be realistic. Another possibility which may seem to be appropriate is to estimate the Because ATM allows statistical multiplexing the network effective bandwidth by considering the worst case traffic obtain- resources may be divided between the connections (users) in a ed from the traffic contract. Assuming negligible CDV these statistical manner. This means that each connection on average parameters are PCR for DBR type traffic, and PCR, SCR and needs less capacity than the peak rate; on the other hand, an IBT for SBR type traffic. The main drawback with this app- allocation after mean rates will be too optimistic (in almost roach is that there might be a large difference between the con- every case, also for CBR sources). The concept was introduced tract and the actual use of network resources for a source. by Hui [3] for bufferless multiplexing, and further elaborated by Gibbens and Hunt [4], Guerin et al. [5] and Courcoubetis and To reflect the actual usage Kelly has proposed to apply a simple Weber [6] to also cover multiplexers with finite buffers. on/off model to estimate the effective bandwidth. We let h be the peak rate and m the mean rate of an on/off type source. Then The idea of effective bandwidth is to assign a measure of the effective bandwidth will read: resource usage which adequately represents the trade-off between sources of different types, taking account of their varying α(m,h) = 1/s log[1 + m/h(esh – 1)] characteristics and also the requirements on QoS. where s = zt. Based on mathematics, the effective bandwidth is defined through the arrival process of a source. If X(t) represents the work generated by a source (i.e. the volume of bits arrived) in an interval of length t we define the transform α(z,t) = 1 / zt logE[ezX(t)]

116 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 The nice thing with this simple formula is that it is easy to esti- List of abbreviations mate the effective bandwidth by counting cells, and thereby ABR Available Bit Rate estimating the mean m. (We assume that the peak rate h is known.) This gives rise to the famous Kelly’s charging formula ACR Allowed Cell Rate [1]. ACTS Advanced Communications Technologies and Services Kelly’s charging algorithm ATC ATM Transfer Capabilities Consider a SIR source and suppose that the mean value is ATM Asynchronous Transfer Mode stochastic and given by a variable M with expectation m, then BSS Business Support System Kelly has shown that the effective bandwidth formula above remains unchanged (where m is now interpreted as the mean of CAC Connection Admission Control the stochastic variable M). Suppose that the network at call set- CBR Constant Bit Rate up requires the user to announce a mean value m and then charges the connection of an amount f(m,M) where M is the CDR Call Detail Records measured mean rate for the connection. In [1] it is shown that CDV Cell Delay Variation the best choice of the tariff is to take the tangent of the curve α(M,h) at the point M = m. By this assumption one gets the fol- CDVT Cell Delay Variation Tolerance lowing tariff: CSCW Computer Supported Co-operative Work f(m,M) = a(m) + b(m)M DBR Deterministic Bit Rate where DG Data Generation b(m,h) = esh – 1 / s[h + m(esh – 1)] EPCU Ericsson Policing and Charging Unit IBT Intrinsic Burst Tolerance and a(m,h) = α(m,h) – mb(m,h). LAN Local Area Network MCR Minimum Cell Rate OSS Operations Support System PCR Peak Cell Rate PVC Permanent Virtual Channel QoS Quality of Service SBR Statistical Bit Rate SCR Sustainable Cell Rate SVC Switched Virtual Channel UBC Usage Based Charging UBR Unspecified Bit Rate UPC Usage Parameter Control VBR Variable Bit Rate VCI Virtual Channel Identifier VPI Virtual Path Identifier

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 117

The frequency assignment algorithm used in the mobile network planning tool MOBINETT

BY RALPH LORENTZEN

1 Introduction cbb’ = 1 indicates that if frequency f is assigned to b and frequency f’ is assigned to b’, then we must have |f – f ’ | ≥ 1. Telenor Research and Development is developing the EDP- based mobile network planning tool MOBINETT. Based on cbb’ = 2 indicates that if frequency f is assigned to b and frequ- input data concerning traffic, field strength, interference, ency f’ is assigned to b’, then we must have |f – f ’| ≥ 2. candidate base stations, available frequencies and cost data, MOBINETT proposes which base stations should be established cbb’ = 3 occurs if and only if b = b’. It indicates that if both fre- and which frequencies should be assigned to which base quencies f and f’ are allocated to b, then we must have |f – f ’|≥ 3. stations. The objective is to minimize total cost. MOBINETT contains a frequency allocation module based on integer pro- When cbb’ = 1 we say that b and b’ e-interfere, and when gramming. In this paper the integer programming model and the cbb’ = 2 we say that b and b’ n-interfere. corresponding solution algorithm are described. Based on the matrix C we establish a series of undirected The input to the frequency allocation module is a set of admiss- graphs, namely GN, GE and G1, G2, ... , G9. The nodes in all ible frequencies (which need not be contiguous) and a given set these graphs represent the base stations. In GN there is an edge of base stations where each base station must have assigned to it between b and b’ if and only if b and b’ n-interfere. In GE there a required number of frequencies. For each base station certain is an edge between b and b’ if and only if b and b’ e-interfere. In frequencies may be preset and certain frequencies may be Gi there is an edge between b and b’ if and only if excluded. In addition, a compatibility matrix is given, which for i / 10 ≤ cbb’ < (i + 1) / 10. each pair of base stations indicates to what extent they interfere. Based on this input the frequency allocation module in MOBIN- In order to obtain a tight linear programming relaxation of the ETT tries to allocate frequencies to base stations such that the integer programming model we operate with odd holes, EN- frequency requirements are satisfied and the total interference is pairs and cliques. minimized. The frequencies are partitioned into groups. To the greatest possible extent frequency groups rather than individual An odd hole with cardinality ≥ 5 in GN is denoted by HN. frequencies should be allocated to the base stations. An odd hole with cardinality ≥ 5 in GE which is not in GN is denoted by HE. The admissible frequencies have the form K0 + K1 × f where K0 and K1 are constants and f is an integer. We shall refer to the An EN-pair (E,N) consists of two sets of base stations E and N individual frequencies by their integer f. with |E| > 1 where all b in N n-interfere with all b in E ∪ N, and where the b-s in E e-interfere with each other. For certain base stations certain frequencies or frequency groups may be preset. Furthermore, for certain base stations not all fre- For an EN-pair (E,N) we define s(E,N) to be the subset of N quencies or frequency groups may be admissible. which results when we for all EN-pairs (E’,N’) with E’ ∪ N’ ⊃ E ∪ N remove from N every b in N’.

2 Notation and basic concepts A clique in GN is denoted by CN. The following notation is used: A clique in GE which is not a clique in GN, and which cannot F Number of admissible frequencies be written as E ∪ N where (E,N) is an EN-pair, is denoted by CE. f Subscript denoting frequency g Subscript denoting frequency group A clique in Gi is denoted by Ci.

Ag Number of frequencies in frequency group g g(f) The frequency group which contains frequency f 3 The integer program B Number of base stations The frequency assignment problem is formulated as an integer program. b Subscript denoting base station

Fb Number of frequencies required on base station b First we define the variables: C Compatibility matrix with dimensions B × B  1 if frequency f is used on base station b xbf =  The matrix C is normally obtained from the output of a field  0 otherwise strength prediction program. The elements cbb’ of the matrix C are either in the interval [0, 1] or equal to 2 or 3.  1 if frequency group g is used on base station b xbg =   0 otherwise cbb’ < 0.1 indicates that the base stations b and b’ do not interfere in practice. sb frequency deficit on base station b

0.1 ≤ cbb’ < 1 indicates that the base stations b and b’ do inter-  1 if the clique constraint associated with frequency f fere in the sense that ideally b and b’ should not use the same | and clique Ci is violated frequency. If the same frequency is used on b and b’ a penalty is z f,Ci =   0 otherwise incurred which increases with increasing cbb’.

118 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 Then we formulate the constraints: For realistic cases the number of variables is reasonably small (~10 000), but the number of constraints can be quite large ∑ xbf + ∑ Ag xbg + sb = Fb (> 150 000). We use a heuristic where we repeatedly need to (1) f g solve the linear programming (LP) relaxation of the integer program. Most LP packages perform better solving the dual of such problems, i.e. linear programs with a reasonable number of (2) x + x + x + x + x + x ≤ 1 bf b,f+1 b,f+2 b,g(f) b,g(f+1) b,g(f+2) constraints and a large number of variables. In the dualized problem it will be the dual variables which have to be integer. We therefore formulate the dual of the integer program and describe ∑ xbf + ∑ xb,g( f ) ≤ 1 (3) b∈CE b∈CE a heuristic to get a solution where the dual variables have integer values.

∑ (xbf + xb, f +1 + xb,g( f ) + xb,g( f +1) ) ≤ 1 4 The dual of the integer program (4) b∈CN The dual of the integer program can be formulated as follows:

∑ (xbf + xb,g( f ) ) + minimize (5) b∈E F π + π + π + π x + x + x + x ≤ 1 ∑ b b ∑ bf ∑ f ,CE ∑ f ,CN ∑ ( bf b,g( f ) b, f +1 b,g( f +1) ) (13) b b, f f ,CE f ,CN b∈N 1 2 1 for EN-pair (E,N) with N > 1 + ∑ π f ,EN + ∑ π f ,EN + ∑ π f ,EN,b' f ,(E,N ) f ,(E,N ) f ,(E,N ),b' ∈s(E,N )

x + x + ∑ ( bf b,g( f ) ) + ∑[]( HE −1) /2π f ,HE + ∑[]( HN −1) /2π f ,HN (6) b∈E f ,HE f ,HN

∑ (xbf + xb,g( f ) + xb, f −1 + xb,g( f −1) ) ≤ 1 b∈N subject to for EN-pair (E,N) with N > 1 (14) πb + πbf + πb, f −1 + πb, f −2

x + x + x + + ∑ π f ,KL + ∑ π f ,KN + ∑ π f −1, KN ∑ ( bf b,g( f ) ) b',f −1 CE∋b CN∋b CN∋b (7) b∈E∪ N 1 1 1 xb',g( f −1) + xb',f +1 + xb',g( f +1) ≤ 1 + ∑ π f ,EN + ∑ π f ,EN + ∑ π f −1, EN {}()E,N ; N >1,b∈L {}()E,N ; N >1,b∈N {}()E,N ; N >1,b∈N for all EN-pairs (E,N) and for all b’ in s(E,N) 2 2 2 + ∑ π f ,EN + ∑ π f ,EN + ∑ π f +1, EN {}()E,N ; N >1,b∈L {}()E,N ; N >1,b∈N {}()E,N ; N >1,b∈N ∑ (xbf + xb,g( f ) ) ≤ ( HE −1) /2 (8) b∈HE 2 + ∑ π f ,EN,b' {}()E,N ,b';b∈E∪ N,b' ∈sE(),N x + x + x + x ≤ HN −1 /2 ∑ ( bf b,g( f ) b, f +1 b,g( f +1) ) ( ) + π + π + π (9) b∈HN ∑ f ,HE ∑ f ,HN ∑ f −1, HN HE∋b HN∋b HN∋b

≥ –cbf for f admissible on b ∑ xbf + ∑ xb,g( f ) − z f ,Ci ≤ 1 (10) b∈Ci b∈Ci

(11) xbf ≥ 0 and integer, xbg ≥ 0 and integer, sb ≥ 0, zk,KL ≥ 0. xbf and xbg are only defined if f and g are admissible on b.

Finally, we state the objective function to be minimized:

min ∑cbf xbf + ∑cbg xbg + ∑cbsb + ∑cCiz f ,Ci (12) b, f b,g b f ,Ci

Here, the coefficients cbf and cbg are normally 0 initially. As will be seen, they may change during the solution process. The penalties cCi are chosen to increase with increasing i, and the penalties cb are chosen to be large numbers.

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 119 Agπb + ∑ πbf + ∑ πb, f −1 + ∑ πb, f −2 5.2 Fixing one variable at a time (15) f ∈g f ∈g f ∈g If we decide to fix one variable at a time, we proceed as + ∑ π f ,CE + ∑ π f ,CN + ∑ π f −1,CN follows: If there are fractional dual variables corresponding to CE∋b, f ∈g CN∋b, f ∈g CN∋b, f ∈g type (15) constraints, we choose one with the highest fractional 1 1 value and fix it temporarily to 1. If all these dual variables are + ∑ π f ,EN + ∑ π f ,EN already integer, we choose a fractional variable corresponding {}()E,N ; N >1,b∈E , f ∈g {}()E,N ; N >1,b∈N , f ∈g to a type (14) constraint with the highest fractional value and fix it temporarily to 1. If this fixing causes too many frequencies to 1 2 + ∑ π f −1, EN + ∑ π f ,EN be allocated to a base station, the variable is permanently fixed {}()E,N ; N >1,b∈N , f ∈g {}()E,N ; N >1,b∈E , f ∈g to 0. If not, and the fixing does not lead to an increased Σb sb, the fixing is made permanent. Otherwise, we try a temporary 2 2 fixing to 0. Then we fix the variable permanently to 1 or 0 such + π f ,EN + π f +1, EN ∑ ∑ that we get the least possible increase of Σ s . {}()E,N ; N >1,b∈N , f ∈g {}()E,N ; N >1,b∈N , f ∈g b b

2 + ∑ π f ,EN,b' 5.3 Fixing more than one variable at a time {}()E,N ,b';b∈E∪ N,b' ∈sE(),N , f ∈g If we allow for fixing more than one variable after each solution of the relaxed LP, we choose a threshold > 0.5 and proceed as + ∑ π f ,HL + ∑ π f ,HN + ∑ π f −1, HN HE∋b, f ∈g HN∋b, f ∈g HN∋b, f ∈g follows:

≥ –cbg for g admissible on b First we sequence the fractional variables corresponding to type (15) constraints in descending order. Then, one by one, we fix (16) πb ≥ –cb them permanently to 1 if • Their value is greater or equal to the threshold, (17) πf,CE ≤ cCE • The fixing, together with earlier fixings, does not allocate (18) All π-s ≥ 0 except πb which is unconstrained. more frequencies than required to a base station.

(19) The dual variables xbf and xbg corresponding to constraints Then we treat the fractional variables corresponding to type (14) (1) and (2) are required to be integer. constraints in the same way.

If no fractional variable exceeds the threshold, we fix one vari- 5 Solution method able at a time as described in 5.2.

5.1 General 5.4 Fixing variables permanently

The solution method is heuristic and solves the dual problem. Fixing variables permanently is done, as explained below, by The dual variables associated with the constraints (14) and (15) removing constraints from the problem. in the dual program correspond to the primal variables xbf and xbg respectively in the primal program. We repeatedly solve If we want to fix permanently a fractional dual variable to 1 we linear programming relaxations of the dual problem using first try to do this by deleting constraints from the problem. dynamic variable generation and deletion where we successively fix one or more of relevant fractional dual vari- We delete constraints of type (14) or (15) representing ables to 1 or 0 until they all are integer. combinations of base stations and frequencies or frequency groups which are incompatible with the fixed combination. First we generate data structures external to the linear program Furthermore, if fixing a variable to 1 implies that the frequency which hold all cliques in GE, GN and Gi, all EN-pairs and all demand for the corresponding base station is satisfied using odd holes up to a specified size. These data structures are used fixed variables only, all constraints of type (14) and (15) per- to dynamically identify variables which price out negatively taining to this base station whose dual variable is not fixed are relative to the current basic solution and thus can be added to removed from the problem. the linear program. Variables corresponding to cliques, EN- pairs and odd holes which become non-basic during the solution If we cannot find any constraints to delete, we change the right process are deleted from the linear program. hand side element corresponding to the dual variable to ∞. (This corresponds to setting the cost coefficient of the corresponding Of course, the problems of generating all cliques, EN-pairs and primal variable in the primal problem to –∞.) odd holes are NP complete, but our graphs are sufficiently small to allow us to do this generation in reasonable time provided we If we want to fix permanently a fractional dual variable to 0 we restrict ourselves to odd holes of small size. simply remove the corresponding constraint from the problem.

In the variable fixing phase we can choose between fixing only one or possibly more than one variable to an integer value after each solution of the LP relaxation.

120 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 5.5 Fixing variables temporarily n number of n-interferences e number of e-interferences If we want to fix variables temporarily, we do not want to delete constraints which we later would have to recreate. Instead we r average frequency requirement per base station implement temporary variable fixing by manipulating right B number of base stations in subset i hand sides. i s number of subsets If we want to fix temporarily a fractional dual variable to 1 we do this by changing the corresponding right hand side to ∞, and For a randomly selected base station the expected number of n- if we want to fix temporarily a fractional dual variable to 0 we interferences is 2n/B, and the expected number of e-interfer- do this by changing the corresponding right hand side to –∞. ences is 2e/B. If the set of base stations is partitioned into subset 1 and subset 2 with B1 and B – B1 base stations respectively, the expected number of n-interferences between a particular base 6 Use of GRASP station in subset 2 with base stations in subset 1 is For the case where we fix one variable at a time only, we have (20) N = (2n / B)B / (B – 1) = 2nB / (B(B – 1)), incorporated an option to use GRASP (Greedy Randomized 1 1 Adaptive Search Procedure) with parameter γ. In this case we and the corresponding expected number of e-interferences is save the solution of the LP relaxation we obtain before variable fixing starts. Starting from this solution we carry out γ solution (21) N = (2e / B)B1 / (B – 1) = 2eB1 / (B(B – 1)). processes with variable fixing as described above. In each of these processes we choose the variable we want to fix tempor- Assume now that all frequencies in subset 1 have been allocat- arily to 1 randomly amongst the n largest fractional dual varied. The question is what is the expected number of different fre- ables, where n is a parameter chosen by the user. This gives us quencies which are allocated to the base stations which interfere in principle γ distinct solutions to our problem, and we choose with a particular base station in subset 2. We make the the best one. assumption that these frequencies are randomly distributed. Then the expected number of different frequencies which are allocated to base stations in subset 1 which n-interfere with a 7 Partitioning base stations into subsets particular base station in subset 2 is Even if the described heuristics are used to solve the frequency (22) F(1 – (1 – 1 / F)Nr) ≈ Nr = 2nrB / (B(B – 1)). allocation problem, computer time may be prohibitive for large 1 cases. We have therefore implemented an option for partitioning (The approximation is reasonable only if F is large compared to the base stations into subsets. The optimization is carried out Nr, but we use it anyway.) and frequency allocations are fixed for the subsets one by one. We have to pay for this of course by a possible reduction in Correspondingly, the expected number of different frequencies solution quality. which are allocated to base stations in subset 1 which e-interfere with a particular base station in subset 2 is When we have solved the problem for some subsets, then the options for frequency allocations in the remaining subsets are (23) F(1 – (1 – 1 / F)Er) ≈ Er = 2erB / (B(B – 1)). reduced because of interference between base stations in subsets 1 already treated with base stations in subsets not yet treated. Thus, the number of possible allocations in subset 2 is reduced on the average by Ideally, we want to partition the base stations into subsets such that (24) [2(3n + e)r / (B(B – 1))]B1(B – B1). • There is as little interference between subsets as possible Then we have the following: • The size of the subsets is such that the workload for the optimization is equally shared between the subsets. Number of constraints in LP no 1: The problem of minimizing interference between subsets of (25) B F given sizes is a variant of the graph partitioning problem. We 1 have implemented a simple heuristic for this problem where we Expected number of constraints in LP no 2: start from a partition based on the sequential ordering of the base stations by the user and then exchange base stations be- (26) B F – [2(3n + e)r / (B(B – 1))]B B tween subsets until we obtain a local minimum. 2 1 2 Expected number of constraints in LP no 3: Our method for choosing the subset sizes so that the optimization workload is evenly distributed is based on some very (27) B F – [2(3n + e)r / (B(B – 1))](B + B )B bold assumptions and approximations. One of the assumptions 3 1 2 3 is that all frequencies are admissible for all base stations. Expected number of constraints in LP no 4: We introduce some additional notation: (28) B4F – [2(3n + e)r / (B(B – 1))](B1 + B2 + B3)B4

and so on.

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 121 These expressions are then set equal to each other. 8 Concluding remarks and

We set acknowledgement At the time of writing the frequency allocation module is still (29) k = 2(3n + e)r / (FB(B – 1)). being experimented with and has most probably not found its final form. It is expected that the module later will be incorpo- Then rated in a graphical user interface. (30) B ≈ B / (1 – kB ) 2 1 1 The author wishes to thank H. Moseby for valuable assistance in setting up and implementing the frequency allocation module (31) B ≈ B / (1 – k(B + B )) 3 1 1 2 in MOBINETT.

(32) B4 ≈ B1 / (1 – k(B1 + B2 + B3))

...

(33) Bs ≈ B1 / (1 – k(B1 + ... + Bs-1)).

Furthermore,

(34) B1 + ... + Bs = B.

A set of Bi-s which satisfy (30) to (34) may be found by trial and error. However, in order to obtain a set of Bi-s which is somewhat more robust to deviations from our assumptions we use some rough approximations in order to obtain a framework where the subset sizes grow linearly.

From the above we see that

1− k(B1 +L +Bi−1 ) Bi+1 / Bi = ≈ 1+ kBi (35) 1− k(B1 +L +Bi )

(assuming that k is small).

This gives

2 (36) Bi+1 – Bi ≈ kB i.

We approximate the difference equation (36) by the differential equation

(37) dB / di = kB2

with solution

1 2 B = ≈ C + kC i. (38) i 1/C − ki Condition (34) gives

1 2B 1 C = + − 2 2 (39) k ()s +1 ks() s +1 ks()+1

Finally, the Bi-s found by (38) are rounded in a way which makes (34) hold true.

122 Telektronikk 3/4.1996

Status International research and standardization activities in telecommunication

Editor: Endre Skolt

123 124 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 Introduction BY ENDRE SKOLT

In the status section of Telektronikk we have earlier presented mobile and satellite communication and fixed services terres- standards work in ETSI and ITU, and research studies in trial communication. In the following we present results from EURESCOM, RACE and ACTS. In this issue of Telektronikk three projects that recently have terminated. we take a look at the European Co-operation in the Field of Scientific and Technical Research (COST) programme and pre- In the first paper, Mr. Per Helmersen reviews what has been sent three projects which have had Telenor participation. achieved in the COST 219 project. COST 219 was set up in 1986 and ended September this year. The main objectives of the COST involves projects in a large number of areas from agricul- project have been to collect information about existing telecom- ture and biotechnology to telecommunications. All projects munications devices appropriate for disabled and elderly people, under COST are pre-competitive and the COST telecommunica- to stimulate activities in this field, and to survey the practical tions programme has since its introduction in 1971 operated as a needs of disabled people and evaluate the future possibilities of European forum for development of new technology, co-ordina- information technologies. Mr. Helmersen reports that telecom tion of basic research, and contributions to standardisation operators are starting to view the increasing number of elderly organisations. Today, there are 25 countries participating in and disabled people as an important market. By meeting the COST projects, mostly EU member countries. COST is how- needs of customers with reduced hearing, vision and mobility, ever not a EU body. In the telecommunications programme this telecommunication service providers may gain a competitive year, more than 2000 scientists have joined, and compared with edge in the overall market. other international research programmes, university scientists represent a large part of the working force. In the second paper, Mr. Agne Nordbotten presents the achievements in COST 235, a project studying radiowave propagation The most important study areas in COST include: effects on telecommunications system using frequencies in the higher microwave and millimetre bands. The growth in radio • Development and simulation of Networks, including Integrat- communications has made it necessary to use frequency re- ed Satellite/Terrestrial Networks sources in these bands both for satellite and terrestrial commu- • Multimedia and Image Communications nication. More specifically, COST 235 has studied the propagation effects caused by the atmosphere (attenuation, scattering, • Radio systems depolarisation) and ground terrain effects (multipath, shielding, • Optical technologies: Systems, components and reliability attenuation from trees etc.). Telenor R&D has been an active project partner, and chaired one of the three working groups. • Telecommunications facilities for disabled and elderly people • User requirements in Telecommunications The last paper gives a comprehensive description of the results from COST 231, “Evolution of land mobile radio communica- • Speech Technology tions”. The project has been organised into three working • Software Verifications and Validation. groups with focus on the radio system aspects and technologies for third generation standards, channel characterisation at fre- Telenor R&D has actively participated in COST pro- quencies between 900 MHz and 3 GHz, and both sys- jects addressing areas like speech technol- tem aspects and propagation at microwave ogy, development of video coding and millimetre wave frequencies. The technologies, telecommunications communication authors are Mr. Per Hj. Lehne for disabled and elderly peo- Radio and Mr. Rune H. Rækken. ple, fundamentals of Service definitions witching

Transmission and s Health care Broadband y informatic standard Message handling and electronic director

Intelligent Languages for telecommunication networks applications

Secur affic and Signal processing Teletr ity

dimensioning Data netw

N TM

orks

and user aspects Terminal equipment

Figure 1 Telecommunication areas

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 125 COST 219: Future telecommunications and teleinformatics facilities for disabled people and elderly BY PER HELMERSEN

In Europe, there are about 100 million elderly people and 50 informatics with the aim of proposing solutions to problems million who are disabled. In addition, there are those who suffer related to the needs of disabled and elderly persons. The main from dyslexia, learning difficulties or milder forms of intellect- objectives of the project have been to collect information about ual impairment, as well as the 0.5 % of the population who are existing telecommunications and teleinformatics devices and temporarily disabled through illness or accidents.1 The preval- services as well as ongoing research and development appropri- ence of most forms of impairment increases considerably with ate to disabled and elderly people, to stimulate activities in this age and so the disabled population grows disproportionately as field, to survey the practical needs of disabled people and to life expectancy rises. Disabled and elderly people are a signifi- evaluate the future possibilities of information technology. cant segment of the telecommunications market. Under the chairmanship of Jan Ekberg from the National R&D Centre for Welfare and Health in Finland, COST 219 has organ- Access to telecommunications offers disabled users improved ized 30 meetings and seminars focusing on a wide range of sub- independence, mobility and quality of life. For many, it means jects such as text telephony, picture communication, elderly and the opportunity to work at their own pace and in their own technology, smart cards and terminals, speech technology, tele- homes. The telecommunications industry has made enormous phones and hearing aids, legislation and standardization, progress over recent years. Unfortunately, more advanced databases, etc. Twenty-nine publications (including 3 books equipment often makes greater demands of the user and so, peo- published by the Commission of the European Communities3) ple who are all too familiar with the many barriers of daily life document 10 years of activity in the field. can actually be further isolated and disenfranchised by technology with the potential to remove many of these barriers. Any- The major activities of COST 219 have been carried out by var- one who cannot use telecommunications services will find it ious working groups. The composition and focus of these hard to gather information, make reservations, maintain social groups have changed during the 10 years the program has exist- contacts or even call emergency services. As an increasing num- ed, reflecting not only social and technological change, but also ber of services are being transformed into telecommunications the increasing maturity of COST 219. The following working or on-line services, the prospect of equal access for many of groups were functioning in the final stages of the program: these user groups is threatened. WG1 Standardization and Legislation (Chairperson: C. Stephanidis, GR) There are also intrinsic problems in the nature of new technology. As products are changing rapidly, shrinking in size and WG2 Videotelephony (Chairperson: Leonor Moniz Pereira, P) cramming more and more features into software, engineers have WG3 Access to Communication Technology difficulty in getting inside the chip or software to make (Chairperson: Bob Allen, Irl) modifications while the product is being developed. A consequence of this is that existing devices for people who require WG4 Voice Communication (Chairperson: Patrick Roe, CH) special solutions and interfaces are obsolete, non-competitive WG5 Technology Trends and difficult to maintain. In addition to these technological con- (Chairperson: Diamantino Freitas, P) straints, cost and lack of awareness have also been important factors in the poor provision made for disabled user groups. WG6 Text Communication (Chairperson: Kelvin Currie, UK) WG7 Information Transfer (Chairperson: John Gill, UK) In order to ensure that the needs of disabled people were properly formulated and made available to the European telecommu- Organizations such as ETSI – especially HF2 – have frequently nications industry, regulatory authorities, research bodies, stan- used COST 219 as the basis for their own work in this area. Fur- dardization organizations and others, the COST 219 project was thermore, the information obtained has been collated and set up. The project started in September 1986 and was termi- disseminated through publications and conferences across nated in its present form in September 1996. Two requests for Europe and more recently in Eastern/Central Europe. Because extensions of the activity have been approved, making 219 one of COST 219’s activities it was possible to include issues relat- of the longest running COST projects. During the 1987–94 ed to disabled and elderly persons in RACE and to define a new period the project received financial support from the European program, TIDE. The overall result is that a forum has been Community, DGXIII and DGV in order to make it possible for established which is now internationally recognized as a refer- representatives from small industry, universities as well as invit- ence point on matters concerning disability and telecommunica- ed experts on handicap problems to participate in the work of tions. One example of this recognition is the recent exposure COST 219. solutions for disabled customers received at Telecom 95. As a direct result of COST 219’s efforts an ITU stand at Telecom 95 The COST 219 signatories2 have co-operated in order to promote research into the field of telecommunications and tele-

3 Von Tetzchner, S (ed.). 1991. Issues in telecommunication 1 The forgotten millions. Access to telecommunications for and disability. Brussels, Office for Official Publications of the people with disabilities. DG XIII. Brussels, 1994. European Commission. ISBN 92-826-3128-1-. 2 The MOU has been signed by Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Roe, P R W (ed.). 1995. Telecommunications for all. Brussels, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Office for Official Publications of the European Commission. Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Croatia and Slovenia Olesen, K G. 1992. Survey of text telephones and relay ser- have started the procedures to sign. Active participation from vices in Europe. Brussels, Commission of the European EC, (TIDE office, RACE office and Helios) should also be Communities, Directorate-General, Information Technolo- mentioned, in addition to frequent collaboration with ETSI. gies and Industries, and Telecommunications.

126 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 was constructed as a smart home for elderly and disabled show- tions which can be adapted to meet specific needs and tastes ing how telecommunications can be used to support independ- may be the only factors differentiating one provider from the ent living. This ITU/COST 219 stand was visited by over next. Carrying on in the tradition of COST 219, COST 219bis 10,000 attendees. will continue to provide PNOs not only with insight into the needs of their many disabled customers and information on how COST 219 was officially terminated in September 1996. A new to meet them, but also give those cognizant of the commercial COST Action has recently been approved, however, ensuring advantages of universal design a clear market advantage and a that information related to the needs of disabled and elderly per- flying start into the next century. sons will be made available also in the future. Signatories of the COST Action 219bis MOU (1996 – 2001) will carry out the following main tasks: 1) Analyze and propose new solutions intended (in order of priority) to: • make services generally accessible to all, • make services adaptable when they cannot be made generally accessible, or • offer special solutions to meet explicit problems 2)Support co-operation between technical specialists of telecommunications, teleinformatics, standardization, legislation and specialists working for elderly and disabled persons 3)Evaluate new technical solutions for providing telecommunication and teleinformatics services to elderly and disabled persons 4)Actively disseminate information to relevant actors 5)Promote appropriate research activities.

Modern telecommunications have the potential to open up society to people with disabilities. The market is large and economically attractive. It is obviously necessary and desirable that telecommunications should develop in a way which improves the services available to all. There is sometimes a mistaken assumption that this will come about as a direct and inevitable result of technical progress. The efforts of the COST 219 program have since 1986 demonstrated that an emphasis on standardization, legislation and European-wide coordination is essential. It has also become clear that a broad uptake of solutions is achievable only if equipment manufacturers and service providers can be convinced that there is a market and that many of the special requirements of elderly and disabled users will also benefit normal untrained users and subscribers.

Within a liberalized telecommunications environment Telenor and other PNOs will find themselves being drawn towards the provision of specialized services for the needs of persons with disabilities and the large greying population. This will be through realizing the commercial opportunity that these customers offer as well as in response to calls for regulatory action by groups representing these customers’ interests. A third and perhaps equally important driving force will be the increasing recognition of the importance of design for all policies. “Accessibility and Universal Design Principles” have recently been approved and implemented by major US telecom operators such as Pacific Bell and NYNEX. These companies have realiz- ed that by meeting the needs of customers with reduced hearing, vision, mobility or information processing abilities they are also developing products and services which benefit all of their customers – not only those with specific and identifiable handicaps. In a market where ever-raging price wars make it increasingly difficult for customers to base their decisions solely on cost, factors such as ease of use and the availability of flexible solu-

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 127 COST 235: Radiowave propagation effects on next generation fixed-services telecommunication systems BY AGNE NORDBOTTEN

Introduction The applicational background for the results from COST 235 thus turned out to be the very best at the end of the project and The COST 235, which started in 1991, concluded its work the timing for the project very good. In Europe, several larger through the arrangement of an International Symposium on projects based on the application of millimetric waves have Broadband and Millimetric Propagation Effects on Terrestrial been initiated under the Fifth Framework Program of the EU. Radio in October 1996. In that connection a report presenting the objectives of the work, the main contributions and results The work in COST 235 on these problem areas was organised with conclusions, discussions and also recommendations for in three working groups on future work has been issued by the Commission of the European • Frequency selective fade effects focusing on channel mod- communities [1]. elling, diversity improvement, dual polarisation phenomena, multipath occurrence and performance and availability crite- This paper gives a short summary of the objectives and results ria (clear air effects) (WG1) from the project with some focus on the contributions from Telenor R&D. • Flat fade effects and millimetric wave considerations addressing the areas of gaseous absorption, the effects of hydro- COST 235 meteors and the influence of atmospheric turbulence (WG2) • Site shielding and interference reduction strategies like the The growth in radio communication as well as the technological effects of urban environment on the radiowave propagation, development now makes it both possible and necessary to start terrain propagation models as well as antenna and systems using the frequency resources of the higher microwave region aspects (WG3). and in the millimetric region for both satellite and terrestrial communication. It was the realisation of the fact that these The project was led by Martin M.P. Hall, Rutherford Appleton future telecommunication systems would be strongly influenced Laboratory. Terje Tjelta, Telenor R&D, has been the chairman by propagation effects from the atmosphere (attenuation, of Working Group 1 (WG1). Research groups from altogether scattering, depolarisation) and ground terrain effects (multipath, 14 nations has participated in the project. shielding, attenuation from trees, etc.), as illustrated in Figure 1, which necessitated a thorough investigation into these phenom- The work in the project started with a total of 28 technical ques- ena in order to establish reliable and accurate prediction models, tions which then were reduced to eleven areas for detailed con- QoS and availability criteria for such systems. Since the project sideration in the respective working groups. started, the use of radio communication has increased even faster than expected. During the same period algorithms for efficient coding of moving video have been developed and the Main results from the project standardisation of MPEG2 has resulted in possibilities for Under WG1 the work has focused on Quality of Service and development of new services including interactivity creating a availability of systems in the microwave region. Improved pre- need for broadband access for public services. diction models have been developed and several contributions made to the standardisation process in ITU-R. Results from Systems based on the use of millimetric waves will normally be measurements on multipath occurrence in Norway have been low margin systems requiring very reliable prediction methods correlated with meteorological data and a close relationship be- and efficient fading countermeasures to insure cost effective tween the refractivity gradient obtained from meteorological operation and efficient resource utilisation. data and multipath fading was found. It has been recommended that work in this area continues in another COST project.

A thorough investigation into the possibilities of different methods for diversity improvement has been undertaken, and from Norway it has been shown that there are great advantages in the form of equipment saving and space saving on the installation site in using angle diversity since this requires only one antenna per installation as illustrated in Figure 2, which shows the basic principles for angle and space diversity, respectively.

During the project period new transmission systems based on SDH have been installed by different operators. For such systems the error problems are different from previous systems, it is now a question of errored blocks rather than errored bits, and these problems have turned out to be somewhat complicated in handling. The relationship between block error and BER has been analysed, and a method has been described that makes it possible to convert old bit error measurements into block errors which can be evaluated according to G.826 parameters. fig.1 A model for dual polarisation of the radio channel has been developed considering the separate contributions from both Figure 1 Atmospheric and terrain influences on millimetric wave propagation antenna and propagation effects. Testing versus experimental

128 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 Space diversity data has been In spring there will be a long period with snow-covered terrain performed, and which represents the worst situation for reflection and multipath the conclusion when the snow has recrystallised and gets wet. R1 is that use of f dual polarisa- It has been shown that the occurrence of sleet and hail has T tion in terres- strong effects on the monthly distribution curves for the specific trial attenuation. Figure 4, which represents June 1993, illustrates f microwave this based on measurements over a 630 m long path at Kjeller. R2 systems now is The total amount of precipitation for this month was 27 mm a mature tech- with one single hail event contributing 6.7 mm. The specific nology, thus attenuation curves for 40 (solid lines) and 60 GHz (dashed increasing the lines), show that the hail event dominates totally for higher communication attenuation values. capacity of that Angle diversity part of the Fading countermeasures are very important for the use of such spectrum. systems. R1 In the milli- Availability as a concept is much more complicated at milli- f metric frequencies than at lower frequencies. In a sectored dis- T metric wave f range the pres- tribution system (point-to-multipoint) the attenuation at a given ence of time will vary quite a lot with direction due to the inhomogenity R2 hydrometeors of rain. Availability, however, is defined in a specified direction has the and will of course statistically be very much the same in differ- Figure 2 Antenna installations for angle strongest effect ent directions, but availability will not be the same for a given and space diversity on signal atten- instant of time in different directions. If for instance AGC is uation. The used as a fading countermeasure there will be a difference in models used so systems performance depending on the criteria used. Use of the far for prediction of the effects of precipitation have been tested most faded direction for control gives the highest availability as and evaluated at frequencies below 40 GHz, and there has well as strong signals in the unfaded directions which increases actually been doubt about their validity in the higher frequency the interference problem in a cellular system. The difference range. In this frequency range the contribution from scattering is between a point to point and a point-to-multipoint system with important. Thus, the observed attenuation will not be determin- regard to fading countermeasures is obvious. ed by the rain intensity only, but also depend on drop size distribution, resulting in different attenuation levels from event to Another problem in this connection is that it would be of inter- event and even within events depending on the variations in est having some information on the dependency of the attenua- drop size distribution. For long term statistics these phenomena tion statistics during a day. It should not be at a minimum when will be more or less averaged out, but when such averages are the number of customers is the highest. Such information is being used, large deviations must be expected for shorter or lacking. longer intervals depending on the details of such drop variations. Figure 3 illustrates how the drop size distribution can change during a rainfall. A knowledge of local meteorology may be required for reliable dimensioning of such systems, and development of adaptive fading countermeasures is required. 20 40 GHz 18 The effects of precipitation on millimetric wave propagation 60 GHz have been studied extensively in COST 235. A data base of 16 attenuation measurements, coupled with rain rate data, has been Total month collected from a number of links operated in Europe and a test- 14 ing versus the different models proposed and in use has been conducted. The deviations between some of the models is 12 Without hail event noticeable and for Europe only 2–4 should be recommended. In 10 this area it turns out that the models being used tend to underestimate the fading problem over shorter distances. 8

At Telenor R&D the focus has been on obtaining an understand- 6 ing of phenomena which are typical for the Norwegian climate Specific attenuation in dB/km 4 and measurements have been running at Kjeller since 1993. Kjeller is well suited for such measurements. There are norm- 2 ally several short and intense rainfalls with relatively large 10-5 10-4 10-3 10-2 10-1 100 drops and rapid variations in drop size distribution in the summer season. During the period from September until November Percentage of time there will be both long-lasting rainfalls with smaller drops and more intense rainfalls in between. At the end of the period there Figure 3 Variation of drop size during rainfall (as measured may be some events with sleet/wet snow. with distrometer at Kjeller)

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 129 Working Group 3 has analysed the effects of diffraction, scatter- Concluding remarks ing and terrain in detail, with a special focus on urban areas characterised by buildings, constructions and trees. The models The work of COST 235 represents a valuable contribution to developed contribute significantly to the prediction of diffrac- improved radio communication systems through improved pre- tion, scatter and attenuation imposed by buildings and vegeta- diction for the microwave frequency range to valuable contribution as well as to the understanding of terrain propagation tions for design guidance of new systems in the millimetre wave effects and site shielding effects. range which will now be gradually more used for communication systems requiring high capacity channels. The information A prediction procedure aiming at estimating the effects of collected is of particular interest for different new ACTS pro- scattering on a radio connection has been described. jects focusing on communication and distribution using millimetric waves. For Telenor the participation in the ACTS project Both attenuation and scattering from groups of trees have been AC215 CRABS (Cellular Access to Broadband Services) with analysed and a model for estimating the attenuation as a func- the main objective of developing and demonstrating a broad- tion of vegetation depth has been recommended. A belt of vege- band interactive point-to-multipoint distribution system, was a tation of 4–6 m can easily result in more than 20 dB of signal result of contacts established in COST 235. Three of the nine attenuation. Vegetation thus represents a major problem for partners in CRABS participated in COST 235. propagation of radio waves and in particular new systems for satellite communication and point-to-multipoint access systems COST 235 has also represented an opportunity for writing sci- and mobile communication in the millimetric wave area. entific articles and presenting conference papers. One university thesis was associated with the work at Telenor. It has been shown that frequency reuse at millimetric frequencies will be reduced by the effect of scattering from buildings in The work from COST 235 is partly continued in a new COST urban areas. A method for calculating the effects of shielding on 253 project on Satellite Systems from Ku-band and above, and digital communication systems in the frequency range from another project focusing on terrestrial systems is under con- 10 – 100 GHz has been implemented. The method can be used sideration. to evaluate the performance of communication systems in an urban area. A well organised COST project represents an opportunity for international scientific work in co-operation within larger project areas. It represents possibilities for development and testing of new ideas which later evolves into systems work and applications as well as the possibility for establishing valuable contacts in other organisations. However, nothing is free and possibilities are created through the activity of the individual partner.

Reference

1 COST 235. Radiowave propagation effects on next-generation fixed-services terrestrial telecommunication systems. Commission of the European Communities, 1996. (Final report EUR 16991 EN.)

Figure 4 Cumulative distribution of precipitation attenuation for June 1993 with and without hail event representing 25 % of the total precipitation

130 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 COST 231: Evolution of land mobile radio (including personal) communications BY PER HJALMAR LEHNE AND RUNE HARALD RÆKKEN

Introduction Organisation of the work

The COST 231 project started on 6 April 1989, and was origin- The work was split into three main areas and organised in corre- ally scheduled to expire in April 1993. To align the time scale sponding working groups: of COST 231 with the time scales of interacting RACE projects, • WG1 – Radio System Aspects the COST action was then extended to 5 April 1996. • WG2 – UHF Propagation • WG3 – Broadband Applications. Chairman of the COST action was from the start Mr. Pietro Porzio Gusto from CSELT, Italy. In 1992, Mr. Eraldo Damosso, WG1 had its focus on the system aspects and technologies for also CSELT, took over the chairmanship. third generation standards. The objectives were to complement and evaluate the various RACE projects and to provide signifi- The objectives were, among others, to identify the characterist- cant results to the standardisation bodies, especially on multiple ics of third generation mobile radio and personal communica- access techniques (CDMA1, TDMA2, etc.) and new coding and tions systems currently under specification, and to provide modulation techniques. design methods and coverage models for their implementation.

This included studies on digital transmission techniques and radiowave propagation in the UHF band. The aim was to estab- 1 Code Division Multiple Access. lish prediction methods for attenuation and multipath effects in macro, micro- and indoor cells by modelling and simulation of 2 Time Division Multiple Access. the radio transmission channel.

Also, long-term studies have been carried out on radio based communications systems for broadband services (i.e. services Table 1 COST 231 liaisons requiring a capacity greater than that of the basic ISDN services). This involved studies on a large spectrum of new telecommunications technologies at millimetre wave and RACE projects infrared bands. CODIT R 2020 UMTS COde DIvision Testbed Thus, COST 231 has covered a variety of land mobile aspects, MONET R 2066 MObile NETworks mainly focusing on personal communications systems providing voice and data communications through small, cheap, hand MBS R 2067 Mobile Broadband System portable radio terminals. MAVT R 2072 Mobile Audio Visual Terminal This article highlights some of the work performed and present- ATDMA R 2084 Advanced TDMA Mobile Access ed within COST 231. The article is however not exhaustive, due TSUNAMI R 2108 Technology in Smart Antennas for UNiversal to the huge amount of work carried out within the COST action. Advanced Mobile Infrastructure

The main information source for this article is the COST 231 COST Actions Final Report [1]. 227 Integrated Space/Terrestrial Mobile Networks Participation 235 Radiowave propagation effects on next-generation fixed- services terrestrial telecommunications systems At the end of the project, 20 signatory countries participated at the Management Committee meetings: Austria, Belgium, Czech 244 Biomedical Effects of Electromagnetic Fields Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, 245 Active Phased Arrays and Array Fed Antennas Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom. Usually, ETSI TCs/STCs more than 80 people from about 70 participating organisations attended the meetings. SMG2 Radio aspects of GSM / DCS1800 / UMTS SMG5 Universal Mobile Telecommunications System – UMTS Liaisons RES02 Land Mobile (except GSM, UMTS, DECT) During its period of existence the COST action had close rela- RES03 Cordless Communications, i.e. DECT, CT1/2 tions with most RACE projects related to mobile and personal communications, with other COST actions and several inter- RES10 Radio LAN national standardisation bodies (see Table 1). Additionally, there were liaisons with: UK Technical Party on Mobile Com- ITU-R munications, UK LINK CDMA Project, and URSI (The Inter- national Union of Radio Science). TG 8/1 Recommendations on International Mobile Telecommuni- cations – IMT-2000 (formerly FPLMTS) SG 3 Study group on Radiowave propagation

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 131 WG2 studies were on the mobile channel characteristics at fre- The FDDSF is used to describe both the small scale / short term quencies between 900 MHz and 3 GHz. Outdoor measurements and large scale fluctuations of the channel. and modelling (i.e. macro- and micro-cells) were given special attention. This included developing prediction methods where A main goal for the work on channel characterisation and prop- the influence of systems parameters like base station antenna agation measurements is to be able to model the channel for height and directivity and site location and environment, were simulation purposes. Therefore, a lot of effort has been put into taken into account. The emphasis was gradually shifted towards the channel measurement and modelling activity during the outdoor short-range and indoor propagation and building pene- work of COST 231. Three different objectives have been aimed tration. into: • Long term area simulations, to evaluate signalling perform- WG3 operated along a different axis, covering both system ance, coverage studies, cellular efficiency, and others. aspects and propagation at microwave and mm-wave frequencies. The main focus has been on high data rates (above • Narrowband system simulations, to consider transceiver per- 10 Mbit/s) short range communication in indoor environments. formance. Examples in COST 231 are the evaluation of new Both theoretical and experimental work has been carried out. modulation techniques and optimised transceiver architec- Attention was also paid to system operation in outdoor environ- tures. ments, and to infrared communications. Particular reference has • Wideband system simulations, which is the most interesting been given to ETSI’s High Performance Radio Local Area Net- case. This implies modelling the time disperse properties of works (HIPERLAN). Some attention has also been given to the radio channel. The tapped delay channel has been fre- safety aspects for infrared and millimetre wave radiation. quently employed for this, with a large variety on complexity depending on the use. A two-path Rayleigh (or Rice) model Main achievements has been employed in evaluating different modulation schemes and for DECT system evaluation. Also a 6 taps This chapter gives an overview of the main work and results of delay line channel emulator has been used. the research activities carried out within COST 231. Channel sounding techniques Radio channel characterisation There are two classes of equipment for measuring propagation Knowledge about the radio channel is crucial in mobile commu- conditions of the mobile radio channel. Narrowband equipment nications. A lot of effort has been put into understanding and transmits and receives CW (or a narrow frequency spectrum). describing the radio channel from different points of view. This type of equipment is mainly used for path loss measure- Attention has been increasingly focused on modelling the elec- ments. Wideband equipment – channel sounders – transmits a trical field with respect to both the propagation delay and the frequency spectrum above the coherence bandwidth of the radio incidence direction. Work has been put into defining the field channel, and is used for channel characterisation. direction-delays-spread function (FDDSF). The FDDSF characterises the disperse nature of the environment. Hence, both Channel sounders are often categorised into three main classes: space- and time-dependence of the channel response can be pulse, pseudo-random sequence, and frequency sweep (chirp) developed. sounders. The two latter use pulse compression techniques.

The “radio environment” is not a well defined parameter. Basic- In a pulse channel sounder, a short RF-pulse is transmitted, and ally, different propagation mechanisms will dominate in differ- the received signal envelope is detected by the receiver. Only ent environments. Therefore, categories of environments have information about the received signal amplitude is obtained, it is been identified, each of them having characteristic propagation thus not possible to get any information about the Doppler spec- scenarios. Division and characterisation is given, both by cell tra. Unless very large transmitter power is used, the distance type (i.e. macro-, micro- and pico cells) and area type (urban, between transmitter and receiver is limited. In addition, this suburban, rural, etc. for macro-cells). Still, environment vari- method is sensitive to interference from other services. ability is present within a given category, influencing on the radiowave propagation properties. To deal with this, three The signal used for sounding the channel by a pseudo-random sources of randomness have been identified: sequence sounder, is the carrier modulated with a pseudo-random binary sequence. In the receiver a sliding correlator, a signal • The arrangement, the mean height and the electrical proper- processor performing correlation or a channel matched filter, is ties of buildings in an urban area used to estimate the channel impulse response. By using this • The geometrical and electrical properties of the objects inter- technique it is possible to obtain a larger range between trans- acting with the electromagnetic field mitter and receiver. If Doppler spectra are to be derived, frequency synchronisation between transmitter and receiver is • The receiver position and the factors leading to time varia- needed. tions. The frequency sweep technique is well known from radar theo- A common feature for all these is that they can only be describ- ry. Traditionally, a pulse compression filter in the receiver is ed to a certain level of accuracy. Hence, they contribute to mak- matched to the transmitted wave form. The resolution of the ing the FDDSF and channel response (CR) into stochastic vari- measurement system is inversely proportional to the bandwidth ables. of the frequency sweep, and the maximum measurable delay is proportional to the duration of the sweep. This measurement

132 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 technique also makes it possible to obtain large ranges between the necessary carrier to co-channel interference rate for a given transmitter and receiver even when moderate output power is radio system to operate properly, it is thus possible to use the Q- used. In addition, the method is resistant to interference from parameter to predict performance of a radio system employing a other services, and gives good utilisation of the used measure- channel equaliser. ment bandwidth. Examples of how to predict radio system performance using the Propagation data analysis mentioned parameters is given in the chapter “GSM and DECT systems”. The main outcome of the wideband propagation measurements is information about performance of given digital radio systems Propagation work reported from related projects in a given multipath environment. Some radio systems have very simple air interfaces, and their quality of service are hence A main goal for COST 231 has been the contribution to the very vulnerable to interference and multipath propagation. development of UMTS. This required a more detailed descrip- Other radio systems have built in measures to compensate for tion of the wideband channel than the one suggested by COST the influence of multipath propagation, or even utilise the 207 for GSM. Thus, there have been close connections with the energy received from the direct (if any) as well as all the reflect- RACE projects ATDMA and CODIT for this purpose. Three ed signal components (multipath diversity). models have therefore been presented and studied in COST 231: • The COST 207 approach. These are 6 and 12 taps models When designing a radio system, or when choosing among with the following basic elements: Tap delay values follow different radio systems to be used in a given environment, it is different profiles, tap mean power and Rayleigh (or Rice, for therefore very important to have some measure of the influence the first ray) distribution, four different Doppler spectrum of the propagation conditions on the radio system performance. types. These models have been subject to corrections and also new sets of parameters have been produced covering other Impulse responses measured by a channel sounder can be fur- types of environments than original. ther processed to give parameters indicating performance of different radio systems exposed to various propagation conditions. • ATDMA simulator. Two complementary approaches were Important statistical parameters describing the channel impulse followed: Stored Measured Channels and Synthetic Channels. responses are: A large number of measurements have been performed to define a typical channel and some atypical channels. • Mean Delay (MD): The first order moment of the IR; the power-weighted average of excess delays. • CODIT simulator. These activities have been mostly aimed at the development of a synthetic model for WSSUS3, but then • Delay Spread (DS): The second order moment of the IR; the extended to non-WSSUS scenarios by using modulating func- power-weighted standard deviation of the excess delays. tions in the filter coefficients. • Fixed Delay Window (FDW): The length of the middle portion of the IR containing a certain percentage of the total Both projects ATDMA and CODIT have developed hardware energy of the IR. channel simulators for use in their real time testbeds. • Sliding Delay Window (SDW): The length of the shortest portion of the IR containing a certain percentage of the total Antennas and antenna diversity energy of the IR. The antennas make up the connection between the communica- • Delay Interval (DI): The interval between the first time the tion system and the radio environment. The primary task of the power of the IR exceeds a given threshold and the last time it antenna is the connection between transmitter and receiver, but falls below the threshold. equally important is the possibility to suppress or compensate • Q16 ratio: The ratio of the power inside to the power outside for transmission media impairments. Three major areas have a window of duration 16 µs. For each IR the window is slid to been considered in the latter case: find the position with highest power inside the window. • Antenna gain and efficiency to suppress noise These parameters can be used to evaluate how well a digital • Multi port antenna diversity to suppress temporal fading and radio system will work in a given multipath environment, and interference how damaging multipath propagation is for the communication. • Adaptive antenna directivity for spatially selective inter- For a given modulation method it is possible to calculate the bit ference suppression. error rate as a function of the delay spread parameter, assuming that a channel equaliser is not present in the receiver. Antenna designs If, however, the receiver is equipped with a channel equaliser, the relevant parameter to predict the radio system performance Several antenna designs have been presented. Extreme wide- has to take into consideration the ratio of the power inside to the band antennas have been designed giving a bandwidth of up to power outside the equaliser window. The signal components 15 GHz. For wireless LANs (WLANs), patch antennas printed received within the equaliser window can be utilised and is thus on top of PCMCIA cards have been designed and tested in the a useful signal, whereas the signal components falling outside the equaliser window will contribute to the overall co-channel interference. Knowing the length of the equaliser window and 3 Wide-Sense-Stationary Uncorrelated-Scattering (channel).

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 133 5 GHz band (HIPERLAN). Conical horn antennas give near two or more base stations. This will reduce the influence of uniform cell coverage. For mm-wave applications, dielectric long-term fading caused by shadowing objects. In this case the antennas are suitable because they are easy to produce. These spatial separation corresponds to the cell size. are dielectric leaky wave antennas which can be designed to radiate almost to broadside, i.e. orthogonal to the antenna axis. In theory it is possible to reduce the long-term fading margin by They have a very strongly frequency-dependent beam-pointing 10 dB with selection combining of two uncorrelated branches. angle, a feature that can be used in a wireless LAN based on As an example, the fading margin for indoor micro-cells is FDMA/SCPC4 and using dynamic channel allocation (DCA). reduced by 7.5 dB with a spatial separation (cell size) of 9–17 λ. The diversity gain is found to be 6 dB in the same case. Antennas for portables have so far been mostly external wire antennas. Internal antennas for hand sets are of increasing Micro diversity is employed by using two (or more) antennas importance and interest, partly because of their advantages in collocated at the same mobile terminal or base station. This design. The radiation coupled dual-L antenna is a new antenna technique reduces the influence of the short-term fading. Micro designed e.g. for cordless telephones. Work has also been per- diversity shows a significant gain when two antennas are used, formed on antenna configurations for reducing body loss and but it is difficult to obtain further improvement using three or absorption of radio frequent energy in the user’s body. more antennas. The estimated diversity gain based on measurements done on 1700 MHz in different propagation environments λ Adaptive antennas with an antenna separation of 2.5 is 6.5 dB for line of sight (LOS) and 8.6 dB in non line of sight (NLOS) cases. Through the close co-operation with the RACE TSUNAMI pro- Antenna diversity can also be employed to combat inter symbol ject, a lot of work has been performed on antennas for base sta- interference in time dispersive channels. The correlation of the tions (BS). Keywords here are: delay spread values between two separate branches was estimat- • Angular relations between BS antennas and radio environments ed at 0.4 in an NLOS micro-cell environment by measurements. • Environmental influence on perceived antenna pattern In this case, the delay spread was reduced by 20 % by selection • Adaptive base station antenna arrays. of the branch having the smallest instantaneous delay spread.

The latter case is particularly interesting. Adaptive, or “smart”, antennas denotes a whole concept of technologies, ranging from Propagation prediction models “simple” steerable directive antennas to suppress interference Predictions of propagation characteristics are necessary for and increase range, to spatial separation of users (full Space proper coverage planning, the determination of multipath effects Division Multiple Access – SDMA) to increase the system and interference also need to be taken into account when plan- capacity. ning how to deploy a mobile network. In COST 231, extensive work has been performed to develop good models. Antenna diversity Four basic mechanisms describe the phenomena which influ- Another important antenna aspect is diversity. This is used at ence radio wave propagation: Reflection, penetration, diffrac- the base station in all current mobile systems, e.g. NMT and tion and scattering. For all practical predictions, these mecha- GSM. In COST 231 a whole range of diversity techniques have nisms must be described by approximations. been studied. Diversity separation can be utilised in several radio channel environments. Possible diversity schemes are: A three stage modelling process has been the basis for the prop- space diversity, antenna pattern diversity, antenna orientation agation modelling work within COST 231: angle diversity, polarisation diversity and time/frequency diver- 1. The real (analogue) terrain has to be transformed to digital sity. terrain data. Different combining techniques falling into two major groups 2. Defining mathematical approximations for the physical prop- have been studied: selection and summation. The characteristic agation mechanisms. feature of selection diversity is that only one branch is active at 3. Developing both deterministic and empirical propagation a time. The schemes in the second group apply weights to all models. the branches and the output is the weighted sum. The different schemes have different complexity and gain, with switching A large amount of work has been carried out during the COST diversity offering the lowest complexity but often only marginal action, and only some highlights will be presented here. improvement. On the other end of the scale, summation using equal-gain combining (EGC) or maximum ratio combining Improved propagation models for macro-cells have been devel- (MRC) gives a theoretical improvement in signal to noise ratio oped. The COST 231 – Hata Model is an extension to the well of 3 dB. known Okumura-Hata model. This is an empirical path-loss model originally valid for frequencies up to only 1000 MHz. In Diversity can also be divided between macro and micro diver- COST 231, Okumura’s model has been extended to higher fre- sity. Macro diversity means combining the signals received at quency bands. The COST-Hata Model is valid in the frequency band 1500–2000 MHz, thus covering DECT, DCS1800 and UMTS bands. The validity of the model is restricted to large 4 Frequency Division Multiple Access / Single Channel Per and small macro-cells, with base station antenna heights above Carrier. rooftop levels adjacent to the base station.

134 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 Another important model has been developed, also as a modifi- 5 dB (ranging from 0 to 7.5 dB). Using ideal adaptive antenna cation and extension to earlier work. The COST 231 – Walfisch- array and hence reducing interference and hence blocking can Ikegami Model (COST-WI) is a statistically based path loss theoretically increase GSM capacity by up to 400 % in a given model for urban macro-cells. No topographical database is used, scenario. More detailed results are given in [1]. only characteristic values for buildings and streets are inserted to predict the coverage. The model distinguishes between LOS Extending the usage of DECT and NLOS cases. In the LOS case (e.g. for street canyons), free space loss is assumed. Diffraction losses over rooftops are used Also DECT (Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications) to model the NLOS case. This model has been accepted by ITU- and its performance have been studied within COST 231. DECT R and is included in Report 567-4. The mean error using this is intended to provide cheap equipment and offer high capacity model is ± 3 dB when the base station height is just above compared to GSM. In addition, there is no need for frequency rooftop level. Performance is poor, however, when base station planning in DECT due to dynamic channel allocation. antennas are below the roof. This model is also restricted to frequencies below 2000 MHz. DECT was originally designed to be a residential and business cordless system, but lately, the use has also been extended to None of these models consider multipath propagation. public DECT and WLL5 applications. Extending the use of DECT to outdoor scenarios creates challenges with regard to Also small and micro-cell models have been developed, models system performance due to the outdoor propagation conditions. which are very useful for e.g. DECT-planning purposes. This In contrast to GSM there are no remedies in DECT to compen- includes both 2- and 3-dimensional models based on ray-tracing sate for the influence of the radio channel, i.e. no channel cod- techniques. An example is the Ericsson micro-cell model. This ing, interleaving or channel equalisation are present. Hence, is based on a mathematical method for path-loss predictions. It DECT is vulnerable to interference and multipath propagation. is recursive, very simple and computation-time efficient. The path loss is determined along paths which follow the different The delay spread parameter defined earlier in this article gives a streets. good measure of DECT performance limitations due to multipath propagation. There is a rule of thumb saying that in a sys- Additionally, separate studies have been done on building pene- tem without channel equaliser, using GMSK6-modulation, there tration, indoor propagation models and models for tunnels, cor- will be an irreducible bit error rate (BER) of approximately 10-3 ridors and other special environments, e.g. railway environ- if the delay spread parameter exceeds one tenth of the symbol ments and high-speed trains. More details are given in [1]. interval. A BER of 10-3 is defined as performance limit for the speech service in DECT. This gives a maximum tolerable delay GSM and DECT systems spread in the order of 100 ns for a DECT implementation not employing channel equalisation or advanced antenna diversity Work has also been carried out in COST 231 with relation to techniques. Hence, DECT performance will in many scenarios second generation personal communication systems, specific- be limited by multipath propagation. ally GSM and DECT. The performance of basic versions of such systems is relatively well known, and the focus of the work DECT tolerance to multipath propagation can, however, be was therefore on advanced features and possible limitations. improved by use of adaptive sampling instants (sampling at These topics are of importance not only in relation to the full maximum opening of eye pattern) or use of advanced antenna exploitation of the potential of the systems, but also in terms of diversity schemes. Error rate driven diversity schemes generally possible evolutionary transitions towards the third generation give better performance than received signal strength driven via progressive enhancements of the radio and network per- diversity schemes. formance. One advantage of the Time Division Duplex scheme used by Advanced techniques for GSM and DCS 1800 DECT is that the uplink (hand portable to radio fixed part) and downlink (radio fixed part to hand portable) are reciprocal when mobiles are not moving. Hence, antenna diversity employed in It is assumed that GSM and DCS 1800 work properly if the the radio fixed part will improve both uplink and downlink per- usable energy inside the equaliser window is 9 dB higher than formance7. the energy outside the equaliser window, i.e. carrier to co-channel interference ratio is higher than 9 dB. Hence, if the Q - 16 In future PCS8 applications of DECT, both time dispersion and parameter defined earlier is higher than 9 dB, GSM or DCS portable movement may be significant, and simple switch diver- 1800 will not be limited by multipath propagation. sity will not provide sufficient quality. Even advanced diversity Among the techniques that can be employed to GSM to increase both quality of service and increased capacity is the introduction of random frequency hopping. Quality is increased compared to 5 Wireless Local Loop. the non hopping case due to improved burst decorrelation for slow moving users. Capacity is increased by up to 70 % due to 6 Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying. interference averaging in the network, giving possibilities of 7 This will not work for moving handsets, because the radio tighter reuse patterns compared to the non hopping case. channel will then change between uplink and downlink transmission. Also the gain of using different antenna diversity schemes for GSM has been simulated. Typical values of diversity gain are 8 Personal Communications System.

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 135 algorithms have limitations since they only deliver uplink gain CDMA has been studied and performance results of DS9- or both. Equalisation can therefore be considered as a possibil- CDMA and FH10-CDMA and hybrid systems presented. ity. Simulations have shown that a simple 2-state Viterbi equaliser can extend the delay spread range (in high signal to noise If the advantages of TDMA and CDMA are combined, a further ratios) to at least 600 ns. enhancement of the system capacity can be obtained. CDMA can be mixed with OFDM11 to provide the system with a multi- Also experiences from a DECT field trial in a multipath en- ple access capability. vironment have been reported. The DECT trial system consists of 240 handsets, 160 radio base stations and a central control fixed part, and provides coverage and seamless handover out- Potential radio interface subsystems doors and partly indoors in an area of about 2.5 square kilo- Time Division Multiple Access – TDMA metres. The most important single project that has provided results to Keeping in mind the potential of DECT in an outdoor environ- COST 231 is the RACE ATDMA project. The goal was to ment both as a technology providing local mobility and as a design a radio interface based on the TDMA principles, fulfill- fixed radio access solution, one of the purposes was to under- ing the following requirements of UMTS/IMT-2000 compared stand the strengths and weaknesses and improvements needed to second generation systems like GSM: on current versions of the DECT system in order to operate in both indoor and outdoor environments. • A wider range of services in a wide range of environments • Better quality and reliability Experience from the trial has given valuable information about • Higher capacity the expected cell range in a variety of different indoor environ- • Easier network planning and deployment. ments ranging from more than 50 metres in open hall areas to less than 15 metres in heavily reinforced areas. As a result of A minimum number of radio bearers were selected to support the limited cell radius careful site planning can reduce the num- all services: ber of indoor base stations by more than 30 %. • Voice (high and normal quality) • Data service with low delay (9.6 kb/s - 2 Mb/s at < 30 ms) In outdoor areas, it has been found that the speech quality is • Data services with long delay (9.6 kb/s - 2 Mb/s at < 300 ms) generally good as long as there is a free line of sight path be- • Data services with unconstrained delay. tween the base station and the terminal, and no major reflecting objects are in close vicinity. It has also been found that the The concept of an adaptive radio interface was also important. speech quality is variable in open squares (typically surrounded The aim is that the radio interface should adapt to cell types and by reflecting buildings) even when there is a line of sight path associated propagation conditions, interference and source between the BS and the terminal and high average received sig- activity factor. The system has been evaluated both by analysis nal strength levels are measured. The link quality is also de- and by the project simulation testbed, and the conclusion from pendent on whether the user is moving or standing still, and is the RACE ATDMA project was that it fully meets the require- also affected by the user’s orientation and positioning of the ments, making it a suitable candidate for the UMTS air inter- handset relative to the base station. face. The experience in the trial shows that the DECT technology is a strong candidate for providing speech services and mobility in Code Division Multiple Access – CDMA indoor domestic/business/industrial environments. However, for providing outdoor local mobility, the technology is relatively CDMA techniques were also studied in several projects with immature and too sensitive to radio propagation conditions. liaisons to COST 231. The UK DTI/EPSRC LINK Personal DECT performance would improve significantly if advanced Communications Programme, project PC019 has carried out a diversity techniques or a channel equaliser are introduced to rigorous evaluation of CDMA with the following key object- cope with multipath propagation. This should be kept in mind ives: when planning outdoor DECT implementations for public use. • Study of UMTS requirements – teleservices and bearers • Comparative study of FH- and DS-CDMA for UMTS service Advanced radio interface techniques and provision performance • Design and development of a DS-CDMA field trial system General radio system aspects, with the focus on transmission • Demonstration of a working DS-CDMA radio link, with a techniques and their performance have been studied. Several subset of the proposed UMTS services. technical documents and reports dealing with analysis of radio interface techniques for third generation mobile radio system At the end of the COST action, the project conclusions were have been published in the open literature. Both linear and non- that a DS-CDMA radio link based on a single mobile, base sta- linear modulation techniques are analysed and optimised for various radio propagation conditions. 9 Direct Sequence CDMA. The capacity of cellular TDMA-systems can be greatly increas- 10 Frequency Hopping CDMA. ed if enhanced techniques like adaptive modulation, adaptive coding or dynamic channel allocation (DCA) are applied. 11 Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex.

136 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 tion and mobility manager for a sub-set of UMTS teleservices eral anti-collision protocols are described, e.g. request/permit are viable. Two common channels and three dedicated channels mechanisms, busy/free declaration by the use of inhibit bits on per user are supported on the downlink, while the uplink sup- the downlink. For ad-hoc networks with no central BS to con- ports a common random access channel and two dedicated trol the access, distributed protocols must be used either for channels per user. The channels are code separated with a com- sensing the channel at the transmitter or using handshake proce- mon chip rate of 8.192 Mchip/s. dures.

Studies have also been performed on a hybrid access system called Code Time Division Multiple Access – CTDMA, which The follow-up: COST action 259 incorporates both CDMA and TDMA aspects. Finally, studies The MoU for COST action 259 – Wireless Flexible Personalis- have been done especially on Joint Detection (JD) CDMA. ed Communications – was prepared in April 1996 and approved by the COST Technical Committee Telecommunications TCT Broadband systems [2]. The final approval has taken place at the October 1996 meeting of the Committee of Senior Officials (CSO), and the In COST 231, broadband systems have been addressed as a sep- MoU is now open for signing. A probable kick-off will be in arate issue by WG3. The emphasis has been put on wireless January–February 1997. communication to mobile or portable equipment offering very high data rates. “High” data rates are for this purpose defined to The main objective for the new action is to be greater than 2 Mb/s to ensure no overlap with UMTS. Exam- “... increase the knowledge of radio system aspects for flex- ples of such systems are Wireless Local Area Networks – ible personalised communications, capable to deliver differ- WLANs. These systems will be the main focus for the proposed ent services exploiting different bandwidths, and to develop follow-on action (see below). new modelling techniques and related planning tools, in order to guarantee the continuity (and quality) of service, Both infrared (IR) and millimetre wave (mmw) technologies delivered by networks of widely different capabilities and were initially considered. IR were early eliminated due to structures, across a number of environments.” grounds of eye safety, thus leaving the focus on mmw based systems, mainly operating at 40 and 60 GHz. The title of the action tries to summarise the objectives.

Millimetre wave propagation The cost of the action is estimated at 17.7 million ECU.

A lot of work has been done on mmw propagation issues. In the The background for the new COST action is the medium/long RACE MBS project, studies have been performed on material term scenario envisaged for telecommunications by the Euro- characterisation at 60 GHz, concluding that walls made of all pean Commission for the time period 2000 – 2005. This period materials except glass and plasterboard provide sufficient isola- will be characterised by the emergence of PCS with a full inte- tion to enable frequency re-use in neighbouring rooms. Propa- gration of user, terminal and service mobility, the Integrated gation has been studied both by measurements and modelling Broadband Communications (IBC) and network intelligence. for indoor and outdoor scenarios. Both narrow- and wideband The COST action is intended to play the same role as COST measurements have been conducted. A statistical model for the 207 and COST 231 did in the past on GSM, DCS1800 and power delay profile of the indoor mmw channel has been deriv- UMTS, but now on the progressive deployment of UMTS and ed from the measurements. In the outdoor environment, the MBS. oxygen absorption is expected to limit cell radii to less than 1 km. References

Wireless LAN 1 COST 231 Final Report. Digital Mobile Radio : COST 231 view on the evolution towards 3rd generation systems. Not only mmw based technology has been the issue. Also trans- Berlin, Springer. To be published in November 1996. mission techniques for HIPERLAN have been studied. DSSS12 and RAKE receivers, multicarrier or OFDM modulation, an- 2 Memorandum of Understanding for COST Action 259. tenna diversity and adaptive equalisation are all techniques that Wireless flexible personalised communications. April, 1996. can be used to overcome the limitations set by the wideband multipath disperse channel.

Wireless ATM

Finally, MAC13 protocols for ATM access to the public B- ISDN have been studied. Other topics are protocols for random access to a wired backbone network and ad-hoc networks. Sev-

12 Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum. 13 Medium Access Control.

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 137

138 Telektronikk 3/4.1996

Kaleidoscope

139 140 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 50 years of radio links in Norway The transition from the telecommunication Stone Age

BY KNUT ENDRESEN

The teenager clicks with his PC mouse on the Internet icon, Prelude: A brief history of radio surfing for information somewhere in the world and has it printed out with illustrations. Or he collects his incoming e-mail First came Faraday, Maxwell and Hertz from Internet friends in Australia and other continents. Or chats with a friend in Africa. All he pays is the local telephone tariff! The English scientist Michael Faraday (1791 – 1867) is perhaps He is, maybe, somewhat annoyed that it takes too many seconds one of the greatest experimental scientists who has ever lived. to get the information on his monitor, or that the sound quality In 1831 he discovered the electromagnetic induction and gave is below that of a CD. But never mind, he knows that this will an explanation of the electromagnetic fields. be better in a couple of months or perhaps a year. The discovery of Faraday laid the foundation for the Scottish Radio link systems (radio links), satellites, computers, scientist and mathematician James Clerk Maxwell (1831 – information technology: Today, all this is taken for granted. But 1879) when Maxwell presented his theory on electromagnetic that was not the case in the IT Stone Age. And when did the IT waves in 1873. His theory is defined by four differential equa- Stone Age end, – or are we still at the trailing end? tions, which have since been a basis in all education in radio communication theory. Until just some 40 years ago no telephone lines existed across the Atlantic Ocean. Conversation between Europe and America In 1887 the German professor Rudolf Hertz (1857 – 1894) per- was only possible on short wave radio when the ionospheric formed the first practical experiment which proved that conditions were favourable. Then, the first transatlantic tele- Maxwell’s theory was correct. He used a 3 metre long copper phone cable was put in operation. Almost unbelievable: 24 wire with a 30 centimetre spherical ball at each end. In the mid- telephone channels between the two continents could be used! dle of the wire was an inductor fed by an interrupted DC current. Sparks were generated between the two ends, and electro- In Norway at that time you could get through a telephone call magnetic waves were emitted. From another copper wire which between e.g. the two cities Oslo and Trondheim, provided that ran parallel to the first one he was able to extract small sparks. a You were lucky enough to have a telephone – the waiting list was several years In 1888 he performed an experiment with a set-up rather similar to a radio link system. He used parabolic disks as directional b You had lent the telephone company NOK 3,000 antennas and transmitted radio waves in the 10 centimetre band c You could afford to pay express fee for long distance calls across his laboratory. d You had the time to wait for a couple of hours Then followed Marconi and the spark transmitter e The transmission quality was sufficiently high to make conversation possible. Based on Hertz’ first practical experiment the Italian Guglielmo Marconi (1874 – 1937) developed the spark transmitter and No wonder that today’s teenager lacks the imagination to demonstrated in 1895 that radio signals could be transmitted appreciate fully the enormous development that has taken place over several kilometres. He was granted a patent in England in during just a few decades! 1896, one hundred years ago. Radio links have played an important part in making Norway a The spark gap transmitter became the dominant method for world pioneer in telecommunications. Below, we present the radio transmitters until World War II. Even after the war it was development which has taken place in the transmission network extensively used in emergency transmitters in ships. of Telenor and its predecessors. In 1901 Marconi demonstrated the first radio telegraph com- During World War II and the years to follow, telephone munication across the Atlantic Ocean. Only five years later the connections were a luxury in Norway, available only to a few first radio telegraph connection was established by Telegraf- people. Telegrafverket, which had the exclusive monopoly on verket between Sørvågen on the mainland and the islands electrical communications by wire and radio, was indeed not a Værøy/Røst in Lofoten in the north of Norway. In May 1996 a popular state owned agency in Norway. This was, however, a little museum was inaugurated at Sørvågen to celebrate the 90 years bit unfair, as the parliament grants for telecommunications every anniversary of radio communication in Norway. year were less than needed to cope with the increasing demands. At the receiver end the technological breakthrough came in 1907 In 1969 Telegrafverket was reorganized and was renamed Tele- when the American Lee de Forest developed the triode tube. verket. The next major reorganization took place on 1 November 1994, when Televerket became a state owned limited company named Telenor. Today, the monopoly is almost dissolved, and 1934: Radio link system between Dover and Telenor has for several years been one of the world’s leading Calais telecommunication companies. This position has been gained, partly due to the development of radio links carried out by Tele- The development within the radio field followed different verket/Telenor, The Norwegian Joint Signals Administration and directions. The first commercial radio link system was put into the Norwegian industry during the last 50 years. operation between Dover, England, and Calais, France, in 1934. The radio frequency used was 1700 MHz (UHF), and the trans- The rest of this paper mainly concentrates on the activities mitter output power was 1 watt. 3 metre parabolic antennas which have taken place within Telegrafverket/ Televerket and a were used. The system was amplitude modulated and could few of the key persons involved. But first a brief look in the rear transmit one telephone channel and one telegraph channel. view mirror.

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 141 The first multichannel radio link system was established by International co-operation was promoted through the Interna- Clavier between the Channel Islands and the English coast in tional Telecommunication Union (ITU, founded in 1865) and its 1935. Due to the great depression in the 1930s, the experiments Consultative Committees (CCITT and CCIR). CCITT (now were, however, not followed up. The principles, which were ITU-T), the agency responsible for technical studies, operation based on the use of very short radio waves in the centimetre and tariff questions, stated in its recommendation No. 40 in band, were further developed by the Armed Forces shortly 1951 that cables and radio link systems should be considered as before and during World War II. The development during the equal transmission media for telephony. Radio link systems war was mainly for military purposes, in particular radar sys- should as far as possible follow the recommendations issued for tems. cable systems concerning quality and other relevant parameters.

The first multichannel radio link system in the VHF frequency CCIR (now ITU-R), responsible for technical studies concern- band was put in operation in 1936 by the British Post Office ing radio communication, issued its first recommendation for (GPO) between Scotland and Northern Ireland. The capacity radio link systems in 1953 (CCIR Rec. No. 128). was nine telephone channels, and a frequency of 65 MHz was used with amplitude modulation. This modulation method, how- As from the mid 1950s the role of the radio link systems ever, gave rise to insurmountable problems in multichannel sys- became increasingly greater. Already in 1972 more than two tems due to intermodulation. As a consequence, both in France thirds of the long distance traffic and nearly 100 % of the TV and in USA pulse modulation was tried and a few systems were and radio programs were transmitted by radio link systems in developed and produced. From 1939 onwards, frequency Norway. modulation was used, first in Germany by Telefunken and later in other countries. 1926: First public fixed radio telephone connection in Norway Technological development during and after World War II In Norway the use of fixed telephone connections has a long tradition. The first fixed radio telephone connection was estab- The Englishman Ranwell developed the magnetron tube for the lished between Kristiansund and Grip in 1926. The equipment GHz band (centimetre waves) in 1939. It was to be used for radar was very simple. It operated on medium waves and used systems. The output peak pulse power was several thousand amplitude modulation. During a ten year period approximately watts. During the war both the magnetron and the klystron were 60 of these connections were established to isolated settlements further developed by British and American scientific institutes. on islands along the Norwegian coast. They were in operation right up to the 1960s. After the war the development of radio link systems progressed very rapidly, and USA became the leader in this field. Public traffic demand increased and the need for larger capacity grew rapidly. The need for world wide telephone connections also increased and also the quality had to be improved. The requirement was to obtain better linearity and lower noise in the systems. Therefore, new technology on higher radio frequencies had to be developed.

1947: AT&T with broadband radio link systems for TV and radio transmission

In 1947 the American Telephone and Telegraph Corporation (AT&T) put into operation a radio link system between New York and Boston. The capacity was 100 telephone channels in the 4 GHz frequency band. In 1950 AT&T had in operation 12,000 km of its TD-2 system for TV transmission.

In 1952 a radio link system between New York and San Fran- cisco comprising more than 100 stations was put into operation.

In Europe, the world’s first radio link system using travelling wave tubes (TWT) was put in operation in 1951. The link was established between Manchester and Scotland for TV transmission and was operating in the 4 GHz band. In the 1950s several radio link systems were implemented in Europe, both nationally and internationally.

In 1952 more than 25 million circuit kilometres transmission capacity were in operation in USA, Europe and other countries in the world. Torbjørn M. Forberg

142 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 A prelude to the first civilian radio link employed as a technician at Fornebo and later he became a telegraph operator. In 1925 he won a competition in the use of a systems in Norway Kleinschmidt perforator, and in 1927 he won a competition in A pioneer from the high Arctic North operating a Corona Morse telegraph machine. Forberg now took his college education. He then worked at the Torbjørn M. Forberg is indisputably “the radio link pioneer” in Oslo broadcasting transmitter at Ekeberg near Oslo, and one Telegrafverket. He was born in 1901, in the same year that summer on Spitzbergen. After that he attended the Norwegian Marconi demonstrated the first radio telegraph transmission University of Technology in Trondheim, where he graduated as across the Atlantic Ocean. He grew up in the small community an M.Sc. in 1935, more than ten years older than his fellow Kvitnes at the Tana fjord in northern Norway. The Post Office students. believed that the place was a community belonging to the minority Same group (Lapps) and renamed the postal address On his return to Telegrafverket, no suitable job for his qualifi- Muoregággu. “Today, I am slightly in doubt if I was really cations was available, so he worked for 4 to 5 years in the born,” says the now 95 years old veteran. governing body Telegrafstyret as an engineer with the title of operator. In 1937 he moved over to Tryvasshøgda Radio in The initial developments took place under very poor economic Oslo. and technological conditions. “We planned and built a telephone network for eternity, but the technological development The economy of Telegrafverket at the time was extremely bad. was so rapid that in a few years the systems were outdated. The Radio Office had an annual budget of merely NOK 50,000! When I started in Telegrafverket, the radio tube was not yet This left no room for great investments. invented. When I ended my career the tubes were outdated,” he says, referring to transmitter tubes for high frequencies. Primitive medium wave radio stations for connections to the islands The possibility of getting further education after the primary school in Kvitnes did not exist, but Torbjørn’s father saw an Together with other engineers Forberg installed a number of advertisement for a secondary school in Nordfjordeid in western small radio stations in the medium wave frequency band, mostly Norway. “You may apply for this school, on the condition that to isolated islands in the north of Norway. In 1942 there were you complete it in one year,” said his father. Torbjørn went to more than 60 of these radio connections in operation. Nordfjordeid where he met young people from all over Norway. But this was a private school, and after a year Torbjørn had to During World War II and the following years he continued to walk across the mountains to an authorized school in Volda, work with the radio connections. He had a very good co- where he passed the examination with the most brilliant results operation with Aldor Ingebriktsen, a fisherman, member of the ever in his career. Norwegian Parliament and head of the Parliament’s Communications Committee, and later president of Lagtinget, Training as a telegraph operator at Stavanger the Law House of the Parliament. Ingebriktsen was a very eager Radio spokesman and promoter for the island connections, being a representative for northern Norway. “If we don’t manage to Shortly before World War I, in 1914, Telegrafverket had order- implement these radio connections, I dare not return home,” he ed equipment for Stavanger Radio from Marconi and started said, and received full response from Forberg. tests in 1918. But Telegrafverket lacked telegraph operators and had to start a training course. Forberg attended the first course In 1945 Forberg was promoted divisional engineer A in Tele- and in 1921 he could start his career at Stavanger Radio, a grafstyret and advanced later to higher positions. station which somebody has characterised as “built on shear optimism and ignorance”. The first public Norwegian radio links The station was located very close to the North Sea to minimize Just after the war the term “radiolinje” entered the communi- the distance to America. The antenna was almost 3 kilometres cations debate in Norway. The word “linje” (line) was widely long and was mounted on 100 metre high masts. The receiver discussed. “Linje” was used for physical wire connections in the picked up a lot of cosmic noise but very little of the wanted network. France used the word “hertzien cables”, and USA used signals. On the other hand, the spark transmitter in Stavanger the term “radio links”; should we in Norway use the word spread noise to the whole world! “ledd” (link), “kjede” (chain) or something else to describe a radio relay system? Crystal detector receivers were used, and the information received was engraved on phonograph rolls. Even if some Well, in spite of terminology problems; the first Norwegian development had taken place during the war, the project was radio link, with a capacity of one telephone channel and one rather hopeless. In order to avoid a complete failure, Marconi telegraphic channel, was tried out between Haugesund and the sent over to Stavanger a competent engineer who worked day island Utsira in 1945 by regional engineer Arne Bjørntvedt, and night. He built a directional frame antenna and succeeded in Rogaland telephone district, and communication officer Lehne improving the receiving signals. from the Army. They had taken over German military equipment left over in Norway when the war ended. The radio link In 1925, Stavanger Radio was put out of operation and the equipment was produced by Telefunken and operated in the activity was transferred to Fornebo near Oslo. Forberg was UHF frequency band (540 MHz).

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 143 In 1946, Telegrafverket put in commercial operation the first (Forsvarets Fellessamband) was established in 1953 to co- public radio link system between Sørvågen and the islands ordinate the implementation of the network. Another separate Værøy/Røst by using the same Telefunken equipment. Later, radio link network was established by the Norwegian Air Force similar systems were put in operation between Sørvågen – (Luftforsvaret) in order to solve the communication problems Bodø, Bodø – Svolvær and Gjøvik – Ringsaker. between the military airports in Norway. They used equipment from the American company Philco in the 7 GHz band, but the system was not very efficient and was operated for only a few The Norwegian Defense Research Establishment 2 (FFI) develops and demonstrates a Norwegian years. The military radio link systems are described elsewhere. SHF radio link system Bergen – Haugesund1 Good co-operation between Telegrafverket and By the end of the 1940s, FFI, in co-operation with Christian the Army on the operating level, but it was windy Michelsens Institute in Bergen, developed a radio link system in at the top the 3.3 GHz band. It was put on trial between Bergen and Hauge- sund in 1951. The development work was done by Norwegian Between the operative staffs in FFI, FFSB, and Telegrafverket engineers who had worked at British research institutes during the the co-operation was always good. Delegates from both parties war. The engineers Bjørntvedt and Gustavsen from Telegraf- participated in international fora. They were not always in verket participated very actively in the measurement on the sys- agreement, but: “When one is attending a meeting and has to tem at the stations Rundemannen and Stord. The trials went well, express oneself in public it may happen that one uses expres- and a connection of one telephone channel was put in operation. sions that are a bit provocative,” says Torbjørn Forberg with a smile. The system was later extended to Haugesund Telegraph Station using the mountain Steinfjell as a repeater station. In Bergen the Also at the top levels in Telegrafverket, FFI, FFSB, and the system was extended down to Bergen Telegraph Station by industry the co-operation at the beginning was good. As an using a passive reflector on the mountain Sandviksfjellet. The example, one may mention that the annual convention “Studie- capacity was now extended to 8 telephone channels by using a møtet i radioteknikk og elektroakustikk” (Study group in radio multiplex system (type MEK 8) which was provided by Tele- technology and electro-acoustics) was started in 1948 on the ini- grafverket. The multiplex system had been taken over from the tiative of Helmer Dahl, chief of research, FFI’s radar division; German military forces and was designed for use with copper Sverre Rynning Tønnesen, managing director of Telegrafverket; wire. Also British military equipment was used. FFI produced A. David Andersen, manager and chief engineer, David the equipment and installed and commissioned it, and also train- Andersen Radio; and Fr. Brodtkorp, R&D engineer, Tandberg ed the maintenance crew. With the capacity of these 8 telephone Radiofabrikk. The first convention was held in Åsgårdstrand, channels in addition to the 2 existing wire connections, the with radio link systems as the opening topic. Also in almost all capacity between Bergen and Haugesund was increased by a of the following annual conventions – 49 to date – radio links factor of 5! has been a central theme.

A/S NERA Bergen was established, and the FFI In the first conventions the discussions between the representa- system was extended to Stavanger tives of Telegrafverket, FFI and FFSB were, however, very aggressive. The discussions also went on within the organisations. On the surface the issues were the use of radio links FFI further improved the system. In order to extend the system versus cable systems, the choice of frequency bands to be used, to Stavanger and also establish a radio link system between reliability of the systems, and the economy. There were, how- Bergen and Oslo, FFI signed a contract with A/S NERA, Oslo. ever, deep undertones. The level of the discussions might indi- In 1951 NERA established a separate division in Bergen, NERA cate that not all of the participants would be suitable for jobs in Bergen, to manage the contract. the diplomatic corps! The contract committed NERA to deliver a radio link system In retrospective one may say that the debates were in fact very with a capacity of 12 telephone channels in the 3 GHz band. In useful. No problems were hidden under the carpet and with the new NERA equipment, the klystron CV67 was used. Due to stubbornness the participants stressed the technology to its instability problems with the klystron the system to Stavanger utmost to prove their points. Without this endeavour from all was delayed until 1955 before it was in operation. Because of parties involved, Norway would hardly been able to establish its the problems caused by the imported CV67 klystron NERA strong international position in the world market today. decided to develop their own klystron in co-operation with FFI and NTH. The new klystron was produced by NERA. A study trip to USA in 1950 gave Telegrafverket The establishment of the NERA division in Bergen and the the start-up kick implementation of the radio link between Bergen and Oslo gave the kick-off for the building of a country wide radio link system In 1950, an event took place that really initiated the start up for in Norway. The Norwegian Joint Signals Administration, FFSB an independent development of the radio link systems inside Telegrafverket. Through financial resources made available by

1 In general, Norwegian abbreviations will frequently be used in the text, e.g.: 2 E.g. Knut Endresen: Fra topp til topp. Kampen om radiolinjene FFI: The Norwegian Defense Research Establishment (From peak to peak. The fight for the radio links). INTRA sivil- FFSB: The Norwegian Joint Signals Administration ingeniør Knut Endresen, Oslo. ISBN 82-993291-0-8.

144 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 the Norwegian Broadcasting Company (NRK), which began Oslo and Gjøvik, with a cable across Hardangervidda to Bergen. thinking of implementing TV in Norway, Torbjørn Forberg got Installation of the cable between Oslo and Gjøvik had started in a 3 months grant from Standard Telefon og Kabelfabrik to study 1946. The total system Oslo – Gjøvik – Bergen was completed radio link systems in the USA. He visited several radio link sta- in 1956, after ten years installation time. tions, met the key people and acquired a good knowledge of maintenance experience, traffic prognoses and future plans for Positive field tests in Trøndelag implementing radio link systems. Of special interest was the broadband systems TD-2 which had been put in operation be- In co-operation between Telegrafverket and FFI an experiment- tween New York and San Fransisco. al system was put up between Gråkallen close to Trondheim and Offenåsen, Steinkjer in the summer of 1951.3 Wave propagation The reports from this system and others indicated that broad- measurements were carried out over the 89 km hop during one band radio link systems were a very promising method for year . The frequencies used were in the VHF (160 MHz), UHF establishing a communication network in mountainous Norway, (540 MHz) and SHF (3.3 GHz) bands. and that less manpower and equipment resources were needed than one had previously believed. The systems could be implemented quickly and economically. Future expansion of the systems would require small additional costs, and the reliability of 3 Bjarne Hisdal: Feltstyrkemålinger Trondheim – Steinkjer the systems was very satisfactory. (Field strength measurements Trondheim – Steinkjer). Tekn- isk Ukeblad, No. 18, 1953, p. 363. Great scepticism, because “radio is always radio ...”

“On my return to Telegrafverket I became the real EXPERT on radio link systems,” says Forberg. He was giving several lectures in Telegrafverket on the promising new technology and the stability of the systems: “But I had to be very careful, for the scepticism was strong and many were very doubtful about this new technology. They said: ‘Radio is always radio and we know its performance ...’ The American systems operated on 3 – 4 GHz . When I once said that I thought that radio link systems could obtain the same reliability as fixed copper wire and cable systems one of the listeners to the lecture said: ‘Now we shall hear this, too ...!’ ” But, as mentioned above, ITU (The International Telecommunication Union), had already in 1951 said in their recommendation (CCITT rec. No. 40) that cable systems and radio link systems should be equal as transmission media.

Budget proposal for a radio link system in 1951 was turned down in favour of a coaxial cable system

In January 1951 a budget for an extension of the existing military system Bergen – Haugesund – Stavanger (which was now also used by Telegrafverket) across the mountains to Oslo was proposed. The system was planned to start from Jåttanuten close to Stavanger, via Skaulen (1575 metres above sea level), Gaustatoppen (1883 metres above sea level), and to Tryvass- høgda close to Oslo, a distance of 331 kilometres. It was proposed to use a 36 channel frequency modulated system from Marconi, England, on this route. On the route between Bergen and Stavanger the proposal was to change the existing FFI system with a system from Storno, Denmark. The latter system was pulse modulated with 24 channels operating in the VHF band.

The proposal for the new Stavanger – Oslo link was, however, rejected by Telegrafverket. Later on, in 1953, a Marconi system was installed between Bergen and Stavanger. The system was later moved to Steinkjer – Namsos in 1954.

The official reason for Telegrafverket for not implementing the proposed link was lack of investment capital. With the limited financial resources Telegrafverket preferred to extend the coaxial cable system with a capacity of 600 channels between Field strength measurement in the VHF, UHF and SHF bands at Gråkallen in Trondheim of signals transmitted from Offenåsen, 1952

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 145 The conclusion was very clear: “The reliability is primarily dependent on the power supply system and the quality of the radio equipment and to a very little extent on the atmospheric conditions if the planning is performed well. The propagation conditions in Norway are very favourable. Therefore the reliability of the system should not be worse that in other countries,” writes Forberg in “Verk og Virke”.

The first systems from Marconi: Trondheim – Steinkjer – Namsos on VHF

In 1952 Telegrafverket ordered radio link equipment in the VHF band with a capacity of 48 channels from Marconi for the route Trondheim – Steinkjer. The system was opened for traffic in 1953 and a year later was extended to Namsos with equipment removed from the Bergen – Haugesund link.

In 1954 FFI opened the military radio link system between Bergen and Oslo. It had a capacity of 22 telephone channels and 36 telegraph channels and was operating in the 3.3 GHz band. At first, Telegrafverket was not interested in this link, but later leased several channels on it.

During the following years Telegrafverket installed several radio link systems in the VHF band with equipment from Marconi. The first system with a capacity of 36 channels was put in operation between Bodø and Svolvær in 1955.

Left: This Marconi system with 48 channels in the VHF band was used e.g. on the Steinkjer – Namsos connection, 1953. Right: The Philco SHF link with 24 channels in the 5 – 6 GHz band with time division pulse amplitude modulation was used by the Norwegian Air Force for NATO connections to the airports Bardufoss – Lista – Sola during and after the Korean war 1950 – 1953

Power panels for the Marconi 48 channels VHF link are carried A VHF yagi antenna being mounted at the Falkhetta up to the site Offenåsen on the radio link between Steinkjer and site near Rørvik on the Trondheim – Bodø link 1956 Namsos in 1954

146 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 Low capacity radio links to islands Antenna height above ground, metres During the period 1954 to 1957 several pieces of single channel 70 systems in the VHF band was ordered from Norsk Marconi and Standard Telefon og Kabelfabrik. The equipment, which was produced in Norway, was inexpensive and rather simple. It was 60 mainly used to replace the old medium wave radio equipment in Trøndelag and northern Norway. 50 Low capacity systems were also bought from the English company Pye. They were used in the local networks and had a 40 maximum capacity of 6 to 8 channels.

437 MHz In 1959, some 2,000 circuit kilometres of island connections 30 were in operation.

Gjøvik – Trondheim: Coaxial cable lost to radio 20 link system 10 It was originally planned to connect Oslo with Bergen and Trond- heim with the extensions of the coaxial cable system first established between Oslo and Gjøvik. As mentioned above, the system 0 between Gjøvik and Bergen was completed in 1956. The plans 0 20 40 60 80 100 for extending the system from Gjøvik to Trondheim were, how- Dipole voltage, µV ever, dropped, and it was instead decided to build a radio link. To obtain a free Fresnel zone one had to use high masts, as evidenced by field The radio link was implemented during the period 1955 – 1956, strength measurements by Elektrisk Bureau of signals received in Arendal from using as sites the link stations built by the Norwegian Air Force the Risør transmitter as a function of the antenna elevation, 1958 for the Philco link. The Philco link had been established during the Korean war 1950 – 1953. The new radio link system had 48 telephone channels. It was produced by Marconi and operated in the VHF band. Between Tromsø and Hammerfest a system operating in the 2 GHz band with a capacity of 120 channels was put in Severe icing problems on the mountain peaks operation in 1963. It was produced by Elektrisk Bureau and was later expanded to 300 channels. The link between Gjøvik and Gråkallen near Trondheim had mainly rhombic VHF antennas. Some yagi were also used. Southbound with equipment from Elektrisk Severe icing occurred, in particular on the rhombic antennas. To Bureau on UHF solve the problem ordinary 12 volts transformers used for melting frozen water pipes were mounted as de-icing equipment on From Oslo and southwards the radio links were operating on the antenna elements. “The amount of power needed for melting UHF. Elektrisk Bureau was the supplier with equipment in the the ice was rather high!” says Asbjørn Nilsen. For the yagi 400 MHz band and a capacity of 60 channels. In 1955 the sys- antennas plastic cylinders were mounted around the antenna ele- tem between Oslo and Arendal was put in operation. ments in order to minimize the icing problems. In 1956 the system was extended to Kristiansand to give All the way to Kirkenes in 1960 connection to Jutland, Denmark.

In 1957, the radio link proceeded northwards. The gap between In 1955 a system between Oslo and Fredrikstad was opened, Namsos and Bodø was closed by a VHF radio link. Between and in 1957 a similar system was, as mentioned above, estab- Bodø and Svolvær a system was already in existence since 1955. lished between Bergen and Florø.

In 1959 a radio link was built between Bodø and Narvik, operat- Well prepared for the expected national plan for ing in the 400 MHz band with a capacity of 60 channels. The an FM and TV network system was produced by Elektrisk Bureau, Norway, and was similar to a system put up between Bergen and Florø on the During the years 1950 to 1958 long term planning was made to west coast in 1957. meet future requirements. More than a hundred station sites had been selected all over the country, many of them more than In 1959 – 1960 Telegrafverket implemented the so-called 1,000 metres above sea level. Altogether more than 200 sites “Arctic coast link” with a capacity of 48 channels along the had been surveyed. coast of Finnmark between Hammerfest and Vardø. At the same time several single channel radio link systems were imple- The surveys were very time consuming since one was depend- mented on Finnmarksvidda to give better connections to the ent on optical sight between the sites. It was hard physical work Lapp (Same) areas.

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 147 and required good physical fitness, but according to Forberg: It was almost immoral to receive monetary compensation for walking in the mountains, as mountain tourists had to pay for the same experience!

In order to select the proper route for the radio links it was necessary to estimate the future traffic demand and its routing, the length of the hops, the Fresnel zone clearance, interference conditions, the climatic conditions at the site, physical access for maintenance, the possibility to have electrical power to the planned station, and so forth.

The highest site between Oslo and Trondheim was Tronfjell, 1,666 metres above sea level. The existing access road ended at an altitude of 850 metres. From that point there was only a foot- path further to the top where the measuring equipment had to be placed. The mast used for the measurements and a prefabricated cabin were brought to the top by a helicopter and were firmly guyed. The mast was telescopic for adjusting the height of the parabolic antenna used for the propagation measurements.

The icing problems on the site were severe, and one stormy night the mast was blown down. It was then re-erected and secured by better guys.

One day in December 1958, the Marconi engineer S.D. Sissons,4 together with Hans Walland from Telegrafverket and two technicians, were on their way up to the top carrying equipment when they were suddenly overtaken by a heavy snow storm. The visibility was down to 5 metres and they lost their sense of direction in spite of their compass, and they planned to dig a cave in the snow for the night. Fortunately, Kåre Johansen, who had previously arrived on the top site to install equipment, guessed what was happening and he started banging on some metal plates which he found at the site. By following the sound they managed to reach the top after a very tough and exhausting walk.

Another technician who had started towards the top a few hours earlier had, however, not arrived. After 6 hours of tough wading in deep snow he managed to return to the valley again, and a rescue expedition that was set up could be cancelled. The site on Aaleberget in Fredrikstad 1958. The height of the mast was 50 metres When a site had finally been selected, the installation people started the planning of the infrastructure. They had about two years to plan how to transport more than a thousand tons of construction material to isolated mountain peaks all over Norway. Very often access roads or funiculars had to be constructed, and in some cases helicopters were used. Then 1914 to seek the loneliness on Tronfjell which he considered a followed the planning of the maintenance scheme. Therefore, holy mountain. He gave lectures on Eastern philosophy at Oslo one was well prepared when the plans for a nationwide radio University, and he had plans to build a World Peace University link network to serve FM broadcasting and TV transmitters on the mountain. were proposed in 1959. Sites of great beauty The Tronfjell site attracted many visitors. One of them was Mr. Beer, a disciple of Sri Ananda, who settled on Tronfjell where The sites selected had often a very beautiful scenery. In an art- he is now buried. This Indian philosopher came to Norway in icle in “Verk og Virke” in 1958 , Harald Hauge Heskestad becomes almost lyrical in his description of the site Hestmannen (The Horseman) on the route Sandnessjøen – Bodø: “The radio link station Hestmannen is situated like a Soria Moria castle on the shoulder of the rider. From the western 4 S.D. Sissons: I storm på Tronfjell (In gale force on Tronfjell). side of the building one can see how the ocean waves are Verk & Virke, No. 1, 1959, p. 19. breaking along the shores more than 500 metres below. And

148 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 the eagles are flying around the hat of the rider. The yagi antennas in the mast seem to attract the eagles, because one day when we arrived at the station we heard a lot of noise from the antennas. When we came closer, we saw the eagles taking off.

From the top of Hestmannen you can see towards the south Dønnamannen close to Sandnessjøen, and towards the west one can see Trænastaven which is the stick belonging to Dønnamannen. The Arctic Circle crosses through the bay at the northern end of Hestmannen, and further to the north is Rødøyløva. In the direction of Telesund towards north east one can see the glacier Svartisen. Hidden behind Svartisen is Glomfjord. At the inlet to the fjord is Ørnes. From there the road goes to the next radio link station, Kunna. The road turns in a valley which opens towards the ocean. The houses are secured to the ground by using guys in order to withstand the storms from the north when the wind is compressed between Skrovfjellet and Skjeggen.”

Radio link systems: At first a small group within the Radio office

At the beginning the radio link activities were taken care of by a small group within the Radio office (Radioanleggskontoret) of the board of Telegrafverket (Telegraf- styret). Head of the Radio office was senior engineer Paul Falnes.

In 1955 only four people were working in the Radio link group, headed by Parabolic antennas and V-shaped reflectors mounted in masts Forberg: Hans Fremming, Alf Ketil at the Tryvann site in Oslo (Elektrisk Bureau, 1958) Hageler, Sverre Knudsen, and Asbjørn Nilsen.

Asbjørn Nilsen, born in 1926, had first attended a signalling course in the British Navy in Scotland and thereafter the radio school at the Maritime College in Oslo. After four years at sea as a telegraph operator he took his engineering examination at Stock- holm’s Tekniska Institut in Sweden Asbjørn Nilsen and was employed by the Radio office in 1955.

Alf Ketil Hageler, born in 1925, was employed by the Radio office in 1953. He was an electronics engineer from The Norwegian University of Techno- logy, NTH, and had taken his diploma on radio link systems in 1953. During his thesis work he participated actively in the propagation tests between Gråkallen and Offenåsen mentioned above.

Hans Fremming, born in 1926, was first employed as a telegraph operator The building on the Hestmannen radio link site is at Gardermoen airport. He then took located 500 metres above sea level near the Arctic an M.Sc. degree at an American uni- circle. The antennas are located at 568 metres above sea level. (1957) Harald Hauge Heskestad

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 149 versity. He came to the Radio link group in 1955 and started 1959: The Radio link group is established as a working with the islands connections. separate office

Harald Hauge Heskestad, born in 1925, started in Telegraf- In 1959 the Radio link office was established as a separate off- verket in 1944. After having completed Telegrafverket’s ice inside the Radio technical division, headed by senior en- internal training course (Lavere kurs), he was ordered to start gineer Forberg. The number of employees, now nine, soon working as a telegraph operator at Arendal telegraph station. increased to more than 30 persons. As the work load increased, But when the war ended in Norway in May 1945 he was tem- special groups were established: porarily ordered to guard the German radio station at Lista air- • Planning (headed by Fremming) port. The German occupants had established radio connections • Implementation (headed by Ketil Hageler) between the airports and their central command during the war. • Maintenance (headed by Asbjørn Nilsen). Heskestad took Telegrafverket’s higher course in 1949 – 1950. After serving for two years in Lofoten he went to Switzerland A maintenance centre was also established. This group was and got his M.Sc. degree at Eidgenössische Technische Hoc- planned by Lars Håland and Ole Johan Haga and was headed by hschule in Zürich. He started work in the Radio link group in Rolf Sæhle. 1957.

Frequency problems and TV transmission paved the way for SHF

Use of the VHF band started to create problems for the Marconi equipment. The expansion of FM broadcasting and TV transmitters in the VHF band created interference problems for the radio link systems.

In the early 1950s the discussion on future TV transmissions in Norway began. TV would require substantially more bandwidth than could be realised in the VHF band. Therefore, the use of SHF frequency band had to be used. The radio links using the VHF band was therefore steadily relocated further to the north of Norway as Telegrafverket started to implement SHF systems in the southern parts of the country.

TV opens a new era for the radio links

On 25 June 1957 the Parliament (Stortinget), made the formal decision that a country wide TV network was to be implemented in Norway. The decision marked the start of a new era for the radio link system development in the transmission network.

Until then, the radio link budgets had been very meagre. Now, one suddenly got sufficient government resources for planning a modern radio link network, and the former intense discussion about the use of frequency bands could be ended. The new radio link systems were planned to operate in the SHF band with a capacity of at least 600 telephone channels. As far as possible the network should be implemented by using common infrastructure together with the Norwegian Broadcasting Company, NRK. The expenses would then be less for both parties. One would have possibilities for common re-routing and more economical maintenance and supervision of the systems. A co-operation with FFSB in order to use their infrastructure was also proposed, but this was turned down for military security reasons.

In 1960 – 1961, Telegrafverket had some 115,000 circuit kilometres of multichannel radio link systems in use in the network. This capacity amounted to 17.8 % of the total capacity of the network and had passed the capacity of the coaxial network (17.5 %). Open wire lines and high frequency systems on copper cable were still the dominating transmission media in Telegrafverket with 64.7 % of the capacity. Long term plan 1959 – 1965 for covering the entire country with broadband radio links for telephony and TV

150 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 Country wide plan for broadband radio link Even if the technical solution and the equipment were rather systems simple, the maintenance problems were great. Therefore, no additional equipment of this type was ordered. The system was As mentioned above the Radio link office (Radiolinjekontoret) in 1966 replaced by a system produced by the Italian company was established in 1959 and the first long term plan (1959 – Magneti-Marelli, which later became GTE, Italy. 1965) for implementation of a radio link network for telephony and TV transmission covering the entire country was presented. Safer with a solid partner as a supplier The backbone system should be: The dominating suppliers of VHF and UHF radio link systems • A two way radio link system for up to 960 telephone channels to Telegrafverket in the 1950s were Marconi, England, and Elektrisk Bureau, Norway. Both companies possessed a high • A one way radio link system for TV transmission from Oslo technical know-how in the radio field, and it was considered • A two way back up radio link system for up to 960 telephone important that the responsibility for technical weaknesses could channels, which could alternatively be used for transmitting be pinpointed to the suppliers. And as the management of Tele- TV, and could automatically switch between the telephone grafstyret in the early 1950s were very sceptical to radio link and TV traffic. systems, the engineers found it safer not to be guinea pigs, trying smaller producers. • A two way narrow band auxiliary radio link system for control and supervisory signals, service channels and sound channels for radio programmes.

The plan was for four main routes: • From Tryvasshøgda in Oslo towards the north passing the eastern part of the lake Mjøsa, along Østerdalen to Trondheim and further north to Hammerfest and Kirkenes. • From Tryvasshøgda to Jonsknuten close to Kongsberg, along the south coast and further on to Bergen, Møre on the west coast, and then north to Trondheim. • From Tryvasshøgda towards the west coast to Bergen across the mountain range Langfjellene. • From Trondheim to Bodø – Harstad – Tromsø – Vadsø.

The terminal stations as well as the repeater stations should have the possibility of inserting and extracting TV signals along the way.

1959: The radio link system Oslo – Karlstad links Norway with Eurovision and Nordvisjon Field strength measurements at Tronfjell, 1666 metres above sea level. Winter 1958 – 1959 The first broadband radio link system for television transmission in Norway was opened 1 October 1959 between Oslo and Karl- stad, Sweden, as a connection to the Eurovision and Nordvisjon networks. On 10 December 1959 the Nobel Peace Price cere- mony was televised to the Eurovision network for the first time.

The Norwegian part of this radio link system was financed by Telegrafverket alone. The equipment was delivered from Marconi and had a capacity of 600 telephone channels. In addition, an auxiliary link with a capacity of 60 channels was installed.

Simple equipment – but hard to maintain

The terminals were installed in a tower near Karlstad and at Tryvasshøgda in Oslo with repeaters at Sunne in Sweden and Rundelen in Norway. The first transmission was from a meeting in the Nordic Council (Nordisk Råd). The system operated in the frequency band 3.8 – 4.2 GHz. The link was very vulnerable in use as it was not a heterodyne system with an intermediate frequency. A shift oscillator of 213 MHz simply changed the frequency at each hop. Since no IF frequency existed in the repeaters it was impossible to make an IF loop on the system when faults occurred, and fault location was very difficult. Measurement mast at Tronfjell in winter 1958 – 1959

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 151 Fanafjellet. It was put in operation on 20 August 1960 when the TV was officially opened in Norway by King Olav. From the repeater station Lysenut, a temporary branch link was installed to feed the Bokn TV transmitter, giving TV coverage to the northern part of Rogaland.

STK won the contract for the Oslo – Trondheim system

The next broadband radio link system for TV transmission was installed between Oslo and Trondheim. In 1961 the system was commissioned to feed the TV transmitter at Melhus and was one year later expanded to also include telephone traffic to Trond- heim. Standard Telefon og Kabelfabrik won the tender with equipment from STC, England, in competition with NERA Bergen. The capacity was 960 telephone channels.

A decisive argument for choosing the STK offer was that their equipment had higher output power. Therefore, one could use smaller parabolic antennas than by using the NERA equipment and thereby reduce the icing problems. NERA was at that time using SHF triodes with only 1 watt output power. STC – like The Trolltind site 924 metres above sea level on the Tromsø – Marconi and Siemens – used travelling wave tubes with much Hammerfest connection, 1960. The cabin with the equipment higher output power. Later, NERA also changed to travelling was burnt down in 1967, making evident the need for alterna- wave tubes, giving an output of 10 watts. tive transmission paths and for transportable mobile radio link equipment for restoration The STK system was no big success. It had a complicated tube system, designed for manned stations. There were a lot of system failures giving much maintenance work. Several modifications of the equipment were done, but the maintenance costs were still high and the system was taken down after ten years of operation. This was not to the dissatisfaction of the coaxial cable fans!

A man and his dog ...

Countries like Denmark and England had relatively easy access to the stations and could therefore have maintenance personnel at the stations. With a few exceptions Telegrafverket’s stations were unmanned. To the surprise of the sceptics this resulted in a high system reliability. The reason was simple: Visiting the stations high up in the mountains was so physically demanding and took so much time that the technicians preferred to do a thoroughly good maintenance job when they had reached the top, and they made sure that everything was in order before they left.

“At the manned stations or at the stations it was easy to reach it was more tempting to postpone the work until the next day or until the next visit,” says Asbjørn Nilsen, who quotes a Danish Hard to distinguish the details? Provisional site with 300 chan- colleague: “The staffing at the stations should consist of a man nels VHF link at Trolltind 924 metres above sea level on the and a dog. The task of the man is to feed the dog, and the dog Tromsø – Hammerfest link, 1963. The wind is pushed low by the should prevent the man from touching the equipment.” mountain formation and a 2 – 3 metres deep heap of snow is formed It was not without danger to do the work at the mountain peaks in Norway. Harald Heskestad reports from a visit together with 1960: Norwegian TV officially opened, with a two technicians to Hestmannen just before Christmas in 1957: NERA radio link Oslo – Bergen The station is situated on a steep mountain 500 metres above sea level. A heavy snowstorm started and it was impossible to NERA Bergen won its first contract with Telegrafverket for the go outside the station. They were isolated for three days and had Oslo – Bergen radio link in 1960. The system had a capacity of food for only one day. Luckily, they had brought with them 300 channels and was installed between Tryvasshøgda, Oslo, three bottles of the special Norwegian Christmas beer. By and the TV transmitter station Ulriken in Bergen with repeater rationing the consumption to one bottle a day, the spirit was stations at Jonsknuten, Gaustadtoppen, Snønut, Lysenut and kept high. After three days they managed to climb down the

152 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 mountain side by using a rope in the deep snow. They looked with envy to an eagle who flew elegantly from the yagi antenna. After this experience, emergency food was placed at every mountain station.

The implementation of the broadband radio link systems during the decade 1960 – 1970 was quite extensive. Ring structures were built in southern Norway; Oslo – Trondheim and Oslo – Kristiansand – Stavanger – Bergen, and later on, Bergen – Åle- sund – Trondheim. In parallel, the system Trondheim – Bodø – Tromsø – Hammerfest – Vadsø was implemented.

The first systems were implemented by using equipment from Magneti-Marelli, Italy. Later, NERA Bergen had completed the development of their equipment NERA 960-4G (NL50) and this system was operating satisfactorily. Therefore, the rest of the broadband system was mostly implemented with this type of equipment.

The radio links were built as a 2+1 system with a capacity for 960 channels: • One channel transmitted telephone traffic • One channel transmitted TV signals • One channel was used as a common reserve.

An additional auxiliary radio link had a capacity of 300 channels and was produced and delivered by Elektrisk Bureau.

From Trondheim towards northern Norway NERA Bergen and EB equipment were used up to Tromsø. From Tromsø to Hammerfest equipment from Marconi was at first used, but was later, in 1969, replaced by new 1800 channel equipment in the lower 6 GHz band produced by NERA Bergen. The snow was often 2 – 3 metres deep at the Kistefjell site in The country wide plan for a broadband radio link system for TV Troms 1004 metres above sea level. Therefore one had two and telephone traffic was realised as shown in Table 1. entrances: One summer entrance through the door at ground level, and another winter entrance on top of the building In addition to the backbone systems, 19 broadband radio link systems were implemented as spur links to the TV main transmitters that were located outside the backbone system. In • Bodø – Harstad – Tromsø addition, 37 radio link systems were in use with a capacity of 120 to 300 channels, 41 radio links with a capacity of 24 to 60 • Oslo – Bergen channels, and 126 systems with a capacity of 1 to 12 channels. • Oslo – Gothenburg

The first breakthrough for delivery from NERA Elektrisk Bureau delivered 300 channels to Telegrafverket was in 1960 auxiliary systems As mentioned above, the first radio link system – with a Elektrisk Bureau A/S delivered radio link systems in the 2 GHz capacity for 300 telephone channels – for TV transmission from band with a capacity of at first 120 channels and later modified to Oslo to Bergen was ordered from NERA Bergen in 1960. But 300 channels. The systems were used as auxiliary systems on the the real breakthrough for deliveries from NERA came in 1964 routes Kristiansand – Stavanger – Bergen – Ålesund – Trondheim when Telegrafverket ordered equipment for the backbone sys- – Mosjøen – Bodø – Harstad – Tromsø – Hammerfest. tem. Then the capacity and the quality of the NERA systems were acceptable to Telegrafverket. During the period 1962 to 1970 more than 80 % of the radio links delivered were produced by the Norwegian manufacturers The following systems were delivered by NERA: NERA Bergen and Elektrisk Bureau. • Bergen – Ålesund • Ålesund – Trondheim Transistorized equipment from “the small bird on the eagle’s back” • Trondheim – Mosjøen – Bodø The world’s first solid state radio link equipment was produced by the American company RCA. One of these systems (CW60)

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 153 Table 1 The implementation of the country wide plan for broadband radio link for television and telephone traffic

Main supplier km Year No. of Auxiliary TV channels channels channels

Oslo – Karlstad Marconi 170 1959 (1800)* + 600 60 Two way

Oslo – Bergen NERA, Bergen 360 1960 300 1 One way

Oslo – Trondheim STK 397 1963 (1800)* + 960 120 One way

Oslo – Kristiansand Magneti-Marelli 265 1963 (1800)* + 960 960 One way

Kristiansand – Stavanger Magneti-Marelli 179 1963 960 300** One way

Stavanger – Bergen Magneti-Marelli 164 1963 960 300** One way

Bergen – Ålesund NERA Bergen 268 1965 960 300** One way

Ålesund – Trondheim NERA Bergen 252 1966 960 300** One way

Trondheim – Mosjøen NERA Bergen 327 1965 960 300** One way

Mosjøen – Bodø NERA Bergen 204 1965 960 300** One way

Bodø – Harstad NERA Bergen 204 1966 960 300** One way

Harstad – Tromsø NERA Bergen 134 1966 960 300** One way

Tromsø – Hammerfest NERA Bergen 244 1969 1800 300** Two way

Hammerfest – Vadsø Siemens 323 1967 1800 12 Two way

Oslo – Bergen, new route NERA Bergen 452 1970 1800 300 Two way

Oslo – Gothenburg NERA Bergen 215 1972 1800 300 Two way

* 1800 channel from Magneti-Marelli in 1967. ** Delivered by Elektrisk Bureau.

was delivered to Telegrafverket by their Norwegian representa- Major reorganisation tive NERA. This system had a capacity of 300 channels and was installed between Ålesund and Molde in 1965 – 1966. This was During this period a major reorganisation of Telegrafverket took the first transistorized equipment in operation in Western place. The managing board Telegrafstyret became Teledirektor- Europe at that time. Even the output power tube was solid state. atet in 1969, and Telegrafverket was renamed Televerket. In The equipment was easy to maintain and the maintenance cost 1970 Forberg retired as leader of the Radio link office and was was very low. succeeded by Hans Fremming, who unfortunately died the day before he should take his position. Ole Johan Haga was then The good performance of the system appointed new leader of the Radio link office. inspired NERA Bergen to start their own development of solid state equip- Ole Johan Haga first attended the technical college of the ment – at first with 300 channel Norwegian Air Force as a radio link specialist. He then gra- capacity and later with 1800 channels. duated at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, in 1960 and was employed at the Radio link office in the same year. Bernt Ingvaldsen, who was president of the Parliament and chairman of the During his first years as an engineer he was working with low board in the parent company of NERA capacity systems – often single channel radio link systems for Bergen, said: “A small bird flies higher connections to islands along the coast of northern Norway. by starting from the eagle’s back.” Later on, he was working more with large capacity systems and was responsible for implementing the broadband system Kristi- The 1800 channel equipment was first ansand – Stavanger – Bergen and further from Trondheim put into operation between Tromsø towards the north of Norway as the TV radio link systems were and Hammerfest in 1969. Then implemented. Haga headed the Radio link office until the next followed Oslo – Bergen in 1970, and major reorganisation of Televerket in 1972 when he moved to Oslo – Gothenburg in 1972. Ole Johan Haga

154 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 Equivalent telephone circuits in mill kilometres the Transmission section. Today, he is 25 director of Telenor International.

In 1972, Einar Eke- 20 berg was appointed head of the Radio link office, a position he 15 held until he retired in 1991. After graduation at the Norwegian University 10 of Technology in 1953 he was employed at Elektrisk Einar Ekeberg Bureau where he 5 worked as an R&D engineer on the radio link system that Tele- grafverket had ordered for the route Oslo – Arendal – Kristian- sand. 0 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 In 1954 Ekeberg was employed as a senior engineer at FFSB. Year He there had a central role in the co-operation with NATO, first During the 1955 – 1980 period the broad band radio link network in the SHF in connection with the FFI radio link system Oslo – Bergen, and band 4 – 6 GHz expanded exponentially later on the communications infrastructure of NATO.

Also at NERA Bergen major changes occurred. The company was bought by Elektrisk Bureau in 1977 and became a division in Elektrisk Bureau. In 1988 the Swedish company ASEA and the Swiss company Brown Boveri were fused and renamed ABB. ABB gathered all their Norwegian activities in Elektrisk Bureau.

In 1992, ABB bought all the shares in Elektrisk Bureau, and the latter was renamed ABB Konsernet i Norge, and NERA became ABB Nera AS. Then, in 1994, ABB Nera became NERA ASA, an independent limited company, listed on the Oslo stock exchange.

Country wide radio link network II

The first broadband radio link system was implemented as a common network for Telegrafverket and NRK, consisting of a 2 + 1 system with 960 channels. The first systems using electronic tubes were gradually replaced by solid state 1800 channels equipment.

During the decade 1970 – 1980 an alternative country wide radio link network was built in order to increase the capacity in the transmission network in connection with the automation of the telephone exchanges and also to improve the reliability of the network.

The radio link network for NRK and Televerket was now built as two separate networks: • A network with 1800 or 2700 channels for Televerket • A separate network with 960 channels for the Norwegian Broadcasting Company, NRK.

Planning started in 1972 – 1974 and the new network for NRK

was implemented from 1976. This network was built by using Photo: Frank Aarhus equipment from NERA, which had won the contract after The Tryvann tower, Oslo, completed 1961

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 155 The country wide radio link system for telephone and programme Røverkollen radio link station in Oslo, main station in the alternative lines, 1980 radio link network (Photo: Frank Aarhus)

Snow track at Tronfjell Vassfjellet radio link station in Trøndelag (Photo: Frank Aarhus)

156 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 Tifjell radio link station in Trøndelag As a consequence of the major implementation of the (From photo file of NØ.EA) digital radio link network, new masts had to be erected on several stations, as for instance at Ålfjell

Saurdalseggi radio link station in Sogn og Fjordane

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 157 international competition with In 1967, LME started GTE (formerly Magneti to transfer more and Marelli) in 1975. The complete more of the radio link renewal of the NRK network know-how to Gothen- took more than 10 years, as the burg and in the beg- financial resources made inning of the 1970s available by NRK were limi- Elektrisk Bureau ted. stopped producing radio link systems. In The new NRK network for 1969, Vabø was radio and TV was supplement- employed in the ed with equipment from GTE Radio link office of on the spur links. In total, Televerket, at first NERA has delivered 80 – 90 % working with island of the radio link systems used connections and low in the NRK network. capacity systems. In 1974 – 1976 he was Inge Vabø actively engaged in A new pioneering the implementation of era Televerket’s first satellite earth station at Eik in Rogaland. In parallel with the renewal of the NRK network, the backbone radio link network for 2700 channel systems developed telephone traffic was extended In the 1970s, when Televerket was extending its broadband ana- and renewed all the way to logue radio link network, Televerket negotiated a contract with Kirkenes. An alternative NERA Bergen for the development of systems with a capacity network was implemented, in of 2700 channels in the upper 6 GHz band. The contract was particular in northern Norway. signed in 1974 and was financed by the Research Establishment In the southern part of the of Televerket and the Ministry of Communications. country a ring structure was established. Televerket thus The first 2700 channel system was installed between Oslo and possessed two parallel radio Hamar in 1978. Televerket had also bought a system between link networks covering the Oslo and Bergen with 8 hops, and several smaller systems in whole country. both southern and northern Norway. On some of the stations the NERA equipment had stability problems, and it was therefore “This introduced a new pio- decided to issue an international tender for 2700 channel equip- neering era for Televerket, ment. The contract was won by the Japanese company NEC and because we had to start afresh, the NEC equipment was installed on some of those stations building new stations on where the NERA equipment had stability problems. The NEC alternative mountain peaks all equipment was taken down in 1995 after 15 years of almost over Norway. Nevertheless, the fault free operation. work was completed within ten years”, says Inge Vabø, who headed the Planning group The transmission becomes digital within the Radio link office from 1974 to 1993. – on a high ambition level The first digital radio link had been put in operation between After obtaining his B.Sc. Svelvik and Drammen in 1969. It was produced by the Italian degree at the University of manufacturer Telettra and was operating in the 13 GHz band with Strathclyde, Glasgow, Inge a capacity of 24 channels, in accordance with the US hierarchy, Vabø was employed at the and was one of the first digital radio links in use in Europe. Radio division of Elektrisk Bureau in 1961. Elektrisk Televerket was now entering its digital era. Televerket’s Re- Bureau had then quite an The NERA system NL180 with 2700 channels, search Establishment was established in 1967. The research extensive production of radio 1 + 1 radio and modem director, Dr. Nic. Knudtzon, had new ideas from his previous equipment, including e.g. FM work with radio relay systems at FFI and his experience in broadcast transmitters, HF ship transmission network planning as head of the Telecommuni- transmitters, military equip- cation Division at SHAPE Technical Centre in the Hague. His ment and radio link systems. Through L.M. Ericsson (LME) in ambitions were so high that many – including NERA and other Sweden, which was a majority shareholder in the company, telecommunication companies – were of the opinion that he was Elektrisk Bureau had a substantial export of radio link systems, too far ahead of the technological possibilities. But the sceptics in particular to Latin America. Telegrafverket and FFSB were were wrong! also important customers of UHF radio link systems.

158 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 Antennas mounted on an antenna tower at Rønvik- 13 GHz mast link mounted on the roof of Drammen telephone fjellet in Bodø 1988 (Photo: Truls Arnesen) station

Former technical director at NERA, Per Fremstad writes: At the end of 1987 Televerket had in operation two transit exchanges, 100 subscriber exchanges and 140 concentrators “Televerket had at an early stage a clear strategy for digi- with more than 400,000 telephone lines and some 130,000 com- tizing the network. This strategy was not taken seriously at munication lines. In the following year, in 1988, altogether 152 NERA. The opinion was that Televerket never followed their exchanges and 275 concentrators were in operation, and System plans. With hindsight one might say that Televerket did just 12 had a total of 640,000 subscriber lines. At the end of 1993 that. The new general manager of Televerket, Kjell Holler, more than 50 % of the telephone subscribers in Norway were well backed up by technical director Ole Petter Håkonsen served by System 12. And already in 1989 Televerket had and the research director Nic Knudtzon, did a great job to modernize the telecommunication network during the ten year period 1978 to 1988 ...”

Telettra/GTE won the first round, but NERA the next

The implementation of the new high capacity radio link network in Televerket followed as a consequence of the digitization of the main telephone exchanges.

Standard Telefon og Kabelfabrik won the tough international tender for the main digital telephone exchanges with its System 12. After a substantial delay the first digital telephone exchange was put in operation in Trondheim on 13 June 1986, making Televerket one of the most advanced telephone companies in the world. The next System 12 exchange was opened at Økern in Oslo in September 1986, and from then on everything went rather fast. Digital radio link equipment mounted in a closed container

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 159 From the installation work in Drammen

NL100, NERA’s first digital radio link

issued a new tender for additional digital exchanges to be Planned broadband digital radio link network 1985 – 1989 with capacity 1920 channels in operation 1991 – 1994. The (2 x 140 Mb/s + 1x140 Mb/s common backup) tender was won by Ericsson – and delivery was again delayed.

Between all digital exchanges common channel signalling was development of a 140 Mbit/s, 16QAM radio link system in the used, in accordance with CCITT Recommendation No. 7. upper 6 GHz band to be used for connecting the digital exchanges to be ordered. The development at NERA, however, 140 Mbit/s 16QAM system is developed took longer than expected. As a consequence, Televerket had to order equipment from The digitizing of the telephone network involved very strong Telettra/GTE after an international competition. Also this equip- requirements to the transmission network. Televerket therefore ment was delayed, but as even System 12 was more than a year signed a contract with NERA already in the early 1980s for the late, the Telettra/GTE delay was not the critical one. The first

160 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 The Tyholt tower in Trondheim (From photo file of NØ.EA) The radio link site at Ulriken in Bergen (Photo: Frank Aarhus)

high capacity digital system was put in operation in the back- Several 64 QAM systems were ordered and delivered from bone network in 1985. NERA in the early 1990s.

NERA had its high capacity 140 Mbit/s system ready for deliv- Today, the complete backbone radio link network for telephone ery in 1987 – 1988, and the system was implemented on a large traffic is digitized with equipment delivered from NERA, scale in the backbone network. Equipment was also bought Telettra/GTE, NEC, Fujitsu and Siemens. The NRK radio link from NEC, in particular in the 11 GHz band, and from Siemens network is still analogue for TV transmission. in the 18 GHz band, where NERA could not supply such equipment at that time. Regional and local networks An auxiliary system with capacity 34 Mbit/s was implemented In parallel with the implementation of the backbone network, an in parallel with the high capacity systems. Both NERA and extensive number of radio links in the regional and local GTE supplied equipment for these systems. networks have been implemented. Altogether more than 1800 stations are used in these networks in addition to the more than From 16QAM to 64QAM 150 stations in the backbone network. The regional and local networks have analogue links with capacities from one tele- A new contract was signed with NERA for the development of phone channel and up to 2700 channels and digital links with a 64QAM, 140 Mbit/s system to be used in the lower 6 GHz capacities from 30 to 1920 channels. A majority of the radio band. This development was ready in 1990. In the meantime, link manufacturers in the world are represented. Televerket had bought similar equipment from Fujitsu, Japan, for the Oslo – Drammen route.

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 161 Table 2 Number of radio links as per 31 December 1989. In addition to the numbers listed, The Norwegian Broadcasting Company, NRK had two digital radio links (each with 30 channels) and 46 analogue links (33 with 960 channels, 11 with 30 channels, one with 60 channels, and one with 24 channels). The NRK radio links are included in column 2 (circuit length) and column 3 (communication circuits, km)

No. of analogue radio links No. of digital radio links Capacity, Circuit Commun. channels length, km circuits, km New Dismounted Total number New Dismounted Total number in operation in operation

1 3,373 3373 11 9 151 0 0 0

2 412 949 7 4 29 0 0 0

8 3427500 000 0

105252300 000 2

12 1,376 16,507 3 2 70 0 0 0

24 220 5,278 2 1 10 0 0 0

30 4,946 153,672 0 0 0 37 13 252

60 1,236 74,142 0 0 16 6 3 7

120 4,524 550,020 0 7 55 23 7 131

300 652 195,510 0 6 12 0 0 0

480 6,865 3,373,248 0 0 0 29 6 133

960 7,820 11,208,960 8 10 90 0 0 0

1800 6,045 11,511,360 1 3 39 0 0 0

1920 4,447 19,600,320 0 0 0 21 0 53

2700 2,170 5,859,810 0 0 19 0 0 0

Total 44,172 52,553,947 32 42 491 116 29 578

Altogether, there are more than 8000 transmitters/receivers in In this connection it may be of interest to note the cooperation the radio link network, in frequency bands from 140 MHz up to between Telenor and the Norwegian State Railways, NSB. 38 GHz. Under this agreement Telenor installs optical fibre cables along the railways. The capacity is so high that Telenor has now rent- In parallel with the implementation of the fixed networks, ed the excess capacity from NSB in order to keep new operators special mobile link systems have been supplied from USA for away from the Norwegian market as from 1 January 1998, when emergency and restoration purposes. The systems are built to the competition becomes quite open. However, the said contract military specifications and are very robust. is contested by other companies, stating that it is in conflict with EU rules. The matter may eventually be solved by the ESA Optical fibre cables take over in the court. backbone network The phased out radio links are used in Today, the activity on new radio links in the backbone network other countries is negligible. The optical fibre cable systems are taking over. As an example, it may be mentioned that in 1988, 49 new digital As from 1992, the analogue radio links which had been in systems were put in operation. 12 of them were using coaxial operation since the 1970s were gradually taken down after ser- and fibre cables (565 and 140 Mbit/s) and 37 were radio links ving their purpose and earning a lot of money for Televerket. (140 Mbit/s). From then on, the number of optical cables has The equipment was now offered to East-European countries. A been steadily increased, at the expense of radio links. lot of the equipment was delivered to the mountainous Albania

162 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 which had a primitive and quite insufficient transmission network. The delivery and the installation of the equipment in Albania was sponsored by the European Develop- ment Bank, EBRD in London. Some equipment has also been sent to other developing and newly industrialized countries, for example Vietnam. Thus, the Norwegian radio link know how is also shared with others.

Today, NERA is one of the leading manufacturers of radio link systems in the world and has delivered equipment to a great number of countries.

Several Norwegians, among them Inge Vabø, have been consultants on radio link systems in a number of countries in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Televerket and the power companies

In the 1960s, the power company Oslo Lysverker (now Oslo Energi) decided to use radio links in its own transmission network. After applying for a license Oslo Lys- verker got permission to build its own network. The first systems were installed between Oslo and Hall- ingdal in 1965. Later in the 1960s building of the hydro- electric power plants in the Aurland valley was begun, and Oslo Lysverker again applied for a new license for establishing radio links for the new transmission demand. Risdalsheia radio link station (Photo: Truls Arnesen) But now, the general manager of Telenor, Per Øvregard, put his foot down: The power companies had already an extensive radio relay network that could be used for telephone traffic. But Televerket had the monopoly! Previously, in the 1950s, the military had built their own separate network, and now the power companies represented a new threat to the monopoly. He 140 Mb/s 64QAM radio link, therefore decided to have a 3 + 1 terminal committee under the chairmanship of Haakon Nymoen to evaluate the situation.

When Oslo Lysverker in cooperation with other power companies in addition applied for a license to implement radio links towards Gudbrandsdalen and further on to Møre in connection with the building of a hydro-electric plant at Aura, Øvregard said no. Instead, it was decided to set up an agreement to the effect that Televerket should implement the radio link network for the power companies at their expense. A quite extensive network was built, following the valleys Hallingdal, Passive reflectors may connect Hemsedal, Aurlandsdalen and stations which are not within Gudbrandsdalen, and further on line of sight of each other to Møre on the west coast. Andfjell radio link station at Saltfjell (From photo file of NØ.EA)

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 163 Salten radio link station and TV/FM transmitter in Nordland (Photo: Håkon Ringdal)

164 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 The tallest construction in Norway was put up by Televerket at Storhogen radio link station at Sogndal 1173 metres above sea level, winter Hamnefjell near Båtsfjord in Finnmark, 1988. This radio link 1981 (From photo file of NØ.EA) mast is 242 metres high and weighs 270 tonnes. It is put together by cylindrical sections of galvanized steel tubes. The construction has an internal maintenance elevator in the 2 metre wide cylinder. Steel wire guys of 40 to 66 mm in diameter prevent the top of the mast from swaying more than 2 metres at wind bursts of twice the strength of a hurricane Epilogue Norwegian radio links during 50 years. The radio links gave Telegrafverket a new life, but the road was long and the fight Also the state electricity administration, NVE, was included in for success was tough. At the beginning, the economy was bad the agreement, and when NVE needed transmission capacity to and the technology was obsolete. power plants in Telemark, Tokke, Sira Kvina and to Sweden, a radio link network was built by Televerket. The engineers knew what they had at hand, but one would have to be a Jules Verne to foresee what was hidden in the future. For At first, the capacity was 24 analogue channels, but later digital example, leading scientists visualized a future with a world 2 Mbit/s systems were implemented. The suppliers of these sys- wide network based on a number of short wave radio stations tems were NERA and GTE for equipment in the 1.5 GHz band, for telephone connections between the continents. More daring and EB and Telettra in the 400 and 800 MHz bands. was the technology leading British telephone company GPO, which developed the first transatlantic cable. To be on the safe In 1980, the personnel resources needed for this work was side, they used thermionic valves of pre-war design, having a increasing, and the management of Televerket had to stop it. As proven life of some 30 years. The life time of modern tubes a result the power companies were again granted a license to would only be known a couple of decades ahead. And no sen- build and operate their own networks. At that time no one could sible person could dream of transistors, satellites or optical fibre foresee that the monopoly would ever end for Televerket. cables. Today, Telenor is faced with the consequence that the power companies are becoming formidable competitors in the trans- Since 1899 Telegrafverket had the monopoly and the respons- mission infrastructure. ibility for all telecommunications in Norway, an almost

Telektronikk 3/4.1996 165 impossible task. And, as with GPO, one dared not to take the really great risks – it was safer to use the equipment and technology at hand, with which one was well familiar. And with limited resources, e.g. rather simple radio connections and radio links were established in the more isolated areas. With today’s technology in mind, the connections were very primitive, but in reality an amazing pioneering work was done, starting from scratch with a poor economy.

During World War II several Norwegian engineers were attached to British military research establishments. Immediately after the war The Norwegian Defense Research Establishment (FFI) was established, and later on The Norwegian Joint Signals Administration (FFSB). The engineers entered the arena with new and unorthodox ideas, and they pinched the first hole in the monopoly. Suddenly there were two – and in fact three if the Philco radio link of The Royal Norwegian Air Force is included – operators on the arena. The competition which followed was tough and the discussions sometimes noisy, but became in fact an important stimulus for all parties, including the industry. Later on, Televerket got its own research establishment which could concentrate its activities on planning for the future, without bothering about the then long telephone waiting lists and other trivialities. Later on, also more funding became available. The technology soon reached an international top level, and the self confidence increased.

Today, Norway has one of the best radio link networks in the Radio link know-how: From Arctic conditions in Norway to a tropical site in world. Telenor shares a place in the front line with the world’s Tanzania. (Photo to be published in an ITU handbook in 1997) leading telephone companies. Norwegian telecommunication industry is the market leader in important telecommunication sectors. Who is to receive the laurels? The honour must be shared between FFI/FFSB, the industry, and Telegrafverket/Tele- verket/Telenor, because the results have been generated through the competition, the interaction and the cooperation between the parties involved. But what really matters is the pioneering work of the many individuals who took the lead and opened new paths into the future. The number of individuals is so high that it is an almost impossible task to name them all. Being a close observer through a few decades, the author therefore decided to describe as objectively as possible what actually happened, without mentioning special achievements and arguments. Names of individuals have been carefully omitted, with the exception of the very first pioneers and those who have been interviewed to establish certain facts.

A family of new technologies was born

Today, the activity on new radio links in the backbone network of Telenor is negligible, as optical fibres and satellite technology are rapidly gaining bigger shares. In local and regional networks there is still great activity, for Telenor as well as for new operators. The époque of the radio links is thus far from ended.

More important, however, is that the radio links have raised a big family. The technological know-how directly and indirectly created by the radio link development has been a catalyst and in some cases decisive for the development in adjacent areas. One example is the Råö project near Gothenburg, Sweden – the very first earth station for satellite communication in Europe based on European technology. The project was the result of a three party cooperation between the telephone administrations in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Radio link station for Oslo Lysverker in the Aurland mountains

166 Telektronikk 3/4.1996 Soon followed the Tanum earth station south of the border between Norway and Sweden for international satellite communication. The fatherhood was shared between the Norwegian and the Swedish telephone administrations.

Then followed earth stations at Eik in Rogaland and at Nittedal near Oslo and satellite communications to the oil and gas fields in the North Sea. Next came Isfjord satellite station, making Spitzbergen an integral part of the Norwegian network.

Mentioned must also be maritime satellite communication, where Telenor has played a leading part. And optical fibre cables, where a Norwegian company holds a couple of world records.

A thrilling future

What about the future? The telecommunication monopolies in the world are withering away. New competitors are entering the Norwegian market, and some of Telenor’s former suppliers and customers are now competing with Telenor. On the other hand, Telenor is trespassing into other countries. New markets are won in Europe, Africa, Asia, including China and Indonesia. And Norwegian industry and consulting companies have markets almost all over the World, often including complete communication systems over land, under oceans and by way of satellites.

The radio link has got offspring who carries the development further ahead. The protecting monopoly umbrella has been replaced by more efficient offensive weapons: know-how and front line technology.

Quo vadis, where are we going? Without making definite pro- phecies, it feels safe to assume that future development will be even more exponential, the competition increasingly tougher, and it is better not to slumber behind the wheel. Certainly: the future will be a true thriller!

Acknowledgement The radio link backbone network, 1996

The present paper is based on material made available by Inge Vabø and interviews with Torbjørn Forberg, Ole Johan Haga, Harald Heskestad, Asbjørn Nilsen, and Inge Vabø, and the auth- or’s own observations during four decades. The author is in particular indebted to Inge Vabø, who has also assisted in translating the present paper into English.

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