WOLF, STEVEN J. Department of Biology, California State University Stanislaus, Turlock, CA 95382. - Teaching, research and collaborative applications of Internet based video conferencing.
Although traditionally used for face to face real-time meetings, video
conferencing programs that support application sharing may also be
used for a wide variety of teaching, research and collaborative
applications. As the phrase implies, “application sharing” involves
synchronous, remote sharing of applications, files, or literally
anything on a host computer. For example, many clients could
simultaneously work on a central host database, without having the
program installed on their computer. Likewise, collaboration on
publications could be in real-time, rather than by passing multiple
revisions back and forth. Teaching applications include guest lectures
by experts on a particular subject, viewing live microscope images
from another site, and/or remote collaboration with students. For
example, rather than explaining how to perform a spreadsheet function,
an instructor could remotely perform that function on the student’s
computer. For the systematics community, one of the most exciting
applications could be remote examination of herbarium specimens. Using
an inexpensive video capture board and standard video camera or CCD
camera, full size screen images of herbarium specimens and/or
microscope images may be broadcast, in real-time, and with viewer
interaction, over the Internet. Although this technique is not viewed
as a substitute for critical, hands-on examination, many routine
examinations, comparisons and verifications could be made this way.
For example, a cursory, remote examination by a specialist might
quickly validate or invalidate a determination or new endangered
species record. Hardware, software and technical requirements for
remote collaboration and image sharing, as wall as a proposal for a
central systematics video conferencing server will be discussed.
Key words: computer, internet, teaching, video conferencing