Distributed lectures

For delivery of distributed lectures both sides used specially equipped teleconferencing rooms. Both locations have the same videoconferencing equipment (PolyCom 4000) and the reason of many problems was not the equipment itself but the inexperience of the teaching staff. Picture and sound were transferred through available teleconferencing system. However, NetMeeting was used for presentations. It proved to be far more suitable than the transfer of static images which is what the basic system provided.

Each location has two projection screens. On the location on which the lecturer of the current class was, a picture of the remote location was displayed, while on the remote location a picture of the lecturer was displayed. Both sides displayed the same presentation (or some other content) simultaneously, where NetMeeting was used for transfer of content to the remote location. The advantage of the NetMeeting system is its ability to enable shared display of any application where both parties can participate in the control of the current presentation. This is very useful if team members are at both locations.