Distance Learning Program in BU ENG Magazine

Delivery Technology

Distance Learning Program

Procedures for Participating in Distance Learning Classes

Participating in a Manufacturing Engineering distance learning class is convenient. You may be at work, at home or on the road provided that you do some pre-planning.  Regardless of where you are, you never need to miss a class session or fall behind on your work. The detailed procedure is as follows:

• For the last 15 years, the traditional way for our distance learning students to connect to a class has been from a conventional video teleconferencing room connecting by either ISDN or IP protocols.  Such end points typically have Polycom or Tandberg video teleconferencing equipment. Of course, such endpoints are still accommodated when they exist and can be scheduled.  

• A more flexible and contemporary mode of connection, however, is through the Internet Browser on your desktop personal computer or your laptop computer, assuming that they are relatively recent vintage (2.0 gigabit/sec processor or faster). Macintosh personal computers are not currentlysupported. Such a connection may be made from work, from home or from a hotel room when traveling, wherever you have access to a high-speed Internet connection. This mode of connecting to class is enabled by the RadVision Click-to-Meet IP Bridge installed by the Department in July 2006.

• A recent Microsoft operating system (such as Windows XP) and the Microsoft Internet Explorer web browser are currently required. (Explorer is the only browser currently supported.)  

• PC endpoints must have speakers, microphone and a web-cam video camera with the associated drivers installed. A kit of the equipment needed for connecting an endpoint can be obtainedon a purchase or rental basis from the distance learning office.

• At present, each student endpoint needs to be pre-checked for audio and video quality as a participant in a teleconference before the student actually connects to a real-time course. In this testing process, the configuration of the endpoint (interaction between the computer, microphone, speakers and volume setting), the interaction of the endpoint with the IP bridge and the ability to get through the local firewall needs to be tested.  Please contact Sarah Cowen at 617-353-2943 for an appointment to do this testing.

• After class, each class session is posted as a RealVideo file to the course web site within 30 minutes of the finish of that class session.  Thus if you must miss a class, for example as a result of your being on an airplane, you always can pick up the class video when you arrive at you hotel, through your browser and their high-speed Internet connection. All materials used in that same class are available at the course website through your web browser.

• Andy Abrahamson and his assistants provide support for distance Learning courses.  Andy can be reached at 617-358-2943.