Using multimedia and the Web to teach the theory of digital multimedia signals

The paper is about using multimedia via the World Wide Web in a course that teaches the theory behind digital audio and video. New course materials accessible via the Web are now used by students to explore demos that were presented in class. At Georgia Tech (and soon Rose-Hulman) a relatively new course that teaches the fundamentals of discrete signal processing (DSP) to sophomores is now required of computer engineering majors. Because DSP is involved in every aspect of multimedia information signals (coding, transmission, storage, playback etc.) the numerous in-class demos and all of the labs relate to the creation or analysis of sounds or images via computer. The course is structured so that the classroom time is used to explain theory, which is then implemented in lab to explore a given concept (e.g., sampling rates) or carry out a small design (e.g., write a MATLAB program to produce a sequence of sinusoidal waveforms that when sent to a speaker will play a song such as Ramblin' Wreck). Traditionally, reading and homework assignments provide a link between lectures and labs. In this course the lecture/lab gap is closed via follow-up demos that are run by the students via the Web. Labs are assigned that require the students to run demos that illustrate and reinforce concepts introduced in the lecture. The homework assignments are designed to help the students to make the transition from the overview/demo mode to the implementation/lab mode. This leads them to implement something via MATLAB to test their answer.