An MBone-based on-demand system for cooperative off-line learning

MBone technologies have fostered a variety of multimedia large-scale applications supporting collaborative joint work and remote group learning. Such applications span from videoconferencing to video-on-demand systems. Learning centered on videoconferencing tools delivers live video, audio and whiteboard-based interaction among the participants of a multimedia session, e.g., an on-line teleteaching session. Video recording on-demand systems have the potential to augment the contents of a learning session by playing back previously archived lectures. This paper proposes a multimedia system-VIVRO-enabling an original distance learning model, namely cooperative off-line learning, which merges text-based live interaction and shared control and visualisation of remote playbacks. The system allows an explicit group of users, e.g., classmates, to select an archived lecture, share its playback and go over it collaborating with each other through an interactive question board.