Interactive group discussion system for distance education

There are now many institutes offering distance learning. This kind of education is found to be particularly useful to those who live far away from the campus and cannot attend regular classes. However, the main disadvantages of such education is the lack of contact between the teaching staff and students, and group discussion is almost impossible. An experimental multimedia interactive group discussion system will be described. With the students' workstations connected to the network, the tutor can hold a group discussion meeting without requiring the students to travel to the campus. Using the system, the tutor and the students can view any documents together using the shared screen. Furthermore, a voice channel is set up so that verbal discussion can be exchanged between the students and the tutor. A suitable floor control mechanism is used to ensure the tutor maintains proper control of the discussion.<>