Streaming Audio and Video in Web-Based Learning: A Comparative Study of Three Systems

摘要

We present three options for developing Web-based learning systems with audio and video. By including audio and video one can bring a web-based leaning system closer to a real-life classroom. However, it poses many challenges in courseware creation and delivery. The three options investigated for delivering audio and video are: RealSlideshow - a proprietary system by RealNetworks; SMIL - a language created by W3C; and HTML+TIME - a Microsoft solution. Web mounted tutorials - on the topic of Networked Multimedia -using these three approaches were developed and tested. While each solution has some advantages and disadvantages, the HTML+TIME system turned out to be most promising.