Challenges in Setting Interactive Classroom (Virtual Class Rooms)
17th October 2013
What is Virtual Classroom?
• Virtual classroom is a replica of the local class room teaching where
in the students at remote locations will get the same feel and
experience as if they are in the same classroom.
• Teacher will be able to use all conventional teaching tools and
continue to teach the way he does.
• Students can ask questions and interact with the teacher as if he is in
the local classroom
Options available for an Interactive Classroom / Virtual Class Room
• Video conferencing setup
o Tele-presence based system
o Room / Group Videoconferencing Systems
• PC based solutions / Software based Solutions
What is expected in a Interactive Class Room
• Clear View of teacher to students
• Teacher shall see Students / participants
• Teacher shall be able use conventional teaching tools
• Teacher shall be able to show computer screens
• Teacher is able to show objects
• Interaction with students
• If required, quick test on topic
• Good learning experience
Concerns while choosing a Technology
• Network availability • Bandwidth available • No of students expected in a class • Dedicated / General Purpose Setup • Modes of Participation • Scope of expansion (Scalability)
Gadgets / Equipments required for an Interactive Class Room
• Display systems
• Cameras
• Microphones & Speaker system
• Visualizes / Document Cameras
• Interface to Computer systems
• Interactive writing pad/panels
• User Interface for ease of operations
Setup for Interactive Class Rooms
• Dedicated Teaching stations
• Dedicated Learning Class Rooms
• General Purpose Class Rooms
NATIONAL INFORMATICS CENTRE
• Resolution: Standard Definition or High Definition? – SD (352x288 to 704x576 pixels) 30 fps
– HD720p (1280x720 pixels) 30/60 fps
– HD1080p (1920x1080 pixels) 30/60fps
• Bandwidth / Date rates: 128 kbps to 6 Mbps
• Content Resolution : XGA to HD1080p
• Content frame rate : 1 to 30 fps
• Hardware / SW Systems
• AV Accessories
• Management
IIT Madras IIT Hyderabad IIT Bombay IIT Gandhinagar IIT Guwahati IIT Patna
NIC/NICSI
• Each of six IITs has been provided with
– HD VC system with 2 cameras and 2 mics.
– 40” HD LCD TV – 2 nos.
– 2500 Lumens Projector
– White board Digital Converter
– A Laptop
• HD Multi Conferencing Unit installed at (Central location) NIC Delhi
Details of Equipment supplied in Pilot Virtual Class Rooms
NIC/NICSI
• Operations were largely manual
• Picking up of Student’s audio in large class rooms was a problem.
• Sharing of the written documents/3D-objects was not possible
• Display size was small
• The Equipments have not been permanently fixed in the class rooms
• No special site preparation was done in the Class rooms w.r.to lighting, layouts, acoustics etc.
Observations from Pilot Virtual Class Room Set-up
NIC/NICSI
THE PROJECT CREATION OF VIRTUAL CLASSROOMS AT IITS OVER NKN
• The project required the Creation of High Definition (HD) Video Conferencing based Virtual Class Rooms (VCR) at 15 IITs over NKN
• As per the project at each of the IIT, 3 Virtual Class Rooms will
be set up totalling 45 Virtual Class Rooms .
• A total of 38 VCR are being created at 15 IITs • NIC office at Delhi, Hyderabad, Bhubaneswar, Pune and
Guwahati were also facilitated with similar facility.
• Later the project was extended to creation of additional 23 VCRs at IISC, NITs, IISERs, CMI etc.
• A total of 66 Virtual Classrooms (VCRs) were created under this project.
NIC/NICSI
S.no Name Of IIT No of VCR
1 IIT-Ropar 2
2 IIT-Hyderabad 3
3 IIT-Kharaghpur 3
4 IIT-Bhubaneswar 3
5 IIT-Guwahati 1
6 IIT-Indore 1
7 IIT Gandhinagar 3
8 IIT Bombay 3
9 IIT Roorkee 3
10 IIT Madras 3
11 IIT Kanpur 3
12 IIT Rajasthan 3
13 IIT Patna 3
14 IIT Delhi 3
15 IIT Mandi 1
TOTAL : 38
VCR Locations at 13 NITs
S.no Name Of NIT No of VCR
1 National Institute of Technology, Agartala 1
2 Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology, Allahabad 1
3 Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal 1
4 Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur 1
5 National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar 1
6 National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra 1
7 Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur 1
8 National Institute of Technology, Patna 1
9 National Institute of Technology, Raipur 1
10 National Institute of Technology, Silchar, Cachar 1
11 National Institute of Technology, Surathkal, Mangalore 1
12 National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirapalli 1
13 National Institute of Technology, Warangal 1
S.no Name Of Inst (ONE EACH)
1 Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata
2 Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali, Punjab
3 Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune
4 Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Trivandrum
5 Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal
6 TIFR Centre for applicable Mathematics, Bangalore
7 Chennai Mathematical Institute, Chennai
VCR Locations at IISERs & other Institutions
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 3 NIC ( NIC Delhi & 4 support Centres) 5
LAYOUT of VCR (DEPLOYUED OVER NKN)
MODES OF VCR
Three modes of operations of VCR
• LOCAL CLASS
• DISTANCE TEACHING
• DISTANCE LEARNING
IIT Delhi (VCR)
IIT Indore
IIT Bhubneshwar
Desktop (PC) based video conferencing
Video Conferencing from any PC/Laptop/Desktop equipped web cam, microphone & speakers (HD). • Based on a New Standard: Scalable Video
Coding (SVC)
• Reaches any desktop or laptop over LAN, WAN, Internet
• Point to Point
• Multi-point
• Seamless integration with standard video conferencing end points
VCR Using Desktop based Video Conf.
Share Content
Low Cost Software Videoconferencing Solutions
AIIMS MODEL PROJECT Government of Madhya Pradesh
• AIIMS, New Delhi
• PGIMER, Chandigarh
• IPGMER, Kolkata
• JIPMER, Pondicherry
• GMC, Bhopal
• UCMC, Delhi
• CNBC, Delhi
• LHMC, Delhi
• NEIGRIHIMS, Shillong
• About 450 Schools and Colleges
across State
• More than 40 locations are working
• Dedicated studios for teaching
station and Low cost PC solution
for Learning stations.
Teaching Institution Learning Institution Cources Classes/Week
IIT Madras IIT Mandi 6 13
IIT Roorkee IIT Mandi 3 6
IIT Kharagpur IIT Bhubaneshwar 2 5
IIT Delhi IIT Mandi + IIT Ropar 2 5
IIT Bombay NIT Jaipur 2 4
IIT Bhubaneshwar IIT Kharagpur 2 4
IIT Mandi Ph.D Students 1 2
IISER Bhopal IISER Mohali 1 3
IISER Mohali IISER Bhopal 2 7
IISER Pune IISER Trivandrum 1 3
IISER Trivandrum IISER Bhopal + IISER Pune 2 6
NIT Jalandhar None 1 1
TIFR Bangalore IISER Trivandrum + IISER Pune
1 3
Total 26 62
Other requirements & Challenges
• Knowledge Sharing – Demand & Offerings
(http://virtualclassroom.nic.in)
• Recording of Event/Class
• Streaming / Webcast
• Interactivity
• LMS integration
• Archival of Recordings & Storage
Demonstration
Up scaling the project to all institutions of higher learning
Two Models of establishing Virtual Classrooms :
1. High end classrooms ( using H/W Codecs with multiple cameras,
Multiple HD Displays, Audio systems, Control etc) (established at
IITs, NITs) ~ Equipment Cost Rs 30 to 40 Lakhs
2. PC based virtual classrooms (using Software based video
conferencing (established in AIIMS, Medical Institutions) ~
Equipment Cost ~Rs 5 Lakhs
3. Low cost PC Based Class Room Solution (MP Govt.) ~Rs 2.5 Lakhs
4. Very Low Class Rooms ~Rs 1 Lakh
THANK YOU
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