"Development of Satellite and Terrestrial Digital Broadcasting Systems and Services and Implications for Education and Training"
Possible Scenarios for Interactive learning via Digital TV and other competitive technologies
1. Video-clip Archive Scenario
John Pickard is about to make his first visit to Bologna in Italy as part of a business trip. He will only have a few hours free to explore the city. He wonders what video archive material may be available from his public service broadcaster. The broadcaster has for many years been selling books, information packs and videos related to existing TV programmes. Recently they have started to provide a new service through interactive TV that enables home consumers to access video and audio clips of archive material of items that appeared in past TV programmes.
John presses the interactive button on his remote control and selects the archive library from the electronic programme guide. He fills in the online search form using his remote control keyboard. Within a few seconds a list of several possible video and audio clips related to Bologna appears. The first item is from a recent travel programme that he did not see. Another item comes from a scientific-historical series of programmes shown on TV a few years ago. John remembers the presenter standing at the bottom of the steps of the cathedral in Bologna describing a significant historical event that took place. John remembers the series well so he selects this item and the first item.
The screen informs him how much it will cost him to view these video-clips for a 24 hr period. Each clip only costs a few euro-cents as the broadcaster can still make considerable money "renting" to millions of people. John can either pay by inserting his microcash credit card or in can be billed to him rather like a telephone bill along with all the other interactive services that he uses.
The video-clips are then sent to him over the air and stored automatically on his set-top box for later viewing. During busy periods there may be a delay in sending the items particularly during peak viewing times during the evening, but there is guaranteed delivery by the next morning. However, the latest delivery time is displayed on the screen and a message will also flash up when the items have arrived.
His fourteen-year-old daughter Fiona now takes over the remote keyboard, as she wants to do a search for her school project on volcanoes. But before Fiona can access any material she needs to put her smartcard into the set-top box. John has given Fiona a monthly allowance to spend on video archive material. This information is contained on Fiona's smartcard.
2. Life Long Learning by combining open and closed user groups
A big national insurance company wants all its sales force around the country to update their knowledge on the international stockmarket. The sales force is very busy so the training has to take place at the local office every Monday morning before the working week starts.
The national digital TV learning channel and the insurance company have reached a deal. During six Monday mornings half-hour programmes on the international stock market are broadcast free to air from a studio in Stockholm. This means the general public can watch the programmes as well as the sales group. The general public also gains a positive image of the insurance company, which is good for business.
After the half-hour program the TV-channel is divided into two channels. One is just seen by the sales force (a closed user group) and the other shows the daily school programme to a general audience. In the studio of the closed session specialist staff from the insurance company and other experts are able to answer questions from the sales staff across the country. They put questions to the specialists through the remote controller, which is equipped with a small keyboard. As this is a closed user group the answers can be very focused and internal. The programs are saved on a central server by the TV company and those who are interested can download them to their own company computer and study them later.
3. Interactive Information Services scenario
Hulmet Braum has just returned home from work having just been told by his employer, in the automotive industry, that he is going to be made redundant in three months time. Very depressed, he switches on his TV to the Employment Opportunities Channel to see what is available within his region.
The programmes have been prepared by the regional TV company in conjunction with the regional employment agency who have reallocated their resources away from physical offices scattered across their region to utilising mass-media for advertising jobs. They have also established a 24hrs a day call centre for dealing with enquiries about employment opportunities and learning needs. Other income comes from the employment "flashes" or advertisements paid for by employers who urgently need to fill vacancies.
Hulmet views the programmes passively as they are broadcast 24 hrs a day. He becomes interested in an item about the owner of a rural vehicle repair service. The owner is getting too old to run his business and he cannot persuade his sons to run it for him. However, the local community is very dependent on his business, as it is the only one in the area. The programme describes what regional development grants are available for taking over or starting new businesses in the region and also highlights skills that would be required for running a business.
At this point the information icon appears on the screen. Hulmet presses the interactive button and the screen displays in a graphical format (high quality teletext) various options for further information. Hulmet is able to move an arrow around the screen to point on a map where he lives. He is able to display a list of skills that may be required for running a business. He is able to "bookmark" that page and return to it later. By selecting further options he is able to find out what courses are available locally and also what job vacancies exist relating to the automotive industry. He is also able to find out what existing businesses require new partners.
An additional service on offer is a learning needs analysis where Hulmet is able to answer various questions by selecting options using his remote control. He is then presented with a diagnosis of his learning needs and suggestions as to what to do next. He is also given a unique identification number. At all points during this information service there is an option to receive further information via email or ring up the helpline with a freephone number. As Hulmet does not have email he rings up the helpline and asks for the information to be sent through the post by giving the ID number, to the call centre operator. He is also given the immediate opportunity to discuss with a personal adviser, a strategy to get him back into full employment. As they talk she can point him to information available on the TV screen and produce a personal development plan that is displays on the TV screen as they talk. This is achieved by linking the unique ID to the address of Hulmet's set-top box.
4. The virtual car driving school using interactivity and simulations
Stefan has for many years been waiting for his 17th birthday when he is allowed starting his driving training. Next week is his birthday but the problem is that he cannot afford the driving lessons at the driving school in town. He is very unhappy about this, but his mother comes up with the solution - training via TV. Every second month driving school programme starts on their digital educational channel. It will cost Stefan nothing to follow the driving course as a big insurance company and the National body for safety in the traffic sponsors the course and the programmes.
There will a long series of programs that will prepare him for the final test for a driving licence. During this period he will practise real car driving with his mother and she who will also have instructions through special TV programmes for "amateur" instructors.
On the virtual driving school web Stefan can find a lot of simulations of real traffic situations which he can download onto his computer and then used for practice. They are educational as well as entertaining so he learns with joy and with high concentration. Every simulation has a test level that he must pass to be allowed to continue. The simulation is also available on a DVD and Stefan can order it by clicking his remote TV- controller. Within two years it will be possible for the simulation programs to be downloaded to the set top box and the TV is used for the simulation.
At the end of the course there is a big test in one of the final TV programmes and Stefan has a lot of complicated questions which he answers with his remote controller. Immediately after the programme has finished he has his result in his screen. The web site also has a simulation test based on different traffic situations. He is not allowed to apply for a real formal driving licence test until he has passed the virtual test in the virtual driving school.
5. Impulse learning Scenario
On the family life style channel, Naomi and Dimitri have just been watching a TV programme about how young children learn to talk. This is of particular interest to them as they have a six-month-old son - their first child.
Although an independent producer supported by the National Health Council has produced the programme, it is actually sponsored by a baby food supplier. This private-public partnership also consists of a national training organisation that is keen to utilise the interest created by the programme. They want to encourage people to train to become child-care assistants for nurseries and playgroups and teacher's assistants in primary and secondary schools. The national training organisation has received a grant from the government to do this but it must meet certain targets for training people up to a specific level of qualifications.
During the TV programme, the interactive icon is displayed on the screen. This means more information is available. Naomi presses the interactive button to find out what else is available. Dimitri wants a fact sheet about the programme, which can be sent via email. That option is selected from the menu. All their contact details have already been pre-programmed into their set-top box so they don't have to enter the details again. Before their request is sent off they are asked if they have any children under three years and also asked whether they would object to receiving any news about young children's products. (This is the opportunity for the baby food supplier to capture information about parents with young children.)
Naomi also notices that an online course is available leading to an introductory qualification in child-care. She selects this option from the interactive menu and a two-minute video-clip is shown about the course. It involves receiving a booklet via email, watching various programmes which are broadcast on the learning channel and completing various exercises based around various observations on young children which are submitted for assessment via email. The course is divided into various modules that can be taken individually. There is also an opportunity to do a taster module at no charge.
With encouragement from Dimitri, Naomi decides to have ago on the course, which costs around 50 euros per module with four modules leading to basic-level recognised national qualification. She is even able to charge this to her individual learning account - an initiative from national government to encourage people back into work through learning.
After selecting and paying for the first module of the course through entering a PIN number on the remote control, Naomi almost immediately receives details about the course via email. She gets a welcome letter, the course booklet to print out, details of her online tutor should she require help and the timetable for the TV programmes. If fact this timetable has also been programmed into the set-top box so Naomi can be alerted when her programmes are due to be viewed. The set-top box can also be programmed to record the programmes on their videotape recorder. If they had a later version of their set-top box the programmes would have been automatically recorded on the set-top box for up to forty-eight hours. Each programme for the course is regularly repeated on the learning channel so it will only be a few days before the first programme is shown.
The next day Naomi also receives an email from her online tutor who happens to be based at her regional college 70 km away. Her tutor informs her that they organise monthly meetings at the college for those taking the child-care course and crèche facilities are also available. She looks forward to the day away from her home and the college hopes that they will eventually be able to persuade Naomi to follow one of their other courses.
6. Utilisation of high definition TV (HDTV) and interactivity
Many people have problem with their knees and there are different methods to fix the injuries. One of the leading university hospitals in the country has developed a new method with clean and simple surgery to operate on the knees. If it is introduced all over the country a lot of people will be cured and the hospital's workload in this area will diminish substantially.
To introduce this method rapidly, digital television is used. Every department is equipped with a HDTV receiver and live operations are broadcast to doctors and across the country. Specialists comment during the live operations. The screen is sometimes divided into parts so it is possible to see details at the same time as the whole. Those viewing can ask questions using the return channel of the TV receiver. A moderator co-ordinates the questioners who can indicate that they wish to ask a question using their remote controls.
7. Educational campaigns with interactive edutainment
A national government wants to explain the European monetary union to its citizens. The challenge is to reach those who are ignorant and not interested. A powerful tool is to use television in series of a "edutainment" style programmes during the night peak hour. The programmes are hosted by a well-known presenter in the form of a quiz show. Different regions of the country are competing with each other. Every viewer can answer the questions with their remote control and those regions with more correct answers will win. It is only possible to give one answer per household. If any question receives a high percentage of wrong answers there will be more explanations and more questions in that area. The computer that collates the responses can control this. The computer is also able to "weight" the responses from each region so that those regions with a larger population do not have an unfair advantage. This same computer is also used regularly for instant option polls and has been found to be very accurate compared to traditional methods.
Using their remote control, those with a deeper interest in specific areas can open an extra window on their screen and text or video clips giving more detailed information as well as watching the quiz show at the same time. After the program viewers can order free information material via ordinary mail email by clicking on their remote control.
8. Pan-European Professional Learning Channel
Fabrizio is working in the mobile telephone industry and needs to regularly keep up to date the future developments in this field. His employer also needs to be assured that Fabrizio is regularly upskilling himself as this is vital for the company to remain competitive. The demands of the working day increasingly make it difficult to offer professional upskilling during work time. Sending people away on courses is also time consuming and expensive for the employer.
However, a satellite broadcaster has approached the company with a deal that involves giving its professional employees a free set-top box and satellite receiver if the company subscribes to the pan-European professional learning channel.
This learning channel offers regular professional updating for science and engineers across Europe who are involved in the IT, Telecom, multimedia and broadcasting industry. Known as the Convergence Channel, it is in fact not a viewing channel but purely a digital distribution channel. An advanced set-top box is used, which can be programmed to receive specific programmes. These programmes are transmitted in a compressed format and stored on the set-top box for viewing anytime over a limited period. The set-top box is able to decompress the programmes when they are viewed which means they take up limited storage space.
Should the professional home user wish to do so, they can also take out a subscription for any of the other satellite TV offerings made available by the satellite broadcaster. This is a good deal for the broadcaster as they not only receive revenue from the company for subscribing to the Convergence Channel - a high value premium service, but they are also able to reach professional people who have tended not to be early adopters of satellite subscription services. In addition they are also able to take advantage of the higher incomes of the professionals and target specific interactive home shopping and other interactive services.
From the point of view of the mobile telephone company its an ideal way of keeping their professionals updated in their own time at home. In addition employees like Fabrizio can also take part in interactive quizzes to ensure that they have acquired the additional skills and knowledge. This information is also relied back to the employer. Fabrizio is also able to subscribe to specific interactive training courses. The convergence channel also offers other related interactive services like asynchronous discussion groups enabling people from across Europe to discuss specific issues of professional issue by submitting textual, audio or video comments which are transmitted by the Convergence Channel. These comments can be submitted via email and translated into multiple languages.
The Convergence Channel is successful because it is a high value premium service that can be offered to a specific community of 100,000s of professionals across Europe in multiple languages.
Last updated 30 April 2004