DIGITAL VIDEO IN DISTANCE EDUCATION AT MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY:

CHOOSING A FORMAT AMONG THE ALTERNATIVES

 

Kevin J. O’Leary & Elizabeth Murphy

Memorial University has incorporated educational video components in distance education since 1969. The video ranges from the sequencing of a small number of still images to full courses given in 1-hour video lectures. Production and distribution of the majority of such video are completed by the university's video production facilities originally known as the Educational Television Center, or ETV. The production facility is now a part of the university's Distance Education and Learning Technologies, or DELT. Initially, video components of courses consisted of recordings on one inch, reel-to-reel tapes distributed to learning centers around the province. Students had to travel to these centers to view the individual tapes at scheduled times. Over the years, a number of other distribution formats have been used, including satellite distribution. Today, video is primarily delivered in VHS videotape format mailed directly to the students and then returned by them at the end of the course. During the 2001-2002 academic year, forty-two of the 135 courses delivered by Memorial through DELT incorporated use of video.

Just as new formats for video were adopted to keep pace with progress in technology, so too might we expect that the emergence of new technologies will result in the adoption of formats superior to VHS. New technologies are typically designed to overcome the constraints of their predecessors and often afford possibilities not present in older forms of the technology. Thus, although the VHS video format may have proven adequate in the past, there are now alternatives that may better serve the end users. The image and sound quality of the VHS videotape is now surpassed by new digital video technologies. Some of these new technologies also overcome the distribution constraints associated with having to use regular postal services to deliver videotapes to students. In addition and, more importantly, new forms of delivery of video can afford much higher levels of learner control than can the VHS format.

The emergence of new technologies such as better video formats may also be accompanied by changes in the contexts in which these very technologies are used. Distance education at Memorial has adopted a variety of delivery modes since its beginnings over 30 years ago. While correspondence modes which relied on traditional mail service and teleconference may have represented the norm in delivery of programs at a distance for many years at Memorial, such forms are being replaced today by web-based delivery. Of the approximate 250 distance courses offered by the university, 170 of these are now delivered using WebCTTM The adoption of this new approach to learning and the technology to support it creates an imperative to investigate the value of adopting new formats for video. These should be compatible with and achieve the level of quality required of the new forms of learning.

While the imperative to adopt new formats for video may be evident, the choice of which one should be adopted requires careful consideration of the alternatives, their affordances and constraints. "Affordances are what objects or things offer people to do with them" (Jordan, Raubal, Gartrell, & Egenhofer, 1998). In this sense, the term affordance refers to what the technology makes possible or what it can allow the user to do. As well, the context in which the technology is used will need to be considered in relation to the affordances and constraints. The format must be compatible with the context in such a way that it supports maximizing the former and minimizing the latter.

This paper considers the affordances and constraints of three digital video formats and provides an overview of digital video in general. The three forms are CD-ROM, DVD-ROM and streamed video. The paper also provides a discussion of these technologies in relation to the instructional context of Newfoundland and considers as well how they might evolve in the future. The purpose of the paper is to determine which of the three formats might present the most viable alternative to the use of video in VHS format in distance education at Memorial.

Digital Video: An Overview

All video and audio starts out as an analog signal (Silbergleid, 1999). The video and audio analog signals are transformed into a digital format by the recording device or, at a later time, through some form of translation software. The resulting transformation is a collection of binary digits that make up a numerical representation of the recorded information. Digitization has done for video and audio programs what word processors have done for text. Word processors have taken what used to be the physical entities of ink and paper and transformed the characters into a collection of digital data. Digital video is the conversion of light energy or video, and sound energy or audio, into this similar composition of digital data. These once physical objects are now a coded combination of 0s and 1s that, when processed, result in pictures and sound.

The amount of these 0s and 1s needed to be stored to capture a video program depends on the length of the program and the technical quality of the picture and audio. The longer the video, the more data must be stored and processed. To maximize the video quality of the picture, one must maximize the amount of data created from the capture device through a process referred to as data compression. Netlingo (2002) describes compression as "[a] method for storing text, data, or images in fewer bits (…) so less disk or file space is needed to represent the same information" (p. 1). Different types of compression are more effective at minimizing the amount of data needed to deliver a quality video program.

Rajendran (2002) explains how video compression uses the redundancy of video pictures to minimize the amount of data needed to store the required information. A digital video signal is comprised of a group of small dots of video called pixels. When all of these pixels are displayed together on a computer monitor they create an image called a frame. These pixels refresh themselves a certain number of times per second. Video compression tries to minimize the amount of data it must send to the screen when a frame changes to recreate an image. If a picture is comprised of a still image, compression software will simply refresh the data it has already sent to the screen. The same pixel composition is required in the same area of the screen as the previous frame. There is no need to process information that already exists. If the video being processed contains moving or changing images, then each pixel on the screen must be changed rapidly, thus requiring more data and faster processing of the data.

Bandwidth or the amount of data that can move through a delivery system is another important consideration in relation to digital video. Bandwidth is measured in bits per second, or bps (Netlingo, 2002). The faster the number of times the data can refresh themselves, the smoother the motion will appear. Broadcast television signals sent to the home refresh themselves 30 times every second but the speed at which the brain processes visual images allows this refreshing period to appear seamless. A film viewed in a movie theatre changes 24 times per second. If the digital video comes from a source that cannot supply a given level of bits per second, the image quality will be compromised.

Digital video affords a number of technological and pedagogical advantages over analog technologies such as videotape. Li and Liao (1997) argue that digital video is superior to analog video in relation to the attributes of robustness, seamless integration, reusability and interchangeability, and ease of distribution. Unlike analog video signals, digital video information is robust in that it does not degrade in quality with time or usage. Analog video loses quality in both the audio clarity and picture sharpness with each generation of copying. "Digital video generally maintains quality better than analog since the signal can be digitally copied and digitally transformed without adding noise, distortion, and color and luminance shifts" (Focus inc., 2002, ¶ 2). Digital signals retain their initial quality unless they are reformatted to a different digital format. Seamless integration refers to the ability of digital video signals to be integrated with other digital resources without having to use separate display devices. Students can view the digital video components of their course on the same computer they use for word processing of for retrieving information from the Internet.

The reusability and interchangeability of digital video entities has to do with this technology’s common usability in different countries. Analog video signals have different technical specifications in different areas of the world. Videotape programs recorded in North America, using the NTSC technical specifications, will not play on a videotape player used in the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe which use the PAL television standard. A student in Russia would require an analog video in the SECAM format. (Kropla, 2001). A digital video signal recorded on CD-ROM or delivered over the Web could be viewed in any of these places. The fourth area mentioned by Li and Liao (1997), regarding the advantages digital video has over analog video, has to do with the ease of distribution potential digital video signals hold over analog video signals. Digital video signals sent over the Internet eliminate many of the distribution barriers experienced by analog video distribution.

Learner control

From a pedagogical perspective, digital video technologies can facilitate high levels of learner control. Learner control through the use of digital video can be described as "self-determined, discovery learning, in which the student can interactively browse through the multimedia contents, consolidate material of interest and skip irrelevant material" (Lemke, Jesse & Brenner, 2002, p. 643). Using analog video technologies, for example in VHS format, the viewer must watch the video in a linear fashion. To find a specific section of the program, viewers must move forward or backward through the material of the program until they find the content of interest. Digital video technologies can allow the viewer to move about the video program in a non-linear fashion. The degree of learner control can increase when the digital video is incorporated into a multimedia or hypermedia learning structure. In this case, a learner may navigate between a number of media components of a learning module. A multi-media object could be comprised of text, graphics and video files all contained within the one CD-ROM. Learners could navigate around the multiple media components of the CD as they determined the need to do so. Hypermedia entities are multi-media compositions that provide links to other multi-media compositions and allow the user to access these links in a non-sequential manner (Li & Liao, 1997). Multi-media becomes hypermedia when the linked information is not contained in one definable component. A DVD- ROM that contains video objects or graphics as well as hyperlinks to a URL on the Internet would be an example of hypermedia.

Digital Video Distribution Technologies

Disc Technologies

Two formats commonly used for the distribution of digital video are CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory) and DVD (Digital Versatile or Video Disk) technologies. The DVD technologies include a video format which can be displayed on a television set whereas the DVD-ROM is normally displayed on a computer. Both CD and the DVD technologies have similarities with respect to the level of user control that they offer students. Where they differ is in the amount of data they can store and the quality of the digital video they can deliver.

CD-ROM technology allows for the storage of video, audio, and graphics. Its popularity has been earned more from its low hardware and duplication costs than from its ability to playback high quality video (The POD, n.d.). When the CD-ROM was developed in the early nineties, it could store over 650MB of data. Developers are now aiming to increase the capacity of the disc. Philips and Sony recently announced a new High-Density CD-ROM called MMCD (MultiMedia CD) which will increase the maximum amount of non-compressed data storage on a CD-ROM to 7.4 GB. However, the disc will require new CD-ROM drives based on new technology (CD Solutions Inc.,2002). The goal of the CD-ROM industry is to put a full length or more than two hours of MPEG-2 compressed motion picture onto a CD-ROM.

The present inability of CDs to store the amount of data needed to deliver even VHS quality video is compensated for in some ways. Reducing the size of the viewing screen that is generated by the CD video and reducing the frame rate can decrease the amount of data needed. A standard broadcast signal would be 640 x 480 pixels (Gerhart, 1999) using a frame rate of 30 fps. When authoring CD-ROMs that include video components, instructional designers can use a picture size that measures 320 x 240 pixels and a frame rate of 15 fps. However, the reduction in frame rate decreases the seamless transition between frames and can make the picture appear jumpy to the viewer.

Video producers can aim to minimize the amount of movement in the picture content of any video that is recorded for use in a CD-ROM. This allows the video decompression software to minimize the amount of new data it must process due to the redundancy in the picture composition from the previous frames. As Leland (1999) states, "As anyone who has worked with compressed video (for example, CD-ROMs) knows, camera motion like pans, zooms, and dollies which are normally used to enhance the visual interest of a production cause low-bandwidth codecs to 'choke' …" (p. 146).

From the perspective of distribution, CD-ROMs must be mailed to the students. This distribution method does not offer any advantage over the present distribution of VHS tapes. Delayed or lost materials can still hinder students' access to the course materials. Furthermore, accessibility may be an issue if the student's computer does not have a CD-ROM player. There is at present no information available on the number of distance students in this province who have computers with CD-ROM players.

In spite of these constraints, digital video in CD-ROM format affords certain possibilities not present in VHS format. Compared to the linear VHS tapes, CD-ROM technology offers students a significant level of learner control in relation to viewing. The various text, graphic, and video components of an educational CD-ROM can be indexed on a menu page of the disc. Students have the option of moving through the content in a non-linear fashion and according to their preferences. CD-ROM offers some financial advantages as a digital video distribution medium as well. Blank VHS tapes cost approximately $1.50 each to buy in bulk compared to blank CD-ROM discs that retail for as little as $.30 each. The shipping cost to have the lightweight CD-ROM discs delivered to students, compared to the cost of shipping the larger VHS tapes, also offers an advantage for using this format.

DVD / DVD-ROM

Weaver (2002) describes DVD as containing the positive attributes of videotape laserdisc and CD-ROM but with improvements in all of these attributes. DVD and DVD-ROM technologies contain some visual similarities to CD-ROM technology. Both technologies employ the use of optical technologies to record and playback data. The major difference comes from the amount of data each format holds and the speed at which this data can be delivered. CD-ROMs can presently store approximately 650-700 Megabits of data whereas a single sided DVD can hold 4.7Gigabits which amounts to approximately 135 minutes of MPEG-2 video with up to eight channels of audio. CD-ROM can transfer data at a rate near 4.32 Megabits per second while the DVD can transfer data at a rate of 26.1 Megabits per second (Advisory Group on Computer Graphics, 1998).

Horbett (2002) lists a number of advantages DVD offers to users beyond the improvement in video quality and data processing speed. These advantages relate to the amount of control DVD can allow the learner through branching, menus, audio streams, video angles, and subtitles. Each of these advantages adds to the user’s ability to interact with and personally control the information stored on the disc. Branching refers to the viewer’s ability to move in a non-linear fashion from one segment of a video program to another to skip information the learner already understands or to review material.

Menus imbedded in a DVD allow the user to move between the various components of the disc. A student can use the menu or menus supplied to navigate between the video, graphical and text components of the information being studied. "Menus can be inserted anywhere throughout a program to allow the user to make a choice that can ultimately change the entire experience" (Ibid., ¶ 10). The ability to include multiple audio streams on a DVD also adds to the level of control that students can experience using DVD technology. These audio channels can include such components as language translations to allow a student the option of choosing the language they wish to use for learning. Explanations of various concepts or ideas can be delivered in different levels of complexity. Students can then select the level best suited to their needs.

The capacity of a DVD to include various shooting angles of a visual object, on demand, can enhance the control a student has over the learning environment. As an example, if Social Work students are observing an interview between a counselor and a client as part of their course material, they might find it as important to view the physical reactions of the listener as well as those of the speaker. A DVD containing this learning information can offer various video angles of the same interview segment. Students could potentially view the entire video focusing on the physical reactions of the counselor and then view the complete interaction again with the client on the screen. Students could also switch back and forth between the two viewing angles as they choose. DVD can also include subtitle tracks. These tracks can be used to add text descriptions to support learner comprehension. The subtitles could also contain specific or special instructions for the student or to increase the accessibility of the resources to hearing-impaired learners.

While DVD technology presents advantages in terms of delivery, it nonetheless presents the same constraints as CD-ROM in terms of distribution. The DVD must be delivered to the student using the mail or a courier service which can result in delays particularly for those living in remote areas. Also, at an approximate cost of $12 each, DVD-ROMs unfortunately represent by far the most expensive of all the formats considered here. The use of DVD technology in distance education also raises issues related to accessibility. While one in every four U.S. homes is equipped with a DVD player (American City Business Journals Inc. 2002), there are no statistics available on the number of distance students at Memorial who have access to DVD players. However, the decrease in the cost of DVD video players and the increase in the number of DVD video rentals visible in video rental stores would indicate the availability of this technology to students is on the rise (Marioni, 2002).

Streamed video

Streamed video represents another option for the delivery of digital video to distance students. Students can view and hear the decompressed media directly from their computer assuming it is programmed with the compatible software to decompress the video content. Two forms of streaming are available for use: progressive streaming and real-time streaming. Progressive streaming downloads the entire video file to the computer. The file is then stored on the user’s computer before it is played. Real-time streaming is stored on a server and plays on users' computers without having to be saved to their hard-drive (Ibid.). Due to the amount of space progressive streaming can take up on a student’s hard drive and the amount of time needed for downloading a large files, real-time streaming is the delivery method that has been preferred by Memorial.

Real-time streamed video can offer students control of how they view videos. Learners have the option of jumping to different segments of the program (Ibid.). Young and Asensio (2002) put forth that video delivered by the Internet also gives learners the added benefit of integration with other learning resources. Students viewing videos over the Internet can also use the vast resources of the Web as they link from the streamed video to instructor supplied URLs. Students can also search for other topic-related links.

There is another fiscal and pedagogical advantage to using streaming video. De Smedt and Black (2002) argue that one of the major advantages web-based instruction has over other digital distribution systems, such as CD-ROM, is the ability to make fast and easy revisions to the course content. If there is a need to revise the course content, the course files can be changed for all users at one time. Compared to videotape, CD-ROM, or DVD this facility in making revisions can save time and money related to production costs. Streamed video distribution can increase the flexibility students have for accessing the video components of their courses. Students, theoretically, can access the supplied video components wherever they can log on to the Internet.

In spite of the many affordances presented by streaming video, accessibility remains an impediment to its use in distance education. Learners are restricted in their ability to access high resolution, streamed video by the type of Internet connection (Illinois Online Network, 2000). Users' Internet connections can range from the low-speed dial-up modems, to high-speed cable or ADSL distribution systems. While a dial-up modem can deliver data at a maximum rate of only 58.8 kilobits per second, a high-speed cable modem can offer subscribers the ability to download data at a rate of 1.5 Megabits per second (Gutenko, 2002). Access to the higher bandwidth connections is needed to deliver video quality that would approach the level of the VHS tapes currently distributed to distance students by Memorial.

While the university currently provides every student with free access to the institution's dial-up modem pool, high-speed connections must be purchased from a private Internet provider at a cost of approximately $40.00 to $50.00 per month (Rogers’ Communications Inc., 2002). The cost of such service may be a deterrent for students. Yet, even for those willing to and able to pay the associated costs, high-speed service may simply not be an option because of the lack of availability of the service in many areas. Of the 649 communities in the province, 635 of these have fewer than 5000 people (Operation Online, 2001). It would be an expensive venture to bring broadband Internet access to all these communities. As Lynch (1998) commented in relation to high-speed use, "accessibility is not as widespread as might be expected" (p. 6). However, a solution to the delivery of streamed video to users on narrowband connections is use of sure streaming which allows the user the opportunity to present a profile of his/her connection so that the video can be streamed according to the connection. This type of streaming dynamically changes the quality of the signal to match the bandwidth.

Accessibility of streamed video is also compromised by lack of interoperability of software formats. Presently, Memorial streams its video in RealMediaTM format because it holds a RealNetworksTM software license. It does not hold a license that would allow it to stream video in other formats such as WindowsMedia PlayerTM or QuickTimeTM. For the end users or students, this means that some version of RealMedia player must be installed on their machine. The player can be downloaded for free or purchased making cost a non-issue. However, students may encounter technical difficulties downloading the software and configuring it to suit the requirements of their computer.

A further constraint associated with the use of streamed video is quality. Presently video that is delivered in streamed format must take into consideration data compression and deliver video that is smaller in viewing size than regular video. As well, during production, control contrast and color must be carefully controlled as must the amount of movement in the video frame.

Discussion

Each of the three video formats considered in this paper presented both affordances and constraints. The CD-ROM format affords better levels of learner control than does the VHS format. CD-ROMs can contain menus that allow students to navigate content according to their preferences and not necessarily according to a predetermined sequence. The availability of CD-ROM players makes the technology relatively accessible. In relation to cost, this format presents advantages as well. CD-ROM burners can be purchased at a low price compared to VHS dubbing machines and the cost of blank CDs is approximately ten times lower than the cost of a VHS tape. Thus, DELT would incur considerable saving by switching from VHS to CD-ROM formats. In spite of these affordances, the format is presently limited in its ability to deliver high-resolution video. In addition, the storage capacity of CDs is presently limited in comparison to other formats. However, present and future developments in the technology may allow it to overcome some of these constraints.

In comparison with video in CD-ROM format, DVD technology offers the user a greater amount of learner control through its menu capabilities, multiple audio tracks and video-angle selection possibilities. This control can be increased when the disc is designed for use along with the Internet. The constraint associated with DVD technology stems from its low level of accessibility since many students may not have the technology needed to play the disc. A further constraint relates to the production costs. The price of approximately $12.00 for each disc is high compared to that of the other video formats. At the present time, given the likelihood that many students may not have DVD players in their machines, and given as well the cost of the individual disc, DVD-ROM technology does not represent a viable choice for DELT. If the price of the individual disc becomes more comparable to that of the CD and if the player becomes more widespread, the DVD format could represent a strong alternative to the use of VHS.

From the perspective of learner control, video streamed over the Internet affords many possibilities. Learners can select which parts of the video they want to view and can simultaneously link to online resources. They can view the video whenever they access the course web site. Streamed video components can be easily updated and altered as well because the video content is stored on the supplier’s server. However, the technology presents some constraints in relation to its accessibility and, in terms of the quality it affords.

The many and varying constraints and affordances of each of the three formats considered in this paper make obvious the need for careful consideration of the alternatives to the use of video in VHS format in distance education at Memorial. Of the three, we can conclude that the DVD-ROM format does not presently represent a viable alternative because of its high cost combined with its low accessibility. Yet, improvements in the cost of the disc and accessibility of the players could make this technology a viable alternative in the very near future. Therefore, two alternatives remain: streamed video and CD-ROM.

The sure streaming of video can allow DELT to minimize some of the constraints related to narrowband connections. However, as long as many students are accessing their distance education courses through dial-up modems as opposed to always-on, high-speed connections, streamed video represents a weak alternative. In relation to the use of streamed video in Newfoundland, the context itself actually imposes its own constraints in addition to those inherent in the technology itself. However, continued research into caching, or storing content closer to the end user may minimize some of the constraints of narrowband connections. As well, research into improving compression formulas to support delivery of video over narrowband connections can also help minimize constraints. Such research is ongoing presently in Canada and around the world. Newfoundland also represents an ideal testbed for applications resulting from such research because of our reliance on narrowband connections and because of DELT's history of production and delivery of video.

The remaining technology therefore is that of the CD-ROM. Quality of this format can be enhanced through encoding with the MPEG-1 or 2 standard. However, because of the limited storage capacity, it can only represent an alternative to the VHS format if the content length can adequately fit onto the disc. Future developments may result in a format that is affordable, accessible and capable of storing amounts of data equivalent to the VHS format. Under these circumstances, then the CD-ROM format can represent a viable alternative to the use of VHS.

Conclusion

Thirty years ago in Newfoundland, students needing to view course-related video were obliged to travel to centers outside their homes and in some cases, their communities. Since that time, achievements in technology have made possible the viewing of video directly in the users' home and even at their desktops. Not only has access to video improved remarkably, but the quality has seen improvement as well. In addition, video for educational purposes can now offer significantly more learner control. Whereas, 30 years ago, students had few options available to them in terms of viewing video, today, they may potentially choose from video in a variety of formats such as VHS, CD, DVD or streamed.

While the formats have changed and increased in variety and quantity, there remain nonetheless issues related to accessibility, cost and quality. As this paper has shown, these issues require consideration when choosing among the alternative formats for delivery of video in distance education. Such choices may as well require predicting the future. As technologies become more prevalent, their prices often become more competitive. Whereas DVD-ROM represents a prohibitively expensive alternative today, such may not be the case in years to come. It is also possible that DVD-ROMs may eventually become as accessible as are CD-ROMs today. Encoding standards will continue to improve no doubt resulting in even better quality than what is afforded today by the MPEG-4 format. Better compression formulas and increased access to broadband will likely make streamed video a more viable alternative in the future.

For institutions like Memorial that need to make choices among alternative video formats, there will always be many factors to weigh. The choice will involve consideration of the allowances of the technologies as well as their constraints. The context of use and requirements of the users will also need to be factored into the choice. Finally, serious consideration will need to be given to trends and to an appreciation of how the technology may evolve in the future.

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