Arjulie John Berena

Shared virtual presentation board for e-Meeting in higher education on the WebELS platform

In this paper, the development of a shared virtual presentation board (VPB) for real-time e-Meeting on the Web-based e-Learning System (WebELS) platform is introduced. WebELS is a general-purpose e-Learning system to support flexibility and globalization of higher education in science and technology. In WebELS, the Meeting module consists of online presentation and video conference system, and the combination of both allows the creation of a so-called virtual room for e-Meeting applications where participants convene via the Internet. Online presentation features synchronized slide control between the presenter and the listeners for slide changing, scrolling, zooming, cursor positioning, and playback control for video embedded on the slide. It also features online annotation that allows the presenter to write using a pen function on the slide display panel. The system has video conferencing function that provides an audio-video communication among the meeting participants. This paper discusses briefly the video conference system, and focuses on online presentation based on slide-based synchronization and the development of VPB. VPB is a shared object that resides on the server that is updated every time the presenter client makes mouse events and is periodically accessed by client system in order that listener’s presentation viewer synchronized with that of the presenter.

A Cloud-Based Multi-functional e-Meeting System by Flash-Based Multimedia Technology for Higher Education on the WebELS System

With the recent advances of ICT technologies, teaching methodologies in higher education are changing from the traditional classroom-based methodology to the so-called Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). Implementing an effective virtual classroom system, requires understanding the characteristics and the activities in higher education, in terms of characterized self-learning, group meetings and discussion. A cloud-based multi-functional e-Meeting system is an essential feature to fulfil the former demands, hence allowing effective academic activities. In this paper, we discuss the design and implementation of a multi-functional e-Meeting system that based on cloud-computing built on the Web-based e-Learning System (WebELS) platform. Using Flash-based multimedia technology, it is possible to conduct on-line meetings and lectures through the Internet. Specifically, the proposed system offers important features, such as on-line presentations, on-line annotations, video conferencing, and chat massaging systems, which are the basic components for an effective virtual classroom methodology in higher education. Uploading various documents was presented for enabling a rich multimedia content. The design concerns non-IT users, and low bandwidth Internet users, such as in the developing countries.

Authoring tool for video-based content on WebELS learning system to support higher education

This paper presents an authoring tool for video-based learning content in the WebELS system to support higher education. The primary function of the authoring tool is to synchronize a video stream with the presentation slide by means of video clip timing. Video and presentation files are needed to be uploaded, and subsequently converted at the server. The system utilizes the video timing position to control slide changing. In each slide, cursor recording function is integrated. This function combines video clip stream with mouse cursor actions. This system is divided into two modes: (1) editor mode is designed for instructors to manage the learning content e.g., video synchronization, cursor synchronization and slide information, and (2) learner mode is used to display learning content. Several useful functions are implemented, e.g., video and slide view toggle, zoom, etc. The system can help instructors create an attractive content for e-Learning system. The design also includes an easy-to-use user interface for non-IT or novice users.

Transmission time-based authentication scheme using 3G mobile device for DRM system

The recent widespread deployment of 3G technology has opened the possibility for high value digital content to be delivered to wireless-driven output terminals that may or may not be mobile. This calls for a robust DRM (Digital Rights Management) system that can protect copyrighted content from being illegally accessed. The conventional method of authenticating a registered user or a prospective content purchaser is by means of the username and password combination. However, this method raises many vulnerabilities, especially now that password attacks and phishing techniques are rampant. Enhanced user authentication schemes are thus needed to ensure that the content is delivered to the legitimate purchaser, and to combat piracy in the Internet in general. Our assumed DRM system utilizes 3G mobile devices, such as HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) enabled mobile devices, to access the content. An essential part of the system is an access area restriction scheme; it is based on the physical location of the users mobile device as estimated from the packet transmission time between the mobile device and the server. Together with personal information, the access location must be pre-registered to realize location-specific enforcement policies. This system is extremely flexible and supports a wide range of security policies; for example, the content provider can stipulate that service is terminated if the registered user moves away from the registered terminal through which he is accessing the content.

An experimental analysis of packet train probe for a stable RTT measurement

One of the metrics used to ensure an efficient management of network services is the packet delay. However, packet delay is highly variable due to queuing mechanism in many network devices, including the host systems. In this paper, the protocol stack packet delay on Linux system is presented. Also, a new RTT probe model based on packet train is proposed in order to achieve a stable RTT measurement without making any modification, optimization and tuning to the current Linux kernel. Experiment results show that using packet train the minimum peak RTT could be determined from the “tail” packets and that its variation is within few microseconds.

A novel automated course generation system embedded in the online lecturing platform for higher education

This study proposes a novel automated course generation system embedded in an online lecturing platform to create electronic course content from online lectures for higher education. The purpose of the system is to make the e‐content development faster by synchronizing the lecturer video stream and the presentation slide, based on a series of events in real‐time, automatically. The system detects events during the online lecture, such as slide changing, cursor positioning and video quality changing, and links them to the exact position of the recorded video stream to appear as it was in the real presentation. The system implements an authoring algorithm, namely the Course Generation (CG) algorithm which allows fast and fully automatic authoring process. Furthermore, the created contents are integrated into a web‐based learning environment, which is an important step on the long way to making learning more time and space independent as a concept of Internet of Everything (IoE) in education. A practical usage of the system is also presented, which demonstrated its usefulness and effectiveness in developing e‐contents in higher education.

Anatomy of Computer Time and its Application to a DRM Scheme

This paper presents the computer timing mechanism and its relationship with the packet transmission delay at the protocol stack. The experiment platform uses two general purpose personal computers connected directly via a network interface. This setup allows us to ignore the influence of end-to-end network devices between the hosts which can cause delay variation. In trials we measured the round-trip time (RTT) between the two hosts in various parameters, such as packet size, packet interval, burst length and burst interval. We show the various RTT characteristics and recommend several parameters that can render precise and stable measurement. Furthermore, we present a proposal for a location-based identification system in the digital rights management (DRM) scheme for a secure digital content distribution via the Internet. This scheme allows the user storage system to be identified by its network location, among other personal identification systems, for its strict content management and prevention of illegitimate activities on the Internet.