Construction and Estimation of a Synchronous Distance Education System Using General Purpose Technology for Foreign Graduate Students

在本研究中，我们建构了一个同步的远程教育系统，让外国研究生可以远程上课、自学，并与教师或指导者进行双向交流。该系统配置有学生学习所需的模块，例如通过使用通用信息设备和通用技术（例如互联网、最新的数据流技术以及廉价的硬件和软件）进行现场型讲座、呈现按需型学习内容和管理学习过程。该系统具有远程学习者对设置在教室中的摄像机进行远程操作的功能。有了这个功能，远程学习者不仅可以识别写在黑板上的字符和数字，而且可以体验更活跃的课程，减少无聊。在该系统中，可以在现场型讲座期间提供所有学习者和教师之间的双向通信。从2006年4月起，使用该系统的讲座大约每周一次。其中一个讲座的题目是“先进的超导工程”，这是福冈工业大学研究生院的一门普通课程。所有讲座均以中文和英文进行。每期讲座持续70-80分钟。几名研究生参加了来自中国的实验讲座。对听课学生的问卷调查分析结果表明，该系统能给学习者带来预期的学习效果和满意感。

In this study, we constructed a synchronous distance education system for foreign graduate students who remotely take lessons, teach themselves and have a bidirectional communication with teachers or instructors. The system was configured with the necessary modules for the student's learning, such as giving live type lectures, presenting the on-demand type learning contents and managing the learning processes by using the general purposed information devices and general purposed technology, such as the Internet, recent data-streaming technology, and inexpensive hardware and software. The system has the function of remote operation of the video camera set in the classroom by the remote learners. With this function, the remote learner cannot only recognize the characters and figures written on the blackboard, but also experience more active lessons with less boredom. In this system, it is possible to provide the bidirectional communications between all of the learners and instructors during the live type lecture. The lectures using this system have been given about once a week from Apr. 2006. One of the lectures was titled as “Advanced Superconducting Engineering", which was a normal course of graduate school in Fukuoka Institute of Technology. All the lectures were conducted in Chinese and English. Each period of the lecture lasted 70-80 minutes. Several graduate students attended the experimental lectures from China. The analysis result of the questionnaire answered by the students who attended the lectures shows that the system can bring the learners an expected learning effect and a feeling of satisfaction.