Computer network-based, interactive, multimedia learning system and process

• US 20040002049A1
• Filed: 02/21/2003
• Published: 01/01/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 07/01/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Zhigu Holdings Limited
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Anderson, Richard, Baxter, Jeff, Hinrichs, Randy, Papp, Sarah, Beavers, Jay
• Granted Patent: US 7,733,366 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 434/350
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/00 Electrically-operated educational appliances working with questions and answers G09B7/00; simulators G09B9/00; advertising or displaying in general G09F
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 7/00 Electrically-operated teaching apparatus or devices working with questions and answers mechanically operated G09B3/00; computing arrangements G06F
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1813 for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms instant messaging H04L51/04; protocols for multimedia communication H04L65/1101; arrangements for multi-party communication H04L65/403; telephonic conference arrangements H04M3/56; television conference systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/4053 without floor control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/611 for multicast or broadcast systems for broadcast or conference H04L12/18; arrangements for broadcast or distribution combined with broadcast H04H20/00; arrangements for broadcast applications with a direct linkage to broadcast information or to broadcast space-time H04H60/00; selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS], H04W4/06

Abstract

A system and process for network-based, interactive, multi-media learning is presented. The learning system and process employs high quality, low latency audio/video links over a multicast network (such as Internet2), as well as an interactive slideshow that allows annotations to be added by both the presenter and lecture participants, a question management feature that allows participants to submit questions and receive answers during the lecture or afterwards, and a complete archiving of the data streams and metadata associated with the foregoing features.

Claims

1. A learning system for providing an interactive, educational lecture, comprising:

a plurality of computing devices, each of which is in communication with the same distributed computer network, and at least one of which is located at a site where a presenter of the lecture is located and each remote location participating in the lecture;

an equipment set for capturing audio and video (A/V) at the presenter'"'"'s site and providing it via a computing device resident at the site to the network, wherein one of the A/V equipment sets is resident at the presenter'"'"'s site and wherein other ones of the A/V equipment sets are respectively resident in at least some of the remote sites; and

wherein

the computing device in communication with the A/V equipment set resident at the presenter'"'"'s site further comprises a A/V computer program having program modules executable by the computing device, wherein the computing device is directed by the program modules of the A/V computer program to,

multicast A/V data captured by the A/V equipment set resident at the presenter'"'"'s site over the network;

subscribe to A/V data multicast from remote sites via the network, and

render and play the A/V data received over the network from the remote sites; and

wherein

one of (i) the computing device in communication with the A/V equipment set resident at the presenter'"'"'s site, or (ii) another one of said computing devices also resident at the presenter'"'"'s site, further comprises a slideshow computer program having program modules executable by the computing device for directing the computing device to broadcast presentation slide data associated with the lecture over the network.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising one or more displays located at the presenter'"'"'s site which are viewable by an audience at the site, and wherein said A/V computer program further comprises a program module for rendering the audio and video data generated by the A/V equipment set resident at the presenter'"'"'s site and playing the rendered A/V in a first sector of a presence window displayed on said one or more displays.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the program module for rendering and playing the A/V data received over the network from the remote sites comprises sub-modules for rendering the audio and video received from the remote sites and playing the rendered A/V received from each remote site in separate sectors of the presence window displayed on said one or more displays.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein said A/V computer program further comprises a program module for displaying an information sector in the presence window displayed on said one or more displays, wherein the information sector is used to display text, graphic, and/or animations that the presenter wishes to include as supporting information for the lecture.

5. The system of claim 2, further comprising:

a plurality of computing devices, each of which is in communication with said distributed computer network, and which are respectively located at a site where an individual participating in the lecture is located; and

wherein

the computing device resident at each individual'"'"'s site further comprises a computer program having program modules executable by the computing device, wherein the computing device is directed by the program modules of the individual'"'"'s computing device computer program to multicast a thumbnail image to the presenter'"'"'s site and remote sites via the network, said thumbnail image being representative of the individual lecture participant; and

wherein;

the presenter'"'"'s site computing device computer program further comprises a program module for displaying thumbnail images received from individual lecture participants via the network in a individual lecture participant sector of the presence window displayed on said one or more displays.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising one or more displays located at the presenter'"'"'s site which are viewable by an audience at the site, and wherein the slideshow computer program further comprises a program module for rendering the presentation slide data and displaying presentation slides associated therewith in a first sector of a workspace window displayed on said one or more displays.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the program module for rendering the presentation slide data and displaying presentation slides associated therewith comprises displaying the particular presentation slide then being discussed by the presenter, and wherein the slideshow computer program further comprises a program module for displaying annotations input by the presenter in connection with the currently displayed presentation slide on the display of the slide itself.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the slideshow computer program further comprises program modules for:

displaying a blank space in the first sector of the workspace window in lieu of a presentation slide; and

displaying annotations input by the presenter on the blank space.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein the slideshow computer program further comprises program modules for:

displaying a blank space in a second sector of the workspace window; and

displaying annotations input by the presenter on the blank space.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the slideshow computer program is resident on a one of said computing devices resident at the presenter'"'"'s site that is not in communication with the A/V equipment set, which takes the form of a wireless tablet PC.

11. The system of claim 1, further comprising an A/V computer program resident on a computing device in communication with an A/V equipment set resident at a remote site, wherein the remote site A/V computer program comprises program modules executable by the computing device for directing the computing device to:

multicast A/V data captured by the A/V equipment set resident at the remote site over the network;

subscribe to A/V data multicast from the presenter'"'"'s site and other remote sites via the network;

render and play the A/V data received over the network from the presenter'"'"'s site and other remote sites.

12. The system of claim 11, further comprising one or more displays located at each remote site which are viewable by an audience at the site, and wherein said remote site A/V computer program further comprises a program module for rendering the audio and video data multicast from the presenter'"'"'s site, and playing the rendered presenter'"'"'s site A/V in a first sector of a presence window displayed on said one or more displays.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein said remote site A/V computer program further comprises a program module for rendering the audio and video data multicast from another remote site, and playing the rendered A/V received from each remote site in separate sectors of the presence window displayed on said one or more displays.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the remote site A/V computer program further comprises a program module for displaying an information sector in the presence window displayed on said one or more displays, wherein the information sector is used to display text, graphic, and/or animations that the presenter wishes to include as supporting information for the lecture.

15. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

a plurality of computing devices, each of which is in communication with said distributed computer network, and which are respectively located at a site where an individual participating in the lecture is located; and

wherein

the computing device resident at each individual'"'"'s site further comprises a computer program having program modules executable by the computing device, wherein the computing device is directed by the program modules of the individual'"'"'s computing device computer program to multicast a thumbnail image to the presenter'"'"'s site and remote sites via the network, said thumbnail image being representative of the individual lecture participant; and

wherein;

the remote site computing device A/V computer program further comprises a program module for displaying thumbnail images received from individual lecture participants via the network in a individual lecture participant sector of the presence window displayed on said one or more displays.

16. The system of claim 1, further comprising a slideshow computer program resident on a computing device resident at a remote site, wherein the remote site slideshow computer program comprises program modules executable by the computing device for directing the computing device to receive presentation slide data associated with the lecture that was broadcast over the network from the presenter'"'"'s site.

17. The system of claim 16, further comprising one or more displays located at the remote site which are viewable by an audience at the site, and wherein the remote site slideshow computer program further comprises a program module for rendering the presentation slide data and displaying presentation slides associated therewith in a first sector of a workspace window displayed on said one or more displays.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the remote site slideshow computer program'"'"'s program module for rendering the presentation slide data and displaying presentation slides associated therewith comprises displaying the particular presentation slide then being discussed by the presenter, and wherein the remote site slideshow computer program further comprises a program module for displaying annotations input by the presenter in connection with the currently displayed presentation slide, and broadcast over the network, on the display of the slide itself.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the presenter'"'"'s site slideshow computer program further comprises a program module for broadcasting over the network a blank space and annotations input by the presenter on the blank space, and wherein the remote site slideshow computer program comprises a program module for displaying the annotated blank space in the first sector of the workspace window in lieu of a presentation slide.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the presenter'"'"'s site slideshow computer program further comprises a program module for broadcasting over the network a blank space and annotations input by the presenter on the blank space, and wherein the remote site slideshow computer program comprises a program module for displaying the annotated blank space in a second sector of the workspace window.

21. The system of claim 1, wherein one of the plurality of computing devices in communication with the said distributed computer network comprises an archiving computer program having program modules executable by the computing device for saving the lecture for future playback and analysis by synchronously recording the data streams and any associated metadata generated by the presenter, remote sites and any individual lecture participants during the lecture to a lecture database and for supporting synchronized playback of all or selected ones of the recorded streams from the database.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the program module for saving the lecture comprises a sub-module for recording A/V data multicast from the presenter'"'"'s site over the network.

23. The system of claim 21, respectively further comprising an A/V computer program resident on a computing device in communication with an A/V equipment set resident at each remote site, wherein the remote site A/V computer program comprises program modules executable by the computing device for directing the computing device to multicast A/V data captured by the A/V equipment set resident at the remote site over the network, and wherein the program module for saving the lecture comprises a sub-module for recording A/V data multicast over the network from one or more of the remote sites.

24. The system of claim 21, wherein the program module for saving the lecture comprises a sub-module for recording the presentation slide data associated with the lecture that is broadcast over the network.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the slideshow computer program further comprises a program module for broadcasting annotations input by the presenter in connection with the currently displayed presentation slide for display on the display of the slide itself, and wherein the program module for saving the lecture comprises a sub-module for recording the presenter generated presentation slide annotations.

26. The system of claim 24, wherein the slideshow computer program further comprises a program module for causing a blank space to be displayed on displays resident at the presenter'"'"'s and remote sites in a slide sector of a workspace window and for broadcasting annotations input by the presenter that are displayed on the blank space, and wherein the program module for saving the lecture comprises a sub-module for recording the presenter generated blank space annotations.

27. The system of claim 24, wherein the slideshow computer program further comprises a program module for inputting annotations associated with a currently displayed presentation slide sent by a lecture participant over the network to the computing device running the slideshow program, and wherein the program module for saving the lecture comprises a sub-module for recording the lecture participant annotation.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the slideshow computer program further comprises a program module for generating representative summarizations of the inputted lecture participant annotations, and wherein the program module for saving the lecture comprises a sub-module for recording the lecture participant annotation summarizations.

29. The system of claim 21, further comprising:

a plurality of computing devices, each of which is in communication with said distributed computer network, and which are respectively located at a site where an individual participating in the lecture is located; and

wherein

the computing device resident at each individual'"'"'s site further comprises a computer program having program modules executable by the computing device, wherein the computing device is directed by the program modules of the individual'"'"'s computing device computer program to multicast thumbnail image data over the network so as to be received by the presenter'"'"'s site and remote sites, said thumbnail image being representative of the individual lecture participant, and wherein the program module for saving the lecture comprises a sub-module for recording the multicast thumbnail image data.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the individual'"'"'s computing device computer program further comprises program modules to transfer individual lecture participant inputs generated during the lecture over the network to the computing device running said archiving computer program, and wherein the program module for saving the lecture comprises a sub-module for recording the lecture participant inputs.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein the individual lecture participant inputs comprise bookmarking actions and notes entered into the individual'"'"'s computing device.

32. The system of claim 30, wherein the individual'"'"'s computing device computer program further comprises program modules for:

allowing the individual participant to playback of all or selected ones of the recorded streams from the database; and

transferring individual lecture participant inputs generated while reviewing said playback over the network to the computing device running said archiving computer program, and wherein the program module for saving the lecture further comprises a sub-module for recording the lecture participant inputs.

33. The system of claim 21, wherein respective ones of said computing devices are dedicated for use by respective ones of assistants to the presenter, wherein each assistant'"'"'s computing device comprises a question management computer program having program modules executable by the computing device for directing the computing device to receive questions from an individual lecture participant and provide answers to the questions over the network, and wherein one of said computing devices is resident at each site where an individual participating in the lecture is located and comprises a question submission computer program having program modules executable by the computing device, wherein the computing device is directed by the program modules of the submission computer program to submit questions to the presenter'"'"'s assistant and received answers in response over the network, and wherein the question management computer program associated with each assistant'"'"'s computing device and the submission computer program of each individual lecture participant comprises a program module for respectively transferring said questions and answers over the network to the computing device running said archiving computer program, and wherein the program module for saving the lecture comprises a sub-module for recording said questions and answers in a question forum database.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein the archiving computer program further comprises a program module for allowing the presenter and at least one presenter assistant to access the question forum database, said accessing program module comprising sub-modules for:

entering an answer into the database to a question contained therein;

modifying any question or answer contained in the database; and

deleting any question or answer contained in the database.

35. The system of claim 34, wherein whenever an answer to a question contained in the question forum database has an answer entered directly into the database, the answer is also sent to the individual lecture participant who proffered the question.

36. The system of claim 33, wherein the question management computer program associated with each assistant'"'"'s computing device comprises sub-modules that allow an assistant to modify or delete questions and answers that have been previously recorded in the question forum database, and wherein anytime a question is modified, the previously recorded question corresponding to the modified question is automatically replaced in the database by the modified question and anytime a question is deleted, the previously recorded question corresponding to the deleted question is automatically removed from the database.

37. The system of claim 33, wherein the sub-module for recording said questions and answers comprises sub-modules for:

entering the identity of the individual lecture participant who proffered the question, as well as the time and date the question was entered into the question forum database, and associating this information with the question, for every question entered into the database; and

entering the identity of the presenter or presenter assistant who provided the answer to a question contained in the database, as well as the time and date the answer was entered into the database, and associating this information with the answer, for every answer entered into the database.

38. The system of claim 33, wherein the sub-module for recording said questions and answers comprises a sub-module for associating an indicator with each question or answer entered into the question forum database that identifies the lecture the question or answer regards.

39. The system of claim 33, wherein another one of said computing devices is dedicated for use by the lecture presenter and comprises a presenter'"'"'s computer program having program modules executable by the computing device for directing the computing device to receive questions that have been forwarded from a presenter assistant, and wherein the presenter assistant question management program comprises a sub-module for forwarding an incoming question, in its original or in a modified form, to the lecture presenter.

40. The system of claim 39, wherein the presenter responds to a forwarded and previously recorded question as part of the lecture, and wherein the presenter or presenter'"'"'s assistant employs the archiving computer program to access the question forum database and enter an answer to the question directly.

41. The system of claim 39, wherein the individual lecture participant'"'"'s question submission computer program further comprises a program module for submitting questions to the lecture presenter and receiving answers in response over the network, and wherein the computing device dedicated for use by the lecture presenter further comprises the question management computer program having program modules executable by the computing device for directing the computing device to receive questions from an individual lecture participant and provide answers to the questions over the network, and wherein the question management computer program associated with the presenter'"'"'s computing device comprises a program module for transferring said answers over the network to the computing device running said archiving computer program, and wherein the program module for saving the lecture comprises a sub-module for recording said answers.

42. The system of claim 41, wherein the individual lecture participant'"'"'s question submission computer program modules for submitting questions to the lecture presenter and a presenter assistant, and receiving answers in response over the network, allow the lecture participant to submit question and receive answers both during the lecture, and afterward.

43. The system of claim 41, wherein a question is submitted by an individual lecture via email to an presenter assistant, and wherein the assistant'"'"'s question management computer program further comprises a program module for allowing the assistant to send the emailed question over the network to the computing device running said archiving computer program, and wherein the program module for saving the lecture comprises a sub-module for recording the emailed question.

44. The system of claim 41, wherein a question is submitted by an individual lecture via email to the lecture presenter, and wherein the presenter'"'"'s question management computer program further comprises a program module for allowing the presenter to send the emailed question over the network to the computing device running said archiving computer program, and wherein the program module for saving the lecture comprises a sub-module for recording the emailed question.

45. The system of claim 33, wherein an individual lecture participant'"'"'s question submission computer program further comprises a program module for allowing the participant to access the question forum database to review the questions and answers recoded there.

46. The system of claim 45, wherein question management computer program resident in the a presenter assistant'"'"'s computing device and the lecture presenter'"'"'s computing device, comprises a program module for restricting access by an individual lecture participant to the question forum database.

47. The system of claim 45, an individual lecture participant'"'"'s question submission computer program further comprises a program module for registering a single recommendation for a question or answer contained in the question forum database, and wherein a running count of the number of recommendations registered for each question and answer contained in the database is maintained by said archiving computer program.

48. The system of claim 33, wherein the archiving computer program is accessed via a .NET TCP remoting service.

49. The system of claim 33, wherein the lecture and question forum databases are implemented in the form of a SQL server.

50. The system of claim 29, wherein the archiving computer program is accessed via a .NET TCP remoting service.

51. The system of claim 50, wherein the individual'"'"'s computing device computer program comprises a program module for allowing the individual participant to playback of all or selected ones of the recorded streams from the database by employing sub-modules thereof to access said service as a client via the network and request the desired playback, and wherein the archiving computer program comprises program modules for providing the desired playback.

52. The system of claim 51, wherein the sub-module for requesting the desired playback comprises sub-modules for,

requesting a list of recorded lectures available through the service,

selecting the desired lecture from the list of lectures provided by the service,

specifying the particular data streams it is desired to playback, and

requesting the commencement of the playback of the specified streams of the selected lecture, and wherein

the archiving computer program comprises program modules for,

providing the list of recorded lectures available through the service, and

commencing the playback of the specified streams of the selected lecture.

53. The system of claim 52, wherein the sub-module for requesting the desired playback further comprises, once the playback of the specified streams of the selected lecture has commenced, sub-modules for pausing, forwarding, reversing, stopping and restarting the playback, and wherein the archiving computer program comprises program modules for pausing, forwarding, reversing, stopping and restarting the playback of the specified streams of the selected lecture in response to the client'"'"'s request to do so.

54. The system of claim 52, wherein the archiving computer program further comprises a program module for filtering the list of recorded lectures based on various lecture criteria comprising a lecture name, lecture date, and group affiliated with the lecture, and wherein the sub-module for requesting a list of recorded lectures available through the service comprises a sub-module for specifying desired lecture criteria.

55. The system of claim 50, wherein the computing devices of the lecture presenter and presenter assistants comprise a lecture playback program comprising program modules for allowing the presenter and assistants to playback of all or selected ones of the recorded streams from the database by employing sub-modules thereof to access said service as a client via the network and request the desired playback, and wherein the archiving computer program comprises program modules for providing the desired playback.

56. The system of claim 50, wherein the computing devices of the lecture presenter and presenter assistants comprise a lecture recording program comprising program modules for allowing the presenter and assistants to initiate the recording of the data streams and associated metadata generated during a lecture to the lecture database by employing sub-modules thereof to access said service as a client via the network and request the desired recording service, and wherein the archiving computer program comprises program modules for providing the desired recording service.

57. The system of claim 56, the sub-module for requesting the desired recording service comprises sub-modules for,

directing the archiving computer program to begin recording a lecture,

providing lecture details comprising the name, group affiliation, expected length and purpose of the lecture, and

directing the archiving computer program to stop recording the lecture, and wherein

the archiving computer program comprises program modules for,

commencing the recording of the lecture in response to the directive to do so,

associating the lecture details with the recorded lecture, and

stopping the recording of the lecture in response to the directive to do so.

58. The system of claim 29, wherein the individual'"'"'s computing device computer program comprises a program module for allowing the individual participant to playback of all or specified ones of the recorded streams of a selected lecture from the database by employing sub-modules thereof to access said archiving computer program via the network and request the desired playback, and wherein the archiving computer program comprises program modules for providing the desired playback.

59. The system of claim 58, wherein the computing devices of the lecture presenter and presenter assistants comprise a lecture playback program comprising program modules for allowing the presenter and assistants to playback of all or specified ones of the recorded streams of a selected lecture from the database by employing sub-modules thereof to access said archiving computer program via the network and request the desired playback, and wherein the archiving computer program comprises program modules for providing the desired playback.

60. The system of claim 59, wherein the sub-modules for requesting the desired playback each comprise, once the playback of the specified streams of the selected lecture has commenced, sub-modules for pausing, forwarding, reversing, stopping and restarting the playback, and wherein the archiving computer program comprises program modules for pausing, forwarding, reversing, stopping and restarting the playback of the specified streams of the selected lecture in response to a request to do so.

61. A process for providing an interactive, educational lecture, comprising:

multicasting A/V data captured by an A/V equipment set resident at a site where the presenter of the lecture is located using a computing device that is in communication with the presenter'"'"'s site A/V equipment set and which is one of a plurality of computing devices, each of which is in communication with the same distributed computer network, and at least one of which is located at the presenter'"'"'s site, and wherein the A/V data is multicast over the network to remote sites where one or more people have gathered to participate in the lecture; and

broadcasting presentation slide data associated with the lecture over the network to said remote sites using one of (i) the computing device in communication with the A/V equipment set resident at the presenter'"'"'s site, or (ii) another one of said computing devices also resident at the presenter'"'"'s site.

62. The process of claim 61, wherein the computing device employed to broadcast the presentation slide data comprises a graphical user interface including a display, user interface selection device and user interface data entry device, in addition to a slideshow interface computer program used to implement a slideshow process comprising the process actions of:

displaying a slideshow window comprising a plurality of sectors on the display;

inputting data and implementing commands entered by the presenter using the slideshow window sectors via said selection and data entry devices to initiate, run, and broadcast a slide presentation.

63. The process of claim 62, wherein the process action of displaying the slideshow window comprises the actions of:

displaying a slide sector of the slideshow window which is used to display a current slide of the presentation; and

displaying a menu bar sector of the slideshow window comprising a plurality of menu items used to access commands associated with initiating, running and broadcasting the slide presentation.

64. The process of claim 63, wherein the process action of displaying the menu bar sector of the slideshow window, comprises an action of displaying a file menu item which when selected using said selection device causes a list of file commands to be displayed in the slideshow window, wherein the list of file commands comprises a load command which when selected causes a open file dialog box to be displayed in the slideshow window and which is used to find and load a presentation slide deck file comprising the presentation slides of the presentation being initiated.

65. The process of claim 64, wherein the list of file commands further comprises:

a connect command which when selected connects the computing device employed to broadcast the presentation slide data over the network to a network; and

a disconnect command which is active only when said computing device is connected to the network and which when selected disconnects said computing device from the network.

66. The process of claim 65, wherein the list of file commands further comprises a broadcast command which when selected broadcasts the presentation slide data associated with a previously loaded presentation slide file if the computing device employed to broadcast the presentation slide data is connected to the network.

67. The process of claim 66, wherein the list of file commands further comprises a command to request the current slide which when selected causes the computing device employed to broadcast the presentation slide data, whenever it is connected to the network, to rebroadcast the presentation slide data associated with the slide currently displayed in the slide sector of the slideshow window over the network.

68. The process of claim 66, wherein the list of file commands further comprises a command to request all the slides of the slide presentation which when selected causes the computing device employed to broadcast the presentation slide data, whenever it is connected to the network, to rebroadcast the presentation slide data associated with the previously loaded presentation slide file over the network.

69. The process of claim 65, wherein the list of file commands further comprises a reset command which when selected resets the slideshow interface computer program to its initial state, said resetting comprising disconnecting the computing device employed to broadcast the presentation slide data from the network if it is connected thereto.

70. The process of claim 63, further comprising an action of broadcasting, annotations entered by the presenter via the computing device employed to broadcast the presentation slide data, whenever enabled, wherein the annotations are made to appear either (i) on a currently displayed slide of the presentation, or (ii) in a blank space displayed in lieu of a presentation slide.

71. The process of claim 70, wherein the process action of displaying the slideshow window further comprises an action of displaying a scroll bar which in response to the presenter using said selection device to move the bar in a first direction scrolls the added annotations in a first direction such that the added annotations scroll out of view thereby allowing more annotations to be added without interfering with previously added annotations, and which in response to the presenter using said selection device to move the bar in a second direction scrolls the added annotations in a second direction such that added annotation that were out of view are brought back into view.

72. The process of claim 71, wherein the list of file commands further comprises a command for clearing annotations which when selected clears all the annotations added by the presenter to any slide of the presentation.

73. The process of claim 71, wherein the list of file commands further comprises a command for clearing current annotations which when selected clears all the annotations added by the presenter in association with the currently displayed slide of the presentation if a slide is being displayed, and if a space which was initially blank is currently being displayed, clears any annotations added in that space by the presenter.

74. The process of claim 65, wherein the process action of displaying the menu bar sector of the slideshow window, comprises an action of displaying a venue address menu item which when selected using said selection device causes a list of prescribed venue addresses to be displayed in the slideshow window, wherein the presenter selects a venue address from the venue addresses list prior to connecting to the venue.

75. The process of claim 63, wherein the process action of displaying the menu bar sector of the slideshow window, comprises an action of displaying a options menu item which when selected using said selection device causes a list of options to be displayed in the slideshow window, wherein the list of options comprises a role option which upon selection causes a sub-list of options to be displayed in the slideshow window comprising a presenter option which when selected by the presenter allows only those menu item commands and options that are applicable to the presenter to be selectable.

76. The process of claim 75, wherein the list of options further comprises a properties option which when selected causes a dialog box to be displayed in the slideshow window, wherein the dialog box is used by the presenter to specify prescribed network options associated with the broadcast of the presentation slide data comprising the desired packet delay and the number of times each packet is to be sent over the network.

77. The process of claim 75, wherein the list of options further comprises an option which when selected in a first state enables the broadcast of a cursor which is displayed either (i) on a currently displayed slide of the presentation or (ii) in a blank space displayed in lieu of a presentation slide, and mimics the movements of the cursor in the slide sector of the slideshow window, and when selected in a second state disables the broadcast of the cursor.

78. The process of claim 75, wherein the list of options further comprises an option which when selected in a first state causes a log file to be generated that comprises entries identifying each presentation slide displayed and the time it was displayed, and when selected in a second state disables the generation of said log file.

79. The process of claim 75, wherein the list of options further comprises an option which when selected in a first state causes the starting time of the slide presentation to be displayed in the slideshow window, and when selected in a second state removes the start time display from the sideshow window.

80. The process of claim 75, further comprising an action of broadcasting annotations entered by the presenter via the computing device employed to broadcast the presentation slide data, whenever enabled, wherein the annotations are made to appear either (i) on a currently displayed slide of the presentation or (ii) in a blank space displayed in lieu of a presentation slide, and wherein the list of options further comprises an option which when selected in a first state enables the broadcast of annotations added by the presenter, and when selected in a second state disables the broadcast of annotation added by the presenter.

81. The process of claim 63, wherein the process action of displaying the menu bar sector of the slideshow window, comprises an action of displaying a window menu item which when selected using said selection device causes a list of sizing commands to be displayed in the slideshow window, wherein the list of sizing commands comprises an aspect ratio command which upon selection causes a sub-list of pre-defined aspect ratios to be displayed in the slideshow window, and wherein the selection of a particular aspect ratio from the sub-list of aspect ratios causes the height and width of the slideshow window to take on that aspect ratio on the display.

82. The process of claim 81, wherein the list of sizing commands further comprises a slide size command which when selected causes a sub-list of pre-defined slide sizes having a maximum size of 100 percent to be displayed in the slideshow window, and wherein the selection of a particular slide size dictates how much of the slide sector of the slideshow window is filled with a displayed presentation slide

83. The process of claim 82, wherein the list of sizing commands further comprises a slide centering command which is selectable whenever the selected slide size is less than 100 percent, and which when selected allows the presenter to specify where in the slide sector the presentation slide is to be displayed.

84. The process of claim 83, wherein the process action of the presenter specifying where in the slide sector the presentation slide is to be displayed, comprises selecting the vertical and horizontal positions of the presentation slide from a set of pre-defined vertical and horizontal positions that are displayed when the slide centering command is selected.

85. The process of claim 82, further comprising an action of broadcasting annotations entered by the presenter via the computing device employed to broadcast the presentation slide data, whenever enabled, wherein the annotations are displayed in a blank space in the slide sector not filled with the presentation slide whenever the selected slide size is less than 100 percent.

86. The process of claim 63, further comprising the process actions of:

inputting annotations associated with a currently displayed presentation slide sent by a lecture participant over the network; and

optionally displaying the participant annotations on the currently displayed slide.

87. The process of claim 86, wherein the process action of inputting lecture participant annotations comprises an action of inputting an indication as to what line of text in the currently displayed presentation slide the annotations pertain to, and wherein the process action of displaying the menu bar sector of the slideshow window, comprises an action of displaying a view menu item which when selected using said selection device causes a list of annotation viewing options to be displayed in the slideshow window comprising a comments option which when selected in a first state causes the lecture participant annotations to be displayed adjacent the line of text of the currently displayed presentation slide that they pertain to, and when selected in a second state disables the display of the lecture participant annotations in the currently displayed presentation slide.

88. The process of claim 87, wherein the list of annotation viewing options further comprises a geometry option which when selected in a first state causes bounding boxes to be displayed around each line of text in the currently displayed presentation slide and when selected in a second state disables the display of the bounding boxes.

89. The process of claim 88, wherein whenever both a bounding box and lecture participant annotations associated with a line of text are displayed in the currently displayed presentation slide, said annotations are displayed within the bounding box but not over the line of text.

90. The process of claim 87, wherein the list of annotation viewing options further comprises a comment name option which when selected in a first state causes text representative of the name of the lecture participant providing the annotation to be displayed adjacent the annotation whenever a lecture participant annotation is displayed adjacent a line of the text of a currently displayed presentation slide, and when selected in a second state disables the display of the lecture participant name text addendum.

91. The process of claim 63, further comprising the process actions of:

inputting annotations associated with a currently displayed presentation slide sent by a lecture participant over the network; and

optionally displaying the participant annotations on the currently displayed slide in a summarized form.

92. The process of claim 91, wherein the process action of inputting lecture participant annotations comprises an action of inputting an indication as to what line of text in the currently displayed presentation slide the annotations pertain to, and wherein the process action of displaying the menu bar sector of the slideshow window, comprises an action of displaying a view menu item which when selected using said selection device causes a list of annotation viewing options to be displayed in the slideshow window comprising an annotation summary option which when selected in a first state causes a summarization of the lecture participant annotations to be displayed adjacent the line of text of the currently displayed presentation slide that they pertain to, and when selected in a second state disables the display of the summarization of the lecture participant annotations in the currently displayed presentation slide.

93. The process of claim 92, wherein the process action of inputting annotations associated with a currently displayed presentation slide sent by a lecture participant over the network comprises an action of inputting annotations chosen by the lecture participant from a list of pre-established comments, and wherein the process action of displaying a summarization of the lecture participant annotations comprises an action of displaying only the pre-established comment received most often for a line of text in the currently displayed presentation slide.

94. The process of claim 92, wherein the process action of inputting annotations associated with a currently displayed presentation slide sent by a lecture participant over the network comprises an action of inputting annotations chosen by the lecture participant from a list of pre-established responses to a poll, and wherein the process action of displaying a summarization of the lecture participant annotations comprises an action of displaying the responses to the poll with the number of participants sending that response being displayed adjacent that response.

95. The process of claim 92, wherein the process action of displaying a summarization of the lecture participant annotations comprises an action of displaying a number indicating how many lecture participant annotations have been received to date in connection with the a of text of the currently displayed presentation slide, and wherein the actual annotations are stored and accessible by the presenter.

96. The process of claim 63, wherein the process action of displaying the slideshow window further comprises an action of displaying a control bar comprising a pair of presentation slide control buttons which when selected respectively cause the next presentation slide of the presentation, if any, to be displayed in the slide sector of the slideshow window and the immediately preceding presentation slide of the presentation, if any, to be displayed in the slide sector of the slideshow window.

97. The process of claim 96, wherein the control bar further comprises a presentation slide selection field which lists a name assigned to the currently displayed slide in the slide sector, and which has a selection icon adjacent the field which when selected causes a list of the names assigned each of the presentation slides making up the presentation to be displayed in the slideshow window in the order from top to bottom in which they are scheduled to be displayed, and wherein when a name is selected from the list of presentation slide names, the presentation slide associated with that name is displayed in the slide sector of the sideshow window.

98. The process of claim 96, further comprising an action of broadcasting annotations entered by the presenter via the computing device employed to broadcast the presentation slide data wherein, when enabled, the annotations are displayed in a blank space displayed in the slide sector of the slideshow window in lieu of a presentation slide, and wherein the control bar further comprises a button which when selected in a first state enables the display of presenter annotations in the blank space displayed in the slide sector of the slideshow window, and when selected in a second state disables the display of presenter annotations in the blank space and causes a presentation slide to be displayed in the slide sector.

99. The process of claim 96, further comprising an action of broadcasting annotations entered by the presenter via the computing device employed to broadcast the presentation slide data and wherein, when enabled, the annotations are displayed either (i) on a currently displayed slide of the presentation, or (ii) in a blank space displayed in lieu of a presentation slide, and wherein the control bar further comprises a button which when selected clears all the annotations added by the presenter in association with the currently displayed slide of the presentation if a slide is being displayed, and if a space which was initially blank is currently being displayed, clears any annotations added in that space by the presenter.

100. The process of claim 96, wherein the control bar further comprises a button which when selected in a first state causes the currently displayed presentation slide which was previously sized to occupy 100 percent of the slide sector of the slideshow window to be resized such that it then occupies a prescribed lesser percentage of the slide sector and is displayed in a prescribed area of the slide sector, and when selected in a second state causes the currently displayed presentation slide which was previously sized to occupy less than 100 percent of the slide sector to be resized to occupy 100 percent of the sector.

101. A process for participating in an interactive, educational lecture from a site remote from the site where the lecture is being presented or at the site where the lecture is being given, comprising:

multicasting A/V data captured by an A/V equipment set resident at the participating site using a computing device that is in communication with the A/V equipment set and which is one of a plurality of computing devices, each of which is in communication with the same distributed computer network, and one of which is located at the participating site, and wherein the A/V data is multicast over the network to the site where the lecture is being presented and other remote sites where one or more people have gathered to participate in the lecture;

receiving A/V data multicast over the network from the site where the lecture is being presented and the other remote sites where one or more people have gathered to participate in the lecture using the computing device;

receiving broadcasted presentation slide data associated with the lecture over the network using the computing device;

rendering the A/V data received from the lecture site and each remote site and playing the rendered A/V in a presence window displayed on one or more displays located at the participating site which are viewable by an audience at that site; and

rendering the presentation slide data received over the network and displaying presentation slides associated therewith in a workspace window displayed on one or more displays located at the participating site which are viewable by the audience at that site.

102. The process of claim 101, wherein the participating site'"'"'s computing device comprises a graphical user interface including a display, user interface selection device and user interface data entry device, in addition to a slideshow interface computer program used to implement a slideshow process comprising the process actions of:

displaying a slideshow window comprising a plurality of sectors on the display;

inputting data and implementing commands entered by a representative resident at the participating site using the slideshow window sectors via said selection and data entry devices to receive and display a slide presentation.

103. The process of claim 102, wherein the process action of displaying the slideshow window comprises an action of displaying a menu bar sector of the slideshow window comprising a plurality of menu items used to access commands associated with receiving and displaying the slide presentation.

104. The process of claim 103, wherein the process action of displaying the menu bar sector of the slideshow window, comprises an action of displaying a options menu item which when selected using said selection device causes a list of options to be displayed in the slideshow window, wherein the list of options comprises a role option which upon selection causes a sub-list of options to be displayed in the slideshow window comprising a viewer option which when selected by the participating site'"'"'s representative allows only those menu item commands and options that are applicable to the participating site to be selectable.

105. The process of claim 104, wherein the process action of displaying the menu bar sector of the slideshow window, comprises an action of displaying a venue address menu item which when selected using said selection device causes a list of prescribed venue addresses to be displayed in the slideshow window, wherein the participating site'"'"'s representative selects a venue address from the venue addresses list prior to connecting to the venue, wherein the selected address corresponds to the pre-established venue for the lecture.

106. The process of claim 105, wherein the process action of displaying the menu bar sector of the slideshow window, comprises an action of displaying a file menu item which when selected using said selection device causes a list of file commands to be displayed in the slideshow window, wherein the list of file commands further comprises:

a connect command which when selected connects the participating site'"'"'s computing device to the network; and

a disconnect command which is active only when said computing device is connected to the network and which when selected disconnects said computing device from the network.

107. The process of claim 106, wherein the list of file commands further comprises a command to request all the slides of the slide presentation which when selected causes the participating site'"'"'s computing device, if it is connected to the network, to send a request to the venue address associated with lecture to rebroadcast it.

108. The process of claim 106, wherein the list of file commands further comprises a command to request a currently displayed slide which when selected causes the participating site'"'"'s computing device, if it is connected to the network, to send a request to the venue address associated with lecture to rebroadcast the presentation slide data associated with the currently displayed slide.

109. The process of claim 103, further comprising a process action of receiving annotations generated by the presenter of the lecture and broadcast over the network, using the participating site'"'"'s computing device, said annotations intended to be either displayed (i) on a currently displayed slide of the presentation in the workspace window, or (ii) in a blank space displayed in the workspace window in lieu of a presentation slide.

110. The process of claim 109, wherein the process action of displaying the menu bar sector of the slideshow window, comprises an action of displaying a view menu item which when selected using said selection device causes a list of viewing options to be displayed in the slideshow, wherein the list of viewing options comprises an option which when selected in a first state enables rendering and displaying the received annotations in the workspace window, and when selected in a second state disables the rendering and displaying of the received annotations in the workspace window.

111. The process of claim 110, further comprising a process action of receiving cursor data broadcast over the network, using the participating site'"'"'s computing device, said cursor data, once rendered, allows a cursor to be displayed over either (i) a currently displayed slide of the presentation in the workspace window, or (ii) a blank space displayed in the workspace window in lieu of a presentation slide, and which moves as specified by the presenter, and wherein the list of viewing options further comprises an option which when selected in a first state enables the rendering and display of the received cursor data, and when selected in a second state disables the rendering and display of the received cursor data.

112. The process of claim 110, further comprising a process action of receiving highlighting data broadcast over the network, using the participating site'"'"'s computing device, said highlighting data, once rendered, causes portions of a currently displayed slide of the presentation in the workspace window to be highlighted, and wherein the list of viewing options further comprises an option which when selected in a first state enables the rendering and display of the received highlighting data, and when selected in a second state disables the rendering and display of the received highlighting data.

113. The process of claim 103, wherein the process action of displaying the menu bar sector of the slideshow window, comprises an action of displaying a window menu item which when selected using said selection device causes a list of sizing commands to be displayed in the slideshow window, wherein the list of sizing commands comprises an aspect ratio command which upon selection causes a sub-list of pre-defined aspect ratios to be displayed in the slideshow window, and wherein the selection of a particular aspect ratio from the sub-list of aspect ratios causes the height and width of a slide sector of the workspace window used to display the presentation slides to take on that aspect ratio.

114. The process of claim 113, wherein the list of sizing commands further comprises a slide size command which when selected causes a sub-list of pre-defined slide sizes having a maximum size of 100 percent to be displayed in the slideshow window, and wherein the selection of a particular slide size dictates how much of the slide sector of the slideshow window is filled with a displayed presentation slide

115. The process of claim 114, wherein the list of sizing commands further comprises a slide centering command which is selectable whenever the selected slide size is less than 100 percent, and which when selected allows the participating site'"'"'s representative to specify where in the slide sector the presentation slide is to be displayed.

116. The process of claim 115, wherein the process action of the participating site'"'"'s representative specifying where in the slide sector the presentation slide is to be displayed, comprises selecting the vertical and horizontal positions of the presentation slide from a set of pre-defined vertical and horizontal positions that are displayed when the slide centering command is selected.

117. A learning system for providing an interactive, educational lecture, comprising:

a plurality of computing devices, each of which is in communication with the same distributed computer network, and located at a site where a presenter of the lecture is located and each site where an individual participating in the lecture is located;

an equipment set for capturing audio and video (A/V) at the presenter'"'"'s site and providing it via a computing device resident at the site to the network, wherein one of the A/V equipment sets is resident at the presenter'"'"'s site and wherein other ones of the A/V equipment sets are respectively resident in at least some of the remote sites; and

wherein

the computing device in communication with the A/V equipment set resident at the presenter'"'"'s site further comprises a A/V computer program having program modules executable by the computing device, wherein the computing device is directed by the program modules of the A/V computer program to,

multicast A/V data captured by the A/V equipment set resident at the presenter'"'"'s site over the network;

subscribe to A/V data multicast from remote sites via the network, and

render and play the A/V data received over the network from the remote sites; and

wherein

another one of said computing devices which is resident at the presenter'"'"'s site is dedicated for use by an assistant to the presenter and comprises a question management computer program having program modules executable by the computing device for directing the computing device to receive questions from an individual lecture participant and provide answers to the questions over the network; and

wherein

 

one of said computing devices is resident at each site where an individual participating in the lecture is located and comprises a question submission computer program having program modules executable by the computing device, wherein the computing device is directed by the program modules of the submission computer program to submit questions to the presenter'"'"'s assistant and received answers in response.

118. The system of claim 117, wherein the program modules for an individual participant to submit questions to the presenter'"'"'s assistant and received answers in response, and for the presenter'"'"'s assistant to receive questions from an individual participant and provided answers thereto are accomplished using an instant messaging client program, and wherein an instant messaging server program is resident on a computing devices which is also in communication with the said distributed computer network.

119. The system of claim 118, wherein the instant messaging server program is resident on the computing device in communication with the A/V equipment set resident at the presenter'"'"'s site.

120. The system of claim 118, wherein the individual lecture participants and the presenter assistant computing devices are in communication with the network and are running the instant messaging client program, and wherein the program module for an individual participant to submit questions to the presenter'"'"'s assistant comprises a sub-module for sending the question as an instant message to the presenter'"'"'s assistant and the program module for the presenter'"'"'s assistant receiving questions from an individual participant comprises a sub-module for receiving the question as an incoming instant message.

121. The system of claim 120, wherein the program module for the presenter'"'"'s assistant provided an answer to an individual participant comprises a sub-module for sending the answer as an instant message to the inquiring individual participant, and wherein the program module for the inquiring individual participant to received answers from the presenter'"'"'s assistant comprises a sub-module for receiving the answer as an incoming instant message.

122. The system of claim 120, wherein the individual participant questions and/or the presenter'"'"'s assistant answers thereto are sent during the lecture.

123. The system of claim 120, wherein the individual participant questions and/or the presenter'"'"'s assistant answers thereto are sent after the lecture is completed.

124. The system of claim 118, wherein the question management computer program further comprises a program module for managing the incoming questions prior to providing answers.

125. The system of claim 124, wherein the program module for managing the incoming questions comprises a sub-module for modifying a question prior to providing an answer to it.

126. The system of claim 124, wherein the program module for managing the incoming questions comprises a sub-module for combining questions into a single restated question prior to providing an answer to the restated questions and sending it to all the individual participants responsible for sending each of the questions that were combined.

127. The system of claim 124, wherein the program module for managing the incoming questions comprises a sub-module for discarding the question and not proving an answer thereto.

128. The system of claim 124, wherein the presenter has more than one assistant, and wherein one of said computing devices is dedicated for use by each additional assistant and each of these computing devices comprises said question management computer program, and wherein the program module for managing the incoming questions comprises a sub-module for a presenter assistant receiving a question to discuss the question with other presenter assistants via an instant messaging chatroom, prior to at least one of the presenter assistants providing an answer to the question.

129. The system of claim 128, wherein program module of the question submission computer program for submitting questions to the presenter assistant comprises a sub-module for allowing the individual participant submitting a question to choose which of the assistants the question is sent to.

130. The system of claim 128, wherein program module of the question submission computer program for submitting questions to the presenter assistant comprises a sub-module for permitting the individual participant submitting a question to submit the question only to the group of presenter assistants in general and not to a particular one of the assistants, and wherein the instant messaging server program comprises a program module for holding each question sent by an individual participant in a question queue, and wherein the program module of the question management computer program for receiving questions from an individual lecture participant comprises a sub-module for requiring a presenter assistant to access the question queue and download the question from the queue.

131. The system of claim 128, wherein program module of the question submission computer program for submitting questions to the presenter assistant comprises a sub-module for permitting the individual participant submitting a question to submit the question only to the group of presenter assistants in general and not to a particular one of the assistants, and wherein the instant messaging server program comprises a program module for brokering the incoming question to one or more of the presenter assistants.

132. The system of claim 124, wherein another one of said computing devices is dedicated for use by the lecture presenter and comprises a presenter'"'"'s computer program having program modules executable by the computing device for directing the computing device to receive questions using an instant messaging client program that have been forwarded from a presenter assistant, and wherein the program module of the presenter assistant question management program for managing the incoming questions comprises a sub-module for forwarding an incoming question, in its original or in a modified form, to the lecture presenter.

133. The system of claim 132, wherein the presenter responds to a forwarded question as part of the lecture.

134. The system of claim 132, wherein the presenter provides an answer in response to a forwarded question directly to the inquiring individual lecture participant via an instant message.

135. The system of claim 132, wherein the sub-module for forwarding an incoming question, in its original or in a modified form, to the lecture presenter is executable solely by a pre-established one of the presenter assistance, thereby allowing questions to be forwarded to the presenter only by that pre-established assistant.

136. The system of claim 124, wherein another one of said computing devices is dedicated for use by the lecture presenter and comprises said question management program, and wherein the presenter can act in the role of a presenter assistant in receiving, managing and answering question sent by an individual participant.