Internetworking: worldwide multicast of the Hamming Lectures for distance learning

Abstract

The mission of the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is to educate, train and prepare officers for the 21st Century Navy (Austin, 1988). Distance learning, also known as distance education, remote learning or video teletraining, is defined as communication between an instructor and student via some form of telecommunications. Distance learning has the potential to enable dramatic improvements in training and education by providing remote access to high-quality presentations. There is also a potential to multiply training and education benefits, and to provide savings in travel and lost time expenses. This thesis investigates distance learning combined with a new technology known as the Multicast Backbone (MBone). It documents how Dr. Richard Hamming's course 'Learning to Learn' was transmitted world-wide over the Internet's Multicast Backbone (MBone) for an entire quarter. This thesis proves that the MBone is an economically feasible approach that works. This is the first documented attempt to provide complete course coverage with world-wide scope for a full academic quarter using the MBone. Specific lessons learned are included in an MBone user's guide and recommendations for future work.