The video collaboration system developed by Cytek Media Services of Topeka,
Kansas is often refrred to as the "IDL model" and sites using
this model as "IDL sites".
Cytek actually worked with several collaborators, including among others
the South Central Kansas Education Network (SCKEN) and the Kansas Distance
Learning Consortium (KDLC) during development, and experimented with several
alternative solutions.
This current version of the IDL model offers several valuable capabilities:
4-way connectivity
Each classroom is connected directly to up to 3 other classrooms simultaneously,
so that each classroom "sees" each of the other 3 classrooms.
(This is sometimes referred to as "full mesh" connectivity.)
full-screen views
Each classroom sees each other classroom as a full-screen image, rather
than as part of an image on a partitioned screen.
continuous presence
Each classroom sees each other classroom continuously; there is no "screen
switching".
remote camera control
The instructor can control the cameras in remote classrooms on-the-fly.
simple instructor controls
Instructors control the system using a very simple interface composed
of either mechanical buttons or a computer touch-screen.
These systems typically operate over H.323 connections at 768Kbps, so
that individual schools need only 3Mbps connections to Kan-ed to conduct
4-way classes.
The feature set of this model was arrived at through community discussion,
experimentation, and systematic comparisons weighed against the economic
and technical constraints then facing the community of potential users.
