Computer Science

Incorporating a significant amount of technology into a classroom is an important, but extremely difficult task. In this paper we describe the next generation of the UCSB digital classroom, called the Collaborative Technologies Lab (CTL). The primary goal of the CTL is to investigate the challenges of deploying technology for technology’s sake. We feel that without the ability to deploy a large amount of technology and offer robust functionality, the whole idea of enhanced learning environments becomes marginalized.

As more universities and research institutions develop digital classrooms, a common theme is arising: the need to manage complexity. As more technology is added to a classroom in order to facilitate the presentation, transmission and recording of digital media, the complexity of the environment increases dramatically.

There exists a huge demand for multimedia goods and services in the Internet. Currently available bandwidth speeds can support sale of downloadable content like CDs, e-books etc. as well as services like video-on-demand. The only constraints in the e-content market are availability of resources (server capacity and bandwidth) and consumer demand. In this paper, we develop an analytical framework to price on-demand content based on these constraints. We consider a system where a server handles requests for content on a First-Come-First-Served (FCFS)basis.

One of the new applications evolving in the Internet is streaming audio/video. A major reason for its growing popularity is interest in the compelling new services that become possible. Prototype services are being developed which are new to the Internet but offer the same look, feel, and functionality that have traditionally only been found in services delivered via other communication medium, e.g. broadcast television. In addition, the Internet is evolving to offer ``value-added’’ services, like streaming audio/video with VCR-style interactivity and embedded hyperlinks.