Distance Education

CURRENTLY UNDER DEVELOPMENT

North Carolina Information Highway (NCIH)

What is NCIH? – The North Carolina Information Highway (NCIH) is an interactive, two-way video network that connects universities, colleges, secondary schools, medical centers, and other agencies throughout the state. Robeson Community College is a participant on the NCIH with a state-of-the-art video classroom.The network is a two-way, fully interactive, full-motion video and audio system connecting specially designed classrooms in participating institutions. Using the telecommunications technology enables an instructor and students in distance learning classrooms at an institution to hear, see, and talk to students in comparable equipped classrooms at other locations. The simultaneously interactive environment means that an instructor and all students remain in visual and verbal communication at all times during a class.

The classroom in which the instructor is located is the host site. The classroom(s) to which a host site transmits is (are) called the remote or receive sites.

Each classroom on the NCIH contains equipment which may be similar to the following:

• Overhead-mounted document camera to display visual material and serve as an “electronic chalkboard”.
• Camera in the back of the room, focused on the instructor.
• Camera in the front of the room, focused on the students.
• Ceiling microphones to transmit audio (some sites have desk microphones).
• Monitors in the front of the room for student viewing of each remote site, any material displayed by means of the document cameras, or a tape in the VCR.
• VCR to play recorded tapes or record lesson/activity at either site.
• Phone/fax/copy machine to transmit hard copy between sites (quizzes, homework, instructions, etc.) .
• Control station to select specific cameras.