It takes our technicians a good day's work to set up and many more days to learn how to use effectively. On the other hand, Internet based videoconferencing system is easy to set up and only requires a small camera and inexpensive application software such CUSeeMe or NetMeeting. One of the drawbacks of such system is the limitation of the bandwidth. The quality of the sound is varies according to the Internet traffic and also the connection environment. However, users can communicate sufficiently by using keyboard.
Internet can help providing learners a good self-access learning environment.
Needless to say this does not replace or substitute teachers. We could record all scripts. In this project, our students studying Japanese communicated with Japanese students studying English in Japan through weekly sessions. The sessions are conducted with keyboard. The difference being users can see the partners on the monitor.