Results of the DOMITEL project
Participants in the Domestic Interactive Telematic Education and Learning project (DOMITEL), funded within the framework of the EU's Telematics Applications research programme, have recently released a report giving a broad overview of progress made so far. The aim of the project is to develop cable television for home-based learning. This report explains the background to the project and why cable television could be used as a basic infrastructure in a home learning environment. The verification of the viability of cable television for this purpose is also described. Building the foundations of the project and the move from general to more particular functional specifications are also documented in the report. One chapter is devoted to the preconditions and pitfalls that must be met and overcome to guarantee the future of the project. This examines the roles of the various actors, best suited alliances, economic forces, economies of scale, legal and regulatory issues and further areas of research. The report concludes that cable television networks for interactive educational services do work, and can contribute significantly to lifelong learning in an accessible and economic fashion. The approach developed in the project could be used by local authorities and educational institutes to design and implement interactive learning services.