Technologies to Support Collaborative Learning over the Multimedia Home Platform

T-learning —the provision of educational services over Interactive Digital TV— is regarded as a complement to e-learning solutions, whose scope is limited due to the digital divide. The increasing connectivity, together with the fact that IDTV users are no longer passive spectators, permits to start thinking on highly interactive services that support fluid communication among users and service providers. This may enhance the prospects of learning at home, as long as the current offer is mostly based on broadcast content, with scarce use of return channels for feedback. This paper proposes an extension to the Multimedia Home Platform standard, aimed at providing better support for collaborative learning services. We describe an architecture for such services and a selection of freely available technologies for their implementation. We also discuss the possible market implications of our approach, as the ideas presented here contribute to openness in the field of IDTV services.