UNIFIED M-LEARNING MODEL THROUGH INTERACTIVE EDUCATION SATELLITE: A PROPOSAL FOR AN ARAB HOMELAND EDUCATION SATELLITE Unified M-Learning Model through Interactive Education Satellite A Proposal for an Arab Homeland Education Satellite doi:10.3991/ijim.v5i2.1600 Ghassan F. Issa, Shakir M. Hussain and Hussein Al-Bahadili Petra University, Amman, Jordan Abstract—in this paper, we propose a unified and interactive mobile learning (M-Learning) model to help with expanding and spreading education in the Arab Homeland countries. The model utilizes a new competitive spot beam satellite communication technology, which enables efficient channel allocation, where communication channels can be allocated to specific and precise areas. The proposed model is referred to as the interactive Arab education satellite (IAESat).The communication satellite can efficiently and effectively cover the entire Arab Homeland and reaches a wide area and mo- bile users that cannot be reached otherwise. The model im- plements existing interactivity components to enhance the learning process and meet international standards in educa- tion. Index Terms—E-Learning, M-Learning, interactive learn- ing, education satellite, spot beam communication. I. INTRODUCTION Electronic learning (E-Learning) is about the transmis- sion of learning content using communication and infor- mation technologies (CIT). Conventional learning in- volves identifying of information, conceptualizing, and making meaning to enhance user’s knowledge base, un- derstanding and skills, as well as finding the time and space for learning is left to the individual [1, 2]. The total E-Learning solution comprises the integration of three elements: content, technology and services [3]. This con- cept is also underpinned by the assumption that learners will be responsible for the cognitive tasks that will lead to learning. In E-Learning, the information and communication systems, whether networked or not, serve as specific media to implement the learning process, and content is delivered via the Internet, Intranet/Extranet, audio or video tape, satellite TV, and CD-ROM. It can be self- paced or instructor-led and includes media in the form of text, image, animation, streaming video and audio. E- Learning definition abounds to [4]:  The convergence of the Internet and learning, or Internet-enabled learning.  The uses of network technologies to create, foster, deliver, and facilitate learning, anytime and any- where.  The delivery of individualized, comprehensive, dy- namic learning content in real time, aiding the devel- opment of communities of knowledge, linking learn- ers and practitioners with experts.  A phenomenon delivering accountability, accessibil- ity, and opportunity to allow people and organiza- tions to keep up with the rapid changes that define the Internet world.  A force that gives people and organizations the com- petitive edge to allow them to keep ahead of the rap- idly changing global economy. E-Learning is also known as distance learning (D- Learning) [5]. However, a recent form of learning, namely, mobile learning (M-Learning) was introduced due to the tremendous advancement in Internet technologies, and the exponential growth in the processing power, availability, and affordability of wireless mobile devices while becoming more affordable.[6, 7]. The Arab-Homeland consists of 22 countries occupying an area close to 10 millions Km2 and housing more than 350 millions citizens. Figure (1) shows the geographical maps for the Arab-Homeland, and Table (1) lists the name, area, population, population density, the gross domestic product (GDP), and income per capita (IPC) for all Arab-Homeland countries [8]. When examining the figures in Table (1), differences in area, population, popu- lation density, GDP, and IPC, between Arab countries appear quite obviously. Many of the Arab-Homeland countries have large areas with low population, meaning that the population is wide spread over large areas of land. The GDP of Saudi Arabia close to 600 billions compared to Comoros Island with only 0.7 billions. However, many countries have low GDP and therefore lack proper education. Overall, the annual GDP of the Arab countries is exceeding 2.5 Trillions. Ta- ble (1) also shows that the IPC is ranging from $90149 in small country like Qatar to $6347 large country like Egypt. With its diverse demography, the Arab Homeland constitutes an excellent example for launching mobile- based education to provide education to all people in such diverse area. However, providing mobile education re- quires high performance connectivity for remote locations in countries with large area, small population, and with low income. This would be infeasible through conven- tional technologies due to high initial and operating costs. Therefore, the most obvious solution is to use the newly evolving approach that is based on establishing connec- tivity through interactive satellite system. In this paper, in order to enhance, meet the needs of, and widen the edu- cation system in all Arab countries, we propose a unified and interactive M-Learning model that utilizes a satellite- based communication channels, which is referred to it as the interactive Arab-Homeland education satellite (IAE- 26 http://www.i-jim.org http://dx.doi.org/10.3991/ijim.v5i2.1600� UNIFIED M-LEARNING MODEL THROUGH INTERACTIVE EDUCATION SATELLITE: A PROPOSAL FOR AN ARAB HOMELAND EDUCATION SATELLITE Sat). This model looks very promising as it can provide education anywhere anytime efficiently and cost- effectively. This section provides an introduction to the general domain of this paper. The rest of the paper is organized as follows: Section 2 reviews previous experiences in using satellite-based education. In addition, in Section 2, some advanced satellite communications technologies are dis- cussed. The unified M-Learning model and the main components of the proposed IAESat are discussed in Sec- tion 3. Section 4 describes the operation procedure and lists the advantages of IAESat. Finally, in Section 5 con- clusions and recommendations for future work are pointed-out. Figure 1. The geographical map of the Arab-Homeland. TABLE I. LIST OF ARAB-HOMELAND COUNTRIES AND THEIR AREAS, POPULATIONS, POPULATION DENSITIES, GDP, AND IPC. Country Area (Km2) Population Population Den- sity GDP ($ Billion) IPC Bahrain 750 1 234 596 1646 28.275 27214 (2009) Kuwait 17820 3 566 437 167.5 140.589 3984 (2010) Oman 309550 2 845 000 9.2 74.431 25984 (2009) Qatar 11437 1 696 565 123.2 102.147 90149 (2010) Saudi Arabia 2149690 257 313 766 12 618.744 23701 (2010) Arab Emirates 83600 4 675 593 97 182.876 40175 (2010) Yemen 555000 23580 000 44.7 58.218 2457 (2009) Gaza Strip 360 1604235 4118 0.77 3100 (2009) Iraq 438317 31234000 71.5 111.5 3570 (2009) Jordan 92300 6407085 56.4 35.3 5956 (2010) Lebanon 10452 4224000 404 58.576 14988 (2010) Syria 185180 22505000 118.3 105.238 5043 (2009) Egypt 1002450 79089650 82.3 469.604 6347 (2010) Algeria 2381740 35423000 14.6 255.189 7104 (20010) Mauritania 1030700 3291000 3.2 6.326 2037 (2009) Libya 1759541 6420000 3.6 96.138 14884 (2010) Morocco 710850 32200000 71.6 193.15 48886 (2010) Tunisia 163610 10432500 63 86.086 8254 (2009) Sudan 2505810 43939598 16.9 54.681 2464 (2010) Somalia 637657 9359000 14.6 5.731 600 (2009) Djibouti 23200 818159 37.2 1049 2549 (2010) Comoros Island 2235 691000 275 722 1159 (2009) Total 13041549 852550184 4454.569 iJIM – Volume 5, Issue 2, April 2011 27 UNIFIED M-LEARNING MODEL THROUGH INTERACTIVE EDUCATION SATELLITE: A PROPOSAL FOR AN ARAB HOMELAND EDUCATION SATELLITE II. REVIEW OF PREVIOUS EXPERIENCES This section presents an overview of three satellite based educational programs, namely, the Italian satellite (ItalSat) [9], the Indian national satellite (InSat) system [10], and the Indian educational satellite (EduSat) [11]. An overview on recent advances in satellite communications technologies is provided here. Furthermore, since the pro- posed solution can be embedded with existing satellite projects such as the Arab satellite (ArabSat) and the mul- timedia exchange network over satellite (MENOS) hub [12]. A. Satellite-based educational programs Three well-known satellite-based educational programs are briefly described below, one adopted by the Italian government, and the other two adopted by the Indian gov- ernment. 1) Italian Experience in ItalSat The concept of multiple spot beam communications was successfully demonstrated in 1991 with the launch of ItalSat [8, 9], which is a satellite-based education program developed by the Italian Research Council (IRC). With six spot beams operating at 30 GHz (uplink) and 20 GHz (downlink), the satellite interconnects TDMA transmis- sions between ground stations in all the major economic centers of Italy. It does this by demodulating uplink sig- nals, routing them between up- and downlink beams, and combining and remodulating them for downlink transmis- sion. In ItalSat, laser beams can also be used to transmit sig- nals between a satellite and the earth, but the rate of transmission is limited because of absorption and scatter- ing by the atmosphere. Lasers operating in the blue-green wavelength, which penetrates water, have been used for communication between satellites and submarines. 2) Indian Experience in INSat The Indian National Satellite System (INSat) is a series of multipurpose geo-stationary satellites launched by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to satisfy the telecommunications, broadcasting, meteorology, education and search and rescue needs of India [8, 10]. Commissioned in 1983, INSat is the largest domestic communication system in the Asia Pacific region. It is a joint venture of the Department of Space, Department of Telecommunications, India Meteorological Department, and India Radio and Doordarshan. The overall coordination and management of INSat system rests with the secretary-level INSat Coordination Committee. InSAT satellites provide 199 transponders in various bands (C, S, Extended C and Ku) to serve the television and communication needs of India. Some of the satellites also have the Very High Resolution Radiometer (VHRR), CCD cameras for metrological imaging. The satellites also incorporate transponder(s) for receiving distress alert signals for search and rescue missions in the South Asian and Indian Ocean Region, as ISRO is a member of the Cospas-Sarsat program. 3) Indian Experience in EduSat With the success of the InSat-based educational ser- vices, a need was felt to launch a satellite dedicated for educational service and ISRO conceived the EduSat pro- ject in October 2002 [8, 11]. EduSat is the first exclusive satellite for serving the educational sector. It is specially configured to meet the growing demand for an interactive satellite-based distance education system for the country through audio-visual medium, employing Direct-To- Home (DTH) quality broadcast. The 1950 kg EduSat is launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota, into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) by ISRO’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Ve- hicle (GSLV). From GTO, EduSat reaches the 36,000 Km high Geo-Stationary Orbit (GSO) by firing, in stages, its on board Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM). In GSO, the satel- lite is co-located with KALPANA-1 and INSat-3C satel- lites at 74° east longitude. EduSat carries five Ku-band transponders providing spot beams, one Ku-band trans- ponder providing a national beam and six extended C- band transponders with national coverage beam. It joins the InSat system that already has more than 130 trans- ponders in C-band, extended C-band and Ku-band provid- ing a variety of telecommunication and television ser- vices. B. Advances in satellite communications technologies Through the last decades, there has been tremendous development in satellite communications technologies [13, 14]. Satellite communications started with using mul- tiple access based mainly on time division multiple access (TDMA), moving to bandwidth reuse through the use of spot beams, then the extraordinary hopping technology, and finally the low orbit systems technology. A brief defi- nition for each of these technologies is provided below and further details can be found in [13, 14]. 1) The Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) Technology Communications satellite systems have entered a period of transition from point-to-point high-capacity trunk communications between large, costly ground terminals to multipoint-to-multipoint communications between small and low-cost stations. The development of multiple access methods has both hastened and facilitated this transition. Satellite communication technology was based on using the TDMA technique for user allocation on the communi- cation channel. With TDMA, each ground station is as- signed a time slot on the same channel for use in transmit- ting its communications; all other stations monitor these slots and select the communications directed to them. By amplifying a single carrier frequency in each satellite re- peater, TDMA ensures the most efficient use of the satel- lite's onboard power supply. 2) The Bandwidth Reuse through Spot Beam Technology A spot beam is a satellite signal that is specially con- centrated in power normally sent by a high-gain antenna so that it will cover only a limited geographic area on Earth. Beam widths can be adjusted to cover areas as large as the entire United States or as small as a state like Mary- land. In addition, satellite antennas have been designed to transmit several beams in different directions using the same reflector. Spot beams are used so that only earth stations in a par- ticular intended reception area can properly receive the satellite signal. Spot beams allow satellites to transmit different data signals using the same frequency. Because satellites have a limited number of frequencies to use, the ability to re-use a frequency for different geographical locations (without different data interfering with each 28 http://www.i-jim.org UNIFIED M-LEARNING MODEL THROUGH INTERACTIVE EDUCATION SATELLITE: A PROPOSAL FOR AN ARAB HOMELAND EDUCATION SATELLITE other at the receiver) allows for more local channels to be carried, since the same frequency can be used in several regions. 3) Frequency Hopping Technology A method for interconnecting many ground stations spread over great distances was demonstrated in 1993 with the launch of NASA's Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS). The satellite uses what is known as the hopping spot beam technique to combine the advantages of frequency reuse, spot beams, and TDMA. By concentrating the energy of the satellite's transmitted signal, ACTS can use ground stations that have smaller antennas and reduced power requirements. 4) Low Orbit Technology The latest development in satellites is the use of net- works of small satellites in low earth orbit (2000 Km or less) to provide global telephone communication. The Iridium system, for example, uses 66 satellites in low earth orbit, while other groups have or are developing similar systems. Special telephones that communicate with these satellites allow users to access the regular tele- phone network and place calls from anywhere on the globe. Anticipated customers of these systems include international business travelers and people living or work- ing in remote areas. C. The MENOS Hub MENOS is a revolutionary networking concept used to exchange multimedia content over satellite [12]. It is in- tended primarily for professional broadcasters, allowing them to share video and audio material among several sites scattered across a large geographical area. It has been designed to provide these broadcasters not only with the fastest and most cost-effective technologies to perform the media exchange, but also with a complete range of tools to facilitate the related coordination tasks and improve peo- ple collaboration across the network. In traditional satellite contribution systems, television and radio material is exchanged as real-time transmissions from one ground station to another. This requires the res- ervation of a satellite segment for fixed time duration, a manual line-up procedure, and expensive uplink equip- ment. At the receive site, the transferred material needs to be used on the fly or recorded. The coordination between the two stations, or between the stations and the network operating center, must typically be done via terrestrial or mobile telephony. MENOS is fundamentally different with IP as the core- protocol, all exchanged material transmits through a cen- tral hub station, which also provides permanent two-way satellite IP connectivity among all remote stations. The multimedia content can be transmitted in real-time or be transferred as data files. It can also be retained in the cen- tral hub station for archiving and later access by other stations. The reservation of the bandwidth and the line-up procedure are automatic and the uplink stations are smaller and much less expensive than traditional systems. In general, the two-way IP connectivity is ideal for voice over IP (VoIP) coordination channels, e-mail exchange, Intranet and Internet access and other collaboration tools. 1) MENOS System Architecture A MENOS system consists of a redundant central plat- form (hub) connected to a number of remote sites, each equipped with a satellite interactive terminal (SIT). The terminal is able to transmit or receive data to and from the hub. The data can be exchanged between the hub and the terminal or between two terminals via the hub. From the terminal to the hub, the data is transmitted either on a dedicated single channel per carrier (SCPC) carrier, or on a return channel shared dynamically in time and frequency with other terminals. Low rate data, such as Internet and Intranet exchanges, VoIP, radio exchange and low bit rate file transfers, are typically sent using the multiple fre- quency time division multiple access (MFTDMA) chan- nels, while real time television transmission and fast file transfers are operated in SCPC. All transmissions are first received by the central hub. If necessary, the transferred material can be automatically archived in the central hub for later use by the remote sta- tions. Data is transferred from the hub to the stations on one of two MFTDMA multiplex carriers, i.e., multiple channel per carrier (MCPC). The first one regroups all the video transfers and the second one regroups the Internet data, the file transfers and the VoIP calls. Different types of MENOS remote stations are avail- able, depending on the type of applications performed at the remote site.  Data SITs only provide data and VoIP connectivity and can be used for Internet, Intranet, VPNs, and in- teractive collaboration tools  Radio SITs provide all the service of a Data SIT in addition to radio exchange services  Television SITs provide all the service of a Data SIT in addition to television exchange services MENOS terminals can also be integrated into mobile units, in the form of digital satellite news gathering (DSNG) trucks or flyaway kits. III. THE PROPOSED INTERACTIVE ARAB EDUCATION SATELLITE (IAESAT) This section provides a description of the proposed in- teractive Arab education satellite (IAESat) for all Arab Homeland countries. The proposed solution can be ac- complished as a new project or can be embedded with existing projects such as ArabSat and MENOS hub. A. The IAESat model The generic framework of the unified M-Learning model described in [15] is used in IAESat as this frame- work was developed a generic methodology for building a satellite TV based Interactive M-Learning (STV-IML) system. The framework consists of three major compo- nents; these are: 1. Centralized Broadcasting Center (CBC), which con- sists of several sub-components such as live and re- corded broadcasting facility, earth station, a satellite channel connected to a well-known satellite, video servers, and video storage devices, web servers, short-message-session (SMS) servers, and so forth. 2. Client side (educational site), where several educa- tional sites can be connected to the CBC and can share the resources for reception and broadcasting of educational material. The typical setting required by an educational site is minimal and consists of a satel- lite dish connected to a set top box with Digital Video Recorder (DVR). It may require Internet con- iJIM – Volume 5, Issue 2, April 2011 29 UNIFIED M-LEARNING MODEL THROUGH INTERACTIVE EDUCATION SATELLITE: A PROPOSAL FOR AN ARAB HOMELAND EDUCATION SATELLITE nection. An educational site can operate its own me- dia production and auditing units. A mobile broad- casting van can also be used for live and mobile broadcasting and live event coverage. 3. Communication and broadcasting channels: Four types of communication channels were proposed in the STV-IML framework for broadcasting, reception, and interaction, namely, interactive channel, download channel, satellite reception on client side, and satellite broadcasting. In order to implement the unified M-Learning model, first it is required to establish a satellite broadcasting ca- pabilities by constructing an earth station connected to a spot beam satellite. A broadcasting center and a produc- tion and auditing centers are to be established and may well be integrated with a centralized M-Learning center managed by educational sites. Viewers can interact with education programs using available interactivity compo- nents. B. Components of IAESat The proposed IAESat educational satellite consists of the following main components: 1. Communication satellite with spot beaming technol- ogy 2. Remote stations with VSAT terminals 3. Main hub station with archiving capabilities 4. Centralized broadcasting station 5. Centralized content development and class schedul- ing 6. Distributed and mobile broadcasting stations 7. Interactive and non-interactive class rooms Figure (2) depicts the main components and configura- tion of the proposed system and in what follows a brief description is given for each component. 1) Communication satellite with spot beam technology IAESat is based on using spot beam technologies be- cause they enable IAESat to deliver more local channels to specific, precisely defined areas, which improves its ability to compete with cable broadcasters. The communi- cation satellite uses beams that cover the entire Arab Homeland. To provide local broadcast coverage, channels intended for only one local area are scrambled so users elsewhere cannot view them. The new spot beam satellites are designed to project spot beams at selected areas, al- lowing the same radio frequencies to be reused in different areas, thus increasing the channel capacity. For example, by focusing over a very small area, like Amman, the fre- quency can be reused in several other places like Bagh- dad, Cario, Riyad, etc. Where these cities are used as ex- amples, and will not actually share the same spot beam frequency. With highly powerful spot beam satellites, we can direct different spot beam projections to the Arab Homeland and deliver a lot more local programming to those specific areas. Each spot beam can have an ap- proximate diameter of 500 Km, making them powerful satellites. Figure 2. The main components of the IAESat. 30 http://www.i-jim.org UNIFIED M-LEARNING MODEL THROUGH INTERACTIVE EDUCATION SATELLITE: A PROPOSAL FOR AN ARAB HOMELAND EDUCATION SATELLITE 2) Remote stations with VSAT and SIT terminals A typical remote station constitutes an interactive re- ceiving end (classroom) consisting of a variety of com- ponents such as a satellite dish, special satellite receiver, computers, router, multimedia equipment, E-Learning software. The two distinguish components that can be used as remote stations are: the Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) and the Satellite Interactive Terminal (SIT) which are explained below:  VSAT is a low cost business terminal with small antenna. It is a two way data terminal or one-way data link depending on the situation. The most common VSAT configuration is the Time Division Multiplexing (TDM)/TDMA star network. VSAT has a high bit rate outbound TDM carrier from the hub to the remote earth stations, and one or more low or medium bit rate TDMA inbound carriers. Remote user sites have several low bit rate Data Terminal Equipments (DTEs) operating at 1.2 to 9.6 Kbits/s. These are connected through the VSAT network to a centralized host processor.  SIT is a satellite receiver with broadband Internet connection. The multiplexer of SIT exchanges video content with the multiplexer of the MENOS hub for: o Live TV contribution/distribution (reserved channel). o High speed streaming on reserved channel or best effort file transfer. o Store and forward: short time storage in the SIT or long term archiving in the network hub. These exchange sessions are synchronized and activated automatically by the hub’s Multimedia Reserva- tion Server (MRS). The TV SIT is connected to the MENOS hub via two satellite subsystems: a Multiple Frequency TDMA (MF-TDMA) broad- band subsystem for data and voice communica- tion, and a Reservation Access Multiple Access (RAMA) subsystem for video and fast file trans- fers. 3) Main hub station with archiving capabilities Part of the VSAT network, is the hub, which is a cen- tralized high performance earth station (with an antenna of up to 9 m in diameter). The proposed communication network is constructed using a STAR topology with the hub at the center of the star. The hub plays an important role in enhancing the performance and efficiency of the proposed M-Learning systems, as:  The hub is considered as the heart of communica- tion between the satellite and the remote stations.  All stations are connected to the hub at all times.  The hub provides remote stations with broadband internet services, and voice services.  The hub works as a centralized operational center that provides collaboration and media exchange between connected remote sites. It also performs automatic configuration of transmission and multi- plexing of transmitted signals for live broadcasting from one station to other stations.  The hub can be used to broadcast programs to all the connected stations, or it can be used to direct specific programs to specific stations utilizing the spot beam technology in the satellite.  All types of broadcast are archived at the hub fa- cilities for later use.  Any remote station that requires communication with a different station must go through the hub fa- cilities first. 4) Centralized broadcasting station Located at the center of the star network along with hub facilities, this station broadcasts the unified E- Learning material to the rest of the network. Broadcasts include live classes as well as pre-recorded E-Learning material. This center contains an archive of all produced material and exchanged media. Any member station can search through the central station contents, whether archived or live, and can join the sessions. The hub fa- cility decodes the contents to make it available for the client station. 5) Centralized content development and scheduling Since the objective of this project is to produce and distribute unified E-Learning materials to member edu- cational institutions, it is very important to establish a centralized commission for the purpose of organizing content development using well-document quality pro- cedures. The core responsibilities of the commission include:  Solicitation of highly qualified lecturers in the re- gion  Subject coordination and syllabus creation  Adjustment of syllabus based on feedback  Maintain copyrights and quality of produced mate- rials  Production of actual live or pre-recorded lessons  Arranging for online examinations  Produce statistics and research studies, and organ- ize conferences  Develop and maintain live-lessons schedules 6) Distributed and mobile broadcasting stations These stations are owned by individual countries, universities, or any interesting institutions. These sta- tions can also help members of this education system with developing and producing their own specialized materials, and communicate with the main hub through, for example, the orbiting satellite, which then re- transmit the signals to the specified destinations. 7) Interactivity and non-interactive classrooms User interaction is an important component and fac- tor that needs to be carefully considered in designing and building a M-Learning system, like IAESat. This is because it targets wide and different categories of users of different backgrounds. Fortunately, the enormous advancement in hardware and software technologies enable system developer to build a system that can meet all rage of users, services, and applications interactivity. Interactivity components may include TV-based technologies; such as: traditional TV, interactive TV (ITV), and IP based TV (IPTV). To be truly interactive, the viewer must be able to alter the viewing experience or return information to the broadcaster. This "return path" or "back channel" can be established by iJIM – Volume 5, Issue 2, April 2011 31 UNIFIED M-LEARNING MODEL THROUGH INTERACTIVE EDUCATION SATELLITE: A PROPOSAL FOR AN ARAB HOMELAND EDUCATION SATELLITE telephone, mobile SMS (text messages), radio channels, digital subscriber line (ADSL), cable channels, etc [15]. Satellite viewers can return information to the broadcaster via their regular telephone or ADSL lines or other data communication technologies [15]. They will be charged for this service according to the national billing standard. Further discussion on user interaction technologies can be found in [15]. IV. OPERATION OF IAESAT All operations of the IAESat go through the main hub which constitutes the heart of the star network. Signals and broadcast requests leaves broadcast stations directly to the orbiting satellite, which in turns send those sig- nals to the hub to determine their destinations. The hub sends the signals back the satellite with proper destina- tion information. The satellite using its spot beam ca- pabilities, resend the signal to the proper destination. The main features of the proposed project include:  Use of advanced satellite communication technologies, namely, the spot beam technologies, which enables customization and personalization of satellite communication and reuse of satellite frequencies.  Use of VSAT terminals is an easy and non- expensive solution to build remote classes.  Use of star network with a hub station has several advantages such as overcoming the limitations with time sharing, transmission configuration.  Establish a high commission on E-Learning insures proper management of production and distribution of contents using quality standards. V. CONCLUSIONS This paper presented a description of a unified M- Learning model through interactive education satellite to widen education in the Arab Homeland States, which is referred to as IAESat. The model utilizes the new spot beam satellite communication technology to ensure allocation and customization of local channels to spe- cific and precisely defined areas. Using spot beam tech- nology improves the satellite capability to compete with other existing wire and wireless communications tech- nologies. The communication satellite can efficiently and cost-effectively cover the entire Arab Homeland and reaches a wide area and mobile users that cannot be reached otherwise. The model also implement advanced interactivity component to meet the standards of the learning process. REFERENCES [1] Sarojni Choy. Benefits of E-Learning Benchmarks: Australian Case Studies. The Electronic Journal of E-Learning (EJEL), Vol. 5, Issue 1, pp. 11 – 20, 2007. [2] Evelyn K. Kahiigi, Love Ekenberg, Henrik Hansson, F. F. Tusubira, and Mats Danielson. Exploring the E-Learning State of Art. Electronic Journal of E-Learning (EJEL), Vol. 6, Issue 2, pp. 149-160, 2008. [3] P. Henry. E-Learning Technology: Content and Services. Jour- nal of Education and Training, Vol. 43, No. 4, pp. 249-255, 2001. doi:10.1108/EUM0000000005485 [4] Marguerite Leanne Koole. "The Framework for the Rational Analysis of Mobile Education (FRAME) Model: An Evaluation of Mobile Devices for Distance Education". Master Thesis, Athabasca University, Alberta-Canada, 2006. [5] D. S. Sethy. Learning at a Distance through Mobile Devices: A Global Choice of Learners in the Open and Distance Learning (ODL) System. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 83-95, 2011. [6] Norbert Pachler (Editor). Mobile Learning: Towards a Research Agenda. WLE Centre, Institute of Education (IOE), London, 2007. [7] Korneliya Yordanova. Mobile Learning and Integration of Advanced Technologies in Education. Proceedings of the International Conference on Computer Systems and Technologies (CompSysTech 07), pp. IV.23-1-6, 2007. [8] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_League. Last visited on 16/03/2011. [9] http://www.italsat.it. Last visited on 16/03/2011. [10] http://india.gov.in/sectors/science/indian_national.php. Last visited on 16/03/2011. [11] http://isro-news.blogspot.com/2010/08/edusat.html. Last visited on 16/03/2011. [12] http://www.arabsat.com/pages/Default.aspx. Last visited on 16/03/2011. [13] Gerard Maral andMichel Bousquet. Satellite Communications Systems: Systems, Techniques and Technology. John Wiley, 5th Edition 2009. [14] Bruce R. Elbert. Introduction to Satellite Communication. Artech House, Inc., 3rd Edition 2008. [15] Ghassan F. Issa, Shakir M. Hussain and Hussein Al-Bahadili, "A Framework for Building an Interactive Satellite TV Based M-Learning Environment", International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies (iJIM), Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 19-24, 2010. [16] M. S. Islam, J. B. Alam and S. M. L. Kabir. “Satellite Based Internet Education Delivery and E-Learning Objects Evalua- tion: SOI Asia and Codewitz Perspective. Proceedings of the International Conference on Teaching and Learning (iCTL 2007), INTI International University College, Malaysia, 15-16 November, 2007. AUTHORS Ghassan F. Issa (gissa@uop.edu.jo). He received his B.E.T degree in Electronic Engineering from the Uni- versity of Toledo, Ohio, in 1983, and B.S.EE in Com- puter Engineering from Tri-State University, Indiana in 1984. He received his M.S. and Ph.D. in Computer Science from Old Dominion University, Virginia, in 1987 and 1992 respectively. He was a faculty member and department chair of Computer Science at Pennsyl- vania College of technology (Penn State) from 1992 – 1995. He also served as faculty member and the dean of Computer Science at the Applied Science University in Amman, Jordan from 1995-2007. Currently he is an associate professor and the dean of Computer Science at Petra University in Amman, Jordan. His research inter- est covers block cipher, and authentication. Shakir M. Hussain. He received his B.A. degree in statistics from University of Al-Mustansiriyah, Iraq, in 1976 and M.Sc. degrees in Computing and Information Science from Oklahoma State University, USA, in 1984. In 1997 he received the Ph.D. degree in Computer Science from University of Technology, Iraq. From 1997 to 2008 he was a faculty member at Applied Sci- ence University, Jordan. Currently, he is a faculty member of Information Technology at Petra University, Jordan. His research interest covers block cipher, key generation, authentication, and data compression. He is a member of ACM. Hussein Al-Bahadili received his B.Sc degree in Engineering from University of Baghdad in 1986. He 32 http://www.i-jim.org http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000005485� http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_League� http://www.italsat.it/� http://india.gov.in/sectors/science/indian_national.php� http://isro-news.blogspot.com/2010/08/edusat.html� http://www.arabsat.com/pages/Default.aspx� UNIFIED M-LEARNING MODEL THROUGH INTERACTIVE EDUCATION SATELLITE: A PROPOSAL FOR AN ARAB HOMELAND EDUCATION SATELLITE received his M.Sc and PhD degrees in Engineering from University of London in 1988 and 1991, respectively. His field of study was parallel computers. He is cur- rently a faculty member of Information Technology at Petra University, Jordan. He is a visiting researcher at the Wireless Networks and Communications Centre (WNCC) at University of Brunel, UK. He is also a visit- ing researcher at the Centre of Osmosis Research and Applications (CORA), University of Surrey, UK. He has published many papers and book chapters in differ- ent fields of science and engineering in numerous lead- ing scholarly and practitioner journals, and presented at leading world-level scholarly conferences. His research interests include parallel and distributed computing, wireless communications, computer networks, cryptog- raphy and network security, data compression, image processing, and artificial intelligence and expert sys- tems. Received March 16th, 2011. Published as resubmitted by the au- thors March 24th, 2011. iJIM – Volume 5, Issue 2, April 2011 33