Media for Learner Support

 Overview

We can support our learners through many media in addition to direct face-to-face contact. In many instances, using media other than face-to-face contact (which may itself be considered as a medium) is vital if we are to provide adequate support to our learners, since opportunities for face-to-face contact may be very limited or non-existent.

Although media are generally first thought of in connection with their direct teaching functions, their role in learner support is equally important in open and distance learning.

Media can be used to support learners in two distinct ways:

•      As part of the learning materials, design features can be built in to help the learner negotiate his or her way through the learning process and the subject content (for example, by using a helpful, interactive style of writing and materials design).

•      By providing a channel for tutorial, counselling, and administrative support, separate from and complementary to the study material, media can contribute to the support functions which open and distance learning systems need to provide.

Indeed, as in other areas, the functions of learner support and teaching can overlap in the use of media.

These materials support a discussion on the capabilities of the various media that are used in open and distance learning and which media are best suited to defined instructional and learner support tasks and organisational settings.

 

Sources materials for this topic

Bates, T. Technology in open learning and distance education: a guide for decision-makers. Vancouver: Commonwealth of Learning and Open Learning Agency, 1991.

Bates, T. Technology, open learning, and distance education. London: Routledge, 1995.

Mason, Robin. Using communications media in open and flexible learning. London: Kogan Page, 1994.

Rowntree, D. Preparing materials for open, distance, and flexible learning. London: Kogan Page, 1994.

Simpson, O. Dialogue through other media, Unit 12 in Adult learning and communication in distance education, Course 3 of M.A. in Distance Education. London: University of London and International Extension College, 1992.

 Technologies used in open and distance learning 

The number of new technologies introduced into open and distance learning and open learning over the last ten years or so has expanded rapidly. These technologies now include:

•      print (mechanical and electronic publishing);

•      radio (one-way, interactive, and two-way);

•      audio cassettes;

•      telephone teaching, including audio conferencing;

•      television (broadcast, satellite, and cable);

•      video cassettes;

•      video conferencing;

•      computer-mediated communication;

•      computer-based learning; and

•      multimedia.

Print

Despite the enormous range of media from which distance educators have to choose, print continues to be the most frequently chosen medium for open and distance learning programmes. Why this predominant position?

Here are some possible reasons:

•        Print is less costly to produce than most other media.

•        Print requires less time to produce than most other media.

•        Print materials are highly portable.

•        Print materials require no other device to read them.

•        Print materials can be accessed in any order desired.

•        Print materials can be read at a pace determined by the reader.

•        Print materials can be annotated by the reader.

There are, of course, things books cannot do, which is why distance educators wherever possible tend to integrate other media with print.

Discussion: Ask your participants to provide examples of the kinds of teaching tasks that books and other print materials are not able to perform, such as teaching comprehension and speaking skills in a foreign language, or providing examples of performance in drama, music, or dance.

Radio

•      Radio has proven to be a cost-effective medium for education.

•      Most radio is one-way transmission. Examples of two-way radio for education do exist, however.

Examples: The well-known outback schools in Australia linked learners and teacher by radio transceivers. See the case study provided with this kit for the Open Access College in Australia, which is still serving this population with high-frequency radio links.

Interactive Radio Instruction (iri) broadcasts incorporate teacher-led activities with children in the classroom.

Wawatay Communications in northern Ontario, Canada, broadcasts secondary-level course programming to learners in isolated aboriginal communities who listen to the broadcasts while following along with their print materials, and can ask questions of the radio instructor on air by telephone.

•      Radio programmes can be expensive to develop, but are cost effective if spread over large enough listening audiences.

•      Radio requires adequate transmission and reception, power supply, and air-time.

•      Radio is most effective when integrated with print and tutorials.

Example: Radio ecca in Spain (headquartered in the Canary Islands) and radio schools throughout Latin America employ an effective three-cornered educational format, consisting of regularly scheduled radio broadcasts, printed workbooks and other materials, and weekly, community-based, face-to-face tutorials.

Audio cassettes

•      Audio cassettes are an easy medium to work with, in that they do not inhibit or intrude upon the learning process.

•      Cassettes are convenient. They allow learners to choose where and when they will listen.

•      Learners can match their listening to their own learning pace.

•      Cassette recordings should be designed in a way that takes advantage of the human voice, its modulation, stress, inflection, humour, and sense of ‘presence’.

•      Cassettes are most effective when integrated with print and other media, especially a guide that outlines the topic and contents of the taped programme.

Example: Audio cassette lessons can help learners develop note-taking skills. The audio teacher demonstrates, the learner stops the tape and practises the skill, and then restarts the tape to listen to the feedback provided by the teacher.

•      Audio lessons are a central part of second-language learning in many open and distance learning programmes.

Example: See the case study in this kit for the University of Guyana, Institute of Distance and Continuing Education, as an example of an institution that uses audio cassettes as part of its learning materials packages.

Telephone

Use of the telephone in distance teaching takes two main forms:

•     one-on-one telephone tutorials; and

•     audio conferences that link learners at several sites with each other and with an instructor who may be at any of the sites.

Audiographics technologies add a visual component and a focal point to audio conference sessions, using equipment that is provided at each site. This equipment may consist of items such as:

•      computers;

•      electronic whiteboards;

•      graphics tablets; and

•      light pens for writing to computer screens, tablets, or whiteboards.

This equipment is relatively easy to use and operate. It is only as good as the audio link, however, and relies on good telecommunication infrastructure.

The telephone is not recommended for lectures, or for any monologue-type delivery that lasts for more than 10 to 15 minutes.

Example: See the case studies in this kit for the Open Access College in Australia, the University of Guyana, and the Indira Gandhi National Open University for examples of institutions that use audio teleconferencing in their programmes.

Television

•      Educational television can be delivered via:

• broadcasts;

• satellite feed; and

• cable feed.

•      Satellite and cable programming can also incorporate interactive elements, such as linking classrooms via video and audio or via one-way video, two-way audio, in which learners watching the programme can ask questions on air by telephone.

•      When appropriately designed, educational television programming takes full advantage of the features of the medium: sound, motion, text, and colour.

•      High-quality programming is expensive to develop and requires a large listening audience to make it cost effective.

•      Educational uses of television tend to take second place to entertainment uses. Broadcast slots tend to be at times inconvenient to learners, such as early in the morning or late at night.

•      Broadcasts should always be accompanied by print-based topic outlines to guide and focus learners’ attention and reduce the need for them to divide their attention between viewing and note-taking.

Example: See the case study included in this kit for the Indira Gandhi National Open University, as an example of an institution that uses television extensively in its programming.

Video

Video cassettes

•      As with audio cassettes, video cassettes are easy to use and are under the learner’s control in terms of pace and place of use.

•      Learners with access to video recording equipment tend to record the educational broadcasts that are part of their learning package and watch them at their convenience.

•      Most educational programmes that incorporate television into their learning packages make cassettes available to learners who cannot receive the broadcasts.

•      Video cassettes, like broadcasts, should always be accompanied by print-based topic outlines to guide and focus learners’ attention and reduce the need for them to divide their attention between viewing and note-taking.

Video conferencing

•      Video conferencing takes the linking of classrooms one step further by compressing the video signal so that it can be transmitted over telephone lines.

•      In this way learners at a number of sites can be linked via close-to-full motion video (transmission is usually slightly delayed).

•      Video conferencing comes closest to replicating the classroom setting at a distance.

•      It is also the most expensive conferencing medium, and is most effectively used when the learning situation requires full-motion, synchronous visuals with accompanying audio.

•      Video conferencing like audio conferencing relies on a good telecommunications infrastructure.

Example: Learners in a number of colleges in East Anglia are studying massage therapy at a distance via video conferencing.

Four university campuses in Romania are linked via video conferencing to provide professional development for physicians in the latest developments in diagnosis and treatment of a variety of medical conditions.

The Indira Gandhi National Open University uses one-way video with two-way audio. See the case study included in this kit for a description.

Computers

Computer-mediated communication

•      Computer-mediated communication for education involves primarily electronic mail, computer conferencing, and access to the resources of the World Wide Web.

•      Increasingly learning via computer-mediated communication, or cmc, is coming to be labelled ‘networked learning’.

•      Electronic mail (e-mail) replaces the telephone and post as a means of connecting learners and teachers.

•      Computer conferencing is basically a sophisticated and dedicated e-mail system that links learners together with each other and with tutors or instructors to share information and discuss issues arising from the learning materials, along with capabilities such as archiving, keyword searching, ‘threading’ or tracking of messages.

•      Computer conference participants can read others’ contributions and make their own contributions at their own pace and place, without the need to travel to a learning centre. This assumes that they have the appropriate computer hardware, including modem and Internet connection, and software.

•      Since computer conference communication is text-based, learners need relatively sophisticated skills in reading and writing, as well as in computer-mediated communication skills such as uploading and downloading messages.

•      Like the other telecommunications-based technologies, computer conferencing relies on a solid infrastructure, not of telephone lines alone but preferably of high-speed lines that can provide fast and reliable Internet connectivity.

Example: See the case studies in this kit for Deakin University, which is creating ‘electronic communities’ using e-mail and computer conferencing, and for Murdoch University, which is integrating telecommunications media into all its programming.

Computer-based learning

•      Computer-based learning (cbl) is a generic term for the various kinds of stand-alone, that is, non-networked, learning applications that involve computer software.

Examples: Athabasca University in Canada has developed computer-assisted learning packages to provide learners with extra information, as well as drill and practice in English grammar and word usage skills.

The Faculty of Medicine at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand has a range of computer-based learning packages available in topic-specific areas such as the circulatory and respiratory systems.

•      Computer-based learning packages that are effective learning tools and that take full advantage of the text, graphics, and animation capabilities of the authoring software now available are relatively expensive to design, and need to be used by a large number of learners to make them cost-effective.

Multimedia

•      Multimedia learning technologies involve the whole range of audio, visual, text, and graphics media available, integrated into a package that has been effectively designed from an instructional point of view.

Example: A learning package might include a computer-based learning platform and a cd-rom that provides full-motion video and high fidelity sound clips along with text and graphics.

Learners with full access to the World Wide Web can take advantage of the entire range of audio, video, text, graphics, and database information that is being made available via this medium. See the case study included in this pack for the Open Learning and Information Network in Canada, which is using the World Wide Web for its programming.

 A model for choosing appropriate technologies and media 

The salient factors to be considered when deciding on the use of technology for teaching can be summarised in the simple acronym actions (Bates 1991):

The actions Model for Selecting Media

A	Access	Where will learners learn — at home, at work, at local centres? ‘A’ also stands for ‘availability’ and ‘affordability’.
C	Costs	What are the capital and recurrent costs? Which costs are fixed and variable?
T	Teaching functions	What are the presentational requirements of the subject? What teaching and learning approaches are required?
I	Interaction and user-friendliness	Do learners and teachers require a great deal of training to use this technology?
O	Organisation	What changes in organisation will be required to facilitate the use of a particular technology?
N	Novelty	To what extent will the ‘trendiness’ of this technology stimulate funding and innovation? To what extent will use of this technology enhance learner interest and motivation?
S	Speed	How quickly and easily can material be updated and changed? How quickly can new courses be produced using this technology?

Access

Factors to be considered when evaluating access include the following.

•     Who is the target group? Who are the priority target groups to be served?

• learners denied access to conventional institutions?

• disadvantaged or equity groups?

• the unemployed?

• the working poor?

• workers needing upgrading or further qualifications?

•       What is the most appropriate location for this learning? For example,

• at home?

• in a local centre dedicated to open learning?

• at a local public education institution that shares its facilities?

• at work?

•      Which technologies do learners have available to them?

•      What proportion of potential learners have access to a particular technology?

•      If you make the use of a particular technology optional for learners, is it worth using at all?

Costs

Some important distinctions to be made between and among the various technologies available in terms of their costs.

What are the capital costs?

Television and computing, for example, require high initial capital expenditure -- a computing network or mainframe, a television studio and equipment.

What are the recurrent costs?

Television, for example, also has high recurrent costs because of the production staff needed to operate the capital equipment.

What are the fixed production costs?

Fixed costs for producing one hour of teaching material have been estimated as follows:

•      face-to-face lecture                                          1 unit

•      audio cassette/radio/teleconference                  2 units

•      televised lecture                                          2 to 5 units

•      computer-mediated communication         2 to 5 units

•      print                                                         2 to 10 units

•      high-quality television programme         20 to 50 units

•      pre-programmed computer-based learning              20 to 50 units

•      computer-controlled video disc                 50 to 100 units

Will there be large numbers of enrolments over which to spread any high fixed costs?

Can the materials be used for a number of years, thereby spreading the costs?

What are the variable costs?

For example, if audio cassettes are used, then the delivery costs vary in direct proportion to the number of students.

Technologies vary considerably in their fixed and variable costs:

•      audio cassettes and radio have low fixed and low variable costs;

•      face-to-face teaching, computer-mediated communication and tutor-mediated courses have low fixed costs but high variable costs;

•      good quality broadcast television has high fixed costs and low variable costs; and

•      pre-programmed computer-based learning and video discs have both high fixed and high variable costs, if work stations are to be provided.

Some of the newer interactive technologies such as computer conferencing and audiographics reduce fixed costs but have high variable costs, which make them suitable only for courses with relatively low student numbers.

Broadcast distribution is likely to be uneconomical for national distribution with less than 500 students per course for radio or less than 1,000 students per course for television.

Teaching functions

Media differ in the extent to which they can represent different kinds of knowledge. Most media can handle abstract knowledge, but some such as television are excellent for representing concrete knowledge. The representational possibilities of a medium like television are particularly important for non-academic learners, who often require concrete examples or demonstration rather than abstract theory. However, this form of television — which is symbolically very rich — is much more expensive to produce than televised lectures, which can be equalled symbolically by audio plus printed notes.

Media also differ in the extent to which they can help develop different skills. This is related to the control characteristics and the representational features of the medium. For example, computers are excellent for presenting and testing rule-based procedures, or areas of abstract knowledge in which answers are clearly correct.

Course designers, therefore, need a good understanding of what is required to teach a particular subject, and knowledge of the pedagogic strengths and weaknesses of the different media.

Interaction, user-friendliness, and control

Learners have much more control over permanent technologies such as books, cassettes, and computers than over ephemeral technologies such as lectures or broadcasts. This control enables learning from media to be much more effective.

Interactivity is the learner’s ability to respond in some way to the teaching material, and obtain comment or feedback on the response — considerably increases learning effectiveness. There are two kinds of interactivity:

•       learning material interactivity: learners’ interaction with the medium; the level and the immediacy of feedback the medium itself provides; the extent to which the medium will accommodate learners’ own input and direction; and

•       social interactivity: learners’ interaction with teachers and with each other via the medium.

The following table categorises different media used in open and distance learning according to whether they offer one-way or two-way communication; that is, social interactivity.

Media Categorised as One-Way or Two-Way Communication

	Audio	Radio	Video	Television	Computers
One-way	Cassettes	Educational radio	Cassettes	Educational television	Games
	Audiovision	Interactive radio instruction	Clubs		Computer-assisted learning
					Web based instruction
					Databases
					Bulletin boards
Two-way	Telephone tutoring	Two-way instructional radio		Video conference	Computer conference
	Audio conference			Interactive television	Computer- mediated communication
	Audio- graphics

Organisational issues

The existing technological infrastructure within a country or an institution is a major factor in influencing media selection. For example, if an existing broadcast network is under-used, it is much easier to introduce television for open and distance learning purposes.

On the other hand, the need to exploit an existing technology can also be a very conservative influence on media choice.

Existing funding arrangements for course production are another important factor. For example, it is often difficult to shift funds from existing, ‘traditional’ technologies to newer technologies, because of the threat to existing budgets and power bases.

Innovation in this area depends essentially on ‘champions for change’ at a high level, such as that of vice-chancellor or dean. However, those in influential positions may sometimes champion a technology because it is new or ‘leading edge’ even though it may not be an appropriate choice for the programme in question.

Novelty

Caution is well-advised if the pressure to use new media comes from a desire for novelty or status. For example, audio cassettes combined with print can be a very low-cost and effective medium, but it is often easier to get funding for new uses of technology because they are more spectacular.

Novelty may be an important criterion in a highly competitive market, however. The fact that your programme looks ‘leading edge’ because it is using the latest in multimedia technology may make it more attractive to learners who have a choice between your programme and several others that use only one or two more ‘traditional’ media.

Speed

Open and distance learning programmes are plagued by the problem of time, specifically:

•      the time it takes to produce a course; and

•      the time a course must continue to be offered without changes once it is produced.

In some subject areas, such as public policy or information technology, courses need to be put on quickly and easily updated. Electronic publishing can enable relatively minor changes to be made, but the initial design process is still time consuming.

Some of the more interactive technologies such as audio conferencing and computer conferencing do allow for a quick development of a course and continuous updating.

 General points about technology in teaching 

A number of generalisations can be made about using technologies in teaching.

•      Media are flexible: what can be achieved educationally through one medium can usually be achieved through any other medium given enough imagination, time, and resources.

•      Professional production and design are important: each medium has its own aesthetic, and a different range of production skills necessary to exploit its unique features.

•      There is no ‘super-medium’: all technologies have their strengths and weaknesses.

•      Good teaching is important: effective instructional design applies to the use of any medium for teaching.

•      Balance variety with economy: the aim should be to use a limited range of media to maximise learning effectiveness, minimise cost, and a balance of both by convenience and ease of use to both learner and teacher.

Discussion: In terms of using media for learner support, what media are available to participants in their institutions? You might wish to involve participants in the following activity:

•       Elicit the available media onto a flipchart or board.

•       Allocate a different medium to each pair of participants.

•      Ask each pair to assess the appropriateness of that medium for providing support to the learners in their programmes, according to the ACTIONS framework.

•      Have pairs report their conclusions to the group as a whole.

 Media choice checklist 

Once you have provisionally selected the media you wish to use, ask yourself the questions in the media choice checklist.

Media Choice Checklist

q    Have you been able to argue a convincing case for your choice of media?

q    Have you considered how media might be combined? For example, print plus audio or class sessions with pre-read material.

q    Do you have the expertise to make worthwhile use of your chosen media? If not, how soon can you develop it?

q    Will you have enough personal control over your media? Or will you have to depend on media professionals?

q    Will your learners be able to use your chosen media conveniently and without undue cost to themselves?

q    Will your learners have positive feelings about your chosen media, and do they have the learning skills to use them?

q    If you plan to use non-print media, have you considered how print material might be used in support?

q    If you plan to use ‘human media’ (for example, tutors or mentors), are you confident that suitable people will be available and willing to help?

q    If you plan to have your learners do practical work, carry out workplace activities, or pursue projects, can you ensure that they do so safely, conveniently, and effectively?

q    Will your choice of media not require you to cut back on some other, more desirable, aspect of what you might provide for learners?

q    Have you managed to avoid the following:

-      deciding on a medium before you have thought through your learners’ needs and the content of the teaching?

-      using a medium because it is available or urged upon you by someone else?

-      choosing a high-tech medium in the belief that it will automatically be more effective than a simpler one?

Discussion: Here is an activity in which you might wish to involve participants at this point. Divide participants into pairs. Ask each participant to describe and explain to his/her partner the kinds of media applications that

•      are currently being used for learner support in his/her working context;

•      could be used in this context for learner support if certain conditions were met, and what these conditions are;

•      could not be used for learner support in this context in the foreseeable future, and the reasons why.

 Guidelines for providing interactive learner support using media

Providing support to learners using some medium such as audio conferencing or computer-mediated communication requires the tutor or counsellor pay attention to a range of features that are characteristic of that medium, and use them to advantage. The features of four kinds of mediated interaction with learners that are common in open and distance learning are described below.

Teletutorials

Teletutorial is another term for ‘audio conference’; that is, a group tutorial which happens, not face-to-face, but rather by means of a conference that is made possible by linking a number of learning sites simultaneously using telephone connections. Typically learners and tutor communicate without seeing each other, except for those learners who are at the same site.

Teletutorials are most likely to succeed when the following conditions are present.

Course and programme design

•      Teletutorials are planned as part of the entire course design and are not a last-minute ‘add-on’.

•      They are held regularly, at least monthly.

•      The same group is retained throughout the series of teletutorials.

Pre-planning

•     Prior face-to-face contact or personal communication has been made.

•     The tutor has background knowledge of participants, including their teleconferencing experience, and uses that knowledge.

•     Learners are made aware of the intended structure of the tutorial.

•     Instructions and agendas are clear and comprehensive.

•     Learners have prepared for the session by completing assigned readings and other tasks.

•     Supportive material like tables and diagrams are sent ahead and clearly annotated.

•     The tutor is conversant with the equipment and aware of its capabilities.

Making arrangements

•      The tutor and learners are in an environment they find conducive to learning.

•      All references, etc. are readily available.

•      At remote sites, one person serves as local animateur or facilitator and spokesperson for the group.

•      There is backup in case the tutor is unavailable because of illness.

•      Adequate advice is given to responsible parties to ensure an accurate call list.

•      Learners are given an explanation if the call does not eventuate.

Technical considerations

•      All participants are promptly connected.

•      They remain connected throughout the tutorial.

•      Audio quality is clear and sustained.

•      Any problems with equipment or line quality are reported to the telecommunications co-ordinator.

Conducting the tutorial

•     The tutor uses connection time to establish introductions and set up a more personal approach.

•     The tutor is relaxed.

•     The tutor ensures there is variety in task and tone.

•     Time is managed to allow for all the planned goals to be achieved.

•     An appropriate balance is achieved between conceptual and management issues.

•     The tutor manipulates the discussion with tact and sensitivity.

•     Silences are allowed for and not seen as threatening.

Involving learners

•      Learner participation is monitored and an attempt is made to ensure some parity over several teletutorials.

•      In early sessions, learners identify themselves as they make comments.

•      Direct exchanges between learners are encouraged.

•      Learners contribute readily but not simultaneously.

•      Constant attention is given to turn-taking, and maintenance of a courteous and polite atmosphere in which no one is left out or allowed to monopolise the discussion.

•      Teachers use frequent questioning, to ensure that each participant is following the session and remaining involved, with use of discussion rather than lectures.

•      Any presentations are kept to a maximum of seven minutes.

•      Follow-up:

• There is willingness to follow up with written material (bibliographies, etc.) where appropriate.

• Tutors are willing to answer individual or complex queries by later call or letter.

• Tutors and learners evaluate their performances and build on this for later teletutorials.

 Audiographics

Graphics technologies or devices are pieces of equipment that create, store and send visual materials such as handwriting, drawings, and still pictures to the linked learning sites by means of telephone connections. An audiographic conference is a technical arrangement in which audio conferencing is supplemented by these devices. Examples of such devices are electronic whiteboards, on which participants write with ‘light pens’. The images drawn in one site will be transmitted almost simultaneously to the other sites; there is usually a slight delay, however.

Here are some conditions for effective use of audiographics in teletutorials.

Class planning and management

•      Each session must be carefully planned to ensure all participants are present at the start and the session should include a variety of teaching styles and activities.

•      Using a drawing game such as Pictionary® for practice sessions with the technology will generate a few laughs and prompt learners to relax with tools which at first can look quite intimidating.

•      The teacher needs excellent class management skills to be able to manage two or more distance classes simultaneously as well as control the equipment.

•      Each class needs an animateur who will shoulder organisational, technical and social responsibilities connected with running the class with audiographics and be a spokesperson for the class.

Technical points

•      The quality of the sound must be high to enable the teacher to pick up cues from the classes and for learners to be able to concentrate and participate.

•      Visuals must be clear, and good pointing or annotation tools must be available, such as underlining, selecting and highlighting, for use by teacher and learners.

•      There must be good facilities for spontaneous graphics during the session, in addition to prepared graphics delivered before the session starts, such as through graphics tablets, preferably with different coloured pens for each site.

•      Graphics need to be legible and simple as opposed to complex, with a larger print size and drawings and text which complement and supplement what people are talking about rather than conflict with it.

 Video conferencing

In a video conference, learners and instructors use microphones, cameras, and other equipment, linked again by telephone connections, to exchange dialogue and moving colour images in order to engage in discussion and exchange messages. All these interactions occur in ‘real time’, that is, learners and instructors are present at the same time and must co-ordinate their schedules.

The equipment required for a video conferenced link includes, at a minimum:

•      a camera;

•      a television monitor (screen);

•      a codec (a device that codes video signals into digital form and decodes digital information into video images);

•      a microphone;

•      a control pad for changing camera angles;

•      the equivalent of two digital telephone lines; and

•      a mechanism for linking the learning sites, called a bridge.

Participants in a video conference can see others in the conference, and be seen by them. Typically the camera will follow the loudest sound; that is, it will focus on whoever is speaking at any given time. It is this person’s image that will be shown on the video monitor at all the linked sites. In addition, many video conference suites include a document camera, which is used to transmit still pictures to all the sites simultaneously, as well as a video camera that can transmit excerpts or clips from video recordings to all the sites.

Because video conference technology offers the advantage of the visual presence of others who are geographically distant, it creates a strong sense of social presence and the possibility of a warm and supportive environment for learning.

Here are some techniques instructors can use to realise the full potential of this technology.

Planning

•      Plan to have a technical facilitator at each site to operate the control pad and, if possible, train these facilitators before the class starts.

•      Think about how the different visual resources will be integrated: the learners, videocassette clips, graphs, diagrams, photographs, and slides.

•      In designing graphics, use pastel coloured paper, keep messages simple, and use large-sized fonts.

Technical points

•      Give some attention to camera use. Experiment with camera angles, shots and visual inserts so that on-screen images are steady, in focus, well-composed, and interesting. Remember that learners are accustomed to high quality camera work on commercial television.

•      If you plan to use graphics, establish two automatic pre-set camera positions, one for the graphics and one for the people.

•      Display text material long enough for a slow reader to process, and display non-text material (for example, a cartoon or photograph) for only three or four seconds.

•      Vary camera shots judiciously. Some camera shots that work particularly well are mid close-up (begin at waist level), full figure shot (entire body), and wide angle (for a group shot).

•      Close-ups do not work well. Although the person may not seem to move much, there is still a lot of motion from the camera’s perspective — eyes blinking, hands moving, note taking, or shifting in chair.

•      Pay attention to lighting. Fluorescent lighting is usually adequate for educational use. Additional soft lighting that highlights faces and breaks up shadows will improve the image.

•      Avoid backgrounds that are too cluttered or have too much white. Also, avoid clothing with stripes or ‘busy’ patterns, as they will cause the camera’s focus to oscillate and the picture will not be clear.

Conducting the video conference

•      Behave as naturally as you can. Sit directly in front of the camera and look at it while you are talking.

•      Do not move too much or too quickly.

•      Review the audio conference guidelines on interpersonal interactions because they are also fundamental to fostering interaction in video conferencing.

•      Expect to participate in two or three sessions before you feel comfortable.

•      Facilitate the technical process by commenting on issues that need to be resolved.

Computer conferencing

In computer conferencing, learners and their instructor are using personal computers that are linked together by telephone lines. Each of these computers has a modem, a ‘hardware’ device which enables the computer to be connected to a telephone line. The computer also has amongst its ‘software’, the programming that has been installed on the computer that enable it to work, a conferencing programme such as ‘Cosy’ or ‘First Class’ that provides instructions and facilities for the user to take part in computer conferences. Conferences are basically extensions of the more familiar ‘electronic mail’. Instead of sending messages to a particular individual, conference participants send messages to a ‘conference’. These messages can then be read by all the other participants in the conference, and only by those participants.

Computer conferences are created and led by a conference moderator, whose job is very similar to that of a facilitator of a face-to-face seminar. It is the conference moderator, for example, who decides who may participate in the conference and who may not. Those whose electronic mail ‘addresses’ are not included on a particular conference list are excluded from joining that conference.

In similar fashion, the learners who are participants in a computer conference have responsibilities similar to those of a participant in a face-to-face or audio conferenced tutorial, of contributing to the discussion both with original contributions and with responses to others’ contributions. The difference is that these contributions are usually not made in ‘real time’. That is, participants in a computer conference can turn on their computer at any time of the day or night, read what others have written or ‘posted’ to a conference since the last time they signed on to the conference, and respond or not as they choose. Several days can elapse between a participant’s posting of a message and getting a response to it.

Here are some guidelines for preparing and facilitating sessions that will work in these contexts:

Technical points and training

•      Ensure that learners have easy and regular access to a computer and modem, as well as to the most cost effective long distance services.

•      Train learners to use the software before they deal with the content of the course.

•      Ensure that a technician is available for support immediately before, during and after your initial series of conferences.

Facilitating the conference

•      Have clear objectives for the interactions. People must feel that their on-line time is well spent.

•      Plan a structure of subconferences that focus on specific topics. Organisation helps to keep messages linked.

•      Keep your messages concise, on-topic, and preferably no longer than one screen, or 10 lines. One idea per paragraph is the maximum.

Fostering participation

•      Introduce yourself and the conference rationale.

•      Have learners introduce themselves to each other.

•      Use informal and courteous responses, directions and questions. They read better than a staccato, formal style.

•      Encourage people to keep up with the messages. Information overload can be daunting.

•      Use learners’ responses constructively. Learners will feel respected and included.

•      Use humour only when you know the group very well.

 Practice exercise 

Legoâ block version of communicating for learning without visual cues

Instructions:

•      Divide your participants into pairs.

•      Ask each pair to sit with their backs to each other, so they cannot see each other.

•      Designate one member of each pair the ‘teacher’ and the other the ‘learner’.

•      Provide each pair with identical sets of blocks (about ten blocks per set is usually sufficient).

•      The ‘teacher’ of each pair is to construct something using all the bricks he or she has been given, at the same time ‘teaching’ the ‘learner’ how to do it. In other words, as the teacher builds a structure, he or she instructs the learner step-by-step how to build the identical structure.

•      Give each pair time to complete their task; about fifteen minutes is usually ample time.

•      Then ask each pair to compare the structures they have constructed.

•      Debrief by having the group as a whole describe and discuss what they learned about communicating for instruction without visual cues. What strategies work? What strategies do not work?

•      The game can be repeated, giving each pair a different set of blocks than they had initially, and asking them to switch ‘teacher–learner’ roles. This time you give them different instructions: only the teacher may talk; the learner may not ask questions or make comments. This task simulates the kind of instruction that happens by radio.

Timeframe: Allow one hour.

Materials: Legoâ bricks.

Paper and pencil version of communicating for learning without visual cues

Instructions:

•      Divide your participants into pairs.

•      Ask each pair to sit with their backs to each other, so they cannot see each other.

•      Designate one member of each pair the ‘teacher’ and the other the ‘learner’.

•      Provide the ‘teacher’ of each pair with a photocopy of a sketch of some kind. Some complex geometric shape that is not easily labelled usually works well. Give the ‘learner’ of each pair a piece of paper and a pencil.

•      The ‘teacher’ of each pair is to teach the ‘learner’ how to draw the sketch, without the ‘learner’ being able to see the original at any time.

•      Give each pair time to complete their task; about 15 minutes is usually ample time.

•      Then ask the members of each pair to compare the results, both with the original and with each other.

•      Debrief by having the group as a whole describe and discuss what they learned about communicating for instruction without visual cues. What strategies work? What strategies do not work?

•      The game can be repeated, giving each pair a different sketch than they had initially, and asking them to switch ‘teacher–learner’ roles. This time you can also give them different instructions: only the teacher may talk; the learner may not ask questions or make comments. This simulates the kind of instruction that happens by one-way radio — no feedback!

Timeframe: Allow one hour.

Materials: Photocopied sketches with paper and pencils.