Deanz slideshow final

Inside the Virtual Classroom: Student views and operational influences DEANZ Conference - April 2012 Garry Falloon and Maria PerssonThursday, 12 April 2012

A two semester, two virtual classroom study... What were students’ views of the eﬀec4veness of the virtual classrooms for suppor4ng interac4on, communica4on and rela4onship development? What factors inﬂuenced students’ ability to use the virtual classrooms for these purposes?Thursday, 12 April 2012

What is a virtual classroom? For this study... “An online synchronous communica4on system where par4cipants are able to engage in virtual mee4ngs and communicate using mul4media services such as streamed audio and video” (Falloon, 2012, p. 6)Thursday, 12 April 2012

The Virtual Classrooms Adobe Connect Pro Wimba-‐Live Classroom (Blackboard Collaborate)Thursday, 12 April 2012

Research context • 22 Postgraduate e-‐Educa4on students (2010-‐11) • Totally online asynchronous (Moodle) • Two half year papers (PROF522: 2010-‐Adobe; 2011-‐ Wimba-‐Live Classroom) • Assessed seminars (analysis of aﬀordances and limita4ons of ODL for a selected learner group)Thursday, 12 April 2012

Research method • Interpre4ve case studies over 2 years • Semi-‐structured interviews • Online Likert survey and short response ques4onnaire (100% comple4on) • Analysis of screen capture videoThursday, 12 April 2012

Findings: themes from data Theme 1. Virtual Classroom inﬂuences on: • Learning community consolida4on (rela4onships) • Communica4on and sharing knowledgeThursday, 12 April 2012

Findings - theme 1 Consolidated rather than established rela4onships: • visuals and audio helped ‘personalise’ rela4onships • nature of contact promoted responsibility and commitment towards others • helped lessen sense of distance (‘feeling of home’) • viewed as an adjunct to asynchronous systemsThursday, 12 April 2012

“I feel that they are not only pictures. I see them as real people. I can talk with them. We talk not only about the learning, we talk about other things like another par4cipant’s cat. I see how they act. In the last week, I didn’t write many comments in Moodle as I’m afraid I’d mistake or something (sic), but a`er I’d ﬁnished that classroom, I went to Moodle and wrote two or three comments including jokes from me because I feel, ‘Oh, they are friendly. It’s OK to make mistakes with them’” (Student B, August 2010).Thursday, 12 April 2012

Themes from data Theme 2. Inﬂuences on students’ ability to interact and communicate in the virtual classrooms • Task • Mul4media usability • Communica4on tool • Technical/logis4calThursday, 12 April 2012

Findings - theme 2Thursday, 12 April 2012

Task influences • Seminars required significant offline prepara4on in advance to support interac4on in the virtual classroom • Synchronous interac4on in the virtual classroom affords limited reflec4ve 4me suppor4ve of deeper learning • Over use could detract from learner autonomy (3-‐4 sessions per course @ 1.5hrs max.)Thursday, 12 April 2012

Multimedia-usability influences Technical ‘know-‐how’ about mul4media opera4on and capability aﬀected students’ op4ons Thursday, 12 April 2012

Synchronous communication tool influences Wimba-‐Live Classroom’s single-‐image video... “... was like lecturing into cyberspace. It’s the ﬁrst 4me I’d experienced it (the virtual classroom), and I found it a bit strange talking into the ether.” (Student N, November 2011)Thursday, 12 April 2012

“ …you were just ﬁring away with your presenta4on, but there was a thought in the back of my head, can they actually hear me – how am I coming across? Not being able to get that instant feedback, like in a room when you’re speaking… you know how to adjust; you can read your audience beler. That was a bit daun4ng… there was just no way of knowing. I wasn’t sure I was making that connec4on...” (Student A, October 2010).Thursday, 12 April 2012

Communication tool influences: technicalThursday, 12 April 2012

Text chat pods rated highly for sharing ideas publicly and privately Use of feedback/ques4on/chat pods needs careful monitoringThursday, 12 April 2012

Communication tool influences: operational “I kept signalling, but nobody took any no4ce! Maybe they were concentra4ng on Sam’s presenta4on or something… I had a ques4on I wanted to ask her about one of her slides, but by the 4me she’d ﬁnished the moment had passed, so I didn’t bother.” (Student M, November 2011).Thursday, 12 April 2012

Guidelines for use of communication tools should be established “... it caught my eye all the 4me... ﬂashing away in the bolom corner. I wanted to see what they were saying about my work... it was hard to concentrate.” (Student G, October 2010)Thursday, 12 April 2012

Technical and logistical influences • Hardware and so`ware • Organisa4on and logis4calThursday, 12 April 2012

Hardware and software • Low spec laptops on wireless connec4ons • Capped upload speeds (128-‐256k) on many broadband plans • Outdated player versions (Adobe Flash) • Conﬂicts with other video applica4ons (eg: Skype) • Ins4tu4onal ﬁrewalls (port access)Thursday, 12 April 2012

Organisational/Logistical • Students opted to access others’ equipment due to performance and reliability concerns (schools, public libraries etc.) • Security concerns at venues • Time zone issues for interna4onal students (eg: Canada, Sudan, Korea, South Africa) Thursday, 12 April 2012

Conclusions and Implications • Synchronous and asynchronous systems in ODL serve different but complementary func4ons (social presence/ community consolida4on vs deeper, more reflec4ve learning) • Students must be confident users of tools and features • Efforts should be made to ensure students are not disadvantaged due to hardware/connec4vity limita4onsThursday, 12 April 2012

Implications Design and plan for interac2on • Establish guidelines for communica4on tool use • Plan carefully for feedback opportuni4es (structure if necessary) • Overuse of synchronous systems could be counterproduc4ve • Remember implica4ons for teachers’ work • Consider system limita4ons. Interac4on ‘style’ is NOT conversa4onal (eg: half-‐duplex audio, single image video)Thursday, 12 April 2012

A student’s thoughts... Maria PerssonThursday, 12 April 2012

Asynchronous Tool Use • Prior set up of course & L.O choice by lecturer (Garry) encouraged early dialogue • Personal & collegial connec4ons were made using forums before seminars • Peer/Peer & Peer/Tutor feedback and support used and unobtrusively monitored by tutor • Experimenta4on encouraged – WIMBA Voice added another dimension to communica4on Thursday, 12 April 2012

Community CreationThursday, 12 April 2012

Community PromotionThursday, 12 April 2012

My virtual classroom experience • Presenta4on mode primarily controlled by tutor • Synchronous chatng during presenta4on a distrac4on • Presenta4on was an assessed task • Pressure to ensure objec4ves were met • Pressure due to uncertainty of classroom’s stability & lack of conﬁdence using new technology • Revealed issues including a sense of ‘presenter isola4on’ with no audience to view in Wimba-‐Live classroomThursday, 12 April 2012

Thursday, 12 April 2012

Support • Audience list visible • Chat box accessible to view while presen4ng • Lack of body language compensated by use of emo4cons • Tutor presence assists in trouble shoo4ng, interac4on, ﬂow and reduces sense of ‘isola4on’Thursday, 12 April 2012

Finding the BalanceThursday, 12 April 2012

Deanz slideshow final

by falloong on Apr 11, 2012

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