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Research on Web Conferencing

Posted on July 20, 2009

Web conferencing is the process of using communication tools such as text chat, voice, video and a white board for live meetings or presentations. Web conferencing systems integrate these tools into a single meeting ‘room’. Participants can access the room from their personal computers via a URL (Internet web address). In this way, a web conference is a platform for real-time communication for individuals in different locations. In an educational setting, the key difference between web conferencing and webcasting or streaming video is that web conferencing involves participants in live sessions that provide a degree of interactivity comparable to face-to-face environments.

Educational commentary to date has been generally supportive of the inclusion of web conferencing in online courses as it can provide the real-time interaction that is missing in purely asynchronous courses. Live interaction is also considered to improve participants sense of social presence and is backed by asynchronous research that suggests a positive correlation between perceived learning, satisfaction and social presence (Gunawardena and Zittle 1997; Richardson and Swan 2003). As with the use of all technologies in education, the effectiveness of web conferencing depends greatly on how it is used in a particular context. As Draper and Brown (2004) observe, use of new technology does not guarantee improvements. In order for technology to be successfully implemented, “pedagogy [has] to be put first, technology second (82)”. In this article, we will look at the findings of four studies on incorporating web conferencing in learning contexts and suggest some guidelines for instructors considering facilitating online learning through web conferencing.

“Teaching and Learning in Live Online Classrooms” presents a year-long study of the impact of integrating a web conferencing tool in hybrid and fully online computer science courses (Sabin and Higgs 2007). Sabin and Higgs surveyed 107 undergraduate and graduate computer science students (respondents, n=60) in order to ascertain differences in student perceptions of the effectiveness of learning between hybrid and online modes of delivery that integrated web conferencing or did not. It was observed that students valued most highly an instructional format that allowed them to seek assistance from the instructor “with assigned homework and projects, help them manage their time on task, and exercise their problem-solving skills (46)”. The hybrid format without Web conferencing was ranked consistently higher than other instructional formats. It was also observed that online courses that included a web conferencing component were perceived to be consistently more effective at facilitating learning that an online course without Web conferencing component (46). Another noteworthy result was that the recordings of the Web conferencing sessions were perceived to be very beneficial for making class content available (45). Recording the sessions was driven by student interest and closely correlated to the desire to access the sessions at a time that suited them best.

“Experiences with a Synchronous Virtual Classroom in Distance Education” takes a pedagogy first approach to determining the effectiveness of the inclusion of a web conferencing system with a group of 15 undergraduate computer science students (Vrankel and Koppelman 2008). It was observed that 67% of the students (10 out of 15) signed into the final examination, and that 90% of those who completed the final exam (9 out of 10), passed (196). It was also observed that students were generally positive about the inclusion of web conferences and that the main reasons to choose virtual classes instead of face-to-face classes where interest in the use of IT tools (64%) and the desire to avoid travel time (43%). Students also reported better understanding of the subject matter as well as appreciating the structure to study regularly provisioned by attending the sessions. About half of the students played recorded sessions at a later date and many of them replayed several classes (196).

“Using Synchronous Software in Web-Based Nursing Courses” investigated the impact of supplementing an online course with a web conferencing system in a public nursing health course (. Both the pilot and the main study, noted substantial support for the facilitation of understanding and improvement of communication. In a T-test analysis, it was further noted that students (n=14) who have participated in web conferencing session reported significantly higher levels of satisfaction with Web courses than did students from the previous semester in which Web conferencing has not been used.

“Is Online Life a Breeze? A Case Study for Promoting Synchronous Learning in a Blended Graduate Course” investigated the live critique of peer presentations in an educational technology Masters and doctoral program (Bonk and Park 2008). The critiques were designed to provide formative feedback for students working on media design products. Of the 26 respondents, 22 (85%) agreed “that the online critiques were helpful for their project completion”. Follow-up interviews with 8 students revealed that they were satisfied with the synchronous activities in terms of the “prompt feedback, meaningful interactions, and instructors appropriate supports.” The main challenges to the critiques were “time constraints, lack of reflection time, tool related problems, and peers’ insufficient preparation with the necessary equipment and technology.”

The results of these studies and several others (Baecker et al. 2007; Bower 2007; Crofton et al. 2007; Ng 2007; Reushle and Loch 2008; Wang and Tsu 2008) indicate general support for the efficacy of Web conferencing in enhancing student perceptions of the learning experience. While this may well have a positive effect on achievement in online courses, the correlation between the use of Web conferencing and achievement has been less adequately researched. However, as noted earlier, it is not typically the technology that makes the difference to learning achievement itself, but it is how that technology is used in the service of allowing students to achieve learning outcomes of the course. Given such positive reports on the effectiveness of Web conferencing to date, however, it makes sense to continue to explore the applications of Web conferencing in a variety of teaching disciplines and for a variety of learning outcomes. Below is a list of the instructional strategies recommended in the literature for the effective facilitation of web conferencing sessions. Categories are adapted from the work of Bonk and Park (2007):

Preparing Students

• provide sufficient time for students to get acquainted with the Web conferencing system (Battin Little, Passmore and Schullo 2006)
• clarified technology requirements (Bonk and Park 2007; Battin Little, Passmore and Schullo 2006; Wang and Hsu 2008)
• explain expectations of the Web conferencing session (Bonk and Park 2007)
• schedule practice sessions (Bonk and Park 2007)
• be flexible in scheduling synchronous sessions (Bonk and Park 2007)
• provide materials before the meeting (Battin Little, Passmore and Schullo 2006)

Promoting Active Engagement

• scaffold students’ discussions (Bonk and Park 2007)
• create a positive and friendly atmosphere (Bonk and Park 2007)
• limit group size to the requirements of the task (Bonk and Park 2007; Koppelman and Vranken 2008; Wang and Hsu 2008)
• practice with the Web conferencing tool before using (Battin Little, Passmore and Schullo 2006; Wang and Hsu 2008)
• have a backup plan for the session if the technology fails (Wang and Hsu 2008)
• create a lesson plan to provide direction, but be flexible (Battin Little, Passmore and Schullo 2006)
• continue to explain what will happen next in this session (Koppelman and Vranken 2008)
• plan to intersperse activities frequently (5-10 mins) to avoid lecturing (Battin Little, Passmore and Schullo 2006)

Robert

References:

Baecker, R. et al. (2007) Webcasting Made Interactive: Integrating Real-Time

Videoconferencing in Distributed Learning Spaces

In: M.J. Smith, G. Salvendy (Eds.): Human Interface, Part II, HCII 2007, LNCS 4558, pp. 269–278.

Battin Little, B. Passmore, D. & Schullo, S (2006) Using Synchronous Software in Web-Based Nursing Courses. Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 24(6), 317-325.

Bonk, C. & Park, Y.J. (2007) Is Online Life a Breeze? A Case Study for Promoting Synchronous Learning in a Blended Graduate Course. Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 3 (3), 1-14.

Bower, M. (2007) Groupwork Activities in Synchronous Online Classroom Spaces. Proceedings of the 38th SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education.

Cox J.R. & Kohorst, K. (2007) Virtual Office Hours Using a Tablet PC: E-lluminating Biochemistry

in an Online Environment. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, 35 (3), pp. 193–197.

Crofton, J. Rogers, J. Pugh, C. & Evans, K. (2007) The Use of Elluminate Distance-learning Software in Engineering Education. Proceedings of the 2007 ASEE Conference.

Draper S. W. & Brown M. I. (2004) Increasing Interactivity in Lectures Using Anelectronic Voting System.

Journal of Computer Assisted Learning 20, 81–94.

Gunawardena, C.N., & Zittle, F.J. (1997) Social presence as a predictor of satisfaction within a computer-mediatedconferencing environment. The American Journal of Distance Education, 11 (3), 8-26.

Loch, B. & Reushle, S. (2008) The Practice of Web Conferencing: Where Are We Now? Proceedings ASCILITE Conference Melbourne 2008.

Ng, K.C. (2007)Replacing Face-to-Face Tutorials by Synchronous Online Technologies: Challenges and pedagogical implications. International Research in Open and Distance Learning, 8 (1).

Richardson, J. C., & Swan, K. (2003). Examining Social Presence in Online Courses in Relation to

Students’ Perceived Learning and Satisfaction. Journal of Asynchronous Learning

Networks, 7(1), 68-88.

Sabin, M. &Higgs, B. (2007) Teaching and Learning in Live Online Classrooms. Proceedings of the 8th ACM SIGITE Conference on Information Technology Education.

Vrankel, H. & and Koppelman, H. (2008) Experiences with a Synchronous Virtual Classroom

in Distance Education. Proceedings of the 13th annual conference on Innovation and technology in computer science education

Wang, S-K. & Hsu, H-Y. (2008) Use of the Webinar Tool (Elluminate) to Support Training:

The Effects of Webinar-Learning Implementation

from Student-Trainers’ Perspective. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 7 (3).

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