A Scoping Review of Videoconferencing Systems in Higher Education

Videoconferencing as a learning tool has been widely used among educators and learners in order to induce effective communication between learners and teachers or learners and their peers, especially when face-to-face means are not possible. Different types of videoconferencing platforms or systems have emerged for use in today’s higher education institutions. Previous research has focused on examining the potential of three different forms of videoconferencing systems: desktop videoconferencing (DVC), interactive videoconferencing (IVC), and Web videoconferencing (WVC). In this study, a review of the literature was conducted to increase the current knowledge regarding the use of these videoconferencing systems. A classification of the videoconferencing paradigms from the constructivism and cognitivism perspectives was provided. The summary of the results for these videoconferencing systems revealed specific learning opportunities, outcomes, and challenges for both learners and instructors. The results suggest that current policy and teaching strategies are not ready to provide an accessible and comprehensive learning experience in DVC and IVC. Relative to previously conducted studies regarding the use of videoconferencing in higher education, this study offers a broader consideration of relevant challenges that emerge when using certain videoconferencing systems in both learning and teaching situations.

Distance Technologies in Teaching Professional Foreign Languages for Medical Purposes

The article presents the analysis of distant technologies that are utilized by the world methodological society: a set of distance technologies (desktop videoconferencing, e-mail, voicemail, online chat, web-based resources, e-learning platforms), synchronous/asynchronous technologies, m-learning/e-learning technologies. These technologies were analysed from scientific positions concerning their typology, essential characteristics, and linguistic and methodological potential. The authors of the article also provide distance technologies that can be used when teaching Russian language as foreign for medical purposes: synchronous technologies, professional websites, e-learning platforms, e-mails, mobile applications. The verification of distant technologies’ usage is conducted experimentally. The obtained results show that distance learning is useful and should be used in teaching foreign languages for other levels and professional purposes. Not only does the success of distance educational courses depend on the distance technologies that are provided by a teacher, but also we should rely on the consistent and integrated efforts of students, faculty, facilitators, support staff, and administrators.

Korean Foreign Language Learning

This article presents intercultural and linguistic exchanges by foreign language learners in an exploratory study of Internet-based desktop videoconferencing between Korean learners at a university in the United States, and their counterparts at a South Korean college. The desktop videoconferencing project was designed for foreign language learners of Korean to assist in developing linguistic competence, as well as intercultural communicative competence, by providing the learners with the target language and culture through real-time, one-on-one communication. The study shows the emerging themes that recur in a video-chat. It also reports on the Korean language learners' self-rated proficiency in their target language. Challenges and difficulties in video-conferencing are examined, followed by a discussion of the effectiveness of synchronous one-on-one video-conferencing for language learning in general, and in Korean language education in particular.

Meaning-making in online language learner interactions via desktop videoconferencing

Online language learning and teaching in multimodal contexts has been identified as one of the key research areas in computer-aided learning (CALL) (Lamy, 2013; White, 2014).1 This paper aims to explore meaning-making in online language learner interactions via desktop videoconferencing (DVC) and in doing so illustrate multimodal transcription and analysis as well as the application of theoretical frameworks from other fields. Recordings of learner DVC interactions and interviews are qualitatively analysed within a case study methodology. The analysis focuses on how semiotic resources available in DVC are used for meaning-making, drawing on semiotics, interactional sociolinguistics, nonverbal communication, multimodal interaction analysis and conversation analysis. The findings demonstrate the use of contextualization cues, five codes of the body, paralinguistic elements for emotional expression, gestures and overlapping speech in meaning-making. The paper concludes with recommendations for teachers and researchers using and investigating language learning and teaching in multimodal contexts.

Korean Foreign Language Learning

This article presents intercultural and linguistic exchanges by foreign language learners in an exploratory study of Internet-based desktop videoconferencing between Korean learners at a university in the United States, and their counterparts at a South Korean college. The desktop videoconferencing project was designed for foreign language learners of Korean to assist in developing linguistic competence, as well as intercultural communicative competence, by providing the learners with the target language and culture through real-time, one-on-one communication. The study shows the emerging themes that recur in a video-chat. It also reports on the Korean language learners' self-rated proficiency in their target language. Challenges and difficulties in video-conferencing are examined, followed by a discussion of the effectiveness of synchronous one-on-one video-conferencing for language learning in general, and in Korean language education in particular.

Teletandem as a complex learning environment: Looking for a model

ABSTRACT This article presents a model of teletandem, i.e. tandem through desktop videoconferencing (Telles 2009). The aim of such a model is twofold: heuristic and pedagogical. It is heuristic because it enables us to understand teletandem at all its levels and partially to predict (in probabilistic terms) what can happen in a teletandem environment. It is also pedagogical because it helps us formulate plans of action to improve future use and environment design. To build this model, we have drawn upon complexity theory (Larsen-Freeman & Cameron 2008, Morin 1990), which leads us to distinguish different levels of analysis before discussing the relationship between the different elements and levels leading to the complex final (yet dynamic) model.

A semiotic perspective on webconferencing-supported language teaching

In webconferencing-supported teaching, the webcam mediates and organizes the pedagogical interaction. Previous research has provided a mixed picture of the use of the webcam: while it is seen as a useful medium to contribute to the personalization of the interlocutors’ relationship, help regulate interaction and facilitate learner comprehension and involvement, the limited access to visual cues provided by the webcam is felt to be useless or even disruptive.This study examines the meaning-making potential of the webcam in pedagogical interactions from a semiotic perspective by exploring how trainee teachers use the affordances of the webcam to produce non-verbal cues that may be useful for mutual comprehension. The research context is a telecollaborative project where trainee teachers of French as a foreign language (FFL) met for online sessions in French with undergraduate Business students at an Irish university. Using multimodal transcriptions of the interaction data from these sessions, screen shot data, and students’ post-course interviews, it was found, firstly, that while a head and shoulders framing shot was favoured by the trainee teachers, there does not appear to be an optimal framing choice for desktop videoconferencing among the three framing types identified. Secondly, there was a loss between the number of gestures performed by the trainee teachers and those that were visible for the students. Thirdly, when trainee teachers were able to coordinate the audio and kinesic modalities, communicative gestures that were framed, and held long enough to be perceived by the learners, were more likely to be valuable for mutual comprehension.The study highlights the need for trainee teachers to develop critical semiotic awareness to gain a better perception of the image they project of themselves in order to actualise the potential of the webcam and add more relief to their online teacher presence.