The Future of Real Time Communications Technologies in E-Learning

In the previous chapters three real time communications technologies (RTCs) have been discussed. Videoconferences have been used for real time communications in distance learning for many years. In recent years many institutions have used videoconferences in addition to the text-based communications tools in learning management systems: discussion forums and chat. Video chat is a new technology. It is computer based and inexpensive after the purchase of the computer as software is often free and the basic audio and video equipment is inexpensive. Video chat facilitates two-way video and audio communications and thus it is likely to displace videoconference from its place in the market. The Access Grid is also gaining use in education as a teaching tool due to the richness of the experience of multiple video streams, and additional tools that allow true collaboration. How these technologies are used in educational settings has a direct impact on the effectiveness and efficiency of the educational experience and theoretical guides to their use have been discussed earlier in this book. One of the early theoretical approaches was that put forward by Michael Moore.

Videoconference, Audioconference, and Video Chat

Videoconference and audioconference have been used for communications in businesses for many years. In teaching and learning videoconference has been used for at least the last 15 years and possibly longer. Videoconference and audioconference technologies have been used in education, especially in distance education where students and teachers are in different locations. Like all educational technologies, videoconference and audioconference are suited to some and not all teaching and learning activities. Before these established real time communications technologies (RTCs) and the newer technology video chat are explored they need to be carefully defined to eliminate or minimize confusion.

The Learning Activities Model

The effects of open, distance, and flexible learning, and the changed role of technology in learning have been felt in almost all educational sectors and institutions. Technology in many subjects now plays a central role and learning management systems (LMSs) are part of the standard software of higher education institutions. However the influence of learning technology has not been limited to education. The literature on human resource management (HRM) recognizes that there are benefits to be gained through the application of some of the techniques and technologies of flexible learning to training and development (Smith, 1992; Wilson, 1999). For example, LMSs are also providing efficiencies to organizations in the development of their human resources. As mentioned earlier in this book, the term flexible learning is used here to refer collectively to the approaches of open, distance, online, and e-learning and to the literature that is concerned with them. More recently terms such as blended learning and e-learning have appeared to refer to learning experiences that incorporate an electronic element. Typically flexible learning or e-learning would involve the use of the learning technologies discussed here.

The Learning Technologies Model

The learning activities model (LAM) developed in the previous chapter provides a theoretical framework for the analysis of the process of learning through the categorization of activities. During the design of learning events, different techniques, methods, and technologies can be applied to activities within each category or to complete categories of the LAM. This matching process is, in essence, the basis of the technology selection method (TSM), presented in Chapter VIII. However, before technologies that are appropriate to learners and learning events can be selected it is essential to have a clear understanding of the nature and capabilities of the technologies. To assist in the understanding and analysis of learning technologies, a theoretical framework of them, called the learning technologies model (LTM), is presented.

Existing Theoretical Approaches to Learning Technologies, Learning Activities, and Methods of Technology Selection

In the 1990s, flexibility of where and when learning took place grew in significance to learners and providers of learning. For learners it meant they could learn at times and in places that suited them. Flexibility gave many students access to education that had previously been denied due to commitments such as work and family. Managers of higher education saw flexibility as a way to increase participation rates without a concomitant increase in resources and staff. In human resource development, flexibility meant that learners could learn when it suited the organization or the task and hence maximize performance gains while minimizing time away from work. In both contexts, flexibility of the time and place of learning was seen a way to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of learning. Flexibility in learning is generally characterized by the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs).

Access Grid

Videoconference has been used for interactions between students and teachers in distance education for many years. The newer technology, video chat, a computerbased technology that has evolved from instant messaging, appears to be displacing videoconference due to its low cost and ease of use. Access Grid is a similar technology in that like the other two it is based on two-way audio and video communications. Since its inception in the mid-1990s, the Access Grid has been used by researchers and it is not surprising that usage levels in teaching and learning are increasing as many researchers are teachers and see its potential to bring media-rich interactions to e-learning.

Recording Lectures, Streaming, Downloading, Podcasting, Vodcasting, and Webcasting

There can be a range of reasons to record lectures or presentations, from the creation of resources to meeting the needs of distant students. Of course recordings are one-way. The information in them flows from the recorded file to students and student interaction with recordings is generally limited to interacting with the controls of the player, that is, they can pause, stop, and replay the recording in part or in its entirety. It can be argued that this interaction adds another level of access to educational presentations. While this low level of interaction can have positive educational outcomes it cannot be equated with interactions between students and teachers. Clearly the person-to-person interactions have the potential for far greater educational outcomes ranging from the answering of questions to the exploration and extension of the subject area. In cases where students are distant from teachers and interact with recorded resources other technologies and techniques are need to provide viable two-way communications channels between them. All learning technologies impose on teaching and learning activities and recordings of presentations are no exception. It is argued that recordings by themselves seldom, if ever, are sufficient for effective and efficient learning in higher education. However, it is suggested that recordings when used in conjunction with other learning technologies and techniques can be a fundamental part of the learning experience.

A Review of Methods for Selecting Learning Technologies

In the recent past, the role of learning technologies in the human resource development and higher education sectors has changed, and today technology plays a central role in learning in many courses, subjects, and programs. In several places in the literature, learning technologies have been classified and categorized, resulting in the development of theoretical or conceptual bases upon which an understanding of the nature and role of learning technologies can be built. In many cases these bases are intended to inform the process of decision making regarding the planned use of learning technologies with some degree of confidence in the appropriateness of the result. Two clear levels of decision making regarding the use of learning technologies have been identified in the literature as the strategic and tactical (Bates, 1995).

Teaching and Learning with Videoconference and Video Chat

In the last chapter, videoconference and video chat were defined as technologies that allow two-way video and audio communications between remote parties. Definitions of the technologies were provided and they were differentiated. Video chat was computer-based while videoconference was appliance-based. Functionally and for teaching and learning the technologies are very similar. The single greatest logistical difference is generally the number of participants possible at each location.

Teaching with Real Time Communications Technologies

Real time communications technologies are just that: technologies that facilitate real time or synchronous communications. An example that springs rapidly to mind is the telephone. The real time communications technologies (RTCs) that are commonly found in educational contexts include text-based examples such as text chat, and rich media examples such as video chat, videoconference, and Access Grid. Teaching with RTCs is not the same as face-to-face teaching due to the imposition the technology makes on the learning, thus limiting some activities. Full definitions of videoconference and video chat and recommendations for teaching with videoconference and video chat are discussed in detail in Chapter XIII. Likewise, teaching with Access Grid plus a description and a definition of it are provided in Chapter XIV. In this chapter some general approaches to teaching that are common to all RTCs are discussed and contrasts are drawn between other approaches that clearly highlight the differences in the RTCs.