Thursday, November 8, 2012


VIDEOCONFERENCE-BASED DISTANCE LEARNING AND STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS
 Kohen (2012) -Executive Director in Columbia University's Earth Institute wrote in the blog http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steven-cohen/distance-learning-and-the_b_1928535.html?utm_hp_ref=education-technology, that  in  the 21st century, more levels of education and lifelong learning are needed. He stated that with the developments in communication  technology and educational technology, people can reach  education and new knowledge more easily  through new ways in  teaching and  learning.  As Aydın (2012) mentioned in her article, although videoconferencing as a new tool  has been going on used for a long time, in 2000s its spread use  has increased.

 "Videoconferencing is conducting a conference between two or more participants at different sites by using computer networks to transmit audio and video data". The ways  videoconferencing can  be used in educational  contexts are described in the website. (For more information you can visit the  website above.)


Aydın (2012) stated that in spite of the dramatic increase in the use of videoconferences, the studies on the impact of instructor’s communication behaviors on students’ learning are not enough in number. The study by Aydın (2012) has found positive correlations between "task attractiveness, social attractiveness, affective learning and instructor evaluations" (p.247) in videoconference-based open and distance courses. According to the results of this study conducted in Anadolu University of Turkey with the students from Azerbaijan who are attending the university programs in distance, the students with positive attitudes toward task and social attractiveness of their instructors  perceive the content and the strategy of the courses more positively. They are also more satisfied with the instructors.

What is the use of such a study? Aydın (2012) proposed that the designers and the practitioners of the videoconference-based distance courses can take these issues into consideration through implementation and design process.  She added that  the instructors may start their courses with some small activities to create a social and positive climate.

Videoconference systems that enable us to reach knowledge sources in hundreds of kilometres distance, as human beings, I think that affective factors mentioned by Aydın (2012) that seem to have great impact on learners  shouldn't be neglected even while instructing or directing them through via computers.

REFERENCES
Aydın, I. E. (2012). Relationship between affective learning, instructor attractiveness and instructor evaluation in videoconference-based distance education courses.  The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology ,  11( 4), 247-252
Cohen, S. (2012). Distance Learning and the Future of Education. Posted on January 10, 2012, retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steven-cohen/distance-learning-and-the_b_1928535.html?utm_hp_ref=education-technology

http://videoconference.edublogs.org/2010/07/14/5-ways-to-use-videoconferencing-in-education/

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