Distance Education: A System Approach View - Audioconferencing

Context:
In this selection the authors offer beginners in audioconferencing some guidelines, including strategies, technical tips, and instructional techniques.

Source:
Moore, M. G., and G. Kearsley. 1996. Distance Education: A Systems View. Wadsworth Publishers, pp. 136-39.

Copyright:
Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

The Instructor's Role

The interdependence of the instructor's role and that of the learners is nowhere more evident than in the working of local study groups. The distant instructor can do everything possible to design and encourage an environment that allows for productive activities locally, but in the end it will be the responsibility of students to make the environment work for themselves.

In a teleconference most of the talking should come from the students. The role of the instructor is to induce inter-learner interaction among the participants, keep the discussion on track, and make sure that all students get involved. There have been a few research studies that attempt to identify good teleconference practices.

Audioconferencing

Guidelines that can be used for beginners to audioconferencing have been developed by the Instructional Communications Systems group at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. They suggest that teachers should learn four major strategies:

1. Humanizing the creation of an environment that emphasizes the importance of the individual and which overcomes the sense of distance by generating a feeling of group rapport. This can be achieved by using students' names, providing pictures of participants, making visits to remote sites, and asking for personal experiences and opinions during class.
   
   
2. Participation ensuring that there is a high level of interaction and dialog in an audio class. This is facilitated by posing questions, group problem-solving activities, participant presentations, and role-playing exercises.
   
   
3. Message style presenting information in such a way that it will be easily understood and remembered. Good techniques include providing overviews, using repetition and summaries, presenting variety, and relying on print materials for communicating detailed information.
   
   
4. Feedback getting information about the effectiveness of learning and teaching. Feedback can be obtained by direct questions, assignments, quizzes, polls, and questionnaires.
   

A manual for audioconferencing developed by the Rochester Institute of Technology focuses on two areas that teachers need to study. The first of these consists of technical tips for using the equipment, and the second consists of instructional techniques. Technical tips explain how the telephone bridge works and how to set up and operate the special types of telephones typically used in audioconferences. Instructional techniques include:

• preparing a detailed outline or script for the conference listing all topics, questions, and activities;
  
  
• using a student roster;
  
  
• addressing questions to specific participants;
  
  
• summarizing periodically and at the end of the conference; and
  
  
• follow-up procedures for students needing help after the session.
  

Bronstein, Gill, and Koneman (1982) provided the following guidelines for audioteleconference teaching:

• Be prompt in coming on the line because it is essential that the program start on time.
  
  
• Use a natural style of delivery; speak slowly and enunciate clearly.
  
  
• Maintain spontaneity; avoid reading from a script.
  
  
• Use visuals effectively and verbalize appropriate guideposts.
  
  
• Use frequent change of pace or stimuli to maintain interest.
  
  
• Make frequent attempts to draw participants into discussions.
  
  
• Always refer to participants by name.

Boone and Bassett (1983) identified the following specific oral communication skills:

• good pronunciation and articulation
  
  
• good fluency, inflection, and pausing
  
  
• good rate and volume of speech
  
  
• giving positive feedback statements
  
  
• asking conversational questions
  
  
• making compliments and appreciation statements
  
  
• using anecdotes
  
  
• allowing adequate response time
  
  
• controlling duration of oral statements
  

In a follow-up study, Boone (1984) analyzed tape recordings of actual audioconferences and identified the following as important:

• ability to provide structure (uses authority; controls verbal traffic)
  
  
• ability to provide socioemotional support (e.g., integrates late group member; encourages humor)
  
  
• ability to establish a democratic atmosphere (shares authority; asks for participation)
  
  
• ability to create a sense of shared space (describes environment; creates a sense of shared history, when possible)
  
  
• ability to model appropriate behavior (models conciseness)
  
  
• ability to clarify (asks for confirmation; seeks common definition of terms)
  
  
• ability to repair sessions threatening to go awry (explains absence of group member; repairs interruptions)
  
  
• ability to set an appropriate pace (asks for conciseness; directs questions to a limited audience)
  

Haaland and Newby (1984) asked students for their opinions, and they said that good teleconference teachers

• used students' names,
  
  
• set out clear statements of purpose,
  
  
• made use of printed material,
  
  
• encouraged discussion, and
  
  
• did not speak in a monotone.
  

A Class Roster

As suggested in Chapter 6, the instructor of a teleconference should prepare a class roster with background information about each student. During the fast exchanges of the conference, it allows the instructor to ask particular students questions related to their interests or experience and makes the audio conference a more personal learning activity. Ideally, this class roster can be distributed to all students as well, as a way of helping them get to know each other. Table 7-1 is a roster showing names of students in one group. In this particular class students agreed to give themselves nicknames. This is a device that helps students quickly recognize each other. The voices take on different personalities when there is a distinctive characteristic attached to it, such as "pin-ball wizard"!