Videoconferencing and Presentation Support for Synchronous Distance Learning Richard Anderson 1,Jay Beavers 2, Tammy VanDeGrift 1, and Fred Videon 1 University of Washington, Seattle, WA 1 Microsoft Research, Redmond, WA 2

Frontiers in Education, Research Study Framework Goals: 1. Utilize Internet-based conferencing system 2. Study existing challenges 3. Compare experiences with two systems Au 01Wi 02Sp 02Au 02Wi 03Sp 03 Deployment Challenges [ISDN system, SmartBoard] Research Studies  Data Collection: Surveys, Interviews, Observation Notes (~200 pages)

Frontiers in Education, Addressing Existing Challenges Classroom Presenter – for flexible presentations  Integration of handwriting with prepared slides  Separate and integrated whiteboard  Tablet PC for pen-style input ConferenceXP – for high quality audio/video transmission  Multicast technology to support multiple sites  Internet-based  Goal: ease of deployment, ease of use

Frontiers in Education, Classroom Deployment Course Setting Masters-level database course ~30 local students ~20 remote students One instructor at local site Physical Setting Local site –conference room  Screens with video of remote site and computer display Remote site – lecture theater  Screens with video of instructor and computer display Cultural Setting Instructor encouraged interaction  Local site: 453 voiced comments/questions  Remote site: 28 voiced comments/questions Many remote students had taken a distance course previously

Frontiers in Education, Scenario: Technical interruptions occurred during 7 of 9 sessions, with most outages lasting 1 – 3 minutes. Overall effect:  Difficult to plan for interaction when technology reliability is unpredictable Lesson: Technical interruptions had consequences for both sites.

Frontiers in Education, Scenario: Remote site room too large – students scattered and outside camera view Overall effect:  Appearance of absent students at remote site  Students had to vocally interrupt instructor Lesson: Technology and physical space created a `distant’ feeling.

Frontiers in Education, Seating Remote Room Configuration Screen 1Screen 2 Seating

Frontiers in Education, Scenario: Instructor wrote on slides and drew diagrams for students Overall effect:  Helpful for all students to correlate slide information and speech  Helpful for instructor to display extemporaneous information Lesson: Presentation system gave instructor flexibility while teaching.

Frontiers in Education, Current Work Full year of successful deployments with ConferenceXP and Classroom Presenter, fewer technological distractions and better classroom configurations

Frontiers in Education,

Frontiers in Education,

Frontiers in Education, Classroom Presenter Use Positive comments and repeat use by instructors Student surveys  Student comparison vs. PowerPoint lessno changemore Attention to lecture 4%39%57% Understanding of lecture 2%52%46%

Frontiers in Education, Inking Study Careful study of recorded lectures to look at instructor’s use of digital ink Main result  A substantial amount of ink is ephemeral

Frontiers in Education, Conclusions Success of synchronous distance learning affected by technology, learning culture, and physical space Iterative research approach helped us understand challenges and build systems with target features

Frontiers in Education, Acknowledgments The instructors and students who participated in our studies and provided valuable feedback For More Information: Classroom Presenter [flexible presentations]: ConferenceXP [connecting learning sites]:

Frontiers in Education, Questions for me? Questions for Discussion  Ingredients for successful synchronous distance education? [From instructor’s perspective, student’s perspective]  Given a traditional classroom activity, how might we support this activity in distance education? [group work – in-class and out-of-class, student presentations, peer review activities, etc.]