Ina Blau and Avner Caspi The Open University

E-Learning via audio conferencing- is it as efficient as f2f learning? Medium, method and learning: Medium will never influence learning (Clark, 1994) Media and instructional methods are inextricably interconnected (Kozma, 1994) Is that really so?!

From businesses e-communication to e-learning 1. Media Richness Theory (Daft & Lengel, 1984; Daft, Lengel & Treviño, 1987) lean communication medium

From businesses e-communication to e-learning 2. Media Naturalness Hypothesis (Kock, 2005) communication ambiguity, cognitive effort => “ virtual ” medium efficiency = natural medium efficiency

Learning satisfaction Media Naturalness Hypothesis: more natural medium = more “ exiting ” communication (physiological arousal )

Disinhibition effect of visual anonymity visual anonymity => fear of criticism => participation, answering questions

Field and laboratory research combination Research purpose: to study student behavior and learning in audio conferencing vs. f2f √ Field research focused on student behavior Laboratory research focused on learning

Laboratory research purposes To compare offline and online learning in: 1. Achievement and learning perception 2. Learning satisfaction 3. Participation and answering teacher’s questions

Research hypothesizes: Achievement and learning perception: no differences Learning satisfaction: lower online Participation and answering questions: higher online Media Naturalness Visual Anonymity

Method 42 undergraduates randomly allocated to f2f vs. audio conferencing conditions Learning 20 minute interactive lessons from the same teacher in triads Achievement measured by pretest - posttest, learning perception and satisfaction by questionnaire, participation and answering by quantitative content analysis

Results: 1. Learning efficiency As hypothesized, we found no significant differences in achievement and learning perception

2. Learning satisfaction

3. Participation and answering

Findings summary Audio conferencing as effective as f2f learning Lower learning satisfaction in audio conferencing Higher participation and answering questions in audio conferencing Media Naturalness Visual Anonymity

Two different learning aspects: Cognitive aspect: no significant difference Socio-emotional aspect: lower learning satisfaction online, higher participation and answering questions online

Theoretical contributions: Media Richness Theory Media Naturalness Hypothesis Media per se may influence learning Practical contributions: Effective learning tool Promoting participation and answering questions

References: Clark, R.E. (1994). Media will never influence learning. Educational Technology Research and Development 42 (2), Daft, R.L., & Lengel, R.H. (1984). Information richness: A new approach to managerial behavior and organization design. In: B.M. Staw & L.L. Cummings (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior (Vol. 6, pp ). Greenwich, CT: JAI. Daft, R.L., Lengel, R.H., & Treviño, L.K. (1987). Message equivocality, media selection, and manager performance: Implications for information systems. MIS Quarterly, 11, Dennis, A. R., & Valacich, J. S. (1999). Rethinking media richness: Toward a theory of media synchronicity. Proceedings of the 32nd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (pp. 1-10). Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE Computer Society Press. Kock, N. (2005). Media richness or media naturalness? The evolution of our biological communication apparatus and its influence on our behavior toward e- communication tools. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 48 (2), Kozma, R.B. (1994). Will media influence learning? Reframing the debate. Educational Technology Research and Development, 42 (2), 7-19.