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Video-Conferencing: Effective
Communication Strategies in
Language Learning
IATEFL 2001
Brighton
Jason Firestone
[email protected]
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What do you need to
videoconference?
Hardware
– A PC with video and
sound cards
– A monitor
– A video capture camera
– A microphone
– Loudspeakers or
headset
– Video and audio codec*
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What do you need to
videoconference?
Software
– e.g. Microsoft
NetMeeting
Transmission channel
– Cable (copper wire:
ISDN, POTS, Mbone,
XDSL; fibre optic)
– Satellite
– Microwave
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Connecting people
One way video
 Two way audio
Two way video and audio
Point-to-point
 Multipoint
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What media can you use?
Video images
 Audio
Text “chat”
Document sharing
Application sharing
Still images
Whiteboard
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Why videoconference?
 Geographical factors
 Cost effective delivery of same content
 Students can take classes not offered at
their school & 24/7
 Enables connection with external
resources
Distance learning: establishes a virtual
connection among participants
Add value: meet needs & expectations
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Critical success factors
Critical preparation
Site logistics
Interpersonal skills
Instructor control
Information dissemination
Training needs / requirements
Teaching skills / strategies
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Videoconference protocols (1)
• Who is and where is the host / teacher?
• Camera and lighting
• The camera is your audience
• Identify yourself
• Mute! Mute! Mute!
• Speech control
• Direct questions to individuals
• Allow for time delay
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Videoconference protocols (2)
• Remember everyone sees the speaker,
except the speaker
• Keep the camera on you when you are
speaking
• Pause occasionally to allow for
questions and comments
• Clothes and makeup
• Avoid too much body motion
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5 Aspects of verbal
communication
1. Syntax: Grammatical completion of a clause
is an important cue
2. Intonation: Changes in pitch are associated
with turn endings
3. Loudness: Drop in loudness occurs with turn
endings
4. Drawl: Final syllable of a turn often lengthend
5. Stereotyped tags: “but ah”; “you know”
tagged on to the end of turns
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6 Aspects of CMC
1. The sender may make a 2nd move before
receiving a response to a first
2. A recipient may not respond to an utterance
3. A message may interrupt a turn or move
4. Absence of opening and closing adjacency
pairs
5. Naming addressees does not operate as a
turn allocation technique
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Non-verbal communication
Cognitive cues
• Gesture
Turn-taking cues
• Proxemics
Social and affective • Body contact
cues
• Posture and body
orientation
• Facial expression
• Gaze
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3 Conditions
1. “Free-for-all”: no turn-taking restrictions
applied
2. “Request and grant”: users signal their
intent to the ‘current holder’ who can
relinquish turn
3. “Request and capture”: anyone can
interrupt a current ‘turn holder’
“Free-for-all” no conditions imposed: write /
read messages, post simulataneously
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Guidelines for visual aids
• The backdrop
• The presenter / participants
• The information presented
• Screen aspect ratio
• Use large or bold text
• Use of colours
 Distribute your slides in advance
 Don't keep moving your slides around
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Tips for humanising teaching
• Make a seating plan of the group
• Learn student names at remote site
• Use student names
• Be yourself - same person as in FTF
• Start with an informal roll call
• Look at the camera - gain eye contact
with the camera lens and with the
students at remote location
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Variety in instructional
activities
• Brain storming
• Guest speaker
• Breakout session
• Interview
• Case study
• Lecture
• Debate
• Panel discussion
• Demonstration
• Role playing
• Group discussions
• Question and answer
• Group work sessions • Video clips
• Individual practice exercises
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Student interaction
• Initiate interaction asap
• Pre-determine time for student interaction
• Integrate on-air interaction with on-site
activities
• Prime participant for interaction
• Motivate interaction
• Clearly define topics or questions
• Vary timing of interactive segments
• Encourage student-to-student interaction
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Questioning strategies
• Establish ground rules for questions
• Use distant student’s name when
asking question
• Ask a student by name to survey his or
her group
• Pre-plan instructor questions
• Pre-determine cognitive level of a
question: recall, comprehension,
application, or critical thinking
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Questioning strategies
• Match the questions with class session
objectives
• Repeat the question slowly
• Ask one question at a time
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The future...
• Students will expect some kind of
electronic classroom
• Amount of time grossly underestimated
• Training needs of teachers and students
• Justification for costs
• Free bandwidth / processing power
• Psychological limitations / implications
for learning
• Further research
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Video-Conferencing: Effective
Communication Strategies in
Language Learning
http://www.geocities.com/jason_firestone
Jason Firestone
[email protected]