UPFRONT: " According to a recent article in "Strategies", "Most faculty have not (had the opportunity to be) adequately trained for the effective use of technology... educational technology experts advocate a higher allocation (of funds) to training and support for successful adoption...sustained staff development, especially in preparing teachers to think of new ways to
incorporate technology into their repertoire, is essential for deriving an optimal return on the hardware and software investments. Volume V, Number 2, New York: Hezel Associates, October, 1995 ( pp. 1-2).
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Send Comments and Questions by: clicking on "Reply" or the key designated for "Reply." You may also address your message to: DESIEN-List@uwex.edu
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DESIEN - (Issue 1-2 Addendum 2 - Compressed Video Questions)
(Part 3)

3. Are there techniques for helping to make learners at remote sites feel like they're part of the classroom?

There are a number of techniques that instructors can use to help learners "bridge the distance"* and become an integral part of the "virtual classroom."

. PERSONALIZATION: ask students to send biographical material to you; meet with the students at each of the remote sites, early in the course; use large name tags to easily identify students over Compressed Video; design or adapt your room to make the remote students feel as though they are an integral part of it. Professor Joanne Wilson, UW-Platteville, insisted on having a very large monitor at the back of her room so that the students at the remote site would appear to be
"as large as life" and she could "see their expressions." **

. SOCIAL PRESENCE: learn to adapt to telecommunications media by developing skills that create social presence. Social presence has beendefined as the degree to which a person is perceived as "real" in mediated communication and includes the effective use of verbal and non-verbal cues to create a sense of intimacy.*** Social presence can have a direct impact on learning over technology and is a significant factor in instructional effectiveness.

. INTERACTION: plan to involve students in meaningful interaction activities at regular intervals throughout the sessions. Lecturer, Bill Ryan at UW-Extension recently taught a course on "Resorts and Recreation" and used a variety of interesting activities to help UW-Stout students feel involved. Over the semester, he invited a number of hotel resort managers to join the class via audioconference to talk about their resorts and answer questions. In another activity, students were asked to role-play a position on the management team of a specific hotel, work with other students on the team and design a management plan. Still another activity had students working together using spreadsheets. Professor Phil Harris, University of Wisconsin-Extension, in his course on "Farm Law", set up debate teams at each of his sites. In future classes, he would like to try to set up the teams across sites.**

. SITE FACILITATION: realize that strong site support is critical to the Compressed Video experience. This support includes, not only a technician,but a site facilitator as well. In the words of Professor Harris, they (the site facilitators) are "my eyes and ears and legs and arms".** Site facilitators are the constant contact with the instructor. They help set the tone of the course, assist
the instructor in day-to-day procedures, can pre-solve problems and also ensure that things run smoothly.

. IMMEDIATE AND ONGOING FEEDBACK: remember the critical nature of feedback. As with the traditional classroom, feedback for students in Compressed Video classes is essential to help clarify communication, shape the course as it progresses and shape future programs. To supply immediate and ongoing feedback, when teaching over Compressed Video, many instructors integrate feedback strategies into their course design, set up phone office hours, "electronic office hours", ListServs and use e-mail, the fax machine and US mail.

4. How do I plan my course?

In three words - Organize! Organize! Organize! Professor Darlene Weingand of UW-Madison says that, " As with any distance education experience you need to learn to become more structured. Everything, all handouts, should be planned out before the first day of class...Many professors are quite used to preparing a few lessons ahead, being more impromptu. You really can't do that as well with distance education. You need to be more organized." **

Learn to think according to a Timeline. ICS has developed a Timeline that can serve as a guide. Some of the critical steps it includes are: scheduling the sites, identifying the site contacts, working with the design team, holding planning meetings, marketing the course, finding out about the learners, learning to use the equipment, distributing site materials and holding rehearsals.

5. How do I design my course?

"The first thing I did was to focus on content ," states UW Lecturer, Bill Ryan. "What would I want to cover, how would I cover it and in what period of time?"**

Experienced instructors have also found that course content should be divided into short modules and interspersed with meaningful variety. Because Compressed Video is a visual medium, it's important to think visually and to design your visuals to the specifications of the medium. Because students are virtually present, it's critical to learn the skills of creating a social presence and to think interactively, involving students throughout the sessions. In addition, it's essential to think feedback and to plan feedback strategies when you design the course.

* Several of these were identified as early as 1978 by Mavis Monson of ICS in "Bridging the Distance: An Instructional Guide To Teleconferencing." Madison: ICS, University of Wisconsin-Extension, 1978 (4th Printing, 1990.)

**"Breaking New Ground: Faculty Perspectives." Videotape of five UW faculty who have taught over Compressed Video. Madison: ICS, University of Wisconsin-Extension, 1995.

***Gunawardena, C. "Social Presence Theory and Implications For Interaction And Communication In Telecommunications-Based Distance Education," Proceedings, Distance Learning Research Conference, San Antonio, Texas, April 27-29, 1994.
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Friday, November 10, 1995:

6. What will the remote sites be like and who will be my contact personnel?

7. How do I evaluate my distance education course?
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FYI

VIDEOCONFERENCES:

November 13, 1995, Noon-1:30 pm CST -"Computer Conferencing: Alternative to Lectures," presented by the Institute for Academic Technology. IAT 919-405-1958.

December 1, 1995, 12:30-3:30 PM CST - "America Through the TV Looking Glass," a Columbia University Forum. PBS 1-800-257-2578.

December 5, 1995, Noon-2 PM CST - "New Connections: A College Guide to Distance Education." PBS 1-800-257-2578.

January 25, 1996, 2-3:30 PM CST - "Educational Technology: What's New & How You Can Use It?" PBS 1-800-257-2578.

February 1, 1996, 1-3 PM CST - "Funding Educational Technology." PBS 1-800-257-2578.

CONFERENCES:

January 24-26, 1996, Distance Education Conference, The Center for Distance Learning Research, Dallas Texas. Dr. Larry Pooley 409-845-3016.

PUBLICATIONS:

Berge, A and Collins M (eds.). "Computer Mediated Communication and the Online Classroom (Vol. One: An Overview and Perspective; Vol. Two: Higher Education; Vol. Three: Distance Learning.) Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, Inc., 1995.

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