Reports

Monday December 17 2007

The Video Teleconference - A Valuable Academic Tool

Martine Chomienne Educational Advisor, Cégep@distance

The Issue
Practical Applications
Useful References
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The Issue

In the autumn of 2005, Cégep@distance began the design of a course to develop on-line guidance skills for tutors at cégep@distance and other teachers from the collegial community. Funded by the Inukshuk Wireless Learning Plan and developed in partnership with PERFORMA, this course presented the pedagogical potential of different information and communication technologies. The video teleconference was one of these. In Spring 2007, Françoise Marceau¹, Hélène Martineau² and myself, Martine Chomienne3 participated in the test run of the course module dealing with the video teleconference. I have revised, restructured and enriched the work resulting from that activity in order to produce this report for Profweb. I would like to thank Hélène for her comments on the penultimate version of the text and give a special thanks to Françoise who worked with me and was an unending source of constructive criticism throughout the production period. To the reader, I hope that you find this report useful and interesting.

The video teleconference has become quite popular in the Quebec collegial network. Although used recently as the medium for APOP's E-conference U. R. on Line (January 2007) and for projects like "Cégeps en réseau" which depend on the video teleconference as one of their technical mainstays⁴, it should be noted that this platform had already been integrated into distance education for several years, notably by the Groupe Collegia.

It is important, therefore, to define exactly what is meant when the term video teleconference is used.

Videoconference or Video teleconference?

Although this report is focused on the video teleconference, it is important to discuss the videoconference as well in order to dispel the ambiguity that exists between the two terms. The two technologies both transmit voice and image to facilitate long distance face-to-face communication. Other than this point in common, these two technologies are the products of two very distinct evolutions. (Translator's note: In English video teleconference is used much less frequently than the term in French which is visioconférence. Perhaps because of the length of the term in English, there has been a greater tendency to combine the two terms and use the word videoconference.)

Videoconferencing for business and Video teleconferencing for team projects - two distinct approaches!

The videoconference appeared during the 70s using satellite transmitted data notably from the Canadian satellite Anik launched in 1972. The great leap forward for this technology was its reciprocity. Audiovisual information made a round trip in the videoconference whereas the television was only one way.

During the 80s, the videoconference became multidirectional thanks to relays. Several locations could be connected to a relay which would retransmit data. Participants in Africa could connect with colleagues in Europe and North America simultaneously.

The video teleconference only came on the scene in the 90s. It used the same digital channels as the Internet. Whereas the videoconference required specially adapted rooms, the video teleconference required no more than a personal computer equipped with a webcam, a headphone, a microphone and Internet access.

Around 1995, MicroSoft and Cornell University each developed a video teleconferencing software. MicroSoft developed NetMeeting and Cornell CuSeeMe. Both softwares were freeware. Their weak performance stemmed from their dependence on the Internet, which at that time simply did not have the bandwidth to effectively accommodate such technology. Audio communication on Netmeeting was limited to two people. When a third participant connected, the voice simply disappeared and participants were limited to text messaging. NetMeeting contained several interesting features in spite of this drawback. There was a whiteboard with resident applications⁵. The collaborative potential of the medium was evident notwithstanding the network limitations, and as the Internet has become more dependable, video teleconferencing has become increasingly varied.

How the two technologies are used

In its early days the videoconference was used by businesses and universities for group meetings. Businesses saw the advantage of holding meetings virtually when participants could not be together physically. Although not inconsiderable, the costs attached to a videoconference often operated by telecommunication companies such as Bell Canada were cheaper than the transportation charges required for a face-to-face meeting. The universities used this technology to permit wider access to limited resources. Specialized teachers are not available nationwide and to deal with this reality, certain secondary schools in the U.S. also installed videoconferencing facilities. A model of distance education emerged consisting of students in specially equipped rooms linked by a dedicated videoconferencing infrastructure to a teacher in another location.

In Canada, francophone communities outside of Quebec, often located at great distances from cultural resources, adopted this model. The Collège des Grands Lacs (Great Lakes College), founded in 1995, linked five francophone communities in eastern Ontario. In Acadia, a similar system linked francophone communities in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island.

In other countries, such as Great Britain and France, in Quebec and in other Canadian provinces, distance education was based on a model of autonomous individual learning, and so, these systems were little used because of the limitations engendered by the need to assemble in specially equipped facilities.

During this time, several groundbreaking experiments in video teleconferencing⁶ were being done using the Internet for a more individual approach to distance education. These efforts were often government subsidized and confirmed the need for more development of the Internet. In the 90s, several cegeps, notably those who had several campuses, installed videoconferencing facilities using funds supplied by programs such as PAAPNTIC supplied by the Ministère de l'Éducation. The use of these facilities, however, was limited at best and included administrative meetings of regional staff.

In fact, in the collegial network, it has been a relatively recent phenomenon to have enough bandwidth to use video teleconferencing thanks to the highspeed Internet connection offered by RISQ (Réseau d’informations scientifiques du Québec). Furthermore, the use of highspeed connections has encouraged the development of platforms for collaboration that accommodate multiple images as well as voice transmissions. The traffic on these platforms in-province has fostered the creation of home grown technologies by firms that originally distributed American products. By the middle of the first decade of this century, Quebec had software for bilingual synchronous distance communication that allowed true collaborative work.

But why use Video teleconferencing?

After this brief historical capsule of the development of the technology, the question of how and why video teleconferencing should be used by college teachers will be addressed.

First, the teacher must determine whether this tool is pedagogically correct for his/her course. The decision must take numerous factors into consideration and rather than go into detail, a schema which summarily describes the evaluation has been developed. The main steps are as follows:

Identify the pedagogical approach;
Determine the pedagogical model
Choose a strategy among the 11 models proposed
Create a scenario taking pedagogical process and available resources into account

The examples of scenarios proposed at the bottom of the schema can equally be a source of inspiration.

There are classical pedagogical strategies for presenting information supported by visual elements, role-plays, guided explorations of text, software and websites as well as a review session. The possibilities for video teleconferencing are endless. Below are two video clips of interviews in French that show concrete examples of how it can be used:

In the first entry on the playlist of the video player below, Frédéric Aubrais shows how video teleconferencing can be used to simulate a conversation with a client.

In the second entry, Marie-Pier Morin, teacher in Early Childhood and Primary Education at the University of Sherbrooke and Réjean Fournier, teacher in the Laboratory Technology Program at Cégep de Sherbrooke, present several advantages of video teleconferencing during apprenticeships.

Most examples are often limited to lectures, and the literature on the subject proposes few different models. Things are changing however. Certain teachers at cégeps and universities in Quebec are using the video teleconference to virtually provide expert supervision of students during apprenticeships within Quebec or elsewhere. Other initial uses of video teleconferencing in Quebec have included Cégeps en réseau, APOP's e-conference U R on Line 2007 and on-line workshops as well as the distance education offered by the Groupe Collegia. Each of these examples will be briefly described below. It is hoped that they will serve as sources of inspiration to motivate the reader to experiment with the medium of video teleconferencing.

Examples

Cégeps en réseau

The project Cégeps en réseau was a techno-pedagogically and organizationally innovative response to the challenges of teaching small groups in college technical training programs. The project used information technology (IT) to link schools teaching small groups the same subjects. The success of the project depended on cooperation at several levels - between teachers, between IT representatives, between administrators and schools. Collaboration was also required among students because the project favoured cooperative activities⁷. You can consult an account of the experiment (in French) by Geneviève Lizée of Cégep de Drummondville.

The first results⁸ of this project indicated that the most common teaching model was still the lecture. The results also demonstrated, however, the importance of teacher training about the pedagogical possibilities for collaborative work on synchronous platforms. Shortly after the beginnings of the experiment, teachers requested such training. After the start of this training in December 2006, scenarios and other examples of collaborative work began to emerge.

The e-conference of APOP in January 2007

In what is believed to be a first in Quebec⁹, the e-conference of APOP in January 2007, was held as a completely virtual venue. About 350 participants were registered for 121 activities. With great attention paid to logistics by the organizers, the event was a success. A very positive review of the proceeding was published in the newsletter Clic (in French).

The symposium wanted to foster a virtual assembly for the discussion and exchange of views that rivaled a face-to-face encounter. In doing so, it would reduce the disadvantages inherent in non-virtual assemblies such as travel time and expense, as well as the organizational and financial costs to institutions to promote continuing education. Finally the symposium envisioned the establishment of reliable and dynamic communication networks in the short to mid term using a site dedicated to a community of practice (user group) consisting of various categories of participants focusing on the topic of the postsecondary pedagogical integration of communication and information technology. To entice you to participate in such a symposium, excerpts from a keynote presentation by Zsolt Szigetvari and then clips from a workshop with Brent Reid are displayed as the third through sixth entries on the video player below. You can also visit the APOP site to learn about the next virtual meeting.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

APOP's Workshops

Besides the symposium discussed above, APOP has developed on-line workshops for continuing education since 2006. Whether in the category of caravane_APOP, APOP_mobile, or APOP_taxi these short modules are synchronous distance education. As the courses can be given at times convenient to users and there is no travel time or costs involved, the number of students who can benefit from such custom instruction is increased. The adaptation of content from face-to-face presentation to synchronous mode, however, requires considerable effort on the part of users as well as instructors.

Groupe Collegia

A consortium of several colleges, the Groupe Collegia was a province wide virtual continuing education resource. Classes leading towards an AEC certificate (attestation d’études collégiales) permitted students to recycle themselves in different fields without leaving home. Various courses were offered to students from all corners of Quebec. At left, the last two entries on the video playlist are video clips where teachers discuss how they interacted with students using video teleconferencing.

» Suzanne Baril, a teacher in the Personal Insurance Agents and Brokers Program (Agents et courtiers en assurance des personnes) of Groupe Collegia in the colleges of Matane, de la Gaspésie et des Îles and O'Sullivan, presents how text messaging can be integrated into a video teleconferenced course (in French).

» Frédéric Aubrais, a teacher in the same program, presents how the video teleconference can be an effective tool to promote a link between teacher and student as well links between students (in French).

Footnotes

¹Chargée de projet at the pedagogical development arm (Service de conception pédagogique) of Cégep@distance since 2004.

²Teacher at Cégep François-Xavier-Garneau and president of APOP since 2003.

³Chargée de projet at the research arm (Service de Recherche et développement) at Cégep@distance since 1995, currently on leave for professional activities at the Société de formation à distance des commissions scolaires du Québec (SOFAD).

⁴A téléprésence wall déveloped by the Société des arts technologiques (SAT), the video teleconference Via, as well as DECclic from the Corporation Plateforme collégiale DECclic were the three technologies selected at the beginning of the project.

⁵For a definition of these functions, refer to the section Focus on Function ahead in this report.

⁶In Québec, several experiments were subsidized by the Fonds de l’autoroute de l’information at various scholastic levels notably at the collegial level. La Virine APO (now Vitrine Technologie-Éducation), l’Institut maritime at Rimouski, l’UQAM, the Centre collégial de formation à distance (CCFD) (now Cégep@distance), the Cégep de Jonquière and the Cégep de Chicoutimi participated in these experiments between 1995 and 2000. They facilitated the evaluation of the evolving user-friendliness of these systems.

⁷Poellhuber, Bruno & Chomienne, Martine and the CEFRIO research team, Projet Cégeps en réseau, research paper (in French), version dated March 17, 2007.

⁸Poellhuber, Bruno & Chomienne, Martine (2007). 'Cégeps en réseau : un projet de télécollaboration et d’innovation pédagogique pour revitaliser les programmes techniques à petites cohortes'.

Proceedings of the l’AIPU (Association de pédagogie universitaire) Colloquium at Montreal, pp. 993 to 996 (in French). [http://aipu2007.umontreal.ca/pdf/Actes_AIPU_2007.pdf].

⁹ Certain people would say that this is a North American first.

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Thanks to Norm for the great job he has done in translating this Report. I realize that few examples specifically refer to the Anglophone environment, but now that an English version is available to all, we expect that the whole Quebec community of Video Teleconferencing users will be able to share their experience and communicate it to us.

Martine Chomienne, Pedagogical advisor, Cégep@distance [2007-12-23]

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