Partnership and learning: A case study in video conferencing in West Australian schools Kathryn Murray School of Isolated and Distance Education and Garry Gardner Governor Stirling Senior High School

In 1997 a partnership between Telstra and the Education Department of Western Australia provided funding for a trial of video conferencing in the delivery of the science component of the Academic Talent Program to students in rural secondary schools.

The educational aims of the project were to increase the interactivity and the student centred nature of the electronic classroom and to provide equity of access for isolated students. The trial provided the opportunity to explore the potential of video conferencing as an instructional medium in Western Australia, where distances and isolation are significant impediments to efficient delivery of programs.

A city based science teacher delivered a differentiated science curriculum to small groups of gifted and talented students at Donnybrook District High School and Margaret River Senior High School for one semester. An independent evaluation judged the delivery system to have significant educational benefits over telematics.

This paper will outline the way the trial was conducted and the observations and findings of the delivery teacher and his students.

Introduction

Telematics, an audiographic system of communication through phone lines using audio links and computer links via a modem, has been adapted for the delivery of special programs to students in rural secondary schools. This is the system currently used to deliver the Academic Talent Program to approximately fifty remote schools.

While both of these systems continue to be used, video conferencing has presented itself as an additional technology with the potential to meet the challenge of providing a diverse and high quality range of educational programs. Following on from some interesting adaptions of the technology in other Australian states, the Education Department in WA and Telstra, recently formed a partnership under the Telstra-Learn-It scheme. This provided funds for a modest trial which used video conferencing to deliver the science component of the Academic Talent Program.

Organisation of the trial

The subject group consisted of students at rural high schools in Donnybrook and Margaret River who were identified as gifted in the area of Science and Maths. These students accessed the Academic Talent program via telematics delivery from Governor Stirling Senior High School. It was decided that Science was the subject area which would be most likely to benefit from a visual dimension. Garry Gardner was the teacher in this area.

Project Manager, Kathryn Murray and technical support officer, Collin Jennings from the School of Isolated and Distance Education looked at a range of equipment and talked to colleagues in Queensland, Victoria and South Australia about their choices of video conferencing systems. The Vtel Small Group Teleconferencing System won the tender, meeting the key criteria of cost, versatility and technical support. The system is PC based and uses Vtel SmartStation software. We opted for 20 inch monitors and Pan Tilt Zoom cameras with six pre-sets.

Garry Gardner set up a video conferencing area in a normal classroom, which had been set aside for telematics. The object was to deal with the conditions that would be found in most West Australian schools rather than to create an ideal situation. The receiving schools also adapted their regular telematics areas with only minor changes such as sight screens and enhanced lighting.

Unlike telematics which required considerable curriculum development, the curriculum needed little change to adapt it to the new delivery method of video conferencing. The possibilities of innovative teaching using the technology allowed the teacher to explore a range of strategies which created a learning environment equal to the classroom and in some ways, even better. Teacher-student ratio, multisite access, the sharing of computer applications and an enhanced sense of learning environment ownership were distinct advantages.

The trial begins

The addition of a document camera means that students can see text or materials in close-up. The document camera works like an overhead projector so pre-prepared materials can be used. Even postage stamp sized materials can be transmitted with excellent resolution.

Students can also use pre-sets for their camera, which can be driven by themselves or the teacher at the delivery site. The camera can be instructed to follow a particular person around the room, using colour recognition, or to focus on one position.

At the appointed time, the teacher dials his students. This is a direct link if one site is involved but for multi-linking to two or more sites, the use of a Telstra bridge is required. The facilitator contacts all sites and links them in readiness for the lesson.

Using the picture-in-picture facility, Garry can see what his own camera is showing, as well as both remote sites. He can also include an inset of a chat screen for comments and observations. Picture quality is not far below that of a television screen. Unlike television, resolution can be traded off against frame rate. Rapid movement also means that quality is reduced by a ghosting effect.

Welcoming his students and taking time for a bit of gossip, he can then make sure that each site has organised equipment and camera pre-sets so that maximum visibility and supervision is possible. Audio conditions are fine-tuned and the position of the multi-directional microphone is adjusted. In conducting laboratory experiments at remote sites, where no direct supervision is available, safety is essential. Garry might have to ask a student to tie back her hair and remind another to wear his safety glasses. Before video conferencing, many procedures were not attempted during lessons because of saftey factors.

The lesson commences with a demonstration, followed by student observations. One student might use the chat screen or simply a whiteboard to record these. The document camera focuses on a page of the text which elucidates some of the theory. Students can them conduct their own experiments under the watchful eye of their teacher. Perhaps one group will demonstrate a procedure to the other receiving site as well as the delivery site.

When results need to be recorded the teacher can open up a program like Microsoft Office 97 and allow students to use it for tables and graphs at the remote sites. Perhaps part of the assessment is for students to work on a presentation of their understandings using Powerpoint. Again the teacher can open the program and allow students to access it. There is also a software program available with interactive simulated experiments. Students can carry out virtual experiments while the teacher watches. This gives students independence and responsibility for their own learning.

The lesson ends. It has included the full range of learning experiences that students in the classroom would have as well as the advantages of a small group, access to a range of computer programs and full interactive engagement with learning.

Evaluation of the trial

The best aspects of the use of the video conferencing system were the increased interactivity and the visual presence of student and teacher. There was also the benefit of visual and audio interaction with students at the other site.

Disadvantages were unfamiliarity with visual distortion caused by movement and delay in voice transmission. It took time for familiarity with the technology to develop so that the technology worked reliably.

Future uses of video conferencing in the classroom

For larger groups at one site, a room system would be more appropriate. The room system can now share computer applications and do all the things possible with a desk top system. The teacher can multi-link to a number of sites but with larger numbers of students, interacitvity is reduced and a lecture style becomes more suitable.

Educational delivery can provide whole areas of curriculum such as the science component of the Academic Talent Program. On the other hand,it might be a supplement to print based lessons as in the delivery of one Economics lesson a week from the School of Isolated and Distance Education to Kununurra post compulsory students.

It can also allow for students to network with other students around the country and the world. Recently both primary and secondary students have talked to students in the USA to exchange information about lifestyles. Educators have used the room systems for networking, conferencing and professional development. Virtual workshops to virtual field trips are possible.

Garry Gardner is now taking the desk-top system into his classroom so that his rural students can share lessons with his metropolitan class. The results of this are still unknown but it will certainly reduce the costs of teacher time. It also provides a method of including students who are isolated in ways other than distance.

The advantages of the system are interactivity, reliability, quality of audio and vision and flexibility. The disadvantages are the cost and the fact that, at present, an ISDN connection is essential.

The good news is that Telstra and the Education Department of Western Australia are keen to work in partnership to ensure greater access to ISDN. And if we allowed initial costs to stop us exploring technology, the monks would still be handwriting our books.

Reference

Kathryn Murray School of Isolated and Distance Education Garry Gardner Governor Stirling Senior High School Please cite as: Murray, K. and Gardner, G. (1998). Partnership and learning: A case study in video conferencing in West Australian schools. In C. McBeath and R. Atkinson (Eds), Planning for Progress, Partnership and Profit. Proceedings EdTech'98. Perth: Australian Society for Educational Technology. http://www.aset.org.au/confs/edtech98/pubs/articles/murray.html