ED-MEDIA 1999 Proceedings Book - Association for the ...

Selecting Internet Technologies to Support Interactive Teaching and Learning at a Distance
C. James Wong
Learning Resources Division, Belleville Area College, Belleville, IL 62221, U.S.A.
E-mail: wongcj@smtp.bacnet.edu
Introduction
Apparently the Internet is becoming increasingly accessible to Americans; according to the Associated Press, there are 74 million
Internet users in the United States (Gearan, 1999). The U.S. Department of Education (1999) reports that, in 1998, 89% of public schools have
access to the Internet, and 51% of all American classrooms are connected to the Internet. This paper examines the advantages and limitations of
various Internet technologies so that educators can make appropriate decisions to select and utilize them to facilitate interactive teaching and
learning in a distance education program.
Traditional Distance Education Programs
Traditional distance education was considered as non-mainstream instruction by many educators because they thought such distance
instruction could not be truly interactive. For example, enrolled in a correspondence type of independent study course, students might not be able
to ask question or receive feedback from the author who wrote the course or a tutor/instructor who is a content expert; that is the nature of
independent study, some explain. Likewise, television courses rely on one-way communication.
Internet Technologies
Until comparatively recently, education has been influenced by the transformation into an information society (Chute, Thompson, &
Hancock, 1999). By employing various Internet technologies, information such as pedagogical dialogues and content materials can be exchanged
between the instructor and students and/or among students themselves with ease and immediacy. The Internet is being used as supplementary
communication channels after class in both face-to-face courses and distance education courses that utilize interactive video. Meanwhile, more
and more higher education institutions are delivering Internet-based (on-line) courses to students at a distance (Barnard, 1997; Khan, 1997;
Moore & Kearsley, 1996; Porter, 1997).
A typical Internet-based distance education environment incorporates a combination of technologies to deliver instructional content
and foster interaction, with the technologies matched to the course goals and design. There are a variety of communication and collaboration
tools available, and it is essential to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the most common asynchronous and synchronous communication
tools.
Asynchronous Tools
E-mail
Advantages
- It is easy to use.
- It is a fast, inexpensive communication channel.
- Information transferred is not limited only to text.
E-mail Discussion List
Advantages
Limitations
- There are numerous different software packages for e-mail available. During communication
between users with different e-mail software, e-mail messages and/or attached files might lose
their formatting and will not be viewable.
- It provides a discussion forum for students.
- Students tend to access the list postings more often while checking their personal e-mail.
- This one-to-many communication medium is useful for sharing documents, peer review, and peer editing.
- Because students do not have to meet at any certain time, working on collaborative group projects is convenient and
flexible.
- Students who are hesitant to speak up in a face-to-face classroom environment will contribute more to class
discussions in this type of environment.
- It is also possible to archive discussion lists.
Discussion Bulletin Board
Advantages
Limitations
- It has similar features as an e-mail discussion list.
- Messages do not reside on one's e-mail in-box.
- Discussions may be threaded.
- It is fairly inexpensive.
Limitations
- Participant's mailbox can get
overloaded with messages,
especially in large classes and
when the use of the e-mail list is
required.
- Discussion lists also require
good electronic-moderating skills
on the part of the teacher.
- Participants might not check messages posted if not motivated.
- It also requires good electronic-moderating skills on the part of the teacher.
Synchronous Tools
.Text Chat
Advantages
- They can help to build a community of learners, and allow
students to get to know each other better.
- They also foster immediacy and social presence and are useful
for brainstorming activities.
- Because they are a completely textual communication medium,
they allow classes that use them to focus on writing. Everything
that is uttered, created, or described must be typed in as text,
forcing us to recognize the power of the written word.
- Hardware and software requirements are minimal.
Collaboration Tools
Advantages
Limitations
- There are many different ways to do chats on the Internet: for instance, closed
conference chat, MUDs and MOOs, web-based chat, Internet Relay Chat, and so on.
- Limitation of interoperability implies that a user of IRC cannot chat with a user of
MOO.
- They require good typing skills.
- Conversations tend to overlap in a large class.
- The differences in time zones must be dealt with.
- They also require good electronic-moderating skills on the part of the teacher.
Limitations