Teleconferencing and Telecommunications General Terms and Concepts

Distance Education

Methods and Mediums

Interactive Video Environments

Telecourse Techniques

Glossary I: General Distance Education

Cyber Space is a term coined by science fiction writer William Gibson that describes the virtual world created by computers.

Downlink refers to the reception of video, audio or data signals sent from a satellite to an earth based receiving station.

Distance learning is an educational practice where the student and teacher are noncontiguous, but still maintain two-way commu-nications to best achieve the goals of the instruction. The instruction can occur in real-time or on a delayed schedule.

Fiber Optic technology uses long strands of glass or plastic "wire" to transmit digital data (video, audio or computer) using a laser light source.

Just-In-Time education refers to instructional programs that are developed for students as they need them.

Information Super High-way refers to the Internet and the world wide web.

Internet is the name for a worldwide system for link-ing computers together.

ITV or Interactive Televi-sion is a television system that allows two-way communication between the sender and user. This sys-tem allows a teacher and students to see and hear each other when they are in different locations.

Nanosecond is one bil-lionth of a second.

Network is a group of computers linked together.

Online is when your com-puter is connected to one or more publicly accessible computers.

World Wide Web or WWW is a portion of the Internet that allows the use of user friendly graphics and instant links to other information pages across the Internet.

Glossary II: Methods and Mediums

One-way and Two-way Video Teleconferencing are becoming more popu-lar for distance education, as more transmitting and receiving sites become available to educators. Besides sharing many of the traditional classroom attributes, this medium also offers many addi-tional benefits such as greater access to subject matter experts, and inc. . teased student interac-tions.

Video taped lessons, and programs delivered by satellite, cable or broad-cast television, have been slow to be accepted in the educational community because of their associa-tion with early, low qual-ity television programming, but are now begin-ning to take off as higher quality video production and planned instructional development becomes the rule for educational video.

Multimedia computer programs that can be sent to learners at distant locations is becoming a more common medium. The different media that might be used in a typical program include text, graphics, audio, photo-graphs, animation, and/or movies. Due to their often large size, many multimedia programs are put on one or more CD-ROM discs which makes them easier to use.

Local computer networks in businesses and schools have become common-place and can be easily accessed by terminals at that site or from distant locations by modem.

The Internet offers in-stant access to informa-tion and communication for students and teachers all over the world. Information can be exchanged in real-time or on a de-layed basis using email, mailing lists, news groups, and file transfers.

One of the most frequently asked questions by teachers, concerning the newer technologies, is "What delivery medium is best for teaching my particular subject?"

Several medium selec-tion models have been constructed over the years to address this problem, but none stand out as the preferred method of choice. The reason for this is, that in addition to matching content to delivery medium, the instructor must also match the delivery medium to diverse student learning styles.

Howard Gardner, in his 1991 book The Un-schooled Mind, identifies seven distinct learning styles that he feels all people possess in varying degrees. The style, or styles, most preferred by any individual defines what they will connect with the most. This also means that since we possess all of the learning styles in varying degrees, we actually will learn best when presented with a variety of instructional mediums. Gardner con-tends that "The broad spectrum of students -and perhaps the society as a whole - would be better served if disciplines could be presented in a number of ways and learning could be as-sessed through a variety of means."

For educators, new tech-nologies offer an ever increasing opportunity to expand the number of delivery methods used in a single lesson. By using a combination of delivery mediums, a greater num-ber of student learning styles can be addressed. As we learn more about learning styles, it be-comes apparent that no one delivery method will satisfy the needs of all learners.

Analog Signals are electronic transmissions that are made using a continu-ous wave of varying frequencies or lengths.

ATM stands for Asynchronous Transfer Mode. This is a special computer language (protocol) that enables different types of data to be exchanged between computers at the same time.

Backbone refers to the heavier lines used to send large amounts of informa-tion between large computers.

BBS stands for Bulletin Board Service or System. This is a place on a com-puter network where people can post notes for others to see much like they would with a con-ventional bulletin board.

Broadcast Bands C and Ku are the special broad-casting frequencies that most satellite-linked videoconferences use. The C band uses lower frequencies and needs a large antenna to receive the signal. The Ku band with the higher frequencies can use a much smaller receiving dish.

Broadcast Quality Video is a video signal that is equal or better in quality to those signals typically sent by television stations.

CD-ROM stands for Compact Disc - Read Only Memory. They are small plastic and metal discs that are used to store digital information like computer programs, text, audio, and video data.

Coaxial Cable is a type of wire that is used for carrying multiple fre-quencies like those used for broadcast quality video.

Compressed Digital Signals are digital signals that have had repetitive pieces of information removed to make the signal size. This makes the signal faster, but can reduce the qual-ity.

Dedicated Line is a communications link or pathway that is continu-ously connected between two sites.

Desktop refers to any communications that can be made with a personal computer.

Digital Signals are elec-tronic transmissions that are made using zeros, ones and spaces. This is the basic language of computers.

Downlink is the connection made when a communications satellite relays a received signal to a receiving station back on Earth.

Email or electronic mail is an area on a computer network where digitized information can be sent, stored, and retrieved by individual users.

Geostationary Orbit is what keeps communica-tions satellites stationary over a specific place on the Earth. If they moved across the sky in another type of orbit, the trans-mitting and receiving antennas would have to move to follow them.

Hypermedia is a term used for computer soft-ware that links programs, text, audio, and video together so that the user has instant access to them.

ISDN stands for Inte-grated Services Digital Network. This is a special communications line that allows the transfer of digital information be-tween computers without having it converted to an analog signal. When used in place of a standard telephone connection, the speed of data transfer is greatly increased.

Land Line refers to any communications network that transmits information though wires or cables only.

Line Speed/Line Capacity refers to the amount of information that can be transmitted over a wire or cable in one second.

Modem is actually a truncation of the terms MOdulator/DEModulator. These devices are used to con-vert digital signals to analog for transmission, and then back digital once received. Most commonly used so that personal computers can communicate over com-mon telephone lines.

Protocols are computer languages that enable different computers to exchange data.

Receiving Dish is the concave antenna used to receive satellite signals.

Satellite Footprint is the area on the Earth that will receive a particular satel-lite transmission.

Servers are computers that can distribute information automatically in response to network user's requests.

Switched Line is a communications link that can be switched to follow different paths during a single transmission.

T-1 refers to a standard for digital transmission in North America that is capable of carrying up to 24 different voice, video, or data signals at the same time.

Teleconference is electronic communication between two or more groups, or three or more individuals, that takes place in real time. This communications can be by audio, video, or com-puter links, or by any combination of the three.

Transponders are sections or "channels" on a satellite that receive from the Earth, amplify them, and then relay them back to receiving stations.

Twisted Pair Copper Wires are thin wires used for low voltage electronic transmissions. They are commonly used in buildings for connecting telephones and computers.

Uplink is the connection made when a communications signal is sent from a transmitter on the Earth to an orbiting satellite.

V-Sat is a small (24") satellite antenna. It provides cost-effective two-way or multi-way signal transmission at digital bandwidths of 384 mega-bits per second (1/4 T-1).

Glossary III: Interactive Learning Environments

Active Learning is an educational method where the student must actively participate in the delivery of the instruction in order to master its content.

Interactivity is the dy-namic communications between persons in an educational setting.

Learning Contracts are agreements between students and teachers that define mutually agreed upon goals, activities, and measures of accomplish-ment for a particular course or lesson.

Passive Learning is a more traditional method of education where the teacher designs and deliv-ers the course content and the student learns by passive observation

Technology continues to expand the options new teaching and learn-ing situations. With this, the roles of teachers and students must expand in order to make their dis-tance learning experiences as successful as possible.

For teachers, these roles include:

Planner - Lesson plans for distance learning courses must be more detailed than those for the traditional classroom. Potential problems must be anticipated. Depend-ing on the medium, feed-back from students may be slow or nonexistent and the instructor may not have the opportunity to change the content to address student problems once the lesson begins.

Record Keeper - When the teacher and student are not in the same loca-tion at the time of instruc-tion, the teacher must keep detailed records of student involvement to ensure that all students are actively participating. Lack of participation signals that the student is falling into a passive learning mode, or worse, that they are having problems with their com-prehension of the content.

Mood Setter - Just as in a traditional classroom where the teacher sets the mood of the class, the same holds true for a distance learning course. The teacher regulates the pace of the course, deter-mines its rules, and se-lects the formality or informality of the interac-tions.

Coordinator - The teacher will need to Coordinate with administra-tion personnel for regis-tration, scheduling, fund-ing, etc., with other teachers and curriculum developers to assist in developing the course, and with technical spe-cialists to produce the program and operate equipment.

Mentor - As distance education begins to shift to a more student-cen-tered pedagogy, the teacher now becomes more of a mentor, direct-ing the student to self-discover the information and procedures needed to learn the intended con-cepts, instead of merely presenting it to them.

Moderator - With in-creased student interac-tion, the instructor must keep the class focused on the lesson objectives, encourage participation during slow periods, take control of the discussion if the class is spending too much time on one particular topic, and settle any disputes that may develop between class-mates.

Online Leader - The teacher will need to lead by example for most online activities. They must keep comments short, make them fre-quent, and maybe even misspell a few words order to make the stu-dents feel more comfortable in committing their thoughts to writing.

On-Air Talent -there are special requirements and talents for teaching in front of a camera that differ from those of teaching in a classroom. The audience in a distant classroom will be much less tolerant of delays, errors, personal manner-isms, bad haircuts and clothing, experiments and equipment that do not work as they should, or any uncertainties from the instructor. Most stu-dents are very familiar with professionally pro-duced video, and win expect the same quality from their distance learn-ing courses.

Just as for teachers, students also have new roles particular to the distance learning environment. These roles include:

Task Master - Without the physical presence of a teacher motivating the student to perform, stu-dents will need to de-velop their own drive and initiative for actively participating in the course and for completing their work on time.

Peer Tutor - In a student -centered learning envi-ronment, the student's interactions amongst themselves are just as important as the teacher/ student interactions.

Goal Setter - In many distance learning situa-tions, the students are not enrolled at the home school and may not be following the delivery school's curriculum. They are taking the course for their own personal objec-tives, and will need to establish achievable goals through contracts with the course instructor. These "learning contracts" are being used in many student-centered learning environments, and are important to distance learning courses.

Active Participant - In any distance learning situation, the student must be an active partici-pant if they want to get the most from the instruction.

Glossary IV: Telecourse Techniques

In order to conduct a successful video tele-course, the instructor must first plan for success. This means that all contingencies are antici-pated and alternatives prepared for prior to class. The first step in this process is planning.

Rooms, equipment, and technical personnel must be scheduled for a time that is convenient for everyone concerned. Registration of students must be conducted at both the home site and at distant sites to ensure maximum attendance. Any published materials or manipulatives must be available to the students prior to the start of class. Test all equipment and make a practice run prior to class. Have backups ready. All electrical equipment fails at some point, and students will not tolerate dead air.

Set the atmosphere for learning. Students feel ownership of the course when they are familiar with their surroundings. Have the students intro-duce themselves. Form the students into groups for projects and presentations. Explain the require-ments of the course. Tell students what is expected of them at the beginning of the course.

Involve the students in the course. Be sure to address each student by their name and site during every session. Keep records so that you know every student is involved. If possible, move out from behind the desk so that you are more acces-sible to the students.

Video Techniques

Write and erase off camera. Use a variety of mediums in your presen-tation such as, white boards, lecture, video tape, group discussions, overhead transparencies or other graphics, com-puter demonstrations, close ups on manipulatives, etc. if a student is not cooperating at a distant site, handle them just as you would a student in a regular classroom.

For one way video, find out which students are present in your distant class, and draw them into the discussion with direct questions. Also vary the camera angles frequently so that your presentation does not become static (be sure not to overdo this!).

For two way video, use assigned seating so that it is easy to identify students. Arrange the rooms and camera angles so that all students are on camera. Ensure that all students are close enough to be recognized on camera.

Remember that teachers who are new to teaching through videoconferencing will not use the medium to its fullest. This only comes with time and experience, so use only those techniques that you feel comfortable with and then add others as the medium becomes more familiar.

Character Generator is an electronic device that is used to display text and graphics on the video screen,

ChromaKey is a video special effect where a person or object is shot in front of a colored surface, usually blue or green, and then the color is replaced with video from another source. This is a popular effect used by TV weathercasters who ap-pear to be standing in front of a map.

Conferencing is a term used to describe the activities of a group of people who are communicating, via electronic means, about a particular subject.

Directional Microphones are used to re-ceive sounds from one direction only. This reduces background noise.

Monitors are televisions that are used to display video from a particular camera, location, or video tape player.

Noise is unwanted sounds or video signals.

Origination or Home Site is the location where the main video and audio is transmitted for uplink. The primary instructor is located here.

Receiving or Distant Sites are the locations where students receive downlinked video and audio instruction.

Telecourse is a class or lesson that is given using telecommunication de-vices as the main delivery medium. This would include telephone conferencing, one-way and two-way television conferencing, and com-munications over a com-puter network.

Teleprompter is a device that is mounted on or near a video camera that allows the person on camera to read a prepared script without looking away from the camera.

Wireless Microphones have small transmitters that enable the user to freely move about with-out being attached to the sound equipment by wires.