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Suggestions for Encouraging Remote Student Interaction

Guidelines for Interactive Video Instruction #1

Raoul A. Arreola, Ph.D.

©1996 Educational Evaluation and Development, UT Memphis

Interactive video instruction requires the teacher to make several adjustments in teaching technique. In teaching students at remote sites there is the constant challenge of keeping them engaged, of making them feel that they are just as important, just as much of the class, as the students in the room with the teacher.

There are several important principles which have been found in helping the instructor make appropriate adjustments in teaching technique so as to ensure that the remote students will remain engaged.

Train your students at all sites, especially the ones in the room with you, to use the push-to-talk microphones when they are ask questions or make comments. This ensures that everyone will hear the question or comment - especially those students at the remote sites. Nothing makes a remote student feel more disconnected than to watch the teacher on the monitor answering a question, or responding to a comment, when they couldn't hear the student in the room with the teacher. A good way to think of this is to remember those times when you took a class in a large lecture hall and had to sit in the back. The teacher always seemed to answer the questions of the students up front but it was hard to get any attention when you were way in the back. Eventually you may have felt disconnected from the class.
Regularly ask the students if they have any questions or comments, specifically addressing the remote site... then wait for the response. For example, suppose you are teaching a class to Jackson and you have 40 students in the room with you. When you ask if there are any questions, the local students can easily get your attention and you can respond to them quickly. But when this happens repeatedly, especially if there are several questions from the local students, the remote students may begin to feel disconnected. Also, even if the remote students want to ask a question right away, there is a small delay in hearing them so it is easy for them to be drowned out by local students and 'give up'. Instead of asking "Are there any questions or comments?", specifically ask each site if they have any questions. Try to consistently ask the remote site first. So, you might say "Are there any questions Jackson? Comments?" Then wait for a response. You may find that you have to wait a little longer for a response from remote students than local students. After the remote students have spoken then ask "Are there any questions or comments Memphis?" It is suggested that you use the reference of "Memphis" (or whatever your local site is) when asking the students at the local site if they have questions so as to convey to all students that you are treating them equally regardless of their location.
If you are using an interactive video classroom which can switch between teaching and conference modes such as A304 in the General Education Building, make certain you switch to the conference mode when students are asking questions or making comments. In the conference mode both the local site and the remote site students can see each other. This simple technique can often sharply enhance the remote students feeling of being truly connected with the class as well as the local students feeling of being in one class together.
Finally, it is good practice to come into the classroom a little early and set up the initial camera configuration. Set the room to conference mode so that as the students come into both classrooms they car see each other. Also, if you know the names of some of the students at the remote site it is effective to greet the students by name as they come in. When students hear their names coming from a television monitor it has an amazing effect which you can use to your advantage. This simple technique has the effect of making the students at the remote site feel that you are truly aware of them and consider them part of the class.