Video conferencing: an effective solution to long distance student placement support?

Background Within many health related degree programmes, students receive support during placements via visiting tutors. Literature discusses the importance of this support but economic and environmental arguments indicate a need for alternatives to supporting a student in situ. This project investigated the logistics of and perceptions towards using video conferencing as a means of providing this support. Methods A pilot project was undertaken in which an in situ, support meeting was replaced with a meeting via video link. All participants completed evaluative questionnaires and students attended a follow up focus group in order to explore responses in more depth. Results and discussion Use of the medium identified key logistical hurdles in implementing technology into existing support systems. All participants expressed enthusiasm for the medium with educators expressing a preference. Students identified concerns over the use of this medium for failing placements but could not identify why. As a result of evaluation, this project has raised a number of questions relating to the fitness for purpose of video conferencing in this context. Conclusion Future research aims to respond to the questions raised in evaluating the value and purpose of placement support and the nature of conversations via the video conferencing medium

Telehealth Handbook

The Centre for Telehealth (CT@M) Handbook is a resource for the growing number of people working in the field of telehealth, with a particular focus on applications in the area of mental health and addictions. It is intended to provide Site Coordinators and others with practical information, guidelines, and forms for clinical and evaluation purposes

A guide for Teachers

The role of the teacher in Higher Education is changing rapidly, and much of this change is as the result of the introduction of e-Learning. Teachers are now expected to share their role as course designers with many other professionals working in their institution while taking on a bigger role in the technical and resource discovery aspects of course design. This guide tackles these issues as well as examining emerging pedagogical issues that arise from the use of technologies in teaching. You will find information, advice and guidance that will help you make appropriate and effective use of e-Learning to support your students

An authoring tool for structuring and annotating on-line educational courses : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Computer Science at Massey University

This thesis studies the design and prototype implementation of a new web-based course authoring system for the Technology Integrated Learning Environment (TILE) project. The TILE authoring system edits the course structure and allows the author to annotate the course structure with meta-data. It makes extensive use of XML technology to communicate structured data across the Internet, as well as for both local and web-side databases. The Authoring tool is designed to support development by multiple authors and has check-in and check - out, as well as version control facilities. It also provides an interface for adopting other multimedia tools such as AudioGraph. The tool has an easy-to-use graphical user interface. The technical problems that have been solved in this project include issues such as cross-platform support, drag and drop functionality using JDK l.l.8, etc. System environments, such as relational database set up, XML database set up, Java swing set up in Mac also have been discussed. The authoring system interface analysis, database analysis and function analysis have been completed for the complete the system as specified. An intermediate system, designed to a reduced specification, has been implemented as a prototype and details of this system, which can work independently of the TILE delivery system, are included. The Full TILE authoring system including InstantDB database access also has been partially implemented. The prototype application has also has been tested on the PC platform

Factors Impacting the Use of Videoconferencing for Training: A Case Study in the Public Health Sector of Ethiopia

Videoconferencing was used for training in dispersed settings, in which lectures were broadcast and trainees were able to ask questions and discuss issues with instructors and other participants. The aims of this study are, first, to discover how to properly align videoconferencing with specific training approaches and, second, to learn which technological solutions are appropriate for use in countries with poorly developed technical infrastructures. The trainees appreciated the opportunity to establish close contact with high-ranking officials, despite encountering various technical problems and their having a low level of skills in using the new instructional technology. Moreover, the technology enabled instructors to conduct the training and interact with participants much more efficiently than had they been limited to face-to-face lectures and meetings. However, the use of videoconferencing technology mainly for instruction delivery limited the interactive and reflexive qualities of the technology. Poor training design, resulting from the influence of traditional training practices and a general lack of knowledge of instructional technology, was identified as hindering the full exploitation of this technology. While synchronous video transfer is appropriate in countries with well functioning infrastructure, distribution of lectures in developing countries should be supplemented by pre-recorded CDs and files that can be downloaded on the web

Physiotherapy student perspectives on synchronous dual-campus learning and teaching

An increasing number of universities offer educational programmes across multiple campuses, as a way of facilitating access to tertiary education and filling the shortage of health professionals in rural and regional settings. Offering an equitable learning experience across all sites has been considered an important aspect in any learning and teaching approach. This qualitative study analysed data from 10 focus group discussions and 11 unit evaluations, to explore student perceptions of synchronous dual-campus delivery of a physiotherapy programme in Central Queensland, Australia. An inductive approach to thematic analysis was used. Three themes emerged: (a) Student location influences learning; (b) Videoconferencing impacts learning and teaching; and (c) Dual-campus delivery determines teaching structures and shapes teaching processes. Difficulties related to cross-campus communication, logistics, and opportunities for interaction and engagement were seen as detrimental to synchronous dual-campus delivery. Skill-based demonstrations added another level of complexity. However, students identified a potential benefit from accessing expertise from both campuses. With careful planning and consideration of the potential barriers and facilitators, synchronous dual-campus learning environments can be an effective delivery option for higher education institutions. This study builds on existing literature and suggests a number of strategies that are specific to this mode of programme delivery

Video Conference as a tool for Higher Education

The book describes the activities of the consortium member institutions in the framework of the TEMPUS IV Joint Project ViCES - Video Conferencing Educational Services (144650-TEMPUS-2008-IT-JPGR). In order to provide the basis for the development of a distance learning environment based on video conferencing systems and develop a blended learning courses methodology, the TEMPUS Project VICES (2009-2012) was launched in 2009. This publication collects the conclusion of the project and it reports the main outcomes together with the approach followed by the different partners towards the achievement of the project's goal. The book includes several contributions focussed on specific topics related to videoconferencing services, namely how to enable such services in educational contexts so that, the installation and deployment of videoconferencing systems could be conceived an integral part of virtual open campuses

The Tutor's Role

This chapter addresses three questions about being an effective online tutor: 1. Why do we still think that online tutoring can principally draw its basis from face-to-face group processes and dynamics or traditional pedagogy? 2. Does the literature tell us anything more than we would make as an intelligent guess? 3. Do we really know what an ‘effective’ online tutor would be doing? The OTiS participants have gone some way to answering these questions, through the presentation and discussion of their own online tutoring experiences. Literature in this area is still limited, and suffers from the need for timeliness of publication to be useful. Intelligent guesses are all very well, but much better as a source of information for online tutors are the reflections and documented experiences of practitioners. These experiences reveal that face-to-face pedagogy has some elements to offer the online tutor, but that there are key differences and there is a need to examine the processes and dynamics of online learning to inform online tutoring

Computer conferencing: Choices and strategies

Computer conferencing permits meeting through the computer while sharing a common file. The primary advantages of computer conferencing are that participants may (1) meet simultaneously or nonsimultaneously, and (2) contribute across geographic distance and time zones. Due to these features, computer conferencing offers a viable meeting option for distributed business teams. Past research and practice is summarized denoting practical uses of computer conferencing as well as types of meeting activities ill suited to the medium. Additionally, effective team strategies are outlined which maximize the benefits of computer conferencing