A Case Study of the Use of Videoconferencing in a Speech and Language Therapy Setting

The subject of this thesis is the comprehensive evaluation of the telemedical Teach-Speech project which was a field study, designed by speech and language professionals. The TeachSpeech model of service delivery increases the therapeutic role of educational support assistants (ESAs) through the introduction of a videoconferencing link, used by a remote speech and language therapist (SLT) to support the ESAs in their work with children who have speech and language impairments in mainstream schools. This model of service delivery was contrasted with the traditional model of therapy where the SLT visits the schools to provide direct face-to-face therapy to the child. In contrast with the TeachSpeech model of therapy where the ESAs receive formal support across the videoconferencing link, the ESAs in the traditional model receive little formal support from the SLT. The two models of therapy were evaluated through consideration of the project performance, the users' perceptions and the communication process of the videoconferencing meetings. The performance was measured using log sheets to gauge how the therapists spent their time, by a cost analysis and with a clinical effectiveness tool as applied to the nine children in the TeachSpeech group and the sixteen children in the traditional model of therapy. Stakeholders were canvassed using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to appraise their perceptions of the models of therapy. Finally, the process of TeachSpeech model of therapy was assessed using structural and content analysis applied to the transcripts obtained from video-mediated meetings. Results obtained with Enderby Outcome Measures showed that the two methods of delivery were equally clinically effective, thereby satisfying a critical requirement of the project. The technology was found to be unobtrusive, allowing the participants to adapt quickly to this innovative communication medium. The technology was found to support complex interaction such as the essential teaching-learning relationship that exists among the participants. In the small-scale pilot project considered, the TeachSpeech project was not cost effective. Under certain circumstances, extension to a wider population is believed to render the model cost effective. Results were mainly positive and suggested that consideration of a single evaluation criterion can be misleading. Despite being a small scale evaluation, the results were generally encouraging and suggest the potential benefit of this method of service delivery

Modelling the Multi in Multi-Party Communication

This thesis investigates the effects of multimedia communications technology on the interaction of mixed- and same-role groups. The first study explores the effect of video and audio conferencing on small, role-differentiated problem-solving groups in the laboratory. The second laboratory study examines the impact of shared video technology on the communication of role-undifferentiated groups. A multi-faceted analytical approach is employed, including indices of task performance, process and content of communication, patterns of interaction and subjective user evaluations. Lastly, a field study looks at how the communication process of business meetings is affected by status constraints and audio conferencing technology. The findings show that both multimedia video and audio communications technology have similar impacts on the patterns of speaker contributions in different types and sizes of groups, and that the extent of their effect is influenced by the presence or absence of role differences between group members - whether experimentally manipulated in the laboratory or organisationally assigned roles in a naturalistic setting. Technology-mediation appears to exaggerate the impact of status and role such that group members say more disparate amounts and interact less freely than in face-to-face groups, in particular it exaggerates the dominance of one individual. Surprisingly, multimedia conferencing technology can support free and equal participation in groups whose speakers have similar roles but evidence of its effect on speakers of similar status is equivocal. The implications for communication outcome and design of communications technology are discussed

Communication in Virtual Supply Chain Teams

As manufacturers require closer and closer links to geographically more diverse suppliers in order remain competitive, virtual teamworking is beginning to look attractive. However, the full benefits which closer communication are meant to bring require informal and free interaction among team members in a way which communications technology could block. We use case studies of two supply chain teams trying desktop conferencing technology for collaborative work to recommend how best to introduce virtual teamworking