rssN1449-6801

ffi

anyteachersare being thrustinto therole of'teleteacheriThissometimesoccurs becauseanorganisationasnvestigatedewand creativeways ofdeliveringeducationodispersedroupsoflearners. owever,it often occursbecauserganisationsmust domorewith less andteleteachings seen asone wayofachievinghis.No matterwhat themotivating actor,teleteachingpresentsexcitingnew opportunitiesfor teachersnd students.Italsoaisesmanyquestionsor thosewho havenever beeninvolvedn teleteachingbefore.Whatare theissues obe consideredandwhat are thedifferencesand similaritiesbetweenteleteachingandface-to-faceeaching?

What sTeleteaching?

Teleteachings a termthat hasbeen usedor sometimenow.ltirstappearednd wasoriginallysedodescribeeaching hatwas deliveredia'tele'vision.Howevetthe termis nowused to encompassteachingthat employsavariety oftechnologies.Thosehat are currentlypopularareweb or videoconferencingnd interactiveatelliteV.The mostcommonfactor or teleteachingshatit involveshe useof communicationsechnologytointeractwith studentsn'real'time.As echnologychanges,so willour conceptof teleteaching.However,real-time'interactionis animportantcomponentof teleteachingandthis definesthetypesofteachingstrategieshat canbe used.

Face-To-FaceTeleteaching

Sohow does teleteachingcompare toface-to-faceteaching?What adjustments,fany,o teachersaveto makeor teleteaching?encountermanydecisionmakerswhothink thatbecauseideoconferencingallowsteachers andstudentsto see eachotherthenit isjustthesame asteachingface-to-face.This s an understandableonceptualeap becausevideoconferencings asclose asyoucangettoface-to-face,withoutbeingthere.Howevet there aredifferencesndt sessentialo considerhesewhenplanningoventuredownthepathofteleteaching.What's different?One of themajor differencess hatyouare movingintoa distanceeducation/openlearning/flexibledelivery/blendedearningmodeand thisbringswithit a new wayofplanningand structuringhecourse.It is unlikelythatyouwillbe teleteachingorthe samenumberof hoursas thecourse akesnaface-to-faceituation.Youwill needto developsupportmaterialsmostikelyself-directedearningguides) which studentsworkthroughbetween

ISTELETEACHINGIFFERENT?HARDWAREPERIPHERALS

theirtelelearningessions. or someeachers hisinvolvesearninganew set of skills.Probably hebiggestdifferencesyourworkingspaceIn a face-to-facesituationyouare free towander aroundthe room,ook at students'worKparticipaten numeroussmallgroupdiscussions,distributematerialthave studentsgatheraroundyou,work on a one-to-onebasisand change hedirectionofyourlesson epending uponstudents'interestandmotivationorack hereof).All this isundertakenn a definedspacewhereyoucan seeand hear allstudentsat alltimes. n teleteachingsome,r all,ofyourstudentswill not bephysicallylocatedwithyou.fyouwander aroundhe roomthestudentsat other siteswill not be abletoseeyou,andprivateconversationsare difficultdependinguponyourmicrophonesituation.Your studentsarelikely to haveless of anemotional connectionandcommitmenttoyouwhenyouhavenotmet ace-to-face.Thehallengeis for the teleteachero'breakthroughtheglass'and add thehuman touchtowhat is a remoteexDenence.Belowis a brief summarvof someof thedifferences.Ontop of all thilit may be thatteleteachingsbeing used oreacha studentpopulationhatyouhave never aughtbefore. ssues obe consideredhere are background,experience and expectationsof studentsand especially ulturalssuesfyouareextending beyondthe boundariesofyourowncountry.What's similar?Despite helong list ofdifferences bove, hereare many similaritiesbetweenteleteaching andface-to-face teaching.The most important oftheseis thatgoodteachingisustthat!Most ofthe conditionsor desirable eachingand learningsituationscan be achievedhrough teleteaching-itjusttakes a littlecreative hinking.Thiss thechallenge!

Making heTransition

For most teachersthe transitionis not overlydifficult.t usually enableshem torevisit theircontentand teachingstrategiesandrepackagetheir deliverywith enthusiasmnd vigour.Supportis what teachersneed most of all.Supportn theform of time,esources nd raining.ltakes ime toredesign courseor deliveryvia eleteaching ndtime to becomeamiliarwith thenew environmentand equipment.Resourcesn theformof teachingrelief, xpertadviceandaccesso the teleteachingroom arenecessary.Table 1: Somedifferencesetweenace-to-face ndteleteaching

EquipmentWh teboad,OHP,CR/DVD,omuter.

Camera/s,onitor/s,microphone/s,ocumentcamera,ontrolpanel,VCR/DVD,omputer.

Studentocationln heoomwithvou.

Somestudentsmay bewithyou,otherswill be at one ormore siteswhichmay be hundredsof kilometres way.

What eachereesAllstudentstall imes

Dependingn the operatingystem,robablyonlyone siteatanygivenimee a numberof students reunseen.

WhatstudentseeThe eacherND nvisualshown

The eacherORanyvisuals hownORstudents tother sitesThisanvarydependingon the system.)

Abilityo speaknd hearTeacherndstudentsanhear ndspeakto eachther tany ime.

Microphonesmust be used.f heseare'presso talk'models, tudentswill not beheard f hey donotpressthebutton o aitivatehe microphone.lnteractionThedynamicsnd energyofthe roomencouragearticipationndnterest.Participantsiew a monitorand can easilyecomepassiveiewers.Youustdesignstrategiesormaintainingtudentparticipationndnterest.

OperationalupportUsuallvot eouired.

Somewheren the backgroundwill be araftofspecialistshomanageandmaintain he equipmentyouwill beusing.PreparationYouareesponsibleorpreparing ourown teachingprogramand materials.Thisis usually onealone,utyou may ncludesomecolleaguesn theprocess.A well designedoursewill needcourse evelopersandsome nputrom experiencedeleteachers.Youmay alsoneedo redesignraphicmaterialt mayinvolvenstructionalesignersndgraphicartists.Teaching sessionengthThiss usuallvn a 2-3hourblock.It s not appropriateo havestudents'screenatching'formore han anhour.The ime'on-screen'shouldbebroken nto smallereqments.