This presentation was made as part of a webinar with faculty in the Institute of Technology in Tallaght. The presentation shared some theoretical and practical issues that lecturers should consider when using synchronous computer mediated conferencing (scmc) technologies, such as SCMC, with their learners.

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Adobe Connect
Some Practical Considerations
Michael Hallissy
H2 Learning

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Introduction
• Founding partner in H2 Learning
– Focus on the use of digital technologies in teaching, learning and
assessment
• Former director the MATL in Hibernia College
– Lead tutor in the Certificate in i-Learning
• Completing EdD in Institute of Education, London
• Doctoral Thesis entitled:
• "Building teacher professionalism in teaching-learning interactions
between online tutors and learners during synchronous tutorials –
a case study from Hibernia College"
• Focus on working with lecturers to use these tools to enhance
student learning
– What knowledge and expertise do staff have?
– What knowledge and expertise do they need to enhance student learning?

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Introduce Yourself
• Name
• Lecturing in ….
• Have you used Adobe Connect or similar
tool?
– If yes, what tool?
• What would you like to learn from today?

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Some Perspective
• Learning at a distance has been around since 1890s
• 1st online OU Course 1988 (Mason, 2001)
• “the internet does not educate, nor does it actively support learning.
Mostly, it provides information” (Laurillard, 2012; 29)
• OU noted that “active discussion has long been one of the aspects that is
difficult to provide in distance education, with tutorials and summer schools
being the usual means of achieving this” (Mason, 2001; 73)
• Since 1988 there has been a great deal written on the topic of discussion
and online courses in HE but this has mostly focused on asynchronous
technologies – forums particularly.
• But today we have new tools that facilitate live discussion

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Technology and what it can do
• “Computer-mediated conferencing (CMC) is unique among distance
education media because of its ability to support high levels of responsive,
intelligent interaction between and among faculty and students while
simultaneously providing high levels of freedom of time and place to
engage in this interactivity.” (Rourke et al., 1999; 50)
• “The claims made for the educational value of CMC rest on the assumption
that students learn effectively through discussion and collaboration”
(Laurillard, 2002; 147)
– She notes that “the properties of a medium do not determine the quality of
learning that takes place” (Ibid;147)
Now we have:
• Synchronous Computer-mediated conferencing technologies (SCMC)
– Adobe Connect, Wimba, Elluminate, Lync etc.

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Here are some of the strategies we could use
online
http://www.ion.uillinois.edu/resources/tutorials/pedagogy/instructionalstrategies.asp

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3 Elements of Online Learning & Teaching
Content
ForumSCMC

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New Opportunities
• Immediate and just-in-time access to peers, lecturers,
and knowledge experts
• Ability for multiple people to interact and share ideas
with one another concurrently
• Hands-on tools through which learners can react to
presented concepts or apply knowledge in real time
• Direct connections to real-world situations and primary
sources
(Finkelstein, 2006; 6)

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Synchronous Learning Environments
“Synchronous learning is live, real-time (and usually
scheduled), facilitated instruction and learning-oriented
interaction.”
(Hyder et al., 2007: p. 1)

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Were they engaged during these sessions?

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Or were they watching TV or something else?

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Students are NOT always clear why they are
attending these events?
Purpose of the tutorial Percentage
Opportunity for tutor to present new
content
57%
Opportunity for tutor to revise content
presented in the recorded lesson
93%
Opportunity for students to raise
questions and discuss the lesson
content
100%
Opportunity for students to work in
small groups online
20%
Opportunity for students to present
their work to colleagues
21%

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Adobe Connect

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Typical Features of SCMC technologies
Emoticons
Hands up
Yes No
Controls
Chat box
Slides

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Online Lecture
• Allows you to connect live at a
distance
• Allows you to interact with your
audience in real-time
• Allows you to bring “experts” or
“guest lectures” into your lecture
hall
• Facilitates webinars – open
them up to everyone
• It can be archived and replayed
http://www.iri.uni-hannover.de/online-lecture.html

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Share Rich Content
• PowerPoint Slides
• Video and audio
• Webpages
• Documents
– Research papers, correspondence etc.
• Interactive whiteboard feature
– Brainstorming
• And much more

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Instruction
Input and output
tasks
Lecture to many
Lecturer as teller,
organiser, judge
Lecturer controls
„time & pace‟ seen
as key
Lecturer chosen
resources
Watkins et al., 2002

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But it can be so much more …
• Unplanned chats among peers over lunch
• Lively in-class discussions or debates
• Student-led presentations or performances
• Study group, team, or committee gatherings
• Impromptu exchange between a student and a lecturer after class
or during office hours
• Timely and personalised guidance from a reference librarian,
advisor, or a lecturer
(Finkelstein, 2006; 3)

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Construction
Individuals, pairs,
groups
Lecturer as enquirer
Long time blocks,
student-paced
Student experience a
resource
Tasks for processing
and understanding
Watkins et al., 2002

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Co-construction
Changing
groups,
networks,
linkages
Lecturer as
learner too
Time seen as
less relevant
Access to
world of
resources
Tasks of
generating
knowledge
Watkins et al., 2002

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Potential roles for lecturers and learners
When
teachers: Facilitate ConsultInstruct Guide
Learners
become: Involved Self-
Directed
Dependent Interested

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What the Research has to say
“Instructors who are new to the online environment may
struggle with the transition from the central figure in the
learning process to a facilitator or guide of that process.”
(Palloff and Pratt, 2011)

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Analogy of a dinner party host
Prepare for their arrival Have resources ready in advance
When they arrive you can focus on these and on
collaboration
Welcome them warmly Welcome people by name
Create a warm and secure environment
Frequently assess the mood of the room Frequently check that people are alright
Don‟t wait till the end of the evening
Have more food (for thought) than you need Prepare more activities that you need
Don‟t feel you need to use them all
Make everyone feel included Give people opportunities to interact
Refer to comments made by people by name
Facilitate Connections and conversation, but don‟t
dominate ever discussion
Your role is to facilitate an environment where learners
are exchanging ideas with others, and seeing their
peers as resources for ongoing learning
Offer guests something to take home with them Provide a transcript or a recording of the event
Access to slides, readings or continue the discussion
on the forum
Know when to say good night; leave everyone wanting
more
End on a high point. Don‟t try to cover everything.
Monitor the energy levels and go with the group.

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Where might you start?
• How you can build interaction into the session - you don't want
people sitting at their computer all evening looking at the screen so
how might you get them involved?
• Don't fall into the "autopilot" mode where you forget students are
present.
• Get learners to concentrate by minimising external distractions
– Have ground rules and use the emoticons
• Role of the facilitator similar to that of the ringmaster in the circus
– You need to keep things focused and moving
– It needs structure
– Gauge feedback

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Practical Tips
• Ensure they have the technology
– Headphones
– Microphone
• Get people to acknowledge they can hear you
• Have clear ground-rules
– This is what we are going to do …
– This is what I will be doing …
– This is what I expect from you …
• If people have questions how can they interact with you and
colleagues?
• How will you get people to interact?
– Use the poll feature
– Texting feature
– They can speak through the microphone
– What about shy or quiet students? “Will you just click-in on them?”

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Interaction Tools
• Use of questioning
– Check in with learners regularly and get feedback via emoticons?
– “Can everyone hear me?” Smiley or Sad face
– “Is x clear or do you want me to go deeper? “ Thumbs up or down
– Groups
– Strategies to give learners a chance to interact with each other
– This can be done in break-out groups or via texting
– Structuring discussions and feedback
• Mix of Resources
– Maybe begin with a short video clip (stimulus to engage)
– Share a webpage or a document
– Share a research or a newspaper article
– Mix it up – use a variety of media
– Have clear tasks associated with these media

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Your Role in all this
• If tutor is too enthusiastic the students “slip easily into the
role of passive audience” (Brookfield and Preskill, 2005;
194)
• “Teachers should confine themselves to a reasonable
quota of lecturing minutes per class, preferably at the
beginning or the conclusion of a class.” (ibid; 200)
• What do you want to achieve at the end of the session?
• How might you introduce new content or ideas and get
some discussion or interaction going?
• It takes time and there is a learning curve – how can you set
yourself up to succeed?
• Be conscious that this is new and it can be daunting!

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Silence
• Be aware that silence is a factor
– Speaking into a vacuum
– Wait-time (learning to leave gaps)
One lecture‟s reflection on this:
“I had absolutely no experience of it previously the first time I put on
those headphones and said hello or good evening I was absolutely
terrorised [nervous laughter]”
“I was pleasantly surprised it all happened much much easier than I
thought and so I think the strongest thing I found is that my teaching
skills are, or if you like my onsite classroom teaching skills, I was able
to call on once I just got over the first hurdle of actually doing this
online.”

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So design your lectures online
• Remember it is one tool among many
• It is good at facilitating certain types of interactions
– it is not a silver bullet
• Novice online – it takes to be comfortable
• How will it dovetail with face-to-face?
• How will it link with with Moodle etc.?
• Keep it simple and structure it
– Not that you have every second accounted for
– But that you don‟t have to do all the work
– Manage the time

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Some Final Words
• This is relatively new in online education
– Asynchronous has a long tradition
• “Mediated synchronous and blended DE contains natural
conditions for interaction, especially between the student
and teacher and among other students.” (Bernard et al.,
2009)
• Tutor View
– “I feel that I am using the technology that I know how to use to its
maximum and so now if I could move a bit deeper”
– “But I would love if the technology would allow us to move even
further. That is where I am at, at this stage.”
• Participate as a learner in an online event

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References
• Bernard, R. M., Abrami, P. C., Borokhovski, E., Wade, C. A., Tamim, R. M., Surkes, M. A. and
Bethel, E. C. (2009). 'A Meta-Analysis of Three Types of Interaction Treatments in Distance
Education'. Review of Educational Research, 79 (3), 1243-1289.
• Finkelstein, J. (2006). Learning in Real Time: Synchronous Teaching and Learning Online. San
Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
• Johnson, S. D. and Aragon, S. R. (2003). 'An Instructional Strategy Framework for Online Learning
Environments'. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 100 (Winter), 31-43.
• Mason, R. (2001). 'Effective facilitation of online learning: the Open University experience'. In J.
Stephenson (Ed.), Teaching and learning online: New pedagogies for new technologies. London:
Kogan Page.
• Laurillard, D. (2002). Rethinking University Teaching: A conversational framework for the effective
use of learning technologies. (Second Ed.). London and New York: Routledge Falmer.
• Laurillard, D. (2012). Teaching as a Design Science. Building Pedagogical Patters for Learning and
Technology. New York and London: Routledge.
• Rourke, L., Anderson, T., Garrison, R. D. and Archer, W. (1999). 'Assessing Social Presence in
Asynchronous Text-based Computer Conferencing'. Journal of Distance Education, 14 (2), 50-71.
• Watkins, C., Carnell, E., Lodge, C., Wagner P. and Whalley C. (2002). 'Effective Learning'. Institute
of Education International Network for School Improvement Research Matters Series (17).