Off-campus UMass Amherst users: To download dissertations, please use the following link to log into our proxy server with your UMass Amherst user name and password.

Non-UMass Amherst users, please click the view more button below to purchase a copy of this dissertation from Proquest.

(Some titles may also be available free of charge in our Open Access Dissertation Collection, so please check there first.)

Interaction in a two -way video environment: A case study at the University of Massachusetts

Hugh J Friel, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Abstract

This research is a qualitative study describing the interaction in a two-way video environment. It compares this environment with face-to-face (F2F) and provides descriptive information about instructional activities fostering instructor-student interaction and student-student interaction. The subjects studied were an experienced distance education instructor and his students at host and remote sites. The technical environment included two fully equipped video classrooms on the UMass Video Network, a five interactive system that provides two-way audio and video communication between students and instructor. Data were gathered from analysis of on-site observations, videotaped lessons, student surveys, and instructor interviews. Observation, survey, and interview data are analyzed and reported. The study concludes that this two-way video classroom environment can support interactive learning but not without the instructor's thorough planning, good classroom management skills, and use of a variety of learner-centered activities. It found that effectiveness in the two-way video environment to be very much instructor dependent and describes a thoroughly competent instructor successfully implementing several interactive strategies. It also identifies barriers that would impact interaction in this environment. Host and remote site student perceptions of the quantity and quality of interaction are reported as well as their suggestions for changes. Several other ancillary findings are discussed. Recommendations for possible future studies are offered.

Subject Area

Curricula|Teaching|Educational software|Higher education

Recommended Citation

Friel, Hugh J, "Interaction in a two -way video environment: A case study at the University of Massachusetts" (2004). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI3152697.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI3152697

Share

COinS