Interaction Patterns in Teaching and Learning with Live Interactive Television

Abstract

Live Interactive Television is a popular medium for delivering educational programs to students in remote areas in Australia. The medium uses television to deliver a live one‐way video signal and standard telephony to provide two‐way audio communication between the instructor and students. Much of the potential of this medium is derived from the interactivity that it supports and the ensuing educational advantages to be derived. Because all interactions are ultimately student‐initiated, the medium has a number of unique and characteristic features. This paper describes a study that investigated the form and nature of the interactions evident in LIT programs. The purpose of this investigation was to establish the impact of the interactivity on the form and scope of the instructional sequences used. The study sought to identify different kinds of interactivity employed by instructors and students and to investigate the impact and role of these interactions on the ensuing instructional activities.