Synchronous Lectures Research Articles

Is It Worth the Effort? The Impact of Incorporating Synchronous Lectures into an Online Course

This study explores student achievement, sense of social community, and sense of learning community (Rovai, 2002) in two sections of an online course taught concurrently by the same instructor. One section was delivered in a fully asynchronous format; the other incorporated weekly synchronous lectures using an Adobe Connect environment. Students were randomly assigned to one of the two sections but allowed to change sections (before the semester began) if unwilling or unable to participate in weekly Adobe Connect meetings. Data included grades on course assignments, final course grades, end-of-course evaluations, and responses to the Classroom Community Inventory (Rovai, Wighting & Lucking, 2004). No significant differences were found on measures of academic achievement, student satisfaction, social community, or learning community between the two sections.

Use of Doceri Software for iPad in Online Delivery of Chemistry Content

Doceri software for iPad is useful for both synchronous online and asynchronous online delivery of chemistry course content. Using the Doceri wireless connection between the iPad and a personal computer that is running Adobe Connect, online synchronous instruction can be accomplished in which drawings can be completed by hand on the iPad. For asynchronous delivery, lectures can be easily recorded by Doceri on the iPad. As with synchronous lectures, the content on display can be easily annotated over, making it easy for the instructor to highlight materials while talking.

Synchronous Videoconferencing: Impact on Achievement of Medical Students

Background: Medical schools are expanding their enrollment, and synchronous lecture broadcast is being used more frequently to deliver instruction across multiple sites. Purpose: To assess whether the videoconferencing lecture-delivery method is associated with differences in medical student performance on national licensing examinations at lecture site-of-origin versus lecture receiving sites. Methods: The academic preparedness of medical students at the time of admission and performance on a national licensing examination were compared for students predominantly receiving live lectures and those receiving synchronous videoconferencing lectures. External metrics were analyzed to establish baseline preparedness (Medical College Admission Test scores) and to determine academic achievement (national licensing examination scores). Results: The authors found no statistically significant differences between site-of-origin and receiving sites in medical student preparedness or academic achievement. Conclusions: Medical students that receive the majority of their lectures through synchronous videoconferencing perform no differently on national licensing examinations than students that attend live lectures at the site-of-origin.

Development and evaluation of a virtual campus on Second Life: The case of SecondDMI

Video games and new communication metaphors are quickly changing today’s young people habits. Considering the actual e-learning scenarios, embedded in a fully technological enabled environment it is crucial to take advantage of this kind of capabilities to let learning process gain best results. This paper presents a virtual campus created using Second Life which provides four distinct types of virtual space: common student campus, collaborative zones, lecture rooms and recreational areas. Second Life environments and objects have been designed and programmed to support synchronous lectures and collaborative learning. The Second Life virtual world has also been equipped with supporting tools enabling students and teachers to navigate among multimedia contents. Second Life and an ad-hoc developed Moodle plug-in have been integrated to naturally enrich the environment with LMS services, exploiting this 3D world to increase the interaction and communication opportunities between teachers and students, and among students, principally favoring planned and unplanned social encounters. We have conducted an experiment involving university students aiming at evaluating Second Life synchronous distance lectures in the proposed learning environment. The evaluation has been conducted considering that, in a 3D multi-user virtual environment, learning is strongly related to the user perception of belonging to a learning community, as well as to the perception of awareness, presence and communication. The results of the evaluation are very positive.

The Part Played by Instructional Media in Distance Education

A content analysis of 409 distance education web sites was conducted to assess their explanations of the media used in their online course offerings. A check sheet consisting of sixteen media strategies was completed for each by examining course demonstrations, video introductions, pages related to “Academics,” pages related to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's) and by analyzing text descriptions of course offerings. Holsti's reliability coefficient showed an 85.3% intercoder agreement among three analysts. Only 67 universities mentioned using seven or more media types and 90 were found to be correspondence courses with email support. Text- based media (e-mail and print-based discussion boards) were mentioned as being the primary method of communication and information exchange. Many of the sites mentioned cutting-edge internet technologies such as streaming video, online conferencing or synchronous lectures, but institutions do not effectively communicate on their websites how these technologies are used to support instruction.

Efficacy of Interactive Internet‐Based Education in Structural Timber Design

AbstractWhile traditional teaching methods (e.g., real‐time, synchronous lectures) have proven effective for training future engineers, the Internet provides an avenue to reinforce the material and augment student learning, comprehension, and retention of material. This paper presents the integration and assessment of a library of interactive instructional modules specifically for a senior‐level undergraduate elective course in civil engineering. An ongoing, comprehensive assessment process was implemented in the fall 1999 semester. The results of this quantitative assessment indicate that the use of well designed and pedagogically sound Internet‐based supplemental modules provide students with a better understanding of course material. However, when Internet‐based content does not promote critical thinking, little increase in the student performance and understanding of the material is realized. Interactive Web‐based instruction should not be viewed as a “replacement” to traditional instruction, but rather a tool that provides a broader and more dynamic environment for students with a variety of learning styles.