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[RRE]CMC and Higher Education
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Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1999 20:01:31 -0800
From: JCMC
Abstracts Special Issue on "CMC & Higher Education" Part I.
Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication Volume 4 Issue 2 December, 1998
http://www.ascusc.org/jcmc/vol4/issue2/ http://jcmc.huji.ac.il/vol4/issue2/
In this Issue:
Audiographic Telecourses for the Web: An Experiment
Robert LaRose Jennifer Gregg Matt Eastin Michigan State University
Prior research on instructional media effects suggested that an audiographic approach to World Wide Web based courses would optimize educational effectiveness along with cost effectiveness, although with a possible loss of teacher immediacy that could adversely affect student attitudes. An introductory telecommunication course was converted to an audiographic Web telecourse in which students listened to pre-recorded audio classroom interactions while viewing a detailed course outline and illustrative sites over the World Wide Web. Forty-nine subjects were recruited from a live lecture class and randomly assigned to either the experimental (Web course) group or a control group that took the class in a traditional lecture section. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) showed that the experimental group had test scores and student attitude and teacher immediacy ratings equal to those of the control group after controlling for student gender, class level, grade point average and attendance. Open-ended interviews were also conducted to assess qualitative dimensions of student satisfaction. The results supported the audiographic telecourse model as a potentially cost-effective approach to distributing courses over the Web. New directions in research on instructional media effects and teacher immediacy were formulated from an analysis of the unique characteristics of the World Wide Web as an instructional medium.
The Crossroads between Lifelong Learning and Information Technology: A Challenge Facing Leading Universities
Michal Beller The Open University of Israel
Ehud Or Consultant & Projects Manager in Technology Mediated Learning
Technology-Mediated Learning and Distance Learning (TML/TMDL), and particularly asynchronous learning through the Internet, are becoming major vehicles for fulfilling the needs of Lifelong Learning (LLL). A hybrid model of studies using technological means is leading to the development of a new pedagogy of learning and teaching. Various new models of higher education are evolving in North America and around the globe, in response to LLL needs and to the new opportunities that are becoming available through the integration of learning technologies. These models are described and discussed in this paper, for the benefit of those who are interested in or are partners to higher education, and in particular the policy makers. Traditional universities can adopt some of these models, while other models may call for the creation of new types of institutions of higher education. Most institutions will find that a joint effort is necessary for reaching the critical mass required for providing their educational system and their faculty with a generalizable, scalable and sustainable TML solution. Creating such coalitions will turn out to be a challenge in and of itself.
Online Teaching: Encouraging Collaboration through Anonymity
Andrea Chester Gillian Gwynne Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
This paper describes our experience as tertiary teachers (and learners) in cyberspace. A brief evaluation of the literature on computer-mediated communication (CMC) is presented, together with a review of the major theoretical positions explaining online interaction. The filtered-cues and social information processing perspectives are compared in the light of more recent formulations of the hyperpersonal. With a desire to facilitate and critically evaluate a hyperpersonal learning context or online learning community, we developed a range of strategies including the use of aliases. The subject is described together with our observations of the benefits and disadvantages of pseudonymity for education.
Staying Connected: A Case Study of Distance Learning for Student Interns
Diane F. Witmer California State University, Fullerton
This paper reports a pilot distance learning course that was launched in response to a number of concerns regarding an existing internship program at a Midwestern university. Not surprisingly, student reactions to the program were somewhat inconsistent, as their experiences varied widely, both in terms of the technology and the internship site, and the new course needed considerable debugging. Comments ranged from very negative to very positive. However, most of the students (63.5%) highly recommended or recommended without qualification that communication technologies be used for summer internships. Another 20.5% of the students recommended the use of communication technology with suggestions for improvement. A major improvement in the general quality of student report writing also was noted. The data indicate that a distance learning approach to internships has great potential to enhance synthesis and integration of classroom learning with on-the-job experiences.
Media Temporalities in the Internet: Philosophy of Time and Media with Derrida and Rorty
Mike Sandbothe Friedrich Schiller University Jena
The essay comprises four sections. The first section provides a survey of some significant developments which today determine philosophical discussion on the subject of 'time'. The second section considers the question of how time and the issue of media are linked with one another in the views of two influential contemporary philosophers - Jacques Derrida and Richard Rorty. Finally, in the third section, the temporal implications of cultural practices developing in the new medium of the Internet are analyzed and, in the fourth section, related to the named philosophers' theses.
The Sacred and the Virtual: Religion in Multi-User Virtual Reality
Ralph Schroeder Chalmers University, Sweden
Noel Heather Raymond M. Lee Royal Holloway, University of London
This paper explores the social interaction among participants in a church service in an online multi-user virtual reality (VR) environment. It examines some of the main features of prayer meetings in a religiously-oriented virtual world and also what sets this world apart from other virtual worlds. Next, it examines some of the issues of research ethics and methods that are raised in the study of online behavior in virtual worlds. The paper then analyzes the text exchanges between participants in a virtual church service and some of the ways in which these compare with the content of a conventional church service. Finally, the paper draws out some implications for our understanding of the relation between interaction in the virtual and in the "real" world.
Special Issue Editor: Eli M. Noam, Columbia University
JCMC Editors: Margaret McLaughlin, University of Southern California Sheizaf Rafaeli, Hebrew University of Jerusalem ```
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