Magyar Agrárinformatikai Szövetség

Agrárinformatika / Agricultural Informatics (2013) Vol. 4, No. 1:13-27 ISSN 2061-862X http://www.magisz.org/journal 14 Papadopoulos G., Voulagri I.: Design, Implementation and Assessment of Videoconferencing Sessions in Earth and Life Sciences: The Case of the Agricultural University of Athens in Education” for the Greek Universities, funded by the Greek Ministry of Education and the European Union. During this project (September 2006-December 2007) the AUA project team designed and implemented a number of VC sessions for the support and enhancement of the education and research activities. The potential benefits of videoconferencing as a tool for teaching and learning in higher education were the initial motivation for the participation of AUA in this project, as well as the limited research in the area of distance education and VC, more specifically in the case of agriculture and life sciences education. Research in the area of distance learning in agriculture education has mainly focused on the delivery of distance courses to off-campus students, as well as on the effectiveness of distance education in the learning process, in relation to conventional methods of instruction (Miller, 1997; Gray and Miller, 1999; Miller and Pilcher, 1999; Bowen and Thomson, 1995; Irani et al., 2000). Our viewpoint to the subject, though, was founded on a different perspective: the main goal of the project was to integrate distance learning tools and methodologies, and VC more specifically, in order to support and enhance on-campus instruction for on-site students considering the potential of the technology in relation to existing needs and requirements of courses taught at the Agricultural University, both concerning the instructors as well as the material, the educational objectives and the hands-on experience to be attained by the students. A blended-learning approach was adopted, with the instructors, the students, the material and/or activities and the available technology as the main defining factors for the implementation of VC. During the project, twenty two (22) VC session scenarios were designed, with the participation of faculty members and 8 of them took place during the spring and the winter semester of 2007. In section 2 we present a brief description of the methodology for the design of the scenarios. In section 3 the implementation methodology is detailed and section 4 refers to the assessment and results of the implemented sessions by the participants. In section 5 the general conclusions that can be drawn for similar cases of Earth and Life Sciences courses are discussed. 2. Designing Scenarios The design of the scenarios may be considered as one of the most critical steps for the successful implementation of VC sessions. Instruction with the use of VC requires a more detailed planning than the conventional methods of instruction, as well as the re-organisation and re-design of the content and educational approach, so as for the potential and dynamic of VC to be fully exploited (Kaye, 1987; Garrisson, 1989). A number of defining factors were addressed during the design phase. These factors were the synchronous and asynchronous interaction and communication among the participants, the number of points and of participants, the motivation of the students, turn-taking by students or speakers, the balanced cooperation and participation of all participating points, the quality of the educational content, and the technical support available. After an initial phase of dissemination of the objectives of the project to the AUA academic community, a number of training seminars and day-events for updating the faculty members of the available VC resources and equipment as well as for motivating them to consider integrating VC into their teaching, a base of instructors interested in employing VC emerged. The Design Team of the project cooperated closely with these instructors for recording and mapping the particular conditions and requirements of instruction in AUA and for designing specific scenarios customised to their needs and requirements. A general template scenario was developed, for facilitating the design of new scenarios in AUA. The structure of this template is presented in Table 1. Agrárinformatika / Agricultural Informatics (2013) Vol. 4, No. 1:13-27 ISSN 2061-862X http://www.magisz.org/journal 15 Papadopoulos G., Voulagri I.: Design, Implementation and Assessment of Videoconferencing Sessions in Earth and Life Sciences: The Case of the Agricultural University of Athens Table 1. Template used for the development of the educational scenarios Required Field Description Designated faculty member The name of the tutor responsible for the VC session Date The time/date of the implementation of the session Type of use The model of videoconference (lecture/tutorial, seminar, presentation, collaboration between researchers, demonstration of experiment or process, debate) VC type Point to point or multi-point connection Sites The sites which will be connected during the VC session Target group The group the VC session is targeted to (students undergraduate or/and postgraduate-,university staff, researchers, public audience etc) Duration The duration of the session Brief description Brief description of the session (e.g. content, purpose, objectives) Why VC Justifies the need of VC and the added value compared to traditional teaching methods. Describes how VC will improve the quality of the course. Integration in the curriculum The course or the courses in which the session is integrated. Instructional objectives The educational/instructional objectives of the VC teaching session. Participants Number and the roles of the participants Preparation Outline of the preparation which should take place before the VC session Educational /support material Describe the type of the educational or other material used during the session. Description of additional technical equipment required during the session. Detailed description The whole session is described in detail (actions of the tutors, type and duration of the activities, presentations, interaction and discussion) Further exploitation of results Methods of further exploitation and reuse of the material and equipment (e.g. video recorded, educational material, scenarios) are proposed in this field Technical context The technology used and the additional equipment which might be needed Evaluation comments An evaluation of the whole VC session, the informal feedback and the experience acquired (field completed after the VC session). Agrárinformatika / Agricultural Informatics (2013) Vol. 4, No. 1:13-27 ISSN 2061-862X http://www.magisz.org/journal 16 Papadopoulos G., Voulagri I.: Design, Implementation and Assessment of Videoconferencing Sessions in Earth and Life Sciences: The Case of the Agricultural University of Athens 2.1. Instructional Design Principles The main objective of the design of the educational scenarios was the detailed planning and organisation of the educational content and of the relevant instructional methods so as to fully benefit from the session and exploit the potential of the technology considering the instructional objectives of the course. A crucial point was the legitimacy of the integration of videoconferencing in a class. VC sessions were only implemented in the cases where it would in fact be the best solution possible for coping with any problems or for enhancing and improving the quality of the course. The scenarios that were designed as well as the VC sessions that took place, demonstrate the necessity of VC sessions for specific courses in AUA; courses with needs that go beyond the level of communication and collaboration among remote participants, as would be the case in other higher education institutions. In these cases, VC seems to provide a solution to real practical and logistical problems, such as visits to remote or restricted areas, demonstrations of experiments which would otherwise be difficult or impossible, that have been constraining the quality of the courses and have been limiting the instructional objectives. It is obviously not suggested that videoconferencing should substitute the experience of the direct contact (Bonk and Graham, 2006). For more details on the planning and design of the scenarios and the sessions see also Sideridis et al. (2007). 2.2 Mapping the Instructional Settings in AUA in Relation to Videoconferencing Use The AUA focuses on agricultural sciences, teaching and basic and applied research. It is situated in a 25-hectare green campus equipped, among others, with auditoriums, laboratories, agricultural facilities -such as an arboretum, a vineyard, laboratories, a flower garden, greenhouses, a cowshed, a sheep pen, a chicken coop, dairy installations, and aquaculture tanks. Furthermore, a number of farms located outside the campus and in remote areas around Greece are in the possession of the University, all targeted to serve the instructional and research needs of AUA. Instruction during the first nine semesters includes lectures, laboratory work and field trips. Four months of practical training are also required to ensure familiarization with actual farm conditions. Teaching conditions in AUA seem therefore to provide a significant opportunity for exploiting the potential of VC. While investigating the conditions of instruction in AUA and mapping the needs emerging where VC could be the most efficient or even the only possible approach, a number of particular cases where recorded. Indicatively (for more details see also Sideridis et al., 2007): a) connection of classes with external locations such as fields, units for production, hydroponics laboratories, animal production units, greenhouses and research institutions, where detailed presentation of locations, and clarification of processes and features of livestock and vegetation are required, b) presentation of research activities and interaction with remote experts and specialists, c) demonstrations to the students from anatomy laboratories or microscopes, where the large number of students or the small-sized laboratories constraint attendance, d) connection of the class with beehives for Apiculture courses, where physical presence of students is not always possible (e.g. due to allergies or hostile behaviour of bees), e) cases or events that require the direct, timely and accurate scientific communication with other members of the academic community, the media and even the public, f) cooperation and interaction of AUA with other university departments and specialists from other universities, g) lectures to AUA classes by remote experts, or h) lectures from AUA to remote or isolated students, and i) presentation of research activities of students, to other universities or remote supervisors. Based on the aforementioned framework, the instructional settings mapped and the emerging needs, the Design Team developed 22 customized educational scenarios, which correspond to almost all the categories of uses of VC in higher education, such as Lectures/ tutorials, seminars, presentations, collaboration between researchers, while cooperating closely with the Technical Team of the University so as to ensure the availability of the technical equipment in order to realize these scenarios. Additional equipment was purchased by AUA such as specialized cameras for the microscopes, and mobile units for the connection of the videoconferencing rooms with external locations. Agrárinformatika / Agricultural Informatics (2013) Vol. 4, No. 1:13-27 ISSN 2061-862X http://www.magisz.org/journal 17 Papadopoulos G., Voulagri I.: Design, Implementation and Assessment of Videoconferencing Sessions in Earth and Life Sciences: The Case of the Agricultural University of Athens 2.3 Implementation Methodology The Design Team was responsible for the implementation of the scenarios. The members of the team were familiar with the factors concerning the successful realisation of the sessions, and had relevant previous experience in Educational Technology and VC implementation. Each member of the team was responsible for a specific number of sessions (2-3 sessions). The person responsible for each session would coordinate all the participating members (i.e. lecturers, technicians, VC room attendants) for the most efficient preparation possible. Such preparation activities include the following: arrange the date and time, availability and booking of the VC rooms, technical trials, preparation of the educational material, timely notification of the participants, guidelines on the direction and familiarisation of the participants with the equipment. The Design Team was present in the VC room during the session so as to assist in the case of any problems, to ensure a sense of confidence from the part of the lecturers, as well as for recording and keeping notes on the process. Assessment of the VC sessions (i.e. preparation, distribution and collection of questionnaires) was also among the responsibilities of the Design Team. Based on the aforementioned implementation methodology, 8 VC sessions were realized: 3 session scenarios were classified as “lecture/tutorial”, 2 aimed at the “collaboration between researchers” and 1 scenario –which was the basis for 3 sessionswas classified as a “seminar”. In relation to the number of participating sites (connection points), 7 VC sessions were “point to point” and one required a “multi point” connection: in two cases the AUA VC room was connected with a laboratory within the campus and with an external location respectively. For the remaining six sessions the AUA VC room was connected with the VC rooms of the other participating remote sites (Figures 1 and 2). In Table 2 the implemented sessions are summarized (see more details on the implementation of the VC sessions in Papadopoulos et al., 2008). Agrárinformatika / Agricultural Informatics (2013) Vol. 4, No. 1:13-27 ISSN 2061-862X http://www.magisz.org/journal 18 Papadopoulos G., Voulagri I.: Design, Implementation and Assessment of Videoconferencing Sessions in Earth and Life Sciences: The Case of the Agricultural University of Athens T ab le 2 : B rie f d es cr ip tio n of th e im pl em en te d sc en ar io s ( co nt .) W hy V C ? C on st ra in ed la bo ra to ry lim ite d ca pa ci ty fo r stu de nt s. Su bs eq ue nt im pl ic at io ns o n tim esc he du lin g of th e co ur se a nd th e qu al ity o f t he o rg an s r em ai ni ng on d isp la y fo r m or e th an o ne da ys . N ot a ll stu de nt s c an h av e a go od v ie w o f t he p ro ce ss . St ud en ts m ay re fra in fr om at te nd in g du e to sm el l. St ud en ts ca n in te ra ct w ith th e ex pe rts a nd ad dr es s q ue sti on s si m ul ta ne ou sly . In c as es w he re , f or e xa m pl e, st ud en ts pr es en t a lle rg ie s t o th e be es o r w he n th e be es b eh av e ag gr es siv el y du e to b ad w ea th er co nd iti on s o r d ue to th e pr es en ce of th e stu de nt s, vi sit s t o th e ex te rn al lo ca tio ns o f t he b ee hi ve s ar e di ffi cu lt. R ea l t im e lin ki ng o f th e hi ve s w ith th e V C ro om s a nd re m ot e at te nd an ce o f t he pr es en ta tio n of th e in str uc to r b y th e stu de nt s p ro vi de a so lu tio n fo r s uc h ba rri er s. B ri ef d es cr ip tio n St ud en ts an d le ct ur er in th e A U A V C ro om w at ch ed a ut op sy on a ni m al pe rfo rm ed li ve a t th e an at om y la bo ra to ry (s ee Fi gu re 1 ) Th e le ct ur er w as a t