Audio teleconferencing and the adult learner: Strategies for effective practice

Abstract

Audio teleconferencing is a distance learning delivery system that has often been overlooked by educational institutions and other organizations. However, the trend toward adoption of “high‐end” (and high cost) delivery systems is giving way to a new trend toward appropriate selection of a delivery system based on course content, course design, and intended audience. This article takes a close look at audio teleconferencing as a viable option for many distance learning situations, discusses the importance of the audio component in distance learning, and suggests management and delivery strategies for organizations considering this medium.     

Audio teleconferencing and distance education: towards a conceptual synthesis

It is in response to the limited or fragmented conceptual development of past audio teleconference research that this conceptual framework is offered. It is intended to serve as the basis for further reflection and refinement so that more rigorous research can be conducted.     

Computer visualizations: factors that influence spatial anatomy comprehension

Computer visualizations are increasingly common in education across a range of subject disciplines, including anatomy. Despite optimism about their educational potential, students sometime have difficulty learning from these visualizations. The purpose of this study was to explore a range of factors that influence spatial anatomy comprehension before and after instruction with different computer visualizations. Three major factors were considered: (1) visualization ability (VZ) of learners, (2) dynamism of the visual display, and (3) interactivity of the system. Participants (N = 60) of differing VZs (high, low) studied a group of anatomical structures in one of three visual conditions (control, static, dynamic) and one of two interactive conditions (interactive, non-interactive). Before and after the study phase, participants' comprehension of spatial anatomical information was assessed using a multiple-choice spatial anatomy task (SAT) involving the mental rotation of the anatomical structures, identification of the structures in 2D cross-sections, and localization of planes corresponding to given cross-sections. Results indicate that VZ had a positive influence on SAT performance but instruction with different computer visualizations could modulate the effect of VZ on task performance.     

Select-a-Kibitzer: A Computer Tool that Gives Meaningful Feedback on Student Compositions

Select-a-Kibitzer is a computerized tool that gives feedback to students on their compositions in a unique way. The feedback is based on composition research which describes the process of writing as one of simultaneously solving multiple, possibly conflicting, constraints. In Select-a-Kibitzer, each constraint is personified by a different character. A student enters a composition into the tool and then asks for feedback. A variety of natural language processing techniques are used to analyze the text. Then, each of the characters gives feedback on the text from its particular point of view. Select-a-Kibitzer differs greatly from standard “style checker” mechanisms that focus on surface features of the text. By using Latent Semantic Analysis, Select-a-Kibitzer can address a wide range of meaning-oriented composition issues, including coherence, purpose, topic, and overall quality. This paper describes the composition research that forms the basis of the projec t, and the interaction and implementation of Select-a-Kibitzer. It focuses on techniques for using LSA to provide feedback about the meaning of the composition.     

Wisconsin Educational Telephone Network: how to run educational teleconferencing successfully

For a decade and a half the residents of the state of Wisconsin have had access to a distance education service that has few rivals in the world. Centred on the capital Madison, the University of Wisconsin's Educational Telephone Network (ETN) links together over 200 classrooms across the state on what is virtually a huge 'party line', enabling students to listen to a lecture or panel discussion, ask questions and exchange ideas with other students hundreds of miles distant. There can be little doubt that the service has been highly successful, as the growth in the network and its facilities clearly testifies. This paper summarizes documentary data concerning the network, and attempts to identify the chief reasons for its success by examining network services, operation, administrative organization, and performance in meeting the needs of the individuals and organizations that use it. From this analysis four reasons for ETN's success are identified: (1) the network forms an integral part of the University of Wisconsin-Extension's state-wide teaching responsibilities and services, (2) the service meets the needs of a single, well-defined audience sector, (3) regional organization of the telephone network has enabled ETN to benefit from large-scale operations, and (4) programme support services may compensate for differences between telephone and face-to-face conferencing.     

全国九运会短跑运动员起跑反应时的研究

通过对参加第9届全国运动会短跑运动员起跑反应时和部分比赛成绩的研究,发现200m以下项目运动员比200m、400m运动员起跑反应时差异显著,女100m栏、女子4×100m预决赛运动员起跑反应时差异显著,男100m前3名运动员预决赛成绩,男、女运动员起跑反应时均比上届全运会有了全面的进步.     

Making Visible the Behaviors that Influence Learning Environment: A Qualitative Exploration of Computer Science Classrooms

The authors conducted ethnographic research to provide deep understanding of the learning environment of a selection of computer science classrooms at a large, research university in the United States. Categories emerging from data analysis included (1) impersonal environment and guarded behavior; and (2) the creation and maintenance of informal hierarchy resulting in competitive behaviors. Both of these categories describe patterns of recurring communication taking place in the classroom learning environments. We identify particular and recognizable types of discourse, which, when prevalent in a classroom, can preclude the development of a collaborative and/or supportive learning environment. Alternative communication choices, both explicit and implicit, can lead to a more balanced and supportive climate for learning. An example of a successful effort to alter traditional patterns of interaction, without compromising the quality of learning, in a higher education astrophysics class is presented.     

关于保持党员先进性长效机制建设的若干问题研究

党员永葆先进性长效机制的建设，要遵循机制建设的自身规律，它的形成是一个在充分总结过去和现在的实践成果、理论成果与制度建设成果的基础上，进行认真研究、科学设计，并在实践中不断完善的过程。实践中，要坚持以邓小平理论和“三个代表”重要思想为指导，着重建立健全党员长期受教育，密切联系群众、服务群众、努力构建和谐社会，党员队伍的监督管理，流动党员管理，发展、教育转化及处置不合格党员，基层组织建设，扶贫帮困，民主科学决策，加强意识形态领域工作，新形势下党建工作责任制等方面的长效机制。     

如何把会议纪要改写成会议通知

把会议纪要改写成会议通知,首先要熟知会议通知的行文格式、构成要素及写法,严格遵守会议通知的写作要求。其次,要明白会议纪要的格式与构成要素。并且在改写时内容要明确,事项要清楚,格式要正确,写法要规范;语言要准确、简明、得体,书写要清楚。     

The addition of audio‐teleconferencing to interactive telecourses: An experimental anaysis of drop‐out rates

Audio‐teleconferencing which allows peer interaction has been proposed as a potentially effective means to increase student completion rates in distance education courses. This hypothesis was examined in two experiments in which audio‐conferences were added to a telecourse which also included live‐interactive (one‐way video, two‐way audio) segments. Although there were differences in the completion rates between the groups of students involved in the audio‐teleconferencing and the control groups, these were not found to be statistically significant. It is suggested that the on‐air live interactive telecourse component may have made the audio‐teleconferences redundant. There were generally high completion rates overall.     

Nontraditional students: How postsecondary institutions are meeting the challenge

Summary This study surveyed 226 private, four-year institutions in the Southeastern United States, and to the extent that these findings may be generalized, it appears that adults make up a significant and growing minority segment of the student population on a majority of campuses. Many institutional planners and policy makers have shown sensitivity to the unique needs of nontraditional students through the number and variety of support services available for these students. It appears that it will become increasingly necessary to continue to design new programs and servics and restructure existing policies for the recruitment and retention of nontraditional students.Ann Puryear is Assistant Professor of Counselor Education at Southeast Missouri State University, and Carl McDaniels is Professor and Program Leader of Counselor Education at Virginia Tech.     

Computer Programming in the Schools:

No abstract available for this article.     

浅议用户信息需求的满足

在信息化社会里,信息及信息资源越来越成为社会发展的决定性力量,日益成为科技、经济、教育社会发展的主导因素。信息只有通过人类的使用才能转化为生产力,因此怎样满足用户的信息需求成为关键,本文通过对影响用户信息需求的因素进行分析得出一些措施来满足用户的信息需求。