Teaching and Learning > DOCUMENTS
Video conferencing and PRS
Gary Bunt
Et loquor et scribo, magis est quod fulmine iungo.
"And I speak and I write, but more, it's with light that I connect."
Giovanni Pascoli, 1911
Quoted in: James R. Wilcox, Videoconferencing: the whole picture (Gilroy, CA, USA: Telecom Books, 3rd edition, 2000) p.150]
Video conferencing is a technological tool that - in theory - can be applied to widen access to educational opportunity within philosophical and religious studies. Are there benefits in a PRS practitioner presenting a lecture via video conferencing, to an audience in another part of the country - or indeed elsewhere in the world? Whilst it may appeal to an individual lecturer's vanity to be broadcasting into the ether, questions arise as to whether it can 'deliver' an educational experience equivalent to that of a campus-based student? What kinds of adaptations need to be made in order that a lecture can be 'translated' to the screen?
A video lecture may be subconsciously compared with other forms of on-screen materials, and the comparison may not necessarily be favourable -however academically credible the content is! The struggle to maintain attention spans of students intensifies when they are not in the same room as the lecturer, especially as the format is a medium that normally does not require the audience to focus one hundred percent on it. How many people watch television whilst reading, changing the baby, eating dinner, and/or even conversing with a partner?! In some households, television is accepted as part of the wallpaper, and this psychological association has to be dealt with in order to present a credible PRS video conferencing lecture.
Television producers have big budgets in order to try and win a percentage of their audience's attention. PRS academics rarely have the opportunity to invest anything other than their knowledge into a lecture, but in order to maintain audience interest may have to integrate other forms of 'low budget' multi-media into a video conferencing lecture. This could involve using a white-board or acetate display equipment (on which a camera is focused), or the application of video and audio material. The linking of a computer into the video conferencing 'package' introduces the possibilities of PowerPoint-style presentations and other computer multimedia (for example, a key PRS text on CD-Rom).
Opportunities to 'practise' using the technology prior to delivering Lecture One are helpful, in order that a lecturer knows which button does what - but it is only practical experience that will establish in the lecturer's mind the unique technical and other concerns associated with video conferencing lectures.
For example, the practicalities of video conferencing may mean that a lecture is being received 'down the line' three or four seconds after the words have been spoken. This echo may then return to source, and it can be disconcerting to lecturers to hear their wisdom literally resounding in their ears. Addressing and focusing on individual members of an audience can be difficult, when the lecturer only has a hazy image of them on a monitor screen. Using eye contact as a means of communication is impossible, although key techniques can be acquired from the Trevor Macdonald 'school' of broadcasting: keep your head still, focus beyond the camera, watch the clock, don't wave your hands about, and stay cool under pressure. Knowing the students' names also helps, as questions or invitations to comment can then be addressed in the hope that the named individual chooses to respond.
New skills have to be acquired by PRS lecturers entering this medium, but whilst it may seem unfamiliar, there can be positive advantages. For some, this may include the fact that students will not be banging on the office door asking for an explanation of the lecture, or a personal consultation! It is, however, possible to engender some familiarity in such a distance-learning context. Whilst the 'on-air' time may be restricted by budget, personal contact can be facilitated via telephone and e-mail, including discussion groups at designated times when a lecturer guarantees that she or he will be loyally waiting at the computer terminal. This can require the integration of specialist software (which will be discussed in a later piece for these pages). Such contact may be essential in PRS areas, where considerable time out of lecture hours is frequently required to discuss key texts, ideas and the thoughts of students.
Video conferencing also enhances the potential for discussion between several groups, in different locations, sharing a particular PRS academic interest. Imagine a 'round table' in which several different perspectives on a key philosophical or religious issue can be presented, by individuals and groups in different studios around the country. This requires some technical management, and the skills of Jeremy Paxman when it gets heated, but it certainly also allows an enhanced and exciting educational opportunity. This is important in areas where local knowledge on a key subject area is thin on the ground. In smaller campuses, especially, finding others that share a 'micro- interest' of research or can contribute to a panel can be rare - with video conferencing, all can be 'connected' to the wider academic community. Such discussions can also be recorded, for subsequent use elsewhere, and can draw on a wide range of talent. Instead of paying for visiting speakers' hotels, drinks' bill and travel costs, the budget could be redirected towards the occasional video conferencing panel. The choice of speakers then becomes international, and the study experience of participants and spectators is enhanced (with commensurate institutional benefits for organisers).
Facilitation of such teaching and learning opportunities requires good institutional technical backup and training. The potential for video conferencing technology is expanding, with the enhancing of digital and satellite communication, and improved technical facilities (such as the quality of broadcast lines). Digital communications can mean that students will not have to go to a specific location to receive a video conferencing lecture, but be able to watch it at home (or record it to watch later on). Through a personal camera, they may be able to participate as well. An extension of this is the application of video cameras on personal computers. The technology is improving rapidly, allowing a 'desktop' seminar to be presented by a lecturer on camera to students watching and participating via their own cameras from their own homes (this will be discussed in a later piece for these pages).
Video conferencing can widen access for those unable to visit or live at a campus, and could be backed up by study days or weeks that facilitate the 'full' university experience. As with other forms of distance learning, learners take greater responsibility for their own education, but must also have the institutional backup from the education provider.
If you are concerned that - with all your lectures being recorded, you might become superfluous to requirements - then consider that distance learners in many ways require greater attention and contact, albeit through e-mail, telephone and even old-fashioned writing. Failing that, the enhanced media-friendly skills of PRS video conferencing practitioners may open up new vistas amidst the television cooks and DIY experts: the next Big Thing might just be philosophy and religious studies on television ...
Have you taught PRS using video conferencing technology? If you, what was your experience? Ideas and contributions on this subject are welcome.
This page was originally on the website of The Subject Centre for Philosophical and Religious Studies. It was transfered here following the closure of the Subject Centre at the end of 2011.
