European Journal for Research on the Education and Learning of Adults (Apr 2011)
In the framework of videoconference classrooms at locallearning centres in Sweden
Abstract
This article explores the practice of videoconferencing and draws on interaction inclass based on ethnographic ieldwork carried out at local learning centres in Sweden.The study is based on participant observations focusing on communication and the roleof the teacher in a videoconferencing class. The results of the study shed light ondifferent functions of the teachers' questions such as rhetorical, expanding andprovocative. Further, talk in videoconferencing lacks systems of proper back-channelcues and communication often fails as a result of low feedback. The study also showsthat there is a lack of balance in the distribution of utterances between the teacher andthe students and that interaction is often one-way. The teacher becomes an actor inclass reacting against low feedback. Questions and statements posed by the teacher aredesigned to break through the barriers of mediating technology. Also interactionpatterns are impaired by misunderstandings and the practice is described as a learningspace imbued with the rationale of communication technology.
