I am currently facilitating a videoconference between UTK, UTC, and UTSI where faculty and administrators are discussing which way to go with an online engineering program this Fall. It seems that several people were planning this from various locations and were all using the term "online" but people assumed common meanings for the term. For some this meant streaming video modules (asynchronous) while others assumed this was interactive videoconferencing (synchronous). My suggestion, be more specific!
It seems that the best solution is to combine the two approaches. Synchronous videoconferences can be streamed live to non-interactive users at their home (or work) PCs and also recorded for later replay. The question is, Does content created for synchronous delivery hold up when viewed later on? Does the pedagogy need to change or not? Reminds me of students who ask me if they can audiotape my lectures (to which I say sure-but I don't lecture). I could never go back and listen to all that, but I guess some people want to and can.
Posted by cmwillis at June 6, 2007 11:18 AM | TrackBack