Internet Learning Volume 1, Number 1, Fall 2012

Assessing Virtual Students’ Quiz Performance in Web Mediated Synchronous Instruction 23 Table 2. Selected Technical Challenges Encountered Using Elluminate with Minimal Support Issue Type Frequency Problem Detection Solution Description Network Multiple times Message says “attempting to If automatically (usual case) interruption per class, at reconnect.” reconnected, take no action. interval of one to In case of “reconnect failed” two hours message, close virtual classroom window. Then, go to Elluminate start window in browser and reload. Audio/video Approximately After network interruption, Activate “talk” button to resume interruption half of classes “chat” panel in the virtual audio transmission. Select “stop” classroom window says button for video transmission, then “Left at [time]” then “Joined activate “video” button to resume at [time].” transmission. Microphone Approximately Message says “fatal error” Switch audio input to alternate interruption half of classes and “audio input failed”; source; then switch back. Activate watch for “stop sign” icon. “talk” button again to resume audio transmission. Second Once-twice per Eluminate screen frozen— Switch to primary computer, using computer semester slides not advancing; volume stationary, hard-wired microphone. failure “bars” on audio not moving. Conduct virtual class without video. The issues listed in Table 2 do not exhaust the problems encountered using Elluminate. Others, primarily classifiable as operator errors, such as not initiating the recording feature or forgetting to activate the “talk” button, were usually rectified quickly, once alert students or the instructor noticed the omission. This should not be interpreted as a negative assessment of the Elluminate product or other elements of the technical solution. The crucial point is that technical issues are almost an inevitable byproduct of non-production installations, with the accompanying absence of dedicated technical support, and must be anticipated. Instructor time and attention siphoned away from pedagogy by technical problems that arose and the workarounds they necessitated (including non-technical responses, such as repeating material for virtual students who missed it due to interruptions) set up a tradeoff, to be weighed against the convenience for students of extending education beyond classroom walls. Course Design Another facet of the research design was the control of instructor-related variables that can bedevil multi-course studies. Whereas limiting the study to a single instructor made the research more idiosyncratic, a compensating advantage was to control for varying instructional techniques. A final justification for selection of this instructor/course combination for studying web-broadcasting technology is the relative ease with which the experimental design could be adapted to this course. The public budgeting course had been designed, prior to the infusion of technology, to address two largely disjoint themes. This bifurcation was an artifact of instructor choice, as well as the practical focus of the curriculum. But the resulting division of context from application, as an organizing principle of the course, was the basis for the statistical test of the contextual topics alone—virtually entirely dependent upon lecture and class discussion.

Internet Learning Volume 1, Number 1, Fall 2012 | Page 24