The Development of an Interaction Support System for International Distance Education
Journal
IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies
Journal Volume
7
Journal Issue
2
Pages
191-196
Date Issued
2014
Author(s)
Abstract
This paper reports on the implementation of a learner identification system developed to facilitate real-time interaction in an international distance course. To increase the teacher immediacy and social presence, it proposes an integrative system for incorporating technology to improve the learning involvement, teaching effectiveness, and quality of interaction in the context of distance education. After the system was implemented in a formal international distance course involving universities in Japan and Taiwan for a semester, the results of the formative evaluation suggested that a perceived integrative classroom environment was achieved. The instructors and learners agreed that the system effectively and seamlessly integrated synchronous and asynchronous learning through the computing components of face and speech recognition. It was also found that the improved interaction led to a better sense of learning community and improved performance. This study concludes that the system could be useful in improving interactions and reducing students' feelings of isolation in distance courses by increasing their social presence. Suggestions for future studies and system development are also provided. © 2008-2011 IEEE.
Subjects
Distance learning; face and gesture recognition; synchronous interaction; videoconferencing
Publisher
IEEE COMPUTER SOC
Type
journal article