The Effectiveness of Videoconferencing in the Elementary Classroom

1. The Effectiveness of Videoconferencing in the Elementary Classroom Christina Millson and Amanda Mounce

2. Promoting multicultural education in the primary classroom: Broadband videoconferencing facilities and digital video • Participants: Parents of 11-12 year old elementary students (51 mothers and 47 fathers) from two different elementary schools • Location: Rural school in Avgorou, Cyprus, and urban school in Rehtymnon, Crete • Study Basics: Students from the two schools had four collaborative learning sessions about the 2004 Athens, Greece, Olympic Games. Parents of the students were asked about their knowledge of technology and their attitudes about its use in the classroom.

3. Data Collection: Questionnaires with Likert-type questions were distributed to the parents. • Findings: • No significant difference found between urban and rural parents in terms of if they believed their children… • found the videoconferencing interesting • learned more easily with it • widened their experiences because of it • would like to attend classes in a modern educational environment

4. Findings continued: • Also no significant difference in terms of… • their knowledge of the risks that their children may encounter on the internet • whether they knew about video conferencing • if they had a positive attitude towards their children’s use of ICT at school. • Significant differences found between groups of parents in regards to… • technological familiarity/knowledge • usage of the internet • ownership of a personal computer

5. Educational Implications: Teachers should not hesitate to include technology in their classroom just because they are afraid of parental reactions. Even parents who are unaccustomed to technology recognize its benefits.

6. Beyond the barriers: Benefits of k-12 teacher participation in collaborative classroom videoconferencing training • Participants: 160 certified teachers from 15 school districts (59% elementary, 41% secondary) • Location: New York • Study Basics: Teachers were given a professional development seminar on the use and integration of videoconferencing in the classroom. Teachers created integrated unit plans using videoconferencing and then completed questionnaires about their reaction to the technology, understanding of specific skills, changes in their behavior, and results in the classroom.

7. Data Collection: Questionnaires included items on a 6-point Likert scale, and the integrated units were examined by 2 external reviewers • Findings: • Increase in the use of videoconferencing technology • Technology was effectively integrated into the unit. • Teachers believed that the technology was easy to implement (99%). • One-third of the units called on outside experts to videoconference with their students. • Videoconferencing lessons improved students’ higher thinking abilities.

8. Educational Implications: Professional development seminars are critical when introducing new technologies because the coursework increases teachers’ knowledge and use of the new technology.

9. Promoting multicultural education in the primary classroom: Broadband videoconferencing facilities and digital video • Participants: Sixty-six students from a Primary 7 (ages 11-12) classroom Central Scotland • Location: Central Scotland at a school in a fishing village with a primarily white population but a substantial minority of Chinese, Italian, and Asian citizens. • Study Basics: Students from this school developed and asked 40 questions about ethnicity, local amenities, and village facilities to residents of the village. They also took photographs and made maps, all to share with an elementary classroom in Missouri.

10. Data Collection: Before conducting the surveys to share, students were assessed about how they saw multiculturalism in their community using Likert-type scales (strongly disagree, disagree, neither disagree not agree, agree, or strongly agree) such as: • People should marry within their own ethnic group. • People of different races should keep to themselves. • I would be happy if a person from a different race moved in next door to me. • Your local community is a better place because people from different races live here.

11. Findings: After conducting the surveys and sharing them with their partner classroom, students were more likely to… • Describe their environment with social aspects • Categorize their own ethnicity more specifically than just “Scottish” • View ethnic diversity in their community as positive • Promote multicultural education • Encourage learning about new cultures and religions • Desire to develop friendships with people of ethnic minorities

12. Educational Implications: Videoconferencing, whether between classes in different countries, or between classes in different areas of the same state can help students to develop an appreciation of their local community and learn to respect and consider the diverse background of the people who live there with them.

13. Interactive videoconferencing for collaborative learning at a distance in the school of 21st century: A case study in elementary schools in Greece • Participants: Forty-six elementary students • Location: Leontio Elementary School in Athens and the Elementary School of Crete • Research Questions: • How do students feel about interacting with their teacher using videoconferencing? • How do students feel about communicating and collaborating with students of a distant class via videoconferencing?

14. Research Questions Continued: • What were students views on replacing face-to-face instruction with homeschooling? • Does videoconferencing influence students’ thoughts about student relationships? • Data Collection: Six questionnaires were given in two phases. • Phase1 – the ex ante (before videoconferencing) and ex post (after videoconferencing) were evaluated • Phase 2 – ONGOING questionnaires 1-4 were collected

15. Findings: • Survey results demonstrated that students view videoconferencing positively, and their oral skills were improved. • Although students were motivated by the videoconferencing tool, they certainly did not want to replace face-to-face instruction with videoconferencing instruction. • Videoconferencing improved social relationships between the remote and local classrooms. However, there was no sign of the creation of a learning community.

16. Educational Implications: Teachers should take advantage of the positive effects that videoconferencing has on students and implement it into their curriculum. It is an excellent instructional tool for improving students’ oral skills because it forces them to use written, verbal, and visual presentation tactics.

17. Final analysis Videoconferencing can be an effective classroom tool for increasing oral communication skills, collaboration, and multicultural awareness. At the same time, educators should become well-acquainted with the technology before incorporating it into their classroom, as with any new technology.