Audiographic Teleconferencing Project: An Evaluation

• Advantages to the technology
• Liked the connection to students in other points.
• Enjoyed the session because it met needs for education, information.
• As familiarity with the teleconferencing system improves, its effectiveness as a teaching tool should improve.
• increases access to learning opportunities and tools for those in rural areas.

• Suggestions for improvements
• Coordination needs improvement [Better coordination at each site would help sessions start on time. Equipment testing and practice prior to a session could reduce delay.]
• Perhaps it would be useful to dispense with audiographics and use the study guides and student participation using teleconferencing only.
• Might be appropriate medium if only one or two (participants] at two or three sites. This group/number of sites is unwieldy.
• Too much time spent on review; signing on took almost 30 minutes. Perhaps we could all type in location and names at the beginning.
• I think tutors would have benefited from having better training on using the technology .

Evaluation of January Sessions

Twenty-three people returned evaluations forms for the sessions on learning styles and strategies held January 10, 17 and 24. 1996. As can be seen in the table on the following page, when ratings for the questions on Audiographic Teleconferencing are compared between the two evaluations (October and January), the results indicate that respondents were not becoming more positive about the technology as they got used to it. This is confirmed in the additional comments and suggestions.

Problems with technology

Of the 23 people adding comments, 16 made some reference to the technology. One said that the method had improved "since the project began." although timing was still an issue, and three indicated that the technology either improved over the sessions or during one session. "The third session in the three part series was the most effective because we were not plagued by technology problems." For the most part, the others reiterated the themes from the October evaluation. In addition. one person mentioned having to advance the slides manually, and four referred to static for the first time, which, in the words of one, "kills concentration."