Date of Award
2004
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Fischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services
Advisor
Lisa S. Dillinger
Committee Member
Charles Schlosser
Committee Member
Maryellen Maher
Keywords
cbam, classroom instruction, compressed video systems, concerns-based adoption model, conventional classrooms, curriculum development, distance education, educational television, high schools, instructional television, interactive television, interactive video, learning opportunities, professional development, public school districts, school networks, staff development, stages of concern, teacher attitudes, teacher education, teacher training, teaching methods, teleconferencing, telecommunications in education, two-way video conferencing, University of Texas at Austin, videoconferencing, wide area networks (WANs)
Abstract
This study examines the implementation of distance education over a compressed video system in a public school district. It explores the progression of distance education initiatives developed by the school district, beginning with instructional television, to the present system that is capable of delivering two-way interactive video-conferencing to eight high schools over a wide area network. Properly implemented, this videoconferencing system should result in an expanded curriculum at the smaller high schools, and a greater variety of learning opportunities for students at all the high schools in the district.
Research identified the instructional practices that distinguish an effective interactive television instructor. This knowledge was used to develop teachers in the school district who would fulfill that need. A select group of experienced interactive television instructors were surveyed, to address the following questions: (a) is teaching at a distance significantly different than teaching in the conventional classroom, (b) are there specific ways teachers have to adjust to the two-way televised system, (c) are there technical and logistic difficulties that threaten project failure, (d) are there equipment solutions which can overcome distance education logistics problems, and (e) is it necessary to change teaching techniques used in the conventional classroom. The findings from this survey were the basis for developing workshop-training sessions for conventional classroom teachers.
Teachers participating in the training sessions completed the Stages of Concern (SoC) questionnaire, a product of the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) project of the Research and Development center for Teacher Education at the University of Texas at Austin. The questionnaire was given at the start and finish of the training sessions to measure the participants’ feelings about the video-conferencing system that had been introduced into their school. It was anticipated that participation in the training would encourage these teachers to conduct an interactive television class in the next school term. Although findings from the post-implementation questionnaire indicated that the teachers had an increased motivation to teach over the video-conferencing system, the school district chose not to activate the system in the following semester.