One important difference between distance and campus education is that campus education is built on faceto-face-meetings, while in distance education, teacher and students seldom meet physically or not at all. Furthermore, the easiest way to communicate at a distance is with text-based communication. Therefore, distance education might be perceived as less personal and distance students can feel isolated due to lack of personal interaction and when the social environment is lacking.
In the face-to-face situation, speech is simultaneously completed with non-verbal cues as gestures, facial expressions, signs, and tone of voice, modulating the verbal message for increased understanding. These non-verbal cues are expected and if they are lacking, the situation can be perceived as awkward and unnatural, which results in uncertainty and communication difficulties.
One of the most important reasons for using desktop conferencing technologies as Zoom is to bridge the geographical gap between teacher and students and replace face-to-face meetings. However, the use of technologies, as e.g. Zoom, changes the whole teaching and learning situation. Both possibilities and limitations emerge, which have to be considered. How much of the actual physical presence that can be transferred by the technology, e.g. by Zoom, is related to social presence. Social presence is important for creating a good communication and learning situation.
How do we optimise the communication situation in Zoom?
Suggestions: Make use of the possibilities of Zoom and have the camera on. Aim at maintaining eye-contact with participants by looking into the camera instead of looking at them on the screen. Place yourself in the middle of the screen and make sure that your head and shoulders are visible. Use a background that does not disturb the participants’ concentration. Take a posture that gives an impression of interest and show feedback in facial expressions, by nodding etc. Create a social environment with small-talk before the lesson starts, use collaborative assignments, and give everybody a possibility to interact. Findings indicate that social presence is so important that teachers find it difficult to record lectures without the presence of students as eye-contact and students’ feedback in facial expressions and body gestures are lacking.
2020. p. 107-107
Pedaforum 2020. Oulu 20.-21.8.2020. Virtual event.