April 2002 — Features
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Digital Multimedia & Distance Education: Can They Effectively Be Combined?
However, there were some problems with the system. First, only a small percentage of my particular course curriculum really seemed appropriate for this type of programmed instruction. Much of the class time was devoted to completing exercises using various computer applications or discussions about how to effectively use technology in the classroom. Then there was the considerable time, trouble and expense associated with preparing programmed material for the class (Muldner 1997). The assistance of a programmer was required to help develop these materials using Toolbook, or Authorware, which complicated the course preparation process for me.
Another problem associated with the development of the interactive, multimedia lessons was that copyright was a major concern of those directing this distributive learning project. They strongly insisted that any materials located for use in the authored lessons needed copyright permission, despite the likelihood that "fair use" standards for educational use of materials may well have applied in this case. Permission was time-consuming and problematic to obtain, even with assistance provided by a librarian. Many of the multimedia materials that I was able to locate were ultimately barred from use. Because it was such a struggle, and did not seem necessary for many of the activities associated with the course, only a few multimedia lessons were ultimately produced for my class.
Application Sharing
The application sharing features of the system were more important in this particular course than the delivery of preprogrammed multimedia materials. The system could send the instructor's screen to all the students' screens with any application. This capability was especially helpful in this computer class, because a number of applications were taught and key points about each could be demonstrated with on-screen examples. I used this feature with all the standard computer applications and even the Web, since this system will even send a given Web-page screen to every student's computer. With this synchronized Web browser, the students can then proceed to explore the Web site on their own.
Unfortunately, the system did not show live movement of the cursor on these shared screens. The signals were still frames, so procedures needed to be shown in a succession of transmissions in freeze-frame mode. This was slower and more laborious, but at least the process could be presented step-by-step. The instructor was also able to see student screens. This functionality was critical for me, because I needed to assist these computer novices in working with unfamiliar applications. Again, it was unfortunate that the system only permitted still-frame screen captures that only allowed me to view "snapshots" of what students were doing from my machine. But at least they gave me a sense of what students were working on. In addition, it was not possible to control the students' cursors from my machine and demonstrate what students should do next, so I used the videoconferencing system to assist them.
A digital whiteboard feature was also available, providing a blank space in which I could type notes that would appear on every screen throughout the system.
