Effective and quality online education requires an instructional design approach that can lead to educational transformation. This approach can be characterized by advanced flexibility, learner autonomy and extensive use of digital technologies to enhance learning outcomes. One of the main challenges of online education, which has been investigated by current researchers in the field, is the physical distance between educators and learners. In this context, synchronous communication, perceived as the direct communication that occurs in real time between learners and educators, has been considered as a way to bridge this distance and improve communication and interaction in teaching and learning.As the field of synchronous communication in online education is ever maturing, this paper attempts to systematically review the literature relevant to technological tools and strategies, which can lead to a productive student experience. The two authors collaborate to apply a qualitative method, coding and synthesizing the results using multiple criteria. The main objective of this systematic literature review is to identify the tools, theories and strategies that online education providers can implement to ensure that synchronous instruction enhances students’ learning outcomes. The research, which was conducted between January and April 2020, used Google Scholar and ProQuest data bases. The reviewed papers were selected with prior chosen keywords: synchronous communication, technological tools for synchronous communication, effective synchronous communication, synchronous communication learning experiences, strategies for synchronous communication, theories for synchronous communication, software for synchronous communication. The term interaction was also used instead of the term communication in the combination of keywords mentioned above. The keywords were combined while operating the Boolean operator “AND”. The selected papers were published in peer-reviewed journals, in English, between 2010 and 2020. The selection process consisted of four phases: Identification round, first round of exclusion, second round of exclusion, and final inclusion round. The identified articles were collected in a shared RefWorks project.On balance, results are divided in two main groups:a) technological tools, which enhance synchronous communication,b) learning theories and strategies, which can contribute to an effective synchronous communication experience.As a final step, the authors consolidate evidence for the benefit of academics and practitioners in online education interested in the efficient use of synchronous communication for pedagogical purposes. Such evidence also provides potential options and pathways for future research.
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Several bachelor courses of Inholland University of Applied Sciences experimented with the possibilities of the online synchronous classroom. Two platforms were used; Zoom video conferencing and Barco Virtual Classroom. As research group, we conducted exploratory observations as this experimentation unfolded during several of these sessions. Interviews were held with some teaching and technical staff. Organisational, technical and pedagogical factors regarding the delivering of flexible education were examined. During the observations of this emergent practice, some patterns became visible. This report contains a first description of the seven phases when initiating the online classroom.
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As multimedia gradually becomes more and more an integrated part of video conferencing systems, the use of multimedia integrated desktop video conferencing technology (MIDVCT) will open up new educational possibilities for synchronous learning. However, the possibilities and limitations of this technology must be clearly understood so that it can be used to maximize possible pedagogical benefits and reduce possible pedagogical limitations. This paper analyses the process of integrating MIDVCT in a first-year English language course, and offers insights into theoretical underpinnings of multimedia learning from two perspectives: the generative theory of multimedia learning and the cognitive overload theory. The data discussed in this paper have been drawn from a study which took place in a cross institutional setting at Fontys University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands. The data were collected and analyzed according to a qualitative approach.
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Reading and writing is modelled in CSP using actions containing the symbols ? and !. These reading actions and writing actions are synchronous, and there is a one-to-one relationship between occurrences of pairs of these actions. In the CPA conference 2017, we introduced the extended half-synchronous al- phabetised parallel operator X ⇕ Y , which disconnects the writing to and reading from a channel in time; the reading processes are divided into sets which are set-wise asynchronous, but intra-set-wise synchronous, giving full flexibility to the reads. In this paper, we allow multiple writers to write to the same channel set-wise asynchronously, but intra-set-wise synchronously and we study the impact on our (Extended) Vertex Removing Synchronised Product. The advantages we accomplish are that the extension of X ⇕ Y gives more flexibility by indexing the writing actions and the reading actions, leading to a straightforward majority vote design. Furthermore, the extension of X ⇕ Y preserves the advantages of the X ⇕ Y operator.
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In the aviation sector, communication problems have contributed into 70% to 80% of safety occurrences. However, to date we haven’t depicted which communication aspects have affected aviation safety most frequently.Based on literature, we developed a tool which includes communication characteristics related to actors, signal, coder, channel, decoder, direction, timing, distance, predictability and interference. After achieving inter-rater reliability, the tool was used to analyse 103 safety investigation reports that correspond to events occurred in various regions and which included in total 256 communication problems. The results suggest that communication between humans and representation media, visual and audio signalling and decoding, air-transmitted messages, and verbal, unidirectional, local and synchronous communication contributed most frequently into safety events. Statistical tests showed that the frequencies of most of those characteristics were significantly different across regions, time periods, types of operations and event severity.The tool developed can be used by different organizations and industry sectors to distil and analyse data from mandatory and voluntary reports and identify weak communication areas. Depending on the findings, analysts might need to alert designers of technical systems, inform management of organizations, warn end-users about most frequent pitfalls, modify/enrich communication training and steer research efforts.
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Reading and writing is modelled in CSP using actions containing the sym- bols ? and !. These reading and writing actions are synchronous and there is a one- to-one relationship between occurrences of pairs of these actions. It is cumbersome to ease the restriction of synchronous execution of the read and write actions. For this reason we introduce the half-asynchronous parallel operator that acts on actions con- taining the symbols ¿ and ¡ and study the impact on a Vertex Removing Synchronised Product.
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Seven college lecturers and two senior support staff were interviewed during 2021 about their experiences teaching in hybrid virtual classrooms (HVC). These technology-rich learning environments allow teachers to simultaneously teach students who are in class (on campus) and students who are joining remotely (online). There were two reasons for this choice: first, ongoing experimentation from innovative teaching staff who were already using this format before the COVID-19 pandemic; secondly, as a possible solution to restrictions on classroom size imposed by the pandemic. Challenges lecturers faced include adjusting teaching practice and lesson delivery to serve students in the class and those online equally; engaging and linking the different student groups in structured and natural interactions; overcoming technical challenges regarding audio and visual equipment; suitably configuring teaching spaces and having sufficient pedagogical and technical support to manage this complex process. A set of practical suggestions is provided. Lecturers should make reasoned choices when teaching in this format since it requires continued experimentation and practice to enhance the teaching and learning opportunities. When external factors such as classroom size restrictions are the driving force, the specific type of synchronous learning activities should be carefully considered. The structure and approach to lessons needs to be rethought to optimise the affordances of the hybrid virtual and connected classroom. The complexity of using these formats, and the additional time needed to do it properly, should not be underestimated. These findings are consistent with previous literature on this subject. An ongoing dialogue with faculty, support staff and especially students should be an integral part of any further implementation in this format.
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Reading and writing is modelled in CSP using actions containing the symbols ? and !. These reading actions and writing actions are synchronous, and there is a one-to-one relationship between occurrences of pairs of these actions. In the CPA conference 2016, we introduced the half-synchronous alphabetised parallel operator X ⇓ Y , which disconnects the writing to and reading from a channel in time. We introduce in this paper an extension of X ⇓ Y , where the definition of X ⇓ Y is relaxed; the reading processes are divided into sets which are set-wise asynchronous, but intra-set-wise synchronous, giving full flexibility to the asynchronous writes and reads. Furthermore, we allow multiple writers to the same channel and we study the impact on a Vertex Removing Synchronised Product. The advantages we accomplish are that the extension of X ⇓ Y gives more flexibility by indexing the reading actions and allowing multiple write actions to the same channel. Furthermore, the extension of X ⇓Y reduces the end-to-end processing time of the processor or coprocessor in a distributed computing system. We show the effects of these advantages in a case study describing a Controlled Emergency Stop for a processor-coprocessor combination.
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In this paper we explore the influence of the physical and social environment (the design space) son the formation of shared understanding in multidisciplinary design teams. We concentrate on the creative design meeting as a microenvironment for studying processes of design communication. Our applied research context entails the design of mixed physical–digital interactive systems supporting design meetings. Informed by theories of embodiment that have recently gained interest in cognitive science, we focus on the role of interactive “traces,” representational artifacts both created and used by participants as scaffolds for creating shared understanding. Our research through design approach resulted in two prototypes that form two concrete proposals of how the environment may scaffold shared understanding in design meetings. In several user studies we observed users working with our systems in natural contexts. Our analysis reveals how an ensemble of ongoing social as well as physical interactions, scaffolded by the interactive environment, grounds the formation of shared understanding in teams. We discuss implications for designing collaborative tools and for design communication theory in general.
MULTIFILE
Society and (higher) education have changed rapidly in recent decades. For example, since knowledge has become more volatile, life-long learning has become increasingly important. Higher education itself has been subject of change in the last decade as well. Particularly in the wake of social-constructivist theories, many institutes have transformed their learning approach to a model in which students are involved in different activities at different moments. Thus, student populations are becoming more heterogeneous. For example, they have different tutoring needs. This leads to an increasing workload for teachers. At the same time, students have changed in their expectations. A young generation of students, who grew up with ICT embedded in their daily lives, have become used to the almost instant availability of knowledge and accessibility of people through the internet. The aim of this research paper is to propose a solution for the extensive and diverse tutoring needs that have arisen in these novel societal and educational settings. Peer tutoring is indicated to be a promising replacement for teacher guidance in certain contexts. An important problem in its implementation, however, is how peers should be matched and how the tutoring itself should be organised. Instant messaging is proposed as a possible vehicle for solving these problems. Our study focuses on developing a system for automated allocated peer tutoring through instant messaging. A first version of the system was made available to two groups of students, one in distance education, the other in regular education. A selection of students participated in interviews, providing data on the feasibility and acceptance of this implementation of allocated synchronous peer tutoring. The interview data indicate that students are positive towards system-allocated peer tutoring, but that the context in which it is implemented is crucial.
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