Telepresence and Learning

The pandemic is very isolating. Web conferencing helped elevate this isolation and it brought people together. Schools leverage web conferencing tools to continue with instruction and have students connect virtually. As learning moved to this medium, we saw the benefits and short comings that it brought to our teachers and students. The tool allowed us to schedule meetings where we can interact in large and small groups. It gave every students a front row seat to see the virtual board or screen and instant transitions to group conversations.

 
This virtual medium captured the classroom model well. Each little postage stamp video represented a student at a desk offering the feel and look of the classroom. What was missing however were all of the incidental interactions. 

How does web conferencing supplement the friendly chatter when you hang up your coat at your locker or the quick chat in the hall between classes is absent online? I would argue that these covert interactions in the halls, between lessons, between groups is just as important (maybe more) than the classroom discussions and virtual breakout rooms.

As the pandemic continued, students were increasingly feeling disconnected. Engagement decreased but when students returned in the Fall to the halls and classroom, the sense of belonging and engagement returned. There was a renewed sense of vitality!

 
However, not every students was able to return. Due to health concerns and family situations, some students could only connect virtually. The remedy to this problem is teachers with the resources available use hi-flex model to teacher students in the classroom and online at the same time. For this to work the following needs to addressed:

• Instructional design, to assist the the instructors to manage their cognitive load by interacting with their students virtually and physically at the same;
• Bandwidth, web conferencing is not a light web application, with tiled views every postage stamp video of a participant in a Zoom, Meet, or Team call requires additional bandwidth and that is per device!
• Infrastructure, having robust wireless connection is required especially in high density environments where many devices are connect in close proximity of each other
• Extensive budget for classroom technology, need to purchase equipment that allows fluid classroom discussion the technology must be able manage more than one person speaking at a time
• Management Tools, necessary for troubleshooting issues when connectivity or account issues arise, this is overlooked often - yet essential if the expectation is replacing face-to-face interactions.

One might notice that Classroom conference cameras are not listed. These are important but I did not see it initially critical. For one, most devices already have cameras built in and they supplemented well the need to view one another.  Secondly, almost 99% of the work was digital and shared via a screen share. The camera certainly changed our aspect of privacy.  As time progressed it certainly became important as the way we interact with technology changes, our needs for a camera changed as well well.  What matters most is that our students felt safe, connected and successful.