News and Information
Emory University
Atlanta, GA 30322

Release date: Oct. 29, 1997
Contact: Deb Hammacher, Director

OXFORD COLLEGE OF EMORY UNIVERSITY EXPLORES DISTANCE LEARNING VIA VIDEO CONFERENCE TECHNOLOGY

Oxford College of Emory University, a two-year undergraduate division of the university located in Oxford, Ga., has joined the growing trend of distance learning with a newly installed video conferencing classroom. This technology allows Emory students to take classes at either the Atlanta or Oxford campuses without requiring an 80-mile round trip.

Distance learning for most schools is a means to save money, according to Oxford Dean William Murdy, but for Oxford it is a way to expand the curriculum and enhance teaching. "We are committed to a philosophy that technology is a tool to enhance the faculty's effectiveness to teach and the student's ability to learn," says Murdy. "It should never be allowed to diminish the human dimension of education­­the teacher-student relationship­­that is at the heart of the educational process."

The first offering is Russian 101, taught by Juliette Apkarian, which was selected for the high standards of audio and video transmission required for teaching a non-western language that does not use the Latin alphabet. Spectrum Technology Systems was contracted to create the Oxford facility, and company representatives worked closely with the technology staff at Oxford as well as Apkarian to custom-design a system for Emory. An existing multi-media classroom used for Emory's World Class distance learning program currently is being used in the new program, but a twin to the Oxford site is expected to be installed in the technology center of the Robert Woodruff Library on the main campus when its current renovation is completed.

Oxford's state-of-the-art classroom integrates video and audio conferencing, computer, VCR, laser disc, and slide-to-video capability. Cameras in both classrooms allow the instructor and students on both ends to see each other. Gone are the days of disembodied voices asking questions­­Apkarian touches the control panel and the camera switches to show the student who is speaking. When both facilities are identical, classes will be able to use the "smart board," an electronic board linked to the computer, so that what is written on it appears on the other classroom's video monitor. Smart board material can then be downloaded to the computer network and printed by students. Each seat in the mini auditorium-style Oxford classroom has an electrical outlet and network connection for laptop computers.

Apkarian, who teaches one day a week from the Oxford classroom and the other four from Atlanta, is enjoying the pioneering effort and thinks her students are as well. "They have been wonderfully helpful," she says. "Now they are so used to the technology that they are sometimes surprised when they are reminded what a pioneering effort this is. And through their feedback, they help guide the production side of the class more than they could in a traditional class."

Predictably, there have been a number of challenges to overcome, some with the technology, but also issues such as office hours, incompatible campus class schedules, and turning in homework.

Apkarian has needed to modify some of her teaching techniques when video conferencing, but has been impressed with the quality of the technology and the willingness of the technology staff to make needed adjustments to microphones, cameras and other equipment. A technology facilitator runs the equipment in the classroom without the instructor by starting up the system, making any necessary volume adjustments, and faxing any assignments or quizzes to the instructor.

Enough ground has been covered during the course to gage the students' performance against traditional first-year Russian students, and Apkarian says they are on par. The Oxford students are doing as well as their Atlanta counterparts, so they clearly have not suffered academically learning via video conference.

Apkarian hopes to end the semester with a video linkage to a university in Moscow. She also hopes to get her Atlanta and Oxford students together, so they can see each other in person. "The students are intrigued by one another, and because they watch each other so closely on the video screen, there is a special rapport between them."

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