Televised Teaching

Linda Ruholl, RN, MS
Associate Degree Nursing Instructor - Second Level
Lake Land College, Mattoon, Illinois, USA
Email lindyr@xelnet.com

Status: Free Communication

The demands of televised teaching can be overwhelming to the uninitiated novice. Even the classroom instructor who accepts the need for instructional innovation may find the equipment unfamiliar and the techniques intimidating. Instead of the familiar podium and desks, the teacher faces a studio full of hardware. Stage fright can overcome even veteran lecturers. Perhaps the lived experience of one instructor, who has mastered the art of televised teaching at Lake Land College in the heartland of the United States, will encourage and inform those taking up this activity for the first time.

Lake Land is a community college located near the center of the state of Illinois. Lake Land is part of the Prairie Higher Education Consortium, one of a number of consortia of college and universities using telecommunication to deliver distance learning across the state of Illinois. Long distance instruction started at Lake Land in 1994, utilizing fiber optics which provide broadcast quality pictures. By early 1997, six percent of all students enrolled in distance classes within the state are registered with Lake Land, and Lake Land offers five percent of all such courses in Illinois. Among others, cardiopulmonary nursing, dysrhythmia interpretation and pharmacology have been taught by this method.

Nursing faculty were interested in long distance learning because it seemed to promote flexibility for students, so that in many cases they could take courses nearer to their homes. This meets a crucial need, as Lake Land College serves a huge district, the largest one east of the Mississippi River. Recent research by Hunt (1995) supports the need for flexible scheduling, as the most common reason for attrition among community college nursing students turns out to be a conflict between class times and work times. A decrease in travel distance clearly decreases such friction.

In addition to providing education from afar, long distance learning has several additional advantages:

Distant learning is best provided with a two-way full motion interactive video and audio system. This means the instructors lecture is delivered to the distant site in real time, with no delays or distortions. The instructor and the on-campus group can see and hear all the students at the distant site. In turn, the students at the distant site can see and hear everything that transpires at the home site.

Preparing to Teach on Television

The instructor planning to teach a distance course will need to achieve two goals prior to the first class, that is, the professor must:

Students in Long Distance Courses

A considerable body of literature treats the characteristics and needs of this group of students. The consensus of the research done in the United States to date is that these pupils do as well as those who take courses face-to-face (U.S. Congress, 1989). This group tends to be somewhat older (Biner, Dean & Mellinger, 1994), to be married (Dillie & Mezack, 1991) and to be carrying additional simultaneous responsibilities for work and child care (Sounder, 1993). Personality traits that are more likely to describe telecourse students than the general college population include intelligent, emotionally stable, and trusting (Biner, Bink, Huffman, & Dean, 1995).

After examining this research, the instructor may well conclude that this is a body of students who want to do well, but who are pressed by time and outside obligations. These students don’t need or want busywork, and anything the teacher can do to streamline the process of learning is appreciated.

Learning Studio Techniques

Instructors involved with the initial distance classes at Lake Land in 1994 completed an individualized learning program with the Lake Land’s Distance Learning Coordinator, Ken Beno. Professor Beno is a radio and television technique specialist. His personalized instruction made each new televised teaching instructor feel at ease. Sufficient on-camera time was accrued in the fall semester of 1993 to allow spring semester 1994 instructors to feel quite comfortable while facing their first televised class. The time teachers spent mastering these techniques was reimbursed by a mini-grant.

Perfecting Televised Teaching

If there is one characteristic that describes the effective televised teacher, it is organization. This trait keeps the instructor on track and meets the needs of this group of students. Because of the nature of the medium, forethought and planning are crucial to success. The camera is always on from beginning to end of the session. The instructor needs a tightly structured lesson plan and methodically ordered support materials. There is no room for stuttering or shuffling papers. Some time will need to be allowed for the adaptation of teaching materials.

It is possible to use overheads, but the traditional 8 1/2 x 11 sheets won’t work under the high-resolution camera that substitutes for a transparency projector. It is easy however, to shrink transparency masters on copy machine to 50% of their original size, which will fit handily under the camera’s lens. Using a matte paper is important, as brighter surfaces reflect glare from the overhead lights. The lens blows up the image to TV screen size. It is also possible to project photographs and illustrations directly from texts and journals through this camera, which reproduces excellent color quality.

Teaching techniques will also need to be modified to suit the interactive nature of the medium. Pure lecture turns the teacher into a "talking head" and cures insomnia among students. The wise instructor will deliberately involve students at all the distant sites. Group projects are also possible; the group leader can report the collective conclusions on-camera. Sometimes the didactic method is appropriate, but the teacher must pace the material at a moderate rate. Too fast, and students get lost; too slow, and students get bored. This advice is also congruent with current community college research, as Hammons and Barnsley (1996) found student orientation, with a clear interest in student welfare, to be the number one characteristic that describes effective community college instructors.

All the distance learning equipment is accessible to the instructor from the podium. The educator may need to start up all the equipment before the beginning of class; this procedure is easy to master and only takes a couple of minutes. The instructor will usually wear a microphone that clips to the blouse or shirt.

A battery pack is attached to the microphone. As it may be rather bulky, it can be attached to a belt. As many of the Lake Land women did not routinely wear belts, Professor Beno solved the problem with a Velcro belt that adapts to any size waist. The instructor will need to monitor sound quality continuously. Difficulties at the distant site or garbled sound in the studio may mean the battery pack needs to be changed. This can be done in seconds if a battery charger is located near the podium.

If possible, all handouts and supplementary materials should be bound into a syllabus, which can be available to all sites on the first day of class. If that scenario proves impractical, the instructor will need to be creative in order to provide materials to all students in a timely fashion. That might involve the use of a courier provided by the college. Another option is a fax for last minute handouts, but there will need to a copier on the other end, as well as someone with access to it.

When it is time for testing, a proctor will need to be available at each satellite. Keep in mind that not all areas of the distance classroom are directly visible to the instructor in a studio. The proctor need not stay for the entire class if the exam does not fill the entire period. If there are concerns expressed by the students at the satellite, the proctor can fax them to the instructor.

The televised teacher will want to pay more than the usual amount of attention to physical appearance. Television does tend to maximize imperfections.

Clothing that is neat and rather tailored works best. Stay away from fussy necklines and dramatic ties. Plain white produces glare, while plaids and stripes tend to look distractingly fuzzy. Too much jewelry is a mistake, particularly if it is noisy, as those sounds will be accentuated by the microphone. Bright golds or other metallics can produce glare. Thinning hair and bald spots are accentuated, but a tape of a performance can assist the instructor to revise hairstyles (Hegge, 1993; Ruholl, 1996).

Additional distance teaching tips are available from a video entitled, Applications: The Teacher, and produced by the Media Resources Center of Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa USA (1994).

Summary

In summary, televised teaching is a useful technique in meeting the needs of today’s increasingly diverse college student. Any instructor willing to learn the basics of studio teaching can master the medium. An organized, well prepared and student orientated instructor will in turn provide a quality educational experience.

References:

Biner, P., Bink, M., Huffman, M., and Dean R. (1995). Personality characteristics differentiating and predicting the achievement of televised-course students and traditional course students. The American Journal of Distance Education Vol. 9 No 2 pp. 4 - 18.

Biner, P., Dean R., and Mellinger, A. (1994). Factors underlying distance learner satisfaction with televised college-level courses. The American Journal of Distance Education Vol. 8 No 1 pp. 60 - 71.

Dillie, B., and Mezack, M. (1991). Identifying predictors of high-risk among community college telecourse students. The American Journal of Distance Education Vol. 5 No 1 pp. 24 - 35.

Hammons, J., and Barnsley, J. (1996). The elusive search for the effective community college teacher. Community College Journal of Research and Practice Vol. 20 pp. 311 - 323.

Hegge, M. (1993). Interactive Television presenting styles and teaching materials. Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing Vol. 24 No 1 pp. 39 -42.

Hunt, L. (1995). A study of student retention in associate degree nursing programs as perceived by their directors (pp. 101 - 111). In P. Boyles & J. Parks-Doyle (Eds.) The Web of Inclusion: Faculty Helping Faculty. New York: National League for Nursing.

Iowa Distance Education Alliance. (1994). Applications: The Teacher. Iowa State University: Ames, Iowa. (18 minute videotape).

Ruholl, L. (1996). How to teach like a pro with television. Teaching for Success Vol. 8 No 5 pp. 6 - 7.

Souder, W. (1993). The effectiveness of traditional vs. satellite delivery in three management of technology masters degree programs. The American Journal of Distance Education Vol. 7 No 1 pp. 37 - 53.

United States Congress, Office of Technology Assessment. (1989). Linking for Learning: A New Course for Education (Publication # OTA-SET-430), Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office

Volume 3 - No. 1