"Opening Our Eyes"

Australian Research Council Linkage Project on Interactive Distance Learning (IDL) conducted by the University of Newcastle, Australia and Charles Darwin University, Australia.

"This project was a joint undertaking between the Australian government, the governments of New South Wales (NSW) and the Northern Territory (NT) and Optus Singtel under an Australian Research Council Linkage award 2006-2009."

The project looked at the IDL technologies used in remote and rural Australia.  The IDL technology used in the NT is REACT.

"The research aim was 'through observing IDL/SEP lessons we will develop a better understanding of how students, teachers, parent/tutors and others involved use the technology, what they feel about their engagement, and how these experiences influence their perceptions, satisfaction, behaviours, working practices, learning processes and outcomes.'  Three key areas were identified to explore these aims:

• Curriculum - wider range of lessons activity, content and sources for learning
• Interactivity - two-way, collaborative learning, sharing work and informal contexts
• Connectivity - literally and with the class, community and the rest of the world.

These areas were decided upon because the introduction of IDL enabled and required a different approach to teaching and learning to contemporary distance education, let alone experiences from mainstream schooling."

Curriculum

"Teachers ... work hard to create the feeling that they are in the same room with their students despite being scattered over as much as a million square kilometres as for Alice Springs School of the Air. The IDL experience is an example of authentic learning, where there is a 'live' feed to the class and it is demonstrably interactive and relational, not only teacher directed ... The result of being this engaged and interacting in real time was as one teacher commented, students become 'addicted' to the lessons.

Using different IDL capabilities also helps teachers increase the scope for structuring lessons to develop individual progression and/or meet individual needs and for doing so immediately and appropriately." 

One parent commented: "It is better than mainstream school for my child - that one-on-one attention, individual program."

It is possible that IDL distance education students are more adept at a younger age at using ICT than their peers.  "Students getting IDL satellite lessons were provided with a rich and absorbing learning environment that they took advantage of to the hilt."

Interactivity & Connectivity

What motivated their child the most, according NT parents/tutors was their IDL lessons with the more traditional (for distance education) print-based material nearly at the bottom of the list.  "Teachers explained that sometimes the novelty of using new technological tools appeals to their students but the empowering factor was the (IDL) technology's ability to enhance interaction with peers, teachers and the topic being studied."

"Another explained: 'Every student in the school can come together.  One recorder group can expand from here to the (NSW/NT) border!'"

"Even though community relationships in 'the bush' are strong by nature, families experience an enhanced sense of connectedness through IDL and this, as one teacher told us, 'cements them as a group'.  Assembly is a welcome spot in the school timetable that builds this sense of belonging to something larger than where students live."

In the NT, return path video (RPV) was trialled enabling not only the students to see the teacher but the teacher to see the students and the students to see each other.  REACT has no limit to the number and size of video streams that can be displayed simultaneously.

"Teachers involved in the trial have been able to tap into student's body language and non-verbal cues in order to assess engagement in the task and genuine comprehension of what is being done."

"With RPV, the IDL transmission is synchronous, live and can be highly interactive as it creates a classroom dynamic comparable to mainstream schools.  A teacher who trialled RPV informs us: 'Two-way vision is vital!'"

Due to the outstanding success of the RPV trial, all students have webcams and they are used extensively during lessons throughout the Schools of the Air in the NT.

In summing up the success of IDL in terms of the three outcomes, one student wrote in her survey response:

"I gain positive practical skills (curriculum), a feeling of being included in the community (connectivity), and instant interaction with others over a long distance (interactivity)."

The findings from the project lead the researchers to conclude that:

"The education and training outcomes from the IDL innovation, as outlined in this summary, offer genuine hope to the thousands of participants spread across remote areas of NSW and the NT, allowing them to participate more fully, more meaningfully, and more productively at home, work and in society, despite the tangible difficulties and complexities of living in regional or rural Australia."

The project report provides a summary of the outcomes and discusses the future of IDL.  For more information please visit:

 http://satellitelessons.ning.com

M & S Consultants Pty Ltd, sincerely thank the authors of the project report for their permission to use excerpts from the report for this article.  Authors are:  Professor Stephen Crump & Dr Kylie Twyford (University of Newcastle) and Dr Brian Devlin (Charles Darwin University).