Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2020
DOI
10.51869/92mrgsw
Publication Title
The Journal of Applied Instructional Design
Volume
9
Issue
2
Pages
89-102
Abstract
What are the optimal techniques for applying the latest generation of telepresence, video conferencing, and communication technologies in distance education and virtual classroom designs? If human beings use more than voice to communicate, what implications does the ability to more effectively replicate eye-to-eye contact have in collaborative distance education? This research study explored the effects of perceived faculty credibility and immediacy during virtual classroom presentations. This quantitative experiment created four independent treatments that varied the video resolution and varied the ability of the instructor to maintain virtual eye-contact with students during each presentation. Participants were assigned into one of the four treatment groups, each listening to the same instructor narration and viewing the same instructor present the same subject matter, only the resolution and camera angle differed. A series of 2x2 Analysis of Variances were conducted on independent groups where an instructor was simultaneously recorded from two high-definition (1920x1080) cameras, one at eye-level and one located 15-degrees above eye-level, during the delivery of a 20-minute instructional module. These two camera angles were also replicated in a lower resolution (320x240). A total of 108 undergraduate and graduate participants completed the video and audio multimedia presentations and completed credibility and immediacy survey instruments. The results suggest that the position of the instructor's camera is more important than the resolution of the recorded video.
Rights
This work is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License, which means that you are free to do with it as you please as long as you properly attribute it.
Original Publication Citation
Ramlatchan, M., & Watson, G. S. (2020). Enhancing instructor credibility and immediacy in the design of distance learning systems and virtual classroom environments. The Journal of Applied Instructional Design, 9(2), 89-102. https://edtechbooks.org/jaid_9_2/enhancing_instructor
Repository Citation
Ramlatchan, Miguel and Watson, Ginger S., "Enhancing Instructor Credibility and Immediacy in the Design of Distance Learning Systems and Virtual Classroom Environments" (2020). Distance Learning Faculty & Staff Publications. 12.
https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/distancelearning_pubs/12