TY - JOUR
T1 - An integrated analysis of verbal and nonverbal interaction in conventional and distance learning environments
AU - Offir, Baruch
AU - Lev, Yossi
AU - Lev, Yael
AU - Barth, Ingrid
AU - Shteinbok, Arkadi
PY - 2004
Y1 - 2004
N2 - As increasing numbers of educational institutions implement distance learning (DL) programs, educators need to know how teaching and learning processes change when teachers and learners are no longer in the same place at the same time. Understanding the theoretical and practical implications of these changes can help teachers to compensate learners for the limitations that often characterize a DL environment. In this article, we describe how we used content analysis to identify how university lecturers' verbal and nonverbal dialogue patterns changed when they taught in both conventional and DL environments. Data, indicating significant cross-context changes in teacher-student interaction patterns, validate Moore's (1972, 1993) transactional distance theory. This theory predicts that the increased psychological and communicative space, which needs to be crossed in a DL environment, has a potentially negative effect on teaching and learning. Empirical evidence of changes in specific categories of interaction also expands the conceptualization of the dialogue variable in Moore's theory. The focus of this article on verbal dialogue and nonverbal interactions was intended to clarify possible causes and effects of increased transactional distance in a DL environment. Our integrated analysis of verbal and nonverbal interactions was intended to identify types of compensatory strategies adopted by teachers in an attempt to reduce transactional distance. Teachers could use these results to manage the dialogue variable more effectively in both DL and conventional learning environments.
AB - As increasing numbers of educational institutions implement distance learning (DL) programs, educators need to know how teaching and learning processes change when teachers and learners are no longer in the same place at the same time. Understanding the theoretical and practical implications of these changes can help teachers to compensate learners for the limitations that often characterize a DL environment. In this article, we describe how we used content analysis to identify how university lecturers' verbal and nonverbal dialogue patterns changed when they taught in both conventional and DL environments. Data, indicating significant cross-context changes in teacher-student interaction patterns, validate Moore's (1972, 1993) transactional distance theory. This theory predicts that the increased psychological and communicative space, which needs to be crossed in a DL environment, has a potentially negative effect on teaching and learning. Empirical evidence of changes in specific categories of interaction also expands the conceptualization of the dialogue variable in Moore's theory. The focus of this article on verbal dialogue and nonverbal interactions was intended to clarify possible causes and effects of increased transactional distance in a DL environment. Our integrated analysis of verbal and nonverbal interactions was intended to identify types of compensatory strategies adopted by teachers in an attempt to reduce transactional distance. Teachers could use these results to manage the dialogue variable more effectively in both DL and conventional learning environments.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=13544253649&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.2190/tm7u-qrf1-0eg7-p9p7
DO - 10.2190/tm7u-qrf1-0eg7-p9p7
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AN - SCOPUS:13544253649
SN - 0735-6331
VL - 31
SP - 101
EP - 118
JO - Journal of Educational Computing Research
JF - Journal of Educational Computing Research
IS - 2
ER -