Videotutoring, non-verbal communication and initial teacher training |
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| Authors: | Jon Nichol & Kate Watson |
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| Institution: | School of Education, University of Exeter, Exeter EX1 2LU, UK |
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| Abstract: | Telematics has the potential to transform Higher Education through creating a distributed community of tutors and students. Videotutoring is central to telematics, enabling personal tutoring to occur at a distance. Within the context of a post-graduate teacher training course, videotutoring was used to tutor two students during the first six weeks of their first full-time school placement. Both ends of the videosignal were recorded. Analysis of the tapes used a protocol based upon research into non-verbal communication (NVC). NVC is as important as verbal communication in the tutorial process. Findings suggest that the interaction of participants mediated through the screen was significantly different from face-to-face communication in relation to the two-dimensional image of the screen and the "viewing frame" effect of the physical boundaries of the image. The viewing frame literally served as the proscenium arch of a theatre. Two-dimensionality and the viewing frame effect emphasised both the positive and negative elements in inter-personal communication as represented in Argyle's social skills and Goffman's theatrical models. The conclusion is that videotutoring can potentially be a more effective form of tutoring than face-to-face interaction. |
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