Abstract
The paper reports a study of a videoconference-based environment in decentralized university education and factors contributing to the success of teaching and learning in the environment. The focus of the paper is on the role of a person having the formal responsibilities of a technician. An ethnographic study conducted over the course of a year revealed that the contribution of this person far exceeded the scope of formal responsibilities. The person, who was acting in the setting as a facilitator, was found to possess expertise, which was critically important for supporting interaction between remote participants at several levels, such as attention management, time management, acquisition of setting-specific skills, and coordination within a larger institutional context. The findings suggest that “supra-situational” activities can be important factors for the successful functioning and development of emerging learning environments.
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Hedestig, U., Kaptelinin, V. Facilitator’s Roles in a Videoconference Learning Environment. Inf Syst Front 7, 71–83 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-005-5339-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-005-5339-6