International Teacher Education Conference 2014 1

International Teacher Education Conference 2014
taught at the same time in order to obtain a better understanding of the student experience related to learning in
the synchronous videoconferencing platform. The main considerations addressed in the study were: quality,
reliability, user-friendliness and cost-efficiency factors, course preparation, classroom interactions, course
structure, instructional materials, teaching style, and feedback.
METHOD
Study Design
A qualitative descriptive design was used because the evaluation’s scope included quality, reliability, userfriendliness
and cost-efficiency factors from instructor, student, educational technologist and administrator
perspectives, in which course preparation, classroom interactions, course structure, instructional materials,
teaching style, and feedback were discussed. Qualitative descriptive inquiry was chosen because we desired to
describe learning and also teaching in the synchronous videoconferencing platform from the current experiences
of students.
Participants and Setting
Participants were freshmen students —from Berlin office— (N = 11) enrolled in a core EAP course which
was given via synchronous videoconferencing in the 2013 academic fall semester at Bahcesehir University. Of
the 11 participants, one was male went from Istanbul, his hometown, to Berlin for one-semester study; the rest
were 10 females who are the residents of the city of Berlin and have German high-school education background.
Their ages ranged from 19 years of age to 26 years of age. Their departments were heterogeneous, but majority
is studying architecture.
The classroom, called “Meta-Smart Classroom”, is equipped with the latest technological devices which
perform real-time video-based communication between two campuses (Istanbul and Berlin). This miscellaneous
communication enables interactive teaching by allowing both sides to participate to the lesson. CISCO video
conference system, which enables this communication, has two cameras that shoot the lecturer and the students
at the same time. There are also two IP cameras positioned as CISCO cameras to record lessons. These records
are accessible for the registered students after the lessons. There are two data projectors reflected to the scene;
one of which shows the screen of interactive wacom tablet, the other one shows the students in the visitor
campus (Berlin). The students in the visitor campus can see the lecturer, whiteboard, the screen of the tablet and
also the students in this classroom (Istanbul). While the classroom is equipped with advanced technology, it also
supports traditional methods as having a classic whiteboard. Lecturers are free to use digital interactive wacom
tablet or traditional white board. There are six omni directional microphones which can be enabled by the
lecturer when any student wants to talk so that the visitor campus can hear the conversation. There are also hand
and lapel microphones which are used by the lecturer. Two TVs are located at the rear of the classroom for the
students who don’t see the whiteboard clearly. Meta-Smart Classroom is also capable of streaming lessons realtime
over Internet. So anyone around the world can attend to the course in this classroom.
Data Collection
After the institutional review process (IRB) at Bahcesehir University was completed and final approval
obtained at the very beginning of the semester, recruitment of participants for the research were completed and
followed by data collection in two sources: (1) records of the tutorials done weekly after each lesson via
synchronous videoconferencing through 14 weeks during the one whole fall semester, and (2) two semistructured
interviews conducted a week after the lessons finished at the end of the semester. Potential
participants were notified for the interviews in the last lesson via synchronous videoconferencing and later
appointed the interviews by providing the Adobe Connect link contact information via e-mail communication by
the researchers.
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