International Teacher Education Conference 2014 1

International Teacher Education Conference 2014
environment and timed scheduled manner especially if they are taking the course in a virtual classroom. Students
know the value of purposeful feedback sessions because these sessions make them prepare themselves for the
exams with the instructor, and they have no chance to see the instructor whenever they want as they are in a
virtual campus.
Classroom Atmosphere
Students reported that the instructor guided and tried to use an interactive teaching style while leading the
tasks. Although students thought that there was less interpersonal interaction between their synchronous
videoconferencing class and Istanbul class, they stated that students in Istanbul class and the instructor were very
approachable. Mutuality needs to be specially taken care of by the instructor in synchronous videoconferencing
classes (Banados, 2006). Activities which are aimed to be done in a synchronous videoconferencing lesson
where students share the same textual, audio and visual information on a common tablet are not different than
the traditional classroom but needs the instructor’s special attention to the joint efforts to achieve common
purposes by sharing the same lesson time. Most of the students also felt that they have gotten to know the other
students and meet and form new friendships. Many of them reported that they knew each other from the
Preparatory School and this class helped them a lot to improve their relationships with their classmates. One
student said, “I think it is a good idea to leave the connection open between the break so we can ask questions to
each other.” Leaving the connection on can provide more opportunities for conversation, and feedback among
students. This could be achieved by carrying out connection during break time across both classes for
interpersonal interaction. The use of the microphones, remote controls, and the tablet may be promoted to
students to use. Many times conversations are about the content of the lesson between students who have
difficulties of understanding what is going on in the class and what is expected to be done for the next lesson or
homework. Allowing and encouraging them to use the technological facilities in the classroom may help build
their own learning communities (Hallford, 2012). It may also help students who want to get together outside of
class to study. They can have their classmates’ cell phone numbers and e-mail addresses to contact, and use the
social media platforms to comment on what they are learning, which may motivate them to a great extent.
Administrative Reflections
Students’ expressed their opinions about how the synchronous videoconferencing course is administered by
referring to attendance, and assessments. This is a consideration directly related to the overall management and
the requirements of the course. Students were responsible for attending the lessons —2 hours in synchronous
videoconferencing class, 2 hours on itslearning platform during the semester. Those who did not attend class
more than 10 hours in 14 weeks were not allowed to take the Final Examination. Students were to bring to class
and study the material weekly as referred to in the syllabus by accessing itslearning, making full use of all
materials and taking clear and complete notes of all the work covered during the semester. Instructors who
design a synchronous videoconferencing course need to create principles which include a comprehensive
attendance policy and provide a clear map of learning process as the course can be considered easy due to the
practicality of the technological facilities that are used (Comas-Quinn, 2011). Students may assume that they can
catch the tests any time and attendance is not a problem. The acceptance of the online classroom as a medium of
language learning seems to be taken for granted by most students. In fact, attendance, tests and homework are
the crucial components of a language learning class.
Attendance
Students reported that the instructor took attendance at every lesson, which was necessary because it made
them feel as a university student. They noted that it would be very difficult for them to do the tests on itslearning
and answer the questions in the mid-term and final examination if they did not attend the lessons. Students also
reported that when they learned that the instructors in their other synchronous videoconferencing courses did not
take attendance in their lessons, they would decide not to go to the class. One student noted, “My project teacher
does not take attendance so I do not go to lesson and I cannot learn a lot.” Actually, attendance should be a must
not only in language learning but also some other courses which require continuous application.
Assessments
Students were satisfied as there was no one walking around or giving the feeling of annoying close attention
in the exams. They reported that they did not feel disturbed with the observation from Istanbul during the midterm
and final examination although they knew that there was an intense invigilation with the help of many
cameras located to provide clear visibility. Most of the students thought that they had been examined with very
651