Distance learning technology and service support in Greece: The case ...

Educ Inf Technol (2011) 16:25–39 DOI 10.1007/s10639-009-9110-3

Distance learning technology and service support in Greece: The case study of the Aristotle University over the last decade Angeliki Z. Agorogianni & Zaharias D. Zaharis & Sofia D. Anastasiadou & Sotirios K. Goudos

Published online: 16 October 2009 # Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2009

Abstract In this paper we present the distance-learning (DL) environment of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. The technical infrastructure is based on synchronous DL facilities. DL classrooms have been used successfully over the last decade. We present a generic data model for DL service provision. Supplementary services have also been developed in order to provide support for the DL service provision. The use cases of the DL service are described. The pedagogical issues regarding both students and teachers have been investigated using statistical surveys. The findings are presented in this paper. Finally, the conclusion and future work is discussed. Keywords Distance learning . Group videoconference . Support services . Synchronous distance education . E-learning . Higher education

1 Introduction The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH) is the largest university in Greece and one of the largest academic institutions in southeast Europe. AUTH has 43 A. Z. Agorogianni : Z. D. Zaharis : S. K. Goudos (*) Telecommunications Centre, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GR-54124 Thessaloniki, Greece e-mail: [email protected] A. Z. Agorogianni e-mail: [email protected] Z. D. Zaharis e-mail: [email protected] S. D. Anastasiadou University of Western Macedonia, Kozani, Greece e-mail: [email protected]

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Educ Inf Technol (2011) 16:25–39

departments organized in nine faculties. In these departments there are more than 95,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students while the number of the faculty staff is about 2,000 people. AUTH has been the first higher education institution in Greece to create distance learning (DL) facilities and service provision since 1997. The Telecommunications Centre is the administrative unit in AUTH who provides DL services and determines the technical specifications for the classroom equipment. During the design stage of the DL environment, two basic educational models have been identified in the literature (Hack 1994). The distributed classroom model tries to simulate the conditions of a traditional classroom. The interaction between students and teachers takes place in real time. Several papers in the literature present and study this synchronous DL model (Anderson et al. 2003; Badenhorst and Axmann 2002; Cannings and Talley 2002; Furr and Ragsdale 2002; Jennings et al. 1997; Kinnear et al. 2002; Martin 2005; Pullen and Snow 2007; Robyn 2005; Saw et al. 2008). According to the independent learning model, the interaction between students and teachers takes place neither in a specified time nor in a predetermined place. Both models present advantages and disadvantages. A combination of the two models is also an option (Maglogiannis et al. 2003). Several comparative studies of the two methods exist in the literature (Chou 2002; Landis 2001). AUTH adopts both forms of distance education. The on-line education, in its present form in AUTH, has been oriented to provide supplementary material in a real course. This form is not yet available for all university departments. The human interaction between the instructor and its students still remains an issue. In this paper we focus on the model of distributed classroom and its application to AUTH’s educational environment.

2 Distance learning and education Due to the rapid development of new technologies during the last 20 years, the usage of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) environment has become important. New methods of more effective teaching in research and learning programs of the new technologies are organized in all levels of education around the world. The evidence for the learning benefits of the integration of new technologies in the curriculum constantly increases rapidly (Mioduser 2000; Ronen and Eliahu 2000; Frear and Hirschbuhl 1999; Chen and Looi 1999; Kapa 1999). The definition of computer literacy can be summarized as the basic knowledge, skills, and attitudes towards computer that enables to deal with information technology adequately (Tsai and Tsai, 2003). Furthermore, research in international bibliography is showing that using computers and their utilities does not prove that one knows how and uses computers in everyday life (Kernan and Howard 1990, Barrier and Margavio 1993; Simpson et al. 1986; McInerney et al. 1997). Findings in studies confirm a relationship between the perception of usefulness of computers to perform job tasks and the level of usage (Koohang 1989). Moreover the above studies identified a positive colleration between favorable attitudes toward computers and computers familiarity. Gardner et al. (1993) identified a positive colleration between experiences with computers and beliefs towards them. Liu et al. (1998) reported that students’ with positive


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attitudes toward using computers also have positive attitudes toward using computers for their learning. Synchronous Distance learning has been successfully operated for many years. In the matter of fact Distance learning (DL) becomes widely used as the growing usage of internet (Young 1999) because it overpasses the distance problem to provide the students an alternative to learn the new knowledge. Synchronous Distance learning enables teacher and students to interact in different places but during the same time. Current information technologies provide the capabilities for education without the need for presence at a physical classroom; this is defined as “distance learning” (Koumpouros et al. 2000). A Distance Learning environment combines various instructional scenarios such a collaborative learning and education with or without the live presence of the trainer. The trainees attend the lesson, listen to the trainer and have the ability to interrupt the flow of the lesson in order to submit a question. The trainer has all the necessary authority to control the flow of the lesson (like as in a conventional lesson) (Bouras et al. 2002). Distance learning is increasingly seen by many institutions as an efficient and economical method for expanding educational programs to remote locations in hopes of increasing student enrolments by reaching beyond limited geographic areas of coverage (Manseur and Manseur, 2009). In addition, synchronous distance education connects students and instructors via real-time communication. Distance education joins diverse perspectives, bridges geographical divides, and provides learning opportunities for people without physical access to local universities. Typically, audio and video links connect the distributed learning sites, supporting cross-site discussion. For interaction to be successful, distance education environments must take the “distance” out of the education. Technology must support fluid conversation. Synchronous distance learning has benefits over watching a prerecorded video of the instructor only when students learn from each other and from the instructor through interactive episodes (Anderson et al. 2003). Synchronous distance learning may include multimedia components such as group chats, web seminars, video conferencing, and phone call-ins. Generally, synchronous learning works best for students who can schedule set days and times for their studies. It is often preferred by those who like structured courses heavy on student interaction. Many researchers supported the benefits of distance learning. (Moore and Kearsley 1996) claimed that one of the main goals of open distance learning is to provide access to all levels of education to individuals in cases where distance or personal circumstances make it very difficult for them to attend conventional classes. According to (Manseur and Manseur 2009) Distance learning can be implemented in various forms. It has come to include any educational system that allows students to be located at a remote location from the source of the instruction either in time, in distance, or in both. Many schools in recent years have started offering online degrees and several well-established engineering institutions now offer online degree programs. According to Wang (2004) a real need in distance language learning has been addressed, the provision of oral-visual interaction. He claimed that with the employment of videoconferencing tools, distance language learning can be transformed from asynchronous and non-real time to orally and visually synchronous and

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real time. He strongly supported that Internet-based real time technology is changing distance education quantitatively as well as qualitatively, and the research represented only the beginning of the important effort to make distance language learning a more effective endeavor. Podgor † (2006) argued that Distance learning, via live synchronous videoconferencing can work effectively, but it is not the “best” classroom environment in all cases but before using synchronous distance learning to teach a law school course, it is important to balance the need of the course, the availability of a local professor or adjunct to handle the class, and whether the total product will be superior if conducted through this technology. Podgor† (2006) claimed that in order to consider more distance learning courses and programs, it is important to make decisions that focus on what is best for the students. Finally, Anderson et al. (2003) studied system use in a Masters-level course. Analysis of qualitative data (observation notes, surveys, interview transcripts) collected in the course suggested that technological interruptions increased the feeling of separation between the sites, while the integration of natural handwriting with slides increased flexibility and was perceived positively both by students and instructors. Below we will present the distance learning environment in AUTH in Greece and its effect on tertiary education.

3 The distance learning environment in AUTH AUTH has a private telephone and data network, which provide advanced telephony and broadband data services. The first DL classrooms created on the Campus in 1997 were H.320 (Rao and Hwang 1996) systems based on ISDN technology (Lange 1994). Although Internet Protocol (IP) based systems have recently become very popular, a large installed base of ISDN (Jacobs and Rodgers 1998; Kaneko et al. 2000; Moriya et al. 2000; Suzuki et al. 1999) compatible systems still exists worldwide. The main objective assigned during the classroom design process was not only to install a videoconference system but also to create an integrated learning environment. This learning environment should be able to simulate as close as possible the traditional classroom learning. To facilitate this task we have supplied each DL classroom with a number of peripheral equipment all connected to the main system. This kind of equipment, which is technologically independent of the network type used, makes the instructor and the students feel like being in a real classroom while offers several new learning possibilities. Figure 1 shows a typical classroom equipment. 3.1 Technical infrastructure Several DL classrooms exist in AUTH today. There are two central fully equipped classrooms capable of supporting DL courses coming from all university departments. The basic equipment in each of these classrooms is a group videoconference system that utilizes three Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) cameras, which cover the whole classroom. Push-to-talk microphones are installed in each student possible position, while the instructor uses omnidirectional ones. The lecturers have the option to


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Fig. 1 Distance learning classroom equipment

present simultaneously their educational material both to local and remote audience by using the appropriate equipment for each case. More specifically the following options are available: & & & & & & &

To control both local and remote cameras. To present printed educational material, transparencies, and three-dimensional objects by using a document camera. To use an electronic whiteboard, which allows the lecturer to write something on it locally and present it electronically to the remote site by means of a touch screen. To present a VHS tape or a DVD and also to record the lecture using a DVD Recorder. To use and present software applications (eg, Power-Point presentations or specific course applications). To share local applications (eg, Microsoft Office) and transfer files with the remote site, allowing far end control, even if the remote computer does not have the particular application already installed. To present simultaneously in the remote audience two camera views of the classroom using a video mixer.

Apart from point-to-point connections, a Multipoint Conferencing Unit (MCU) is also available, allowing up to eight simultaneous videoconference sessions. The Quality of Service (QoS) in a videoconference plays an important role for both technical and educational reasons. As presented below, frequent video or audio interruptions disrupt the learning process and make students losing their concentration. IP-based videoconference

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systems are gaining ground although QoS issues are not yet entirely resolved. High-speed broadband networks and QoS enabled routers will resolve this issue in the near future. 3.2 Service provision — support services 3.2.1 Distance learning service data model The DL service provision and technical support are mainly offered to the university’s academic staff. The generic DL service use case is rather complicated. This is due to the academic nature of AUTH. This use case is given in the UML use case diagram of Fig. 2. It involves three actors: the user (academic staff member), the Telecommunications Centre administrative staff and the Telecommunications Centre technical staff. The user applies for service provision using a predefined application form (either in a hard copy or via on-line system). This form asks for information about the purpose of the videoconference, the videoconference type (ie, personal, group, point-to-point or multipoint connection) and the technical details of the local and remote site (required bandwidth, classroom, additional equipment, etc). The administrative staff has to validate his request, check classroom availability, inform the technical staff about DL session details and finally issue a billing document after the session is completed. The technical staff contacts a person in the remote site, requests the technical details (type of equipment, connection speed, etc), and makes a test connection to ensure proper equipment functioning.

Fig. 2 Distance learning use case diagram


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From a service oriented perspective, the university’s DL service provision may be modeled using elements from Public Administration service object models like the Governance Enterprise Architecture (GEA) service object model (Goudos et al. 2007; Peristeras and Tarabanis 2004a, b) and the Open Group Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) (OpenGroup 2008) reference model. The service provision object model is given as UML (Unified Modeling Language) class diagram as shown in Fig. 3. A brief explanation of the objects shown in the diagram follows. The actors involved in the service provision are the University, which plays the role of the service provider and the User that receives the service. The User can be of two different types: Student or Teacher. The University’s Education Policy sets the DL Regulation for service execution. This DL Regulation is validated by Evidence contained in Application Forms that are used as service input. For example, a DL regulation may define that university’s academic staff is entitled to Videoconference service free of charge. So, when a member of the academic staff applies for this service may also submit a document that contains his election act as a member of the university’s academic staff. This is the Evidence that validates the DL Regulation. The service produces output that in accordance with the Open Group and the OASIS SOA model (OASIS 2006) is called an Effect. A real world Effect may consist of a Change of State, Return of Information and a Physical Effect. A Change of State declares that the service execution has resulted in a change in the information space. For example, the creation of new digital content after a DL session changes the information state of a digital content database. The Return of Information is another possible effect (eg, a DVD containing the DL session held or a questionnaire filled in after the session). A Physical Effect is the actual change in the real world (eg, a videoconference session is held). A Distance Learning Service has Service Type. The Service Type can be any of the four categories:

Fig. 3 Distance Learning service basic object model

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MCU Service (eg, DL session held with more than two remote locations), Videoconference Service and Digital content Service (eg, education material creation and upload in a web site). 3.2.2 Supplementary services The DL service provision is further assisted with a set of supplementary services. A DL web site has been created. This site is updated on a weekly basis. It contains information about the DL process and presents in detail all the equipment used. A useful feature is the DL map of Greece. Technical details and links to all DL facilities in Greek Universities can be found in that map. Several open source software applications have been installed to further improve the web site, such as a classroom booking application, a discussion forum about DL, a news application and an on-line application form. Several short videos about DL sessions held can be downloaded. Every DL session held in the classrooms can be broadcasted live in the Internet. This is accomplished using video-streaming technology through the above site. This is an important service that gives the opportunity to more people than those who are physically present at the two connected sites to attend the DL lesson. Additionally, a digital record of lectures has been created and a DVD copy can be given to anyone interested. The full lecture videos in a high compression format (eg, Microsoft WMV files) can be downloaded on demand. A voice portal has also been created using the advanced telephony services offered by the university’s digital Private Branch Exchange (PBX). Anyone interested in DL may hear a number of recorded messages or talk directly to technical personnel. The portal offers information about the DL facilities in the classrooms and the digitalization of the lecture held afterwards. Our experience so far has showed that the academic staff should be able to find easily all the necessary information about distance education and service provision. To encourage the use of the DL facilities, the university has adopted a series of informative actions about DL services like: & & & & & &

To create a leaflet and a multimedia presentation about the DL services offered. To issue a news report about DL sessions and actions held in the last month. To inform, on a regular basis, the university department secretariats and the university libraries staff about the new services offered. To start a new help-desk service, where skilled personnel answers and provides technical support in all questions regarding distance education. To demonstrate the DL classrooms equipment and its capabilities to the academic staff. To present the technical equipment to everyone interested. The academic staff is also encouraged to test the equipment and learn its use.

It must be pointed out that the demand for DL services increased dramatically over the last years, after the introduction of the above-described services. The increase in videoconferencing sessions over the last 5 years (2002–2007) was up to 37%.


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3.3 Distance learning use case studies 3.3.1 Methodology After the end of each session the audience (both in instructor and students) are requested to fill in a short questionnaire about the DL process. Our goal was to answer to the research questions: 1. “How does the DL technological environment affect the learning process?” 2. “Are the results from question 1 different in cases of adult education or project management?” 3. “How do students evaluate the overall technical environment including the peripheral equipment used?” 4. “What is the academic staff’s attitude and familiarity towards the DL technology?” The data derived from these questionnaires is statistically processed. The major findings from the questionnaires are presented below. During the last 10 years the following DL use cases have been identified in the university’s learning environment. 3.3.2 Undergraduate and post-graduate distance learning lectures Synchronous DL enhanced and expanded the traditional classroom instruction giving the opportunity to academic staff from other universities to give lectures from distance. The typical scenario included a student audience, which interacted with an instructor at a remote site. In many cases, there were more than one simultaneous student audiences through multipoint connections. The above-described scenario was implemented in two versions: i. Academic staff from other educational institutions gave lectures to AUTH’s students. ii. AUTH academic staff gave lectures to students of others educational institutions in Greece or abroad. According to statistics concerning the synchronous DL service, in the last decade more than 3,500 h of lectures were given to remote audiences in either of the above two ways. It must be pointed out that different departments have used the service with different frequencies. Academic staff from science and engineering faculties is among the frequent users, while staff from philosophy, sports and veterinary medicine has used the DL service more rarely. The use of service in different faculties is shown in Table 1. The statistical data reveal that the DL service was used once or twice in a semester course by an expert speaker who wanted to cover a state-of-the-art topic. Table 2 shows the student evaluation of the technical aspects of the service. Except cases where connection problems and disruption occurred, the service has a high percentage of approval. The students also evaluated the pedagogical issues of the learning process and the statistical results are given in Table 3. It seems that the

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Table 1 DL service usage in the last decade (1997–2007)

Faculty

Service Usage (%)

Education

7.3

Philosophy

1.2

Science

29.0

Medicine

15.3

Engineering

26.3

Law, Economics and Political Sciences

8.9

Agriculture and Forestry

10.2

Veterinary Medicine

0.5

Sports

1.3

student’s approval and satisfaction from the service was up to 80%. The distance feeling during the video conference reported by Anderson et al. (2003) was apparent among students as it can be seen from the answers to the question “You felt the instructor to be distant”. However, the students approve the use of technology both for interaction with the instructor and for presentation of the learning material. Most of the students believe that the DL is similar to the traditional classroom learning. This is due to the fact that the integrated learning environment described above was mainly created to emulate the traditional classroom learning process. Statistics also reveal that the students remain focused on the lecture when no technical problems appear. In cases where service disruption occurred, the students claim that service approval is low. The major findings from Table 2 and Table 3 results are that students easily accept and approve the DL technological environment. 3.3.3 Adult life long education programs Adult education has specific attributes and needs due to the space and time constrains that inherently exist in an employee’s life. In the case of Aristotle University, the DL service was used successfully in the adult education, overcoming the above-mentioned constrains. In the last decade, there has been an increasing number of annual DL seminars addressed primary to high school teachers and focused on modern pedagogical

Table 2 Service technical evaluation by students Rating

Video quality

Sound quality

Transmission stability

Peripheral equipment usage (document camera, electronic whiteboard, etc)

Very good

23.4%

31.3%

25.1%

30.2%

Good

45.6%

44.8%

40.2%

47.6%

Average

15.6%

9.3%

15.2%

10.1%

Poor

10.8%

8.8%

10.6%

8.2%

4.6%

5.8%

8.9%

3.9%

Very poor


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Table 3 Student evaluation of the learning process using DL (ratings: 1=totally disagree, 2=disagree, 3= doesn't apply/not sure, 4=agree, 5=totally agree) Question

1

2

3

4

5

The lecture was useful

3.2%

7.3% 18.6% 40.2% 30.7%

You would recommend to others participation in a DL lecture

2.5%

5.7% 15.4% 47.1% 29.3%

The learning process was similar to a traditional classroom

10.4% 15.1% 18.4% 34.0% 22.1%

The lack of physical presence did not affect the learning process

5.4% 11.2% 12.1% 40.1% 31.2%

The use of technology helped your interaction with the instructor

3.3%

You felt the instructor to be distant

6.7% 15.1% 45.3% 29.6%

10.3% 15.1% 27.2% 25.2% 22.2%

The learning material presented helped the learning process

3.2% 11.2% 17.4% 42.6% 25.6%

The instructor was able to keep the class focused

4.5%

8.9% 16.1% 43.2% 27.3%

issues. The typical scenario included a lecturer in a DL classroom of Aristotle University and multiple simultaneous teacher audiences at remote locations, mainly cities of northern Greece. The programs have been taking place in the afternoon outside normal work hours. The seminar cost was highly reduced due to the fact that no travel expenses had to be covered. Thus, the seminars gave the opportunity to people residing in remote locations to keep up with the state-of-the-art in their domain and to learn about modern pedagogical models and strategies. Table 4 shows the pedagogical evaluation results for the adult education. It is obvious that the DL service has a higher acceptance percentage than in the case of students. 3.3.4 Academic staff survey Apart from the findings presented above, a statistical survey to all AUTH’s academic staff was also carried out during 2005. The survey intended to trace the needs of the academic community that can be satisfied by using various types of DL. From the results presented in Table 5 it is evident that the academic staff is willing to adopt the DL technology in many educational and research activities. The DL is considered to be useful not only for the learning process but also for research purposes. The survey was also an attempt to find out the reasons why some members Table 4 Attendees evaluation of the learning process using DL in adult education (ratings: 1=totally disagree, 2=disagree, 3=doesn't apply/not sure, 4=agree, 5=totally agree) Question

1

2

3

4

5

The lecture was useful

1.5% 2.3% 11.5% 50.9% 33.8%

You would recommend to others participation in a DL lecture

1.2% 3.2%

The learning process was similar to a traditional classroom

5.5% 4.5% 22.2% 39.4% 28.4%

The lack of physical presence did not affect the learning process

4.3% 9.8% 10.3% 45.4% 30.2%

The use of technology helped your interaction with the instructor 1.6% 3.2% You felt the instructor to be distant

6.3% 55.0% 34.3%

7.8% 48.8% 38.6%

7.8% 9.2% 20.5% 35.1% 27.4%

The learning material presented helped the learning process

2.4% 6.7% 10.3% 50.4% 30.2%

The instructor was able to keep the classroom focused

1.4% 5.6%

8.4% 50.1% 34.5%

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Table 5 DL service evaluation by the academic staff (ratings: 1=a great deal, 2=quite a lot, 3=an average amount, 4=little, 5=very little, 6=no answer) Question You are familiar with DL technology

1 5.0%

2

3

4

5

6

7.4% 28.2% 24.2% 21.5% 13.7%

You think that synchronous DL can help you in your educational duties

21.8% 31.8% 20.1%

4.5%

0.5% 21.3%

You think that synchronous DL can improve the learning procedure

22.9% 44.2% 11.3%

1.1%

1.6% 18.9%

10.3% 12.7% 35.6% You would be interested in carrying out lectures or courses to remote audiences by using synchronous DL equipment

8.6% 12.0% 20.8%

You would be interested in inviting speakers from other 11.5% 26.8% 19.9% educational institutions to give lectures during your course by using synchronous DL equipment

6.7%

3.1% 32.0%

You would be interested in using DL equipment in order 23.7% 31.0% 20.2% 12.1% 10.3% to facilitate the collaboration during a research project

2.7%

of the academic staff are reluctant to adopt the DL service. The basic reasons revealed by the survey are (i) the distrust for the effectiveness of DL technology, (ii) the consideration that additional labor is required by the instructor, and (iii) the lack of strong motivation to include the DL methods in the educational process. All the above-mentioned use cases show that synchronous DL may be used in a variety of ways and not only in the strict boundaries of the educational process. Our conclusions are in agreement with those found in the literature regarding student technology acceptance (Burrows and Haag 2004; Davis and Niederhauser 2005; DeLacey and Leonard 2002; Johnson et al. 2002; Lloyd 2000; Matuga 2001; Pange et al. 2004; Taguchi et al. 1999).

4 Conclusion The DL environment of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki was presented. The technical infrastructure, the service provision and the support services were also described. A data model for DL service provision has been presented and explained using a SOA perspective. The study of AUTH’s case results in the conclusion that the utilization of the videoconferencing service in supplementary university processes has made the staff familiar with the new technologies. This kind of familiarity is crucial for the adoption of the synchronous DL in the learning environment of the university. The support services described helped the academic staff to stay well informed about DL service and learn more about the sessions held. Academic institutions can easily adopt similar informative actions and supplementary services. The statistical surveys have shown that, despite any ambiguity, the DL technology is well accepted by students, the academic staff and anyone else who attended a lecture using DL equipment. The academic community has proven to be mature enough in order to embrace and adopt the DL methods as part of the educational process.


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