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A360degreelearningenvironmentforuniversityonlineteaching

ANTHONY'SKIP'BASIEL*

QueenMary,UniversityofLondon,London,UK

And

MIKEHOWARTH†

MiddlesexUniversity,London,UK

Thepaperisasequenceofmethodstoinformcompetentonlinevideoconferencing(webi-nar)teachingresourcesforuniversitiesrushingtomeetlearningeffectiveprovisioninthecurrentCovidcrisis.

TheauthorsconsiderMoore'sTheoryofTransactionalDistance(1970),withthefocusofthetheoryondevelopingautonomyinthelearner,maystillberelevantasatheoreticalguidetoarapidgrowthindemandforonlinelearning,despiteoriginallybeingappliedtotraditionalpaperbaseddistancelearning.

Ensuringautonomyoflearninginthetheory'sapplication,mightneedaWHAT,HOW,WHY,analysistoencouragetheself-managedfocusofwebinarPresenters,Facilitators,Partici-pantsandstakeholderstobeinformedandawarefromsmallPowerPointprojectstolarge-scaleconferences.

Thehome-distancelearningenvironmentoftheautonomouslearnerisnowquitedifferenttothatenvisagedinMoore'stheory.Participantsnowhaveabroadcaststudiointheirhome.Theauthorssuggestabaselevelofhardskillsoftechnicalnatureandsoftskillsofperfor-manceandengagementarerequired.

ManagingcomplexonlineeventsarealsonotafeatureofMoore'sconceptoftheautono-mouslearner.Thereforea‘Fishbone’analysisisproposedtoshowtheprocessofidentifyingkeyissuesandquicklyresolvingsolutionsthatmayarise.

Lookingtothefuture,theauthorsseethepotentialforavirtualonline360*Classroom.TheWebinarcouldquicklyevolvetouse3DVirtualRealitytechnology.OneapplicationmightbetorealisethetraditionalSocraticMethodofhigherlevelthinkingaccessibletomanyinavir-tualonline3Denvironment.Theconflationoftechnologyandeducationalobjectivesarecomplex,butmaynowbemanagedwiththemethodssuggestedinthepaper. *Correspondingauthor:Anthony‘Skip’Basiel.Email:abasiel@gmail.com†Correspondingauthor:MikeHowarth.Email:michael.howarth@mhmvr.co.uk

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Finally,aTransactionalDistanceToolkit,isexploredasaquickandeasymethodofplanningthestructureandorganisationofawebinarandawithitsinbuiltvisualisationsareawaytoassesstheeffectivenesslearnerautonomy.

Keywords:onlinelearning,webinar,learningtheory,virtualenvironments.

Introduction

Teamwork,wetaketheview,istheessentialcomponentinacrisis.Stakeholdersquickly

recognisethenatureanddegreeofbeingself-directedinthesesituations.But,goodwill

mustbemaintainedandnurturedandatadistance.Themethodsinthepaperprovidea

clearplanofresearchanddevelopmentofwebinarinteractionguidelinesbasedonatheo-

reticalfoundationtailoredforaneLearningteamworkingtothesesituations.

TransactionalDistance

Whatis‘transactional’?Dewey(1949)explains‘transaction’inaneducationcontext,asthe

individual’spatternofbehaviourinanenvironment.AccordingtoMoore(1997),thesepara-

tionbetweenthese[stakeholders]issufficientlysignificantthatspecial[engagement]strat-

egiesandtechniquesareneeded.

ThesetheorieswereproposedinthecontextofanalogtechnologiesofradioandTVofthe

correspondencedistancelearningmodelsofthetime.However,theyareveryrelevantto

thevirtual2Dspaceofthedigitaltransactionalwebinarofthepresent:particularlythecon-

ceptoflearnerautonomy,responsibilityforowningtheprocessesandoftheirknowledge

acquisition.

WHATelementscompriseasuccessfulevent

Thesectionbeginswithtechnicalcomponentsandmovestoexaminethestakeholder’spro-

files.Forexample,isthereaclearmodeloftheexpectationsoftheParticipants?Istherean

inherentexpectationfortheinteractionstobeidenticaltoaface-to-facediscussion,class-

roomlecture,seminardebate,role-playenactment,orunstructuredbrainstorming?These

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expectationneedtobeexplicit.Theybecomethecriteriaandabenchmarkin‘transactional

webinardesign’.

WHATWebinarComponentsAffectLearning

Generaltechnicalelementsofmostwebinarsystemsincludessound,video,livetextdiscus-

sion,screenshare,recording,andfeedbackorparticipationsurveys.

Audio:Theaudiocomponentisthemostimportantpartofawebinarcommunication.

Withoutclearsound,Participantsstopthesoftwareandreverttoaphonecall.Thesolution

istoensuretheyusethe‘audioset-upwizard’microphonetesttoconfirmthesoundlevels.

Theessentialcheckmustbedonewellbeforetheliveeventtoavoidthe‘can-you-hear-me’

problems.Aheadsetwithearphonesandmicrophonemaybeawaytoavoidaudiofeed-

backorecho.

Video:Videotakesupbandwidth.Frequentlyitisnotessentialtoseethespeakerortheau-

diencetoaddvaluetotheevent.AlternativesincludefacilitiestoonlyshowvisualsofPartic-

ipantsthatspeak,limitingviewsofParticipantstotwoorfourinalargegroup.Astillimage

ofthespeakerinthecornerofthePowerPointslidesasanalternativetothelive‘talking-

head’maysuffice.Technicallyonlyonechannelofaudiocanbetransmittedatatime.It

mayberecommendedthattheaudienceissetonmuteaudioandvideoatthestartofthe

session.

Butwhatisthepsychologicaleffectgothesecontrols.BecausetheParticipantsarenotnec-

essarilyincontrol.Alongmeetingisextremelytiring.Itispossiblethatindividualsareex-

posedtoscrutinyasneverbefore.

Text:Textchatmaybeasafer,disciplinedmethod.CertainlysomeParticipantsarediscon-

certedbybreak-outsessionsiftheyarenotfamiliarwiththeprotocols.

Theprotocolsformeetingsmightnotbeascasualandinformalasthetechnologiessuggest.

Forthesereasonsprudent'Beforetheevent'planningontheinvitationwebinarregistration

oremailinvitationtheQ&A(Question&Answer)protocols.Willquestionsbeaddressed

duringthesessionoronlyattheend?Thetextchatdiscussioncanbecopiedandpastedin-

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totheeventFAQfrequentlyaskedquestionsresourcepage.Built-incautionsuchassilenc-

ingmicandhidingvisualbeforesessionsstartareavailable.

ScreenSharing:Screensharingisapowerful'showandtell'tool.Unfortunately,thefeature

demandsbandwidth,soactioncansloworstall.Apre-recordedvideomaybeabetter.Also,

anaudiencemightbegivenanoptiontodownloadthevideopriortotheevent.

RecordingWebinars:Eventrecordingisanexpectedserviceforanyonewantingtoreviewa

sessionorwhomissedthelivewebcast.Inabusinessmeeting,asummaryoftheaction

pointscanberecordedforthenextagenda.

Recordingscanbeeditedtocreatealastingtrainingresource,tellastory,createmarketing

andpublicity.Usingmorethanonecamerabesidethescreencaptureallowstheteaching

resourcetogiveadifferentperspectiveonthesubjectmatter.ThePresentermaydoan

‘overtheshoulder’pointofview(POW)recordingofthewebinar.Theresourcecantakeon

amoreengagingtone.NewtechnologysuchastheBlackmagicATEMMiniPro(2020),

makeslivemulti-cameraconferencingwhilerecordingmulti-camera.

TowardsAutonomy:AwarenessofHardandSoftSkills

Thediscussionsofaridentifiesthevarietyofmediaandpotentialforcreativeopportunities.

Nextaresomesuggestedsolutionsforessentialhardtechnicalandawarenessofsoftper-

sonalskillsforprotocolsfromasimpleonlineroomsetupandforexpectationsofPresent-

ers,FacilitatorsorParticipants.

Organisingthehome-distancelearningenvironment

Thereareaseriesofhardskills,tricksofthetrade,whichhelpbringthewebinarmodel

alive.Theorganisationandlayoutofthehomeroomneedsthinkingaboutcarefully.

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Figure1Presentersetup-legendbelow

Red:Visuals

1Laptopateyelevel,screenvertical,recordingscreen

2Boxorbooksonhandforraisingthelaptopduringonlinesessions

3Camerausedforto-cameraintroductionswhichhighlightkeyteachingpointsandforend

ofsessionsummary.

Blue:LightingControl

1Curtain

2Blind

BothcreateaslitoflightontothePresenter'sfacecontrollingavailabledaylight

3LitePanelbacklighttolightenupbackgroundbehindPresenter.

4Mainlightforrecordingvideoatthebigscreen.

Green:Scripting

YoumayprefertoprepareintheformofscriptwritingusingtablesinPagesorWordto

structureyourmessage(2).Thescriptingprocessisveryrewarding:reflective,anexercise

turningwrittenconceptsintospokenEnglishusingvisualised,graphic,languagethrough

severalscriptiterations(3)endinginabulletpointlistonasmallcard.Buttomaintaineye

contactinyourpersonalconversationwithindividuals,thecardisunderthelaptopcamera

(1).Unlessthescreenisshared,useitasanautocue.

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Thespokenstyleofwritingcomeswithpractice.MosttalkonradioandcertainlyTVis

scriptedinsomeformandflippingfromwritingformaltoinformalspokenEnglishandback

againisaveryvaluableskill.TheabilityoftheApplepeninPagesonaniPadPro(2020)isto

recordvideoinavarietyofsituationssuchascreatingfigure1above.Addingaudiocom-

mentaryandannotationsontopoftextisnowapossibility.

Black:Videoproduction

CreatingasimplevideoisnowtechnicallyeasiertoachieveusingMediaVideoPlayerand

Quicktime.AlecturercaneitherspeaktocameraorusescreencapturetorecordaPower-

Pointwithanaudiosoundtrack.But,todobothatthesametimeneedsspecialsoftware.

1)Notethethingreenrectangleonthescreen.Thisistheboundaryoftherecordingareaof

thescreenthatcanbedefinedofiShowUInstantMacsoftware(2020)usedmainlyingam-

ing.Ineducation,thepotentialismuchmoreexciting:insidethegreenarea,thePresenter

canrecordthemselvesfull-frame,partframe,orswitchtograbthescreenviewduringre-

cording.Bysettinga(16:9aspectratio)theoutputvideowillbeintherightformatfor

onlinetransmission.But,significantly,aPowerPoint,apre-preparedvideoorliveextravisu-

alsfromaniPhoneforexampleofclose-updetail,canbedraggedintothegreenarea-all

onthefly!

2)ThevideoeditingsoftwareisFinalCutProbutanysimplepackagewilldototidyupthe

componentsrecordediniShowUInstant.

3)Aslopeisforscripts.Narrationscanberecordedtothecomputercameraandsoundus-

ingthescriptonscreenasanautocue.Analternativeisreadingthescriptintoasmart

phone.TheiPhoneusingVoiceMemos,outputsaverygoodqualitycloseupsoundbecause

ofthemicrophones.Thesoundfilecanbeimportedintothevideo.

Figure2Selfiesbecomeserious

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SoftSkillsScreenpresenceisasubtleart.Theassumptionthatgivingalectureonlineisa

doddlecomparedtothecollegetheatreneedscarefulassessment-unlessyouarereally

goodatit:timedisappears,cogentargumentbecomesendlesswaffling,yourfavouriteedi-

fyingstorymaywellbecomeanin-your-facefullcolourflop,largelybecausesoftskillsthat

workintheconfinesofasmallscreen,areignored.

Itiseasiertodescribethanperform,thefivefactorsofheight,distancefrom,horizontalpo-

sitionandangleofscreenandyourbackgroundallhaveasignificanteffectoftheaudience

andillustratedinFigure2.Thesearedescribedinaseriesofembodiedmetaphors,theshort

handlanguageofthecameracrew:headroom,fallingoutofthescreen,havingdepth,being

intheframe,theopendooristhemetaphor'futureopportunity'.Thinkingspaceisthearea

tothesideofthespeakerswhenamoreinformalconversationallevelofengagementisre-

quired.Thisarea,where'mindsmeet',isspacefilledduringthediscussionofideasinarest-

fulvisualscene.TheexampleinFigure2mightbetoobusy.Thelampandbunchofflowers

arestandard'props'.Yourbackgroundismoreimportantthanyouthink.Awarning,bed

furnitureisabigno-no.

Thesesoftskillsforlecturersasanactororperformerworkingonlinemayappearirrelevant.

Therearemanyreasonswhyacademicsdislikeanythingtodowiththisapproach.ButMi-

chaelCaine'sfamousTVmasterclass(1987),mayprovideinsightsforanyonecontemplation

ateachingcareeronthesmallscreen.

WebinarStakeholders:KeyActorsinTransactionalDistance

Whoarethekeyactorsinawebinar?Webvideoconferencingeventsmayinclude:Host,

Presenter,livetextFacilitators,Participantsasindividualssmallorlargegroups.Weargue

thatthemetaphor'actor'istakenseriously.

ThewebinarHostownstheaccountonthesoftwarecloudplatform.Thismaybeinanyof

thecurrentpopularsystemssuchasMicrosoftSkypeinTeams,Zoom,WebEx,AdobeCon-

nect,GoogleHangouts,GoToMeeting,AmazonChime,etc.Two-waycommunicationfrees

upthelimitationsofone-waylivewebcastseeninYouTubeorlivestreamingservices.The

webinarHosthastheflexibilitytocontrolthewebinarspacebysettingaccesspermissions,

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andtounmutemicrophonesandvideo.Somesystems,suchasAdobeConnect,havescreen

layoutsthatcanbeadaptedforlocationofthePresenter’svideoslidesortextchatinside

theframeworkofthesoftwarewindow.Inalecture-stylewebinar,thePresenterspeaks

whileshowingPowerPointslides.ExperiencedwebinarPresenterscanengagetheaudience

bypacingthedeliveryoftextandgraphiccontentwithopportunitiestorespondtoques-

tionsviatextchatorpolingtools.ThewebinarFacilitatorisperhapsthemostimportantrole

bylinkingthePresenterandaudience.TheLearningandSkillsGroup(LSG2019)ofLondon,

UKfacilitatedbyDonTaylordemonstratesagoodbalanceofcontentdeliverywithaudience

contribution.

IthelpstoconsidertheFacilitatorandPresenterasKeywebinar'players'andtreatthemas

'actors'eveninaremotelocationandnolongerfacingthelecturehall.Eventhoughtheau-

diencefallsintothreecategories:a)individualsb)smallgroupsonlocationc)largegroups

onlocation,everyparticipantactuallyexperiencestheeventasapersonalface-to-faceen-

counterwiththewebinarplayers.Treattheaudienceasindividuals,personallyrecognise

theirveryfirstloginwithagreetingandincludeanotheridentifiersuchasthebusinessor

organisationorlocation.AFacilitatorworkingwiththePresenterishelpfulforfollowingrea-

sons.

1The'actors'atthekeyboardsuddenlyhaveaheavyresponsibility,theaudience

experiencesthePresenterandtheFacilitatortalkingpersonallytotheminfullscreen

realityafootortwoaway.Anysmallmovementexpressionglanceismagnified.

2WeidentifytheFacilitator'sroletoincludethatofmoderatororspokespersonfor

thegroup.TherolethenspecifiesafunctionthathelpsmanageeventssuchasaPre-

senternaturallyglancingoutofthescreenwindowthatcancreateconcernforevery

participant.

3QuestionsforthePresentertobedirectedtotheFacilitator,toensuretheemo-

tionalloadofthePresenterisminimised.Questionsmightbehandledbyastillima-

georavoiceorjusttextappearonthewebinarscreen.

4TheFacilitatorshouldbefluentinthelanguageofthePresenter.

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HOW:Designinglearningwithtransactionaldistanceinmind?

Thetechnologyshouldnotdrivethepedagogy,Thorp(1989)remindsus.Ourresearch

frameswebinarinstructionaldesigninamatrixlinkedtotheleveloftransactionaldistance

(rangeofstructureanddialogue)towardsthelearnerbecomingmoreautonomous.

Figure3WebinarDesignSpectrum

AnExample:applyingToolkitguidelinesforinstructionaldesign

A‘talkinghead’PowerPointpresentationwithQ&Aattheend,followedbyanonlinequizis

atraditionaldesignmodel.Forexampletotrainstaffonusingafireextinguishercorrectly

therearedetailedstepstofollowandshort-termrecallisrequiredforaspecifiedconclu-

sion.

Thesametaskinarole-playwebinar,withthePresenterandFacilitatorprovidingaudience

memberswithascripttoread,canactoutareal-worldsituation.

Avideoofthetaskmayportrayerrorsorgoodpracticewithstudentsdiscussingpossible

alternativesasafollow-upactivity.SuggestedsolutionscanalsobegivenbytheTutor.

Insmallgroupdiscussions,thePresenterandFacilitatorcancreatevirtualbreakoutrooms

tosendParticipantstoanalyseacasestudy.Eachgroupmayreachdifferentorcreative

conclusionsbasedupontheirtacitandpriorknowledgebetweentheteammembers.Re-

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cordingsofmeetingsummariescanbeavailableforreviewafterhearingallofthesolutions.

Thecasestudyresourcemayhaveasampleresolution,butamultiplechoicequestionwith

answeracombination(c)a+b)couldaddressthefactorsunderconsideration.Negotiating

withtheteammembersandpresentingrecommendationssupportedbyevidenceinthe

webinarsummarydevelopscommunicationskillsneededforvirtualteams.

Finally,akeypotentialinwebinardesignistopromoteautonomouslearning.Forexample,

usingscenarioswithnofixedoutcomebutaseriesofoptionsrequiringacreativeapproach.

Thewebinarformatprovidesasettingwhereteammembersmaygainanunderstandingor

eachother’sperspective.Eachcontributiontotheargumentleadstoaninnovativerecipeof

ideasandactions.Klaxon(2020),aFrenchwebinarsoftwarecompany,hasaninteraction

modeltofostersmartteamwork.Thesequencestartswithavotebyteammembersonthe

projectproblemorresearchquestion.Throughthisfirststageexchange,profilesofthe

groupareestablishedtoidentifyanyskillorknowledgegaps.Next,anideassessionpro-

videsopportunitiesforgeneratingaresolution.Finally,asurveyisdonetogatherevidence

toassessthelearningoutputsofthewebinar.Allofthesewebinarmodelsusea2Dinter-

facetocommunicatereal-life3Daudio/videodata.

Thenextsectionisanexplorationofa3Denvironmentasanimmersive360*3Dexperi-

ence.

ATheoreticalUnderpinningfor360*ImmersiveFishbowlWebinarDesign

ASocraticdiscussionor'fishbowl'modelisproposedbytheauthors(Basieletal.2020)for

thenext-generationofwebinardesign.

Immersivewebinarsusingablendof360*webvideoinconjunctionwithmobile

smartphonescreateavirtuallearningenvironmentfortheSocraticMethod.The360*soft-

warefacilitatestheSocraticmethodofcooperativeargumentativedialoguebetweenindi-

viduals,basedonaskingandansweringquestionstostimulatecriticalthinkingandtodraw

outideasandunderlyingpresuppositions.The‘SocraticEffect’ofthe'fishbowl'webinarde-

signencouragestheparticipanttorethinkanideaafterhavingtheirpreviouslyexistingun-

derstandingdiscardedonthebasisoftheirownanswerstoquestions.Theorganisationis

outlinedinfigure4.

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The360*ImmersiveFishbowlWebinarDesign

Theimmersiveblendedlearningmodelknitstogether:360*video,mobilesmartphonevid-

eoconferencing,alocaldigitalvideocamera,voice-to-textsoftwareforauto-transcription

andawebinarHostplatform.

Figure4the360*ImmersiveFishbowlWebinarDesign

Theface-to-face‘fishbowldiscussion’isasmallcentralgroupofLocalExperts[LE]sittingin

aninner(red)circlewithaLiveHost[LH]usingtheirmobilephoneasavideocameraand

microphonetointerviewtheExperts.TheHostswapsthevideocamerafromviewingthem-

selves,whenactingasMasterofCeremony,toshowingtheExpertspeaking.

WebinarParticipantsusingsmartphonestorecordthemselvesusingnewsjournalismmeth-

odsduringtheteachingevent2D‘Meta-Film’approach(Basiel&Howarth,2017),nowap-

pliedina3Dsituation.Itseestheinner-and-outercircleactors[LA]beingactiveParticipants

ina360*'unconference',usingtheirmobilephonestorecordeventsfromtheirownper-

spective.Thesevideosaresharedinsocialmediaplatformstopromotetheconferenceand

developanonlinecommunityoflearners.

Inthecentreofthecircle,therearetwocapturedevices:

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1. 360*videocamera<3D-R>–Adevicethatfirstrecordstheintroductionbeforethe

liveevent.Thenrecordsthefishbowldiscussion.

2. Omnimic<OM>–Thedevicecreatestwooutputs.First,themainaudiofortheLive

CameraMan[LCM]whoproducesthemainscreenoftheevent.Second,theaudio

isfedintoalivevoice-to-texttranscription<V2T>.

Textoutputcreatesatagcloudsummarygraphicofthetranscript.Textcanbeusedasthe

databaseforanAIchatterbotdynamicFAQresource.

TheeventLiveFacilitator[LF]isakeyplayerinthemodel.Theysitintheinnercircleandact

asmoderatorfortheHostandremoteaudiencevirtual[VA]members.Thisinteractionis

mediatedsilently,atfirst,bylivetextchat[LTC]discussion.AstheLiveFacilitatorfindsques-

tionstoaddtothediscussion,theygivetheVAmembervideoaccessandturnofftheir[LF]

self-video.

Theprojectorscreenlayoutdiagraminthebottomleftcornersuggestshowtheeventmay

lookonlinetothevirtualaudience[VA].Theliveeventisprojectedonabigscreensothe

face-to-faceactorscanseethevideooftheentiregroup.

Theeventusesinteractivewebinarelementspreviouslydiscussedsuchaswhiteboardmind

maps,voting,surveys,andpolling.Theseactivitiespromoteevaluationoftheeventsuccess.

Nextiterationsofthe360*fishbowlmodelincludesuseofvideodrones(2020)andreplaces

theinner-circlepeoplewitha360*monitorsmodel(2020)whenitisnotpossibletomeetin

personsuchassocialisolationduringtheCoronaviruspandemic.

A360*meetingduringtheCoronavirusin2020ismaybeacontributiontocreativesolu-

tionstothesituationofself-isolation.

Aweaknessoftheopendiscussionmodelisthatthewebinarcanbecomechaotic.TheLive

Host/LocalFacilitatorcanjuggletheflowoftheinteractions,butthelargertheaudiencethe

moredifficultitistochoreographtheonlineevent.Letaphysicsprinciplecalled

py‡(2020)beappliedtoguideusthroughthewebinarmayhem.Entropypredictsanysys-

temwilltendtowardsdisorder,ratherthandevelopasystematicstructure.Forexample,ifI

‡https://www.quora.com/What-is-entropy-4

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haveacontainerwith20gamedicethatIthrowacrossthetable,thegroupingpatternswill

berandom,nottidy.Theprobabilityofthediceformingapyramidisverylow.Instead,

theremaybenoevidentpattern.Someofthedicemayclustertogether,whileothersare

isolated.

Anexampleof‘Learningentropy’occursintheunstructurednatureofbrainstormingina

webinar.ThecreativeprocesscanbesteeredbytheHost/Presenterthroughthetechnical

featuresofthewebinarsuchaslimitingparticipantvideoandaudiotransmission.Questions

andcommentscanberedirectedintothelivetextchat,butthatcanalsobecomechaotic.

Isthereawaytofunneltheinteractionsofthewebinarwithouttoomuchcontrolfrom

theeventorganisers?

AfishboneorIshikawadiagram(2020)isawaytoconductacauseandeffectanalysisfora

brainstormingsession.Thediagram-basedtechniquecombinesbrainstormingwithmind

mappingtoconsiderallpossiblecausesofaproblem,ratherthanjusttheobviousones.Ac-

cordingtoMindtools.com(2020),‘Whenyouhaveaseriousproblem,it'simportanttoex-

ploreallofthethingsthatcouldcauseit,beforeyoustarttothinkaboutasolution.Then,

youcansolvetheproblemcompletely,firsttimeround,ratherthanjustaddressingpartofit

andhavingtheproblemrunonandon.’Afishbonediagramcan:

➢ Discovertherootcauseofaproblem,

➢ Uncoverbottlenecksinyourprocesses,

➢ Identifywhereandwhyaprocessisnotworking.

Step1:Identifytheproblem

YoucanuseaSoftSystemsMethodologytechnique(SSM)fromCheckland(2012)called

CATWOEwheretheproblemisexaminedfromtheperspectiveofCustomers,Actorsinthe

process,theTransformationprocess,theoverallWorldview,theprocessOwner,andEnvi-

ronmentalconstraints.

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Figure5FishboneDiagram-IdentifytheproblemMindtools.com

Step2:Listthemajorfactors

Next,identifyfactorsthatmaybepartoftheproblemsuchassystems,equipment,materi-

als,externalforces,peopleinvolvedwiththeproblem.

Figure6Step2Fishbonediagram-MajorFactors

Step3:Possiblecauses

Now,brainstormthevarietycausesoftheproblemforeachofthefactorsyouconsideredin

step2.

Figure7Step3:Possiblecauses

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Step4:Analysetheproblem

Analysisinvolvessettingupinvestigations,carryingoutonlinesurveys,andwebvideocon-

ferenceinterviews.Thesetechniquestestthecausesactuallycontributingtotheproblem

andprovideevidencetoinformaction.InthecontextoftheTransactionalWebinarDesign,

thesameanalyticalprocessestakeplaceeasilyandquicklyinashorteffectiveeventora

seriesofwebinars.

Themanagerintheexampleabovemayhaveassumedthatpeopleinthebranchoffice

were"beingdifficult".HethinksthebestapproachistoarrangeameetingwiththeBranch

Manager.Thedecisionallowshimtofullybriefheronthenewstrategy,andtalkthrough

problemsshemaybeexperiencing.

WhyTransactionalDistanceTheory?

Thefinalquestion,WHYwouldyouwantawebinarmodelthatisinformedbyMoore’s

TransactionalDistanceTheory(1997)?Steppingbackintimetothe1960stherearetwo

dominantpedagogicaltraditions.Perhapsmostofyourwebinarexperienceshavefalleninto

aBehaviouristwebinarmodel.Inthisonlinelearningevent,thewebinaraudienceistaken

throughalinear,systematicpathofinstructionbaseduponbehaviouralobjectives.Thereis

maximumTutor/Presentercontroloftheresources,timingofthecontentdelivery,media

typesusedandopportunitiesforaudienceparticipation.Knowledgeinthiswebinardesignis

aproductmetaphor.Masteryofanewskillorabilitytorecallshort-terminformationmay

bealearningoutcomelinkedtoastandardassessmentsuchasawrittenessayorpresenta-

tion.TheBehaviouristwebinarmodelfocusesondeliverablesandnottheprocess.

TheHumanisticTradition,ontheotherhand,hasitsrootsincounsellingandeducationpsy-

chology.Specialvalueisplacedinlessformal,unstructuredlearning.Thevalueofinterper-

sonal,open-endeddialogueandcreativebrainstormingfallsintothispedagogy.Thecreative

webinarspacemayproduceabottom-up,learner-generatedcontentexperiencewithper-

sonalisedlearningoutcomes.TheParticipantownershipofthelearningjourneyisakeyel-

ement.Moorewasconcernedwithdistancelearningandresponsibilityforthelearnerto

managetheirlearningfrommanualsradioorTV.Todaythesameprocessislive,activeand

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publicinthedigitalenvironmentwiththestudentsandthePresenterandFacilitatorbeing

morerelevantthanever.Theycanbecreativeplayersonastage.

ThroughtheTransactionalwebinarmodeltheparticipanthasacquiredanewskill,under-

stoodanewconceptormindmappedapathtoaninnovationordiscovery.Thenextstage

oftheprocessprovidestheopportunitytoapplythatcapability.Thewebinarorseriesof

onlineeventshasthepotentialtobringavirtualcommunityintoactionintherealworld.

KeyComponentsoftheTransactionalWebinarProfileToolkit

Ourresearchprovidesasoftwaretoolkitthatguidetheprogrammestructureandlearning

dialoguetocreateasuccessfulWebinarProfile(2020).Asetoftentransactionalfactorsare

ratedfromyourperspectiveasawebinarHost/PresenterorParticipant.Thenextfigures

provideasummaryoftheanalysis.

Figure8WebinarProfileToolkit-Structure

ValuesareaddedtotheToolkitandappearasavisualbarcharts.Theassessmentbegins

withestablishingthatthewebinarhasapre-eventresourceinductionordiscussion.Next,is

thereanintroductionoftheHostorPresenterandParticipantsprovidingcontexttothe

webinarevent?Arethestakeholdersgivenappropriateresourcesoropportunitiestocreate

theirown?Isanyformative,self-assessmentorreflectionbuiltintothewebinar?Arethe

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webinarParticipantsgiventheopportunitytoanalyse,evaluateorcreate?Attheendofthe

event,isevaluationdatacollectedandanalysed?

Figure9WebinarProfileToolkit–Dialogue

Theoverallgoalisnotjustreviewthewebinardesignandsystemsusedtomatchtheneeds

ofthestakeholders,butthequalityoflearnerautonomous,self-managedwebinarPartici-

pantsandstakeholders.

Evaluation

Evaluationshouldnotbeanafterthought.Anonlinesurveybuiltintothewebinardesign

fromthestarttoquantifyopen-endedfeedbackandprovide‘feedforward’evidenceis

needed.Eachwebinareventcanusebuilt-inpollingtoolsandexternalsystemstocapture

participantprofileinformation.Someusefuldatamayinclude:

1. Demographicse.g.geographiclocation,occupation,nativelanguage,webinartech-

nologyexpertise

2. Expectationse.g.personallearningoutcomesmatchedagainsttheintendedlearn-

ingobjectives

3. Human-ComputerInteractione.g.usabilityofthesystem

WorkBasedLearninge-Journal,Vol.9,No.2.b,(2020)

154

4. Pre-During-Posteventsharingofknowledgeandopinion,recordedasascoreor

tagcloud.

Webvideorecordingsoftheeventscanprovideauto-transcriptions,textdiscussionex-

changeandwhiteboardmindmappingevidencetosupportanymodificationsproposedto

thewebinardesign.

Conclusion

Thepaperoutlinespracticalmethodsfordesigningwebinarsforlearningfromaneffective

planningprocesstoa360*designforimmersivelearningexperiencewithasimplewayto

assessparticipantperformance.AtheoreticalframeworkisprovidedbyTransactionalDis-

tanceTheory(Moore1997)adaptedtocurrentonlinedistancetechnologies.

Trainingforthemodernversionsofdistancelearningisfacilitatedbyaskingorganisersto

assess:WHATarethekeyfactorsofasuccessfulwebinar?HOWcanwebinarsbeblended

withtheinteractiveandtransactionaldesign?andWHYshouldyouchoosethetransactional

distancewebinarmodel?

Moore(1997)atthetimesuggestedthatteachersneedtrainingtoextendtheirtraditional

skillstoembracetelecommunicationsfordistancelearning.Ourpaperprovidesastructure

forthattrainingbyrequiringstakeholderstoassesstheirprofilefortechnicalandpedagogic

blending.Thespotlightonlearnerautonomyisapowerfulreminderthatend-userobjec-

tivesareincludedinplanning.ThespotlightprovidesafocustowardsHumanistcreativity

ratherthanthetraditionalinstructionaldesignBehaviouristmodelofwebinardesign.

Practicaltechniquessuchasthefishbonediagrammaintainattentiononlearningdespite

thecomplexityofonlineevents.TheTransactionalWebinarProfileToolkitgivesparticipants

feedbackguidanceinaspectsoftheprocessfromplanningsoftwaretoassessingeffective-

ness.

Aglimpseintothefutureofamovefrom2Dtechnologiestoa3Dimmersiveexperiencefor

participantssuggeststhebenefitofshiftingthebalancefromparticipantslookingintoan

eventwherelookingoutintermsofapplicationofideasintheworldoftheuser.TheSo-

WorkBasedLearninge-Journal,Vol.9,No.2.b,(2020)

155

craticMethodmaybeachievableasanonlineexperienceusingthetechnology.Theresult

mightallowparticipantstoengageinhigherlevelsofthinking.

Thefutureisfastchangingandwaystoquicklycollaboratetoevaluatemethodswhichare

notplatformdependent.ThefocusonthequalityofonlinelifeinHigherEducationislikely

tobethenormnottheexception.

ThereaderisinvitedtousetheTransactionalWebinarProfileToolkit(2020)andtestthe

guidancetochoosesoftwarethatappliesMoore’sTransactionalDistanceTheoryinreal-

worldwebinarevents.Testourwebinarlearningtheoryinonlineactivityfrombasiclecture,

discussion,largescalewebinarorthe360*environment.

Pleasecontactuswithcasestudyfeedbackontheresults.Theanalysisofthecasestudyex-

amplesinformthefuturedesignsofwebinars.Theauthorspredictaparadigmshifttomore

creativewebinarsthatpromoteautonomouslearners.

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