Interactive television in distance education: benefits and compromises

This ethnographic study examined the leaching and learning process in interactive television and analyzed the gains and losses of the three parties involved in the process: the instructor, the remote students, and the local students. In terms of teaching and learning, instructors lost their connectedness with remote students, and the technology involved restricted the instructors' pedagogical options. The remote students were not as deeply engaged in the educational process as the local students, and they had difficulty seeing and hearing what was presented at the teaching site. The local students had difficulty speaking in class and could not enjoy the flow of continuous discussion. With all three parties concerned, teaching and learning via interactive television (ITV) was not as successful as that of the face-to-face format. When universities utilize ITV to increase enrollments and reduce instructional costs, the compromises made in the quality of teaching and learning must also be considered. Conventional face-to-face instruction should be used whenever possible.