Defining Social Telepresence through Video Conference DesignJohn MorganAberystwyth University

Live Sociology…Session 1: A new social perspective on the Bow Street tornadoPhotographic essay on video conferencing

Session 2: Whose reflexivity is it anyway? (pictures of homeless in New York)A useful and usable methodology for analysing video recordings (VIA)

Session 3:Can a story be told differently with shadows alone? Pity it was cloudywhen we took the photos…

Session 4: “All representations are perfect for something”Gaming the internet: a new view on positioning web material

Session 5:

A night on the town in Cardiff

Social telepresence

Social telepresence begins to happen when we perceive that there are no boundaries between remote locations and that people communicate in the same social space.

There is a sense of suspending disbelief in the fact that people may not share the same geographical space, but this cannot be argued to be more than an indicator of meaningful face to face social interaction between people in remote locations.

I would hesitate in using any cyberculture jargon to define this as there is nothing “virtual” about it. It is a process of social negotiation in real time that leads to the development of communities.

Observing social telepresence: image 1

Observing social telepresence: image 2

Observing social telepresence: image 3

Observing social telepresence: image 4

It’s easy to assume…

…that what we observe can be labelled as objective from the perspectives of our own experience, knowledge and expertise.

In the context of this discussion, it means that it is easy to write up an ethnographic account from data and field notes alone, without includingthe participants in the framing of argument, data analysis and discussion.

As communities develop through social means, however, it would be very difficult to identify how people socialise and engage in reciprocallynegotiated literacy practices.

Communities of practice• Shared history

• Collective identity

• Reciprocal obligations

• Discourse

new video conference participants may not have a distinct sense of shared history

some elements of e.g. being students can give a sense of collective identity, but specific aspects may be very different

at this level of mutual awareness new communities can bond more easily

the patterns of interaction that emerge may vary significantly from group to group

Based on Mercer (2000)

SOCIAL TECHNOLOGICALFACTORS DIMENSIONS 4

Social factors and technological dimensions are interrelated characteristics that vary from group to group

Formality 1 Operational 4

Playfulness 2 Cultural 4

Design 3 Critical 4

Considerations of appropriacy (sociocultural factors, negotiation, discussion of style and content)

Participation 5

Considerations of appropriacy

(sociocultural factors, negotiation, discussion of style and content)

Reappraisal of considerations of appropriacy

Community of practice 6

© John Morgan, 2005, jpm@aber.ac.uk, http://users.aber.ac.uk/jpm

Current methodology 14 video conferences per semester.

Erasmus exchange students in Wales and students studying English at Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic (soon to include Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain, in multipoint conferences).

Discussion of team research projects.

Design of video conferences suggested by teams.

Considerations of all aspects (and more) of socio-academic cycle ofadaptation to video conferencing (previous slide) are encouraged in thedesign and participation process.

Current methodology 2

Participants provide responses to any aspects of the cycle, which arerecorded on video (approx. 30 seconds for spontaneity and reviewability).

Responses are recorded in a video round, either by participant observer or by participants, but ideas are not shared before recording. This prevents any individuals from influencing others and changing what they intend to say (adapted from traditional team thinking exercise).

Recordings are provided to each team, upon which they discuss andnegotiate a single written response on the team’s perspective ofsocialisation (more could be accepted if this proves to be more relevant).

As each team is at least one individual community of practice, it represents a community response to their engagement with othercommunities.

Current methodology 3This begins to chart the similarities and differences in characteristics of Communities and of the video conferencing cycle.

The texts are analysed using grounded theory to identify repeated phenomena towards the labelling of categories that are used to interpretand develop the social cycle of adaptation.

All participants are identified as participant co-authors.

All the texts are included in a final document that is given back to theparticipant co-authors for commentary and editorial suggestions.

The final co-authored document can be presented in multiple formats: print-based paper, web-site, PDF, PowerPoint, etc.

Ultimately it validates the concept of negotiation in the development ofliteracy practices that will inform methodologies for communication.

Video sample 1 (1:00)

Marta

PlayfulnessRelaxBe openDon’t be afraid of mistakes

BUT

The recording makes us focus on mistakes

Video sample 2 (0:55)

Sarah Z.

Don’t have too many people at once—some will take a back seat

Personal information in advance—we need more familiarity

Video sample 3 (0:32)

Sara A.

Empathy and shared values are the most important factors

Video sample 4 (0:20)

Michael

Effective discussion and teamwork creates a strong perspectives and ideas

Working papers and conference links

• Welsh Video Network Conference, Aberystwyth, 2005

• Diverse Conference, Glasgow, 2006

• Invite subject village web-site

• Live Sociology photographic essay

• Video Funet Conference, Tampere, Finland

• Diverse Conference, Lillehammer, Norway, 27th-29th June, 2007

• Diverse Conference, Haarlem, Netherlands, June, 2008

• Diverse Conference, Aberystwyth, June, 2009: link to follow

AcknowledgementsThe work presented here could not be done without the help of:

Video conference participants:

EL27720 students, Aberystwyth UniversityEnglish language students, Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic

Invite Project partners in the Czech Republic, Spain & UK:

Hana Katrnakova, Masaryk University in Brno, Czech RepublicAlena Hradilová, Masaryk University in Brno, Czech RepublicLibor Štěpánek, Masaryk University in Brno, Czech RepublicBarbora Budiková, Masaryk University in Brno, Czech RepublicSantiago Posteguillo, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, SpainJanice de Haaff, Aberystwyth UniversityMartin Ashe-Jones, Aberystwyth University

Technical support team in Aberystwyth:

Tom Fernandez, Information Services, Aberystwyth UniversityNigel Thomas, Information Services, Aberystwyth UniversityMartin Pugh, Information Services, Aberystwyth UniversityGeoff Constable, Welsh Video Network & Information Services, Aberystwyth University

References1 Baron, N.S. (1998). “Letters by Phone or Speech by Other Means: The Linguistics of E-mail”.

Language and Communication: 18, Pp.133-170.

Constable, G. (date not provided). “Guidelines for Successful Video Conferencing” [online]. Available from: http://users.aber.ac.uk/ccc/vc-guidelines.pdf (Accessed 7th June, 2005).

Video Technology Advisory Service (date not provided). “UKERNA Video Conferencing Meetings User Guide: A General Guide for Participants, Facilitators and Chairpersons” [online]. Available from http://www.video.ja.net/usrg/ (Accessed 7th June, 2005).

2 Coles, M. & Hall, C. (2001). “Breaking the Line: New Literacies, Postmodernism and the Teaching of Printed Texts”. Reading: November, Pp.111-114. Oxford: Blackwell.

3 Kress, G. & Van Leeuwen, T. (2001). Multimodal Discourse: The Modes and Media of Contemporary Communication. London: Arnold.

4 Lankshear, C. & Snyder, I. with Green, B. (2000). Teachers and Technoliteracy: Managing Literacy, Technology and Learning in Schools. St. Leonards, Sydney: Allen and Unwin.

5 Goffman, E. (1981). Forms of Talk. Oxford: Blackwell.

6 Mercer, N. (2000). Words and Minds: How We Use Language to Think Together. London: Routledge.