By Meghan Connolly
Collegian Staff

Recognizing the reliance students today have on Webcam technology to communicate, the online video chat service Skype unveiled a new service last month to help integrate virtual technology into the classroom.

“Skype in the Classroom” will afford educators the opportunity to collaborate across great distances and also will create opportunities for invited guest speakers to join schoolchildren and college students in far-away classrooms and lecture halls via Webcams. While Skyping opens the classroom’s door to connecting with experts and educators, the new technology also enables students to attend class remotely. Inevitably, educators and academic institutions will be faced with a perplexing question: should students be allowed to attend traditional classes via Webcam?

Sut Jhally, a professor of communications at the University of Massachusetts, said he believes linking distant thinkers to local classes is a wonderful tool, but cautioned that where there is a loophole, students may have a tendency to exploit it.

“The ability to bring [guest speakers] in from the outside is fantastic,” he said. However, he said he does not encourage student attendance via Webcam, calling the idea “strange” and warning that this will “encourage absence.” Jhally also predicted that student comprehension of Skyped-in speakers will be difficult to gauge.

“Speakers need to see someone to be able to see a reaction,” he said.

Similarly, Kalidas Shetty, a professor of food science, expressed his belief that being face-to-face is at the root of learning.

“Personal interactions are critical for the learning experience,” he said.

Shetty said there is a high satisfaction rate for students within his department. He attributed this to the effort he and his colleagues make to get to know their students personally and faculty efforts to create what he called a supportive, interactive learning environment. Though he would not encourage students to attend class solely via Webcam for fear of losing the connection within the classroom, he supports “tools that enhance the learning experience, and anything to benefit a positive outcome.” He expressed the belief that as new tools are made available, students should have the freedom to decide how to use them.

Students, perhaps predictably enough, said they welcome the opportunity to attend class in their pajamas, if they so choose.

Olivia Johnson, a sophomore biology major, admitted to occasionally skipping class, but attributed cutting out sometimes to mother nature.

“The thought of trekking across campus in these arctic temperatures is daunting,” she quipped.

Other students agreed that having the ability to access class remotely, as opposed to missing presentations, would be beneficial.

While being able to attend via Webcam appealed to some students, others pointed out that limitations would need to be established. Eliza Patteson, a sophomore sports management major, felt Skype should be used only when there is a “reasonable excuse for not physically attending class,” such as an illness, injury or a serious need to be elsewhere.

Sophomore Wilson Carroll, a social thought and political economy major, shared the idea of establishing regulations, such as a limited number of times students could attend each course via Skype.

While Caroll said he would occasionally attend via Skype, he seemed more interested in how the technology could be used to interact with guest speakers. He identified benefits of direct interaction with experts in a group dynamic, rather than just reading or watching videos about them. He said he saw the potential in creating a more “personal” educational experience by integrating this technology to connect students with subject-based experts.

Jhally agreed that Skype technology could best be used to enable real-time discussions between guest speakers and students. However, Jhally also pointed out the challenges of setting up such scenarios. While Skype in the Classroom was ideally designed to make it easier for educators to incorporate guest speakers into their curriculum, Jhally said professors would need to have a personal connection with such experts, who, in turn, would need to be willing to devote time to participate in such discussions.

Most importantly, Jhally said he sees limitations on the technology’s capabilities. He pointed out that “a technology is only as good as how it is used.” Using this technology could enhance learning through guest speakers, he said, but professors would have to be committed to solving potential logistical problems.

If a professor relied on using a Webcam for class, and there was a glitch in the technology, the content for that class would be lost, Jhally added.

In addition, he mentioned that some professors have less than IT-level skills when it comes to being technical savvy. A professor not only needs to be committed to learning how to use Skype, but also how to solve potential technical issues related to signals, software, and video projection, he furthered.

Since mastering such a system would take time, effort, and serious commitment, Jhally said he does not envision many professors using it in the immediate future.

Meghan Connolly can be reached at [email protected].