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VOLUME 3, ISSUE 3 PSYCHNEWS INTERNATIONAL Sept/Oct 1998
-- AN ONLINE PUBLICATION --
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SECTION C: FEATURE ARTICLE
ONLINE PROFESSIONAL CONFERENCES:
A FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF THIS NEW MEDIUM
Donald P. Corriveau
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This story begins at 2:56 PM, January 31, 1998, when I received
an email from Sunkyo Kwon, Editor-in-Chief, informing me of
an interesting conference to be held April 7-9, 1998. He
suggested that I might want to cover this event in the next
issue of PsychNews International. In his email, Sunkyo forwarded
a posting of a "Call for proposals for the Third Annual Teaching
in the Community Colleges Online Conference." The theme of
the conference was "Online Instruction: Trends and Issues."
Having developed several Internet-enhanced components for my
university classes and several Internet courses at the
post-graduate level, I was particularly interested in
submitting a proposal. The only problem I foresaw was
the deadline of midnight, that very night! Having a clear
idea of what I intended to present, I prepared and
submitted my proposal within a few hours. Evidently, it
was well received and I was notified of my paper's acceptance
on February 4. To present the paper, I needed to agree
to certain conditions that included:
1. Submitting the text of my presentation for conversion into a
web document by February 27, 1998.
2. Agreeing to answer questions by participants through public
and private email.
3. Submitting a photo and brief professional biography.
4. Participating in a one-hour MOO discussion during the 3 day
conference.
5. Allowing publication of my paper in an online publication of
conference proceedings (TCCJ)
I was pleased as this would be a novel experience. Over four
hundred participants were expected to "attend" this event.
At face value, the online medium appeared to contain the
same objectives of live conferences including 1) the timely
presentation of material and 2)discussion with participants.
As an added bonus, I would finally learn what was meant by "MOO."
My Preparation
Having considerable experience creating web pages, I immediately
emailed Janice Cook (the HTML Guru) and asked if she would
accept the submission of my presentation as an HTML document
instead of pure text. Besides saving her some time, this
provided me with several advantages. First, I was concerned
with the length of my paper. My experience in teaching through
the Internet suggested that participants become fatigued and/or
bored with "long" documents that require scrolling through
several screens of information. My plan was to divide extensive
material into several smaller modules using separate web pages.
The second advantage was that I would retain total control of
the product. I could use formatting to accentuate structure
and main points, color coding to separate main text from
ancillary information, and hyperlinks to demonstrations and/or
reference material.
Highlights of the Presentation
The theme of my presentation centered on the development
of an Internet-enhanced undergraduate course in research
methodology. To summarize that project, all students
learned basic web browsing and email skills during the
first two weeks of the semester. That was followed by a
variety of exercises and assignments presented through
the Internet. Electronic forms were used for the submission
of these assignments. Students were able to gauge their
relative progress by examining spreadsheets posted weekly
on the Internet. In effect, my presentation explored
both 1) my teaching philosophy and 2) the technology that
facilitated this approach to teaching.
In retrospect, my online presentation incorporated learning
opportunities unavailable in live presentations. However
well organized, all information in a conventional live
presentation is delivered in a sequential fashion.
A live presentation has a beginning and it has an end.
In sharp contrast, online presentations allow for what
I will call "layered organization." To understand this
potential, remember that while hundreds of participants
might access the presentation (almost) simultaneously,
each participant receives the information on an individual
basis. Thus, each participant's learning experience can
be individualized. In turn, this allows for 1) mastery
learning, 2) self-paced learning, and, most importantly,
3) deeply layered structure. An example will clarify
these points.
Early in my presentation, I mentioned that all students
received training in email skills and Internet-browsing
skills through an Internet based tutorial. My online
presentation included links to the actual tutorial and
suggested to readers that they visit this optional link.
Now, readers who wanted more information about my Internet
tutorial could delve deeper (level two) and see first hand
what the tutorial contained. There, as one example, they
would discover that one of the many skills and topics
covered by the tutorial included email "netiquette." On the
tutorial web page that discussed netiquette, readers would
find several links to other web pages throughout the world
that discussed netiquette. Thus, readers would have the
option to delve into an even deeper structure (level 3).
Participants who attend live presentations do not have
the luxury of these deeper substrates. Information is
either presented or it is not.
The Process of Online Conference Development
On March 10, I received a "Test Message" from Jim Shimabukuro,
Chairperson of the conference committee. This was the first
of many email messages intended to assist conference presenters.
Since all presenters were included in an email distribution list,
many conference-planning nuances were openly discussed. Early
in this dynamic process, presenters were assured that they
would receive training in the MOO technology and that
many pre-conference practice sessions were scheduled.
What ensued in this email distribution list reminded me of
many experiences with various newsgroups and professional
mailing lists. In a somewhat hostile fashion, conference
organizers were attacked for using MOO technology. One
complaint stated, "I am extremely disappointed to discover
what a MOO is. I can't believe people are still using DOS/unix
line-command-input as a method of communicating with each
other." The subject line of that email read "MOO SMOO!!"
and was repeated in a thread of subsequent emails by
other respondents. Keeping an open mind, I was still
eager to learn the details of this MOO technology.
Many other email messages from this distribution list
provided both interesting and informative news. Since the
conference's home-base was Hawaii, time zone conversions
were frequently provided. Schedule details (e.g. keynote
speakers, featured discussions, etc.) were frequently
reported and updated on numerous web pages. A wide variety
of distribution lists was developed for specialty interests
(e.g. different cognate areas). Similarly, presenters and
participants could selectively subscribe or unsubscribe
through automated list processors. Many of the paper
presentations were posted quite early on individual web
pages. Having read several of these papers, I looked
forward to participating in "discussions" with other authors.
Access to the paper presentations themselves was limited
to registered participants and presenters. Web pages
containing presentations were secured by requiring
usernames and passwords. If interested in perusing my
presentation, it is available at
http://home.ici.net/~dr-don/tcc/tcc98.htm
The MOO Technology
While I considered my own skills in Internet technology
relatively sophisticated, I was humbled by my naivete
with MOO environments. The scheduled pre-conference
workshops did help in providing basic instruction
on telnet operations required to connect to a MOO
session. I also learned about a useful shareware program
called "Pueblo" that made a connection to MOO hyperspace
somewhat easier. I also learned that web pages had been
developed to allow conference participants Internet entry
to a MOO based chat room. Within this MOO environment,
I appreciated the vast amount of work and preparation made
in adding Hawaiian symbolism (e.g., the Mezzanine level
and contained coconuts and tropical fruits) to purely
text based communication.
While I quickly attained success in traveling from room
to room, I soon discovered my own limitations with this
medium. Apparently, I was not alone as many other
MOO-newbie presenters would write, "Where am I?" In my
own pre-conference training, I was fortunate to meet a
person who had immersed himself for many years in the
MOO environment and patiently tutored me through basic
skills such as "cut and paste" and downloading
objects. Humbly, I realized that the learning curve
was quite steep. While 4-8 hours seemed sufficient for
attaining novice skills, the time necessary to acquire
intermediate and skilled levels of proficiency appeared
to be measured in months if not years. Fortunately, I was
assured by my tutor that novice-level skills would be
sufficient to converse with the numerous participants
expected for my discussion hour.
The Conference
The week before the conference included much activity and
excitement. I received several personal and complimentary
email messages from participants stating that they would be
incorporating some of my concepts into their own classes.
The keynote speaker (Steve McCarty) sparked much discussion
and a separate listserver was established to handle this
traffic. David Lassner, Director of Information Technology
for the University of Hawaii, provided an interesting
welcoming speech by describing the role of the Internet
and Video Conferencing in connecting 10 campuses across six
different islands. During the first day of the actual
conference, 11 open forums were established to help streamline
email traffic. I subscribed to three of these forums and
found keeping up with the email a formidable task.
I couldn't wait for my discussion hour.
My Hour of Glory
My discussion hour was scheduled in the North Room.
Throughout the hour, there was considerable discussion as
many participants entered and exited the room. (Activity
was logged which allowed me to see who was entering
and leaving.) Mostly, discussion was of the form,
"Where am I?" or "How do I get to [another place]?"
Not one question focused on my own presentation.
To say it mildly, I was disappointed.
I asked myself, "Was my presentation so boring that no
one was interested?" This was certainly not the
sense I received in earlier emails received.
Was there an alternative explanation?
To answer these questions, I lurked in several conference
rooms throughout the day and next day. Interestingly,
I discovered two very different types of participants.
The vast majority could be categorized as MOO newbies.
Their comments were of one of two types: "Where am I?"
or "MOO [pejoratively explicit]? The remaining small
percentage included participants well versed in the
MOO language who seemed more intent on socializing
than on any discussion of content.
Conclusion
Was the conference successful? If the purpose of a
conference is the timely dissemination of information,
the answer is a resounding "Yes." If the purpose of a
conference is to allow participants to have questions answered
by presenters, the answer is again "Yes." Simple email is an
easy solution for this purpose. If the goal of a conference
is to stimulate discussion among participants, then the answer
was "Minimally yes." MOO appeared to be a stumbling block.
As mentioned earlier, there is a significant learning curve
required for adequate MOO connectivity. For novice entry
participation, a handful of hours and good tutoring is a
prerequisite. Most participants did not have this experience.
Do alternatives to the MOO format exist? I believe so.
I would strongly urge anyone organizing an online conference
to explore these alternatives.
Advantages and Disadvantages of the Online Format
The obvious advantages of online conferences include cost
and convenience. Often, the cost of live conferences
includes travel and lodging. Unless a conference is
scheduled in one's home town, registration fees represent a
relatively small fraction of total cost. That ratio is
magnified when one factors time away from work. With
online formats, the affordability of conference attendance
becomes greatly extended. When web presentations are
accessible 24 hours a day, convenience is a natural byproduct.
Besides economical considerations, online conferences have
several pedagogical advantages. First, participants can
access and digest information at their own pace.
Second, if done correctly, presenter-participant
interaction can actually be enhanced! My own experience
in the classroom is that although not all students feel
comfortable asking or answering questions in class, all
are willing to interact through email. I suspect that
this finding would generalize to a conference atmosphere.
Third, online conferences offer more resources for presenters
to use in support of their presentation. I realize that there
is great variability among presenters in the live setting
but I have great respect for colleagues who augment live
presentations with good audio visual aids, outlines, handouts,
bibliographies, printed examples, etc. While providing handout
to participants is commendatory, it is expensive. Furthermore,
it is sometimes difficult to know what would interest
participants the most and how many copies would be needed.
Publishing these materials on web pages is a simple and
inexpensive solution. Moreover, all forms of audio visual
aids including text, graphics, sound, and video lend
themselves to this task.
Of course, there are advantages to real live conferences.
For one, they allow the sampling of sights, sounds and
cuisine of different cities. Cyber-coconuts and
cyber-tropical-fruits simply don't do it for me.
Another advantage is the social dimension of mingling
with one's peers. My Gateway computer has difficulty
mimicking this sense of belonging.
Is there a place for online conferences for mental
health professional? My answer is "Certainly."
Should professional organizations abandon yearly
conventions and replace them with online formats?
I sure hope "Not."
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