Using Web Conferencing and the Socratic Method to Facilitate Distance Learning

The Socratic Method of teaching encourages instructors to engage students in dialogue which challenges students to participate in active learning. The goal of this teaching method is to encourage student efforts to become critical thinkers and problem solvers. This presentation evaluates the effectiveness of using web conferencing technology such as the Adobe Connect meeting platform to support the Socratic Method of teaching in an online environment. A pilot group of students who were unsuccessful in passing a business assessment in an online, asynchronous environment were given the opportunity to participate in a series of web conferences. The students were interviewed after their participation in the synchronous sessions to gather their opinion on the effectiveness of the sessions in helping them gain understanding of the concepts presented. The research questions examined include: 1. Was Adobe Acrobat Connect an effective medium to aid the facilitators in providing adequate support for learners using the Socratic Method? 2. Did students perceive they gained a better understanding of the material after attending the Adobe Acrobat Connect seminars? E-mail invitations to the sessions were sent to 41 at-risk students. The at-risk students were identified by analyzing previous scores on the business management objective assessment. Of the 41 students identified as at-risk, 18 students were considered high risk having failed the business management objective assessment multiple times. Eight, 90-minute synchronous sessions were scheduled in the evenings to accommodate students in multiple time zones. Each of the eight sessions had a specific agenda covering specific topics covered on the exam. The topics to be covered in each session were made available to the students at least one week in advance via email and posted as an announcement in the course community. All sessions were archived immediately after the live session and were housed for three months in the course community. During the Adobe Acrobat Connect Sessions, the two workshop facilitators and the dean gathered data on what worked, what did not work and how to construct sessions that were more effective for students. Student feedback was solicited in the form of student interviews. The interviews were conducted by one of the session facilitators. Students were asked to respond to 16 questions about their experiences with the Adobe Connect sessions. Six of the questions addressed the technical aspects of workshop delivery including using Adobe Connect web conferencing and phone conferencing. Data gathered from student interviews indicated that the student experience using Adobe Connect was positive. The Adobe Connect platform was an effective web conferencing tool that online students could master in a short period of time. Student comments highlighted the ease of use for the web conferencing program. The only negative feedback received about the student experiences with the sessions was around the lack of archived audio transcripts for students to review at a future time. The technical skills of students participating in the Adobe Connect sessions may not be representative of a typical student population as students in these sessions had several terms of experience in an online learning environment.