Three Types of Interaction

Many of the biggest problems of communicating about concepts, and therefore practice, in distance education arise from our use of crude hypothetical constructs—terms like distance, independence and interaction, that are used in very imprecise and general ways, each having acquired a multiplicity of meanings. Most seriously, the same terms are commonly used at both a generic level and more specific levels. For example, the generic concept "independence" is frequently confused with its species, independence of learner from instructor in space and time and independence of learners to control the means of their study.

These are further confused with the many sub-species of each type of independence. The same could be said of the concept and term "distance" itself, which is commonly used in the most general sense of describing education characterized by separation between learner and instuctor, but by too few users in the more technical and specific meanings. Interaction is another important term that carries so many meanings as to be almost useless unless its specific sub-meanings can be defined and generally agreed upon.

Progress in this direction was made in a panel discussion convened by the Independent Study Division and the Educational Technology Division of the National University Continuing Association at the Association's annual meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah on April 16th.. Chaired by Shirley Davies of Purdue University the panel was titled : "Interaction: that perplexing component of distance education". The panel debated such questions as; What level of interaction is essential for effective learning ? What is good interaction? How can we achieve it? What does real time interaction contribute? Is it worth the cost?

For my contribution I suggested that, as a minimum, distance educators need to agree on the distinctions between three types of interaction, which I labelled learner-content interaction, learner-instructor interaction, and learner-learner interaction.

To distinguish among these three types will have benefits conceptually, but will also do much to overcome the misunderstandings between educators who use different media. (See for example the debate between Von Pitman and Duning in AJDE 1:1.)

Three Types of Interaction

Learner-content interaction. The first type of interaction is interaction between the learner and the content that is the subject of study. This is a defining characteristic of education and without it there cannot be education, since it is the process of intellectually interacting with content that results in changes in the learner's understanding, what we sometimes call a change in perspective, a change in the cognitive structures of the learner's mind. It is this type of interaction that I believe is at least partly involved in what Holmberg calls the "internal didactic conversation" when learners "talk to themselves" about the information and ideas they encounter in a text, television program, a lecture or elsewhere.

 The oldest form of distance teaching that aimed to facilitate interaction with content was the didactic text. In medieval times nearly all texts were aimed at instruction, not at merely informing, and certainly not at entertaining. In the nineteenth century the use of print for teaching was advanced by the invention of home study guides that accompanied a text, providing explanations of it and directions for its study. In more recent times learners interact with content that has been broadcast on radio and television programs, and by electronic recordings on audio-tape, video tape, and computer software, with the interactive video-disc being the most advanced form of didactic interaction invented so far.

Some learning programs are solely content-interaction in nature. They are one way communications between subject expert, sometimes assisted by an instructional designer, intended to help distant learners in their study of the subject. No other professional teaching expertise is provided, and learning is largely self-directed. According to the findings of adult education research the majority of the adult population undertakes such self-directed study(Tough, Penland, Hiemstra citations.)

Learner-instructor interaction. The second type of interaction, regarded as essential by many educators, and as highly desirable by many learners, is interaction between the learner and the expert who prepared the subject material, or some other expert acting as instructor. In this interaction, distance instructors attempt to achieve aims held in common with all other educators. First having planned or been given a curriculum, a program of content to be taught, they seek to stimulate or at least maintain the student's interest in what is to be taught, to motivate the student to learn, to enhance and maintain the learner's interest, including self-direction and self-motivation.

Then instructors make presentations, or cause presentations of some kind to be made, whether of information, demonstration of skill, or modelling certain attitudes and values. Next instructors try to organize the students' application of what is being learned, either the practice of skills that have been demonstrated, or manipulation of information and ideas that have been presented. Every instructor organizes evaluation, to ascertain if the learner is making progress, and to help the teacher decide whether to change strategies. Finally, instructors provide counsel, support and encouragement to each learner, though the extent and nature of this support varies according to educational level of the learners, teacher's personality and philosophy and other factors.

 The frequency and intensity with which the teacher can influence the learner in these ways is much greater when there is learner -teacher interaction than when there is only learner-content interaction. In preparing instruction for learner-content interaction the educator can design written and recorded material that aims to motivate, make presentations,facilitate application, evaluation, and even a degree of student affective support.

However the lack of feedback from individual learner to educator makes these teaching procedures highly generalized, not individual, leaving ultimate responsibility for maintaining motivation, for interacting with the presentation, for analysing the success of application, and for diagnosis of difficulty on the learners themselves, requiring a high degree of learner autonomy.

Where interaction between learner and teacher is possible through correspondence or teleconference, the learner comes under the influence of a professional instructor and is able to draw on the experience of the professional to interact with the content in the manner that is most effective for that particular individual learner. The long recognized advantage of correspondence instruction is the individual nature of the instruction. When the correspondence instructor sits with a set of student papers, there is no class, but instead the instructor enters a dialogue with each individual, attending for example more to the motivational aspect of the correspondence with one than with another, to the explanation of one misunderstanding to one student and to another with the next. While each student and the instructor are attending to a common piece of presentation, usually in a set text, but quite likely on audio or video tape, each student's response to the presentation is different, and so the response to each stent is different too. To some a misunderstanding is explained, to others elaborations are given, to others simplifications; to one analogies are drawn, to another supplementary readings suggested.

The instructor is especially valuable in responding to the learners' application of new knowledge. Whatever self-directed learners can do alone for self-motivation and interaction with content presented, they are vulnerable at the point of application since they do not know enough about the subject to be sure they are applying it correctly, or that they are applying it as intensively or extensively as is possible or desirable, or that there are not potential areas of application they are not aware of. It is for reality testing and feedback that the interaction with an instructor is ikely to be most valuable.

 Learner-learner interaction. It is the third form of interaction that is the new dimension of distance education that will be a challenge to our thinking and practice in the 1990's. This is inter-learner interaction, that is between learner and other learners, alone or in group settings with or without the real-time presence of an instructor.

 Through the history of education the class or educational group has more often than not been organized for reasons that have nothing to do with learners' needs. At present many classes are organized because the class is the only organizational form known to most teachers and because in the short term—though not usually the long term—it is the CHEAPEST way of delivering the teaching acts of stimulation, presentation, application, evaluation and student support.

 However, learner-learner interaction among members of a class or other group IS sometimes an extremely valuable resource for learning, and sometimes is even essential. For example, Phillips and Santoro in AJDE vol.2 no 1 describe the importance of interaction among members of an undergraduate class who have to learn skills of group interaction. With the rationale that skilled committee and other group work is essential for functioning in modern society, especially in business, Phillips and Santoro teach principles of, and train students in, effective group functioning. Here is an example of content that makes group interaction especially valuable. One could study the presentation of principles of group leadership and group membership alone, or in interaction with an instructor, but at the point of application and evaluation the availability of a group of fellow learners becomes invaluable for learner and instructor alike.

Interestingly, Phillips and Santoro found they could not effectively facilitate interaction among members of a large undergraduate class in face-to-face classrooms, and turned to distance education techniques, using recorded video and computer interaction to achieve higher performance in group behaviors than they had been able to obtain in live groups. Thus these educators give their students the advantages of individual interaction with the instructor as in a classic tutorial, similar to correspondence, but by electronic mail, and at the same time the advantages of peer group interaction by E-mail and by computer "chat".

 Apart from teaching interaction itself, when else is inter-learner group interaction between students highly desirable? The answer to this question depends largely on the circumstances of the learners and their age, experience and level of learner autonomy. For younger learners, the teaching task of stimulation and motivation will be assisted by peer-group interaction, though this is not particulary important for most adult and advanced learners who tend to be self-motivated.

 It is most useful for some types of presentations such as up-to-the-minute reports from experts, and for some purposes of application and evaluation. In my audio and interactive video classes, weekly presentations are shared by two or more students and last typically for an hour. This is ollowed by peer discussion and analysis in small groups and then feedback and further discussion. This process is successful because of the level of self-management that adult graduate students are capable of, and it not only acknowledges and encourages the development of their expertise but also tests it, and teaches important principles regarding the nature of knowledge and the role of the scholar as maker of knowledge.

Applications

A significant characteristic of distance education, and a major contribution to the field of education has been an awareness of the benefits of division of labor in teaching. With the rapid expansion of telecommunications in American education, the principle of specialization of teaching activity and use of communication medium must be applied to distinguish more deliberately among the three types of interaction described above. Educators need to organize programs to ensure maximum effectiveness of each type of interaction, and ensure they provide the type of interaction that is most suitable for the various teaching tasks for different subject areas, for learners at different stages of development.

 The main weakness of many distance education programs is their commitment to only one type of medium; increasingly the one-way video, two way audio satellite is the dominant medium. When there is only one medium it is probable that only one kind of interaction is permitted or done well. While correspondence gives superior learner-content interaction and good, though slow, learner-instructor interaction, it gives no learner-learner interaction. The teleconference group is excellent for inter-learner interaction, and for some types of instructor-learner interaction, but is frequently misused for instructor presentations that could be done better by print, or recorded media. In the time saved the teleconference could stimulate and facilitate the inter-learner interaction that has been difficult or impossible to achieve in distance education until now.

 In short, it is vitally important that distance educators in all media do more to plan for all three kinds of interaction, and use the expertise of educators and communication specialists in both the traditional media, correspondence, broadcast and recording, and the newer teleconference media.