To hear any of the clips on this page you will need to have RealPlayer installed on your machine. You can download the free RealPlayer Basic player from the RealPlayer website.

If you have trouble hearing the audio? Check out our audio trouble-shooting page to try to identify and rectify the problem.

The appropriate use of audio in online instruction can add an amazing dimension to the content and sense of connection between the students and the material and the students and the instructor.

All of the following clips were recorded at Camosun College in Victoria, British Columbia and are in response to the question "What does distributed education mean to you?" At Camosun we have struggled with developing a common understanding of the various terms and options available to instructors.

A few teachers are running distance courses but many more are integrating distributed components into their face-to-face classrooms. The model that Camosun may be moving towards is a reduced number of face-to-face meetings (but still some) and increased use of online teaching.

Debbie Gascoyne, in English has found that distributed education allows for increased access and flexibility for her students. (Time 2:54)

Helen Pearce (Applied Communications) has found that distributed education has given her the tools to be able to better achieve specific learning outcomes. (Time 1:15)

Liz Morch, teaches in the dental hygiene program and comments on her experience trying to interest her colleagues in distributed education. (Time 1:26)

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The following four audio clips are examples of how audio can be effectively incorporated into distance courses.

In this clip Barry Weaver, a geography instructor at Camosun is taking his Human Geography students on a virtual field trip to the Chinese cemetery in Victoria. His guest expert explains the significance of many of the features of the cemetery. (Time 1:24)

Gordon Alexander teaches an online English literature course. In this clip he is discussing, with a group of his colleagues, the meaning of the Rooster in a poem his students are studying. Here, not only is the poem being discussed, but Gordon is also modeling a discussion of literature in which "experts" disagree upon the meaning. Often in English courses students feel that they lose marks because they do not agree with the teacher's interpretation. This type of discussion focuses not on the interpretation as much as on the ability to support the interpretation. (Time 1:02)

In this audio clip, psychology instructors Gary Anderson and Larry Detwiller discuss child cognitive development in terms of their own experiences. Providing distance students with anecdotal examples seems to increase the feeling of relationship between the instructor and the students, diminishing the sense of distance and isolation. (Time 1:09)

In this clip, Bruce Hardy, a biology instructor, provides his distance students with the opportunity to hear the pronunciation of various parts of an animal cell. Here audio is combined with RealPresenter to produce a narrated slide show. (Time 1:21). This clip may take a little longer to load because it incorporates both graphics and audio.

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We hope to link audio clips of experienced online instructors discussing how they have used the various media and technology tools to enhance their online classroom.

These recordings will probably take place in May or June of 2001 and will be linked to this site sometime in June or July. If you access this site before the May of 2001 and would like to suggest some possible questions to ask our panel of online teachers, please email them to Jennifer Stein at steinjm@home.com.

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