Learner-to-InstructorInteraction in Video Conference Applications: Instructors’Perceptions

Various communication technologies for different functions( and with different intensitis) are being used in distance education programs of Anadolu University. Interactive video conference is one of these communication technologies that has been employed in the distance programs of the University and has been integrated in the distance courses for learners who reside in the Northern Cyprus Turkish Republic. In the literature, learner-to-instructor interaction in interactive video conferences has been studied usually from the point of views of the instructors. In accordance with the literature, instructors’evaluations have been used in this study. This study was intended to investigate the ways learners and instructors interact in the video conferences by using a descriptive analysis methodology. The study has revealed that in their video conferences, although the instructors try to make use of various communication and teaching skills, they could not establish intended level of interaction with students due to lack of knowledge about limitations and advantages of the technology as well as technological problems they encountered during the implementations.