Defining Social Telepresence through Video Conference Design John Morgan Aberystwyth University

1. Defining Social Telepresence through Video Conference Design John Morgan Aberystwyth University http://users.aber.ac.uk/jpm/invite.htm jpm@aber.ac.uk

2. Live Sociology… Session 1: A new social perspective on the Bow Street tornado Photographic essay on video conferencing Session 2: Whose reflexivity is it anyway? (pictures of homeless in New York) A useful and usable methodology for analysing video recordings (VIA) Session 3: Can a story be told differently with shadows alone? Pity it was cloudy when we took the photos… Session 4: “All representations are perfect for something” Gaming the internet: a new view on positioning web material Session 5: A night on the town in Cardiff

3. Social telepresence Social telepresence begins to happen when we perceive that there are no boundaries between remote locations and that people communicate in the same social space. There is a sense of suspending disbelief in the fact that people may not share the same geographical space, but this cannot be argued to be more than an indicator of meaningful face to face social interaction between people in remote locations. I would hesitate in using any cyberculture jargon to define this as there is nothing “virtual” about it. It is a process of social negotiation in real time that leads to the development of communities.

4. Observing social telepresence: image 1

5. Observing social telepresence: image 2

6. Observing social telepresence: image 3

7. Observing social telepresence: image 4

8. It’s easy to assume… …that what we observe can be labelled as objective from the perspectives of our own experience, knowledge and expertise. In the context of this discussion, it means that it is easy to write up an ethnographic account from data and field notes alone, without including the participants in the framing of argument, data analysis and discussion. As communities develop through social means, however, it would be very difficult to identify how people socialise and engage in reciprocally negotiated literacy practices.

9. Communities of practice • Shared history • Collective identity • Reciprocal obligations • Discourse new video conference participants may not have a distinct sense of shared history some elements of e.g. being students can give a sense of collective identity, but specific aspects may be very different at this level of mutual awareness new communities can bond more easily the patterns of interaction that emerge may vary significantly from group to group Based on Mercer (2000)

10. Social cycle of adaptation to video conferencing

11. Current methodology 1 4 video conferences per semester. Erasmus exchange students in Wales and students studying English at Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic (soon to include Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain, in multipoint conferences). Discussion of team research projects. Design of video conferences suggested by teams. Considerations of all aspects (and more) of socio-academic cycle of adaptation to video conferencing (previous slide) are encouraged in the design and participation process.

12. Current methodology 2 Participants provide responses to any aspects of the cycle, which are recorded on video (approx. 30 seconds for spontaneity and reviewability). Responses are recorded in a video round, either by participant observer or by participants, but ideas are not shared before recording. This prevents any individuals from influencing others and changing what they intend to say (adapted from traditional team thinking exercise). Recordings are provided to each team, upon which they discuss and negotiate a single written response on the team’s perspective of socialisation (more could be accepted if this proves to be more relevant). As each team is at least one individual community of practice, it represents a community response to their engagement with other communities.

13. Current methodology 3 This begins to chart the similarities and differences in characteristics of Communities and of the video conferencing cycle. The texts are analysed using grounded theory to identify repeated phenomena towards the labelling of categories that are used to interpret and develop the social cycle of adaptation. All participants are identified as participant co-authors. All the texts are included in a final document that is given back to the participant co-authors for commentary and editorial suggestions. The final co-authored document can be presented in multiple formats: print-based paper, web-site, PDF, PowerPoint, etc. Ultimately it validates the concept of negotiation in the development of literacy practices that will inform methodologies for communication.

14. Video sample 1 (1:00) Marta Playfulness Relax Be open Don’t be afraid of mistakes BUT The recording makes us focus on mistakes

15. Video sample 2 (0:55) Sarah Z. Don’t have too many people at once—some will take a back seat Personal information in advance—we need more familiarity

16. Video sample 3 (0:32) Sara A. Empathy and shared values are the most important factors

17. Video sample 4 (0:20) Michael Effective discussion and teamwork creates a strong perspectives and ideas

18. Working papers and conference links • Welsh Video Network Conference, Aberystwyth, 2005 • Diverse Conference, Glasgow, 2006 • Invite subject village web-site • Live Sociology photographic essay • Video Funet Conference, Tampere, Finland • Diverse Conference, Lillehammer, Norway, 27th-29th June, 2007 • Diverse Conference, Haarlem, Netherlands, June, 2008 • Diverse Conference, Aberystwyth, June, 2009: link to follow

19. Acknowledgements The work presented here could not be done without the help of: Video conference participants: EL27720 students, Aberystwyth University English language students, Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic Invite Project partners in the Czech Republic, Spain & UK: Hana Katrnakova, Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic Alena Hradilová, Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic Libor Štěpánek, Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic Barbora Budiková, Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic Santiago Posteguillo, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain Janice de Haaff, Aberystwyth University Martin Ashe-Jones, Aberystwyth University Technical support team in Aberystwyth: Tom Fernandez, Information Services, Aberystwyth University Nigel Thomas, Information Services, Aberystwyth University Martin Pugh, Information Services, Aberystwyth University Geoff Constable, Welsh Video Network & Information Services, Aberystwyth University

20. References • Baron, N.S. (1998). “Letters by Phone or Speech by Other Means: The Linguistics of E-mail”. • Language and Communication: 18, Pp.133-170. • Constable, G. (date not provided). “Guidelines for Successful Video Conferencing” [online]. • Available from: http://users.aber.ac.uk/ccc/vc-guidelines.pdf (Accessed 7th June, 2005). • Video Technology Advisory Service (date not provided). “UKERNA Video Conferencing • Meetings User Guide: A General Guide for Participants, Facilitators and Chairpersons” [online]. • Available from http://www.video.ja.net/usrg/ (Accessed 7th June, 2005). • Coles, M. & Hall, C. (2001). “Breaking the Line: New Literacies, Postmodernism and the Teaching • of Printed Texts”. Reading: November, Pp.111-114. Oxford: Blackwell. • Kress, G. & Van Leeuwen, T. (2001). Multimodal Discourse: The Modes and Media of • Contemporary Communication. London: Arnold. • Lankshear, C. & Snyder, I. with Green, B. (2000). Teachers and Technoliteracy: Managing • Literacy, Technology and Learning in Schools. St. Leonards, Sydney: Allen and Unwin. • Goffman, E. (1981). Forms of Talk. Oxford: Blackwell. • Mercer, N. (2000). Words and Minds: How We Use Language to Think Together. London: • Routledge.