COMMUNICATING AT A DISTANCE - A STUDY OF INTERACTION IN A DISTANCE EDUCATION CLASSROOM

The offering of college courses is one application of Iowa's First-in-the-nation statewide, interactive video fiber-optics telecommunications network. This essay explores the communication that takes place during one of these college courses and reports, from the students' perspectives, what it is like to be a participant in a live, interactive television classroom. Results from classroom observations and from individual and group interviews indicate that the distance learning setting influenced students' perceptions of classroom interaction. We make suggestions for teachers who seek to improve interaction in the distance setting and conclude with research questions communication scholars should pursue to help teachers improve the communication climate of the fiber-optics classroom.