Mediated learning materials: visibility checks in telepresence robot mediated classroom interaction

Abstract

Videoconferencing is increasingly used in education as a way to support distance learning. This article contributes to the emerging interactional literature on video-mediated educational interaction by exploring how a telepresence robot is used to facilitate remote participation in university-level foreign language teaching. A telepresence robot differs from commonly used videoconferencing set-ups in that it allows mobility and remote camera control. A remote student can thus move a classroom-based robot from a distance in order to shift attention between people, objects and environmental structures during classroom activities. Using multimodal conversation analysis, we focus on how participants manage telepresent remote students' visual access to classroom learning materials. In particular, we show how visibility checks are accomplished as a sequential and embodied practice in interaction between physically dispersed participants. Moreover, we demonstrate how participants conduct interactional work to make learning materials visible to the remote student by showing them and guiding the 'seeing' of materials. The findings portray some ways in which participants in video-mediated interaction display sensitivity to the possibility of intersubjective trouble and the recipient's visual perspective. Besides increasing understanding of visual and interactional practices in technology-rich learning environments, the findings can be applied in the pedagogical design of such environments.

Telepresent Agency: Remote Participation in Hybrid Language Classrooms via a Telepresence Robot

“…Telepresence robots, such as the Double 2 robot in our data, are currently viewed as a potential technological tool for increasing the agency and social inclusion of vulnerable student groups relying on remote access to education (Cha et al, 2017;Fitter et al, 2018;Newhart et al, 2016). However, there is not much interactionally-oriented research examining the ways in which copresence and telepresence may be consequential for students' possibilities for action, participation and agency in learning settings (but see Jakonen & Jauni, 2021;Liao et al, 2019).…”

“…2.2 and 2.3). Similarly, viewing a paper document at a non-direct angle may be more difficult than it is in the copresent condition (see also Jakonen & Jauni, 2021). In addition, while the robot can be remotely moved, turning the robot takes more time than it does for the average person to turn their head or body orientation.…”

“…This kind of relative slowness in comparison to a human gaze shift could make it more challenging to follow talk between participants who are, for example, located in different corners of the classroom -or any other spoken exchange that involves rapid turn transitions. In our data, the classroom participants, especially teachers, orient to this asymmetry and conduct extra interactional work by way of checking, showing and guiding to ensure that classroom materials are visible to remote students (Jakonen & Jauni, 2021).…”

Multimodal Resolution of Overlapping Talk in Video-Mediated L2 Instruction

“…As pointed out by González-Lloret (2015), micro-analytical studies on video-mediated L2 learning can be categorized into two major strands: descriptive studies (e.g., Uskokovic and Talehgani-Nikazm 2022;Wigham 2017;Hampel and Stickler 2012;Rusk and Pörn 2019;Dooly and Davitova 2018;Jakonen and Jauni 2021;Balaman 2019) and developmental studies (e.g., Balaman and Doehler 2022;Doehler and Balaman 2021;Sert 2017;Balaman 2018). Descriptive studies seek to unveil the generic structures of VMI, that is, how participants manage sequential organization, turn-taking, repair, etc., in such settings.…”

Driving is believing: Using telepresence robots to access makerspace for teachers in rural areas

“…Little is known about how controlling/driving a robotic body influences people's virtual learning experience and what factors contribute to the engagement of people who are participating in the experience (Lei et al., 2019). Moreover, previous studies have been primarily based upon qualitative exploration of people's perceptions and experiences through analyzing written reflections, interviews or video recordings (Fitter et al., 2018; Gleason & Greenhow, 2017; Jakonen & Jauni, 2021; Lei et al., 2019). To the best of our knowledge, very few studies have thus far compared multiple experimental conditions to reveal the effects of being embodied in telepresence robots.…”