One subject, not yet broached, is the effect of videoconferencing when it comes to collaborative intelligence. While this class is presented in video format, its capability for interaction is limited to textual chat rooms and comment sections. This paper takes a look at what could happen to the learning process if students could interface in real time using video.

Starting from the viewpoint of pure goal-oriented interactions, the project management philosophy used by many software firms^[1] (the agile framework^[2]) establishes a best practice for interacting with dispersed teams. These teams, also called virtual and remote teams, and teams distributed over various offices often cannot meet in person regularly. Though in-person meetings are the best form of collaboration, when that can't be reasonably accomplished, daily video meetings known as “standups” are the next best thing.

It would seem that goal-oriented interactions are a key to learning. Therefore, I submit that agile's video-conferencing practice would also be a best-practice for online learning. After all, thanks to technological advances that put real-time video in the palm of learner's hands, many now have out-of-the-box access to on-device video chat through their smart phones with Facetime and Skype. The rest of the population, as long as they have Internet access, also have access to free online video chat platforms including Skype, Zoom, and Google Hangouts. All that's required is an on-device camera and microphone, or the purchase of an inexpensive headset and high-definition web camera.

Image of video conferencing in action, courtesy of Mohamed Hassan.

Here's what the research says about the benefits of video conferencing:

1. Increased motivation to learn – A 2016 study from BECTA (British Educational Communications and Technology Agency) ICT Research^[3] found positive benefits “across the educational sectors” when “interactive access to experts” and “collaboration by teachers and learners with peers” was facilitated through video chat. Video was found to enrich the experience of distance education and raise student motivation “by reducing feelings of isolation and encouraging interaction.” The BECTA study found that teachers can “maximize the impact of video conferencing” by establishing pedagogical outcomes, exploiting the motivational effects on students, and seeking partnerships with other schools. In short, the BECTA research found “the potential of video conferencing to support language teaching and distance learning is immediately apparent.”
2. Increased non-native language skills – Even as far back as 2000, BECTA's review found that learners from different cultures who engage in video chat benefited from “the development of multicultural relationships and understanding, while enriching traditional activities” (Cifuentes & Murphy 2000). BECTA's referenced studies also found that video provides “enhanced opportunities for language students to interact with native speakers” (Kinginger 1998; Wright & Whitehead 1998).^[3]
3. Increased participation for normally shy students  – “Students who normally stay in the background participate more ... are motivated to take part in video conferencing,” found another study cited by BECTA. “The video conferencing context acts as a focus for some students, helping them to organize the way they think and act” (Thorpe 1998).^[3]
4. Increased cooperation from aggressive students – The BECTA review found that “students discover that if they shout out or talk over one another they cannot be understood, and alter their behaviour to take turns to talk” (Thorpe 1998).^[3]
5. Increases productivity – “With video conferencing, every participant in the video-conferencing joining group can see and hear each other with real-time audio and video images, allowing natural face-to-face conversations, regardless of the multiple geographical location restriction,” according to a 2018 “Global Video Conferencing Market Research Report” by Frost & Sullivan Research.^[4] “Video conferencing that is able to engage and to interact with people in real time can help participants tackle problems or discuss new ideas on the spot... Besides, with the sharing function, video conferencing can help to better exchange and read one another’s opinions with less miscommunication. As a result, projects will be completed more smoothly, productivity will increase, and participants feel more in synch with each other.”
6. Improved quality of communication – A ForbesInsights study conducted in July 2017^[5] asked 333 executives (including educational institution leaders) about the relative value of various objectives – such as strengthening relationships or improving understanding – and to what degree video conferencing could help improve performance against each objective. “In every instance, the survey indicates that executives believe video conferencing is a powerful driver of these stated objectives,” ForbesInsights reports. “...83% say they want to improve the quality of communication. Here, 62% overall – and 73% of executives from high-growth companies – say video conferencing improves outcomes.” (See chart below.) In summary, the study found that “Video conferencing energizes teams, not only driving trust alongside deeper levels of understanding and connection, but also accelerating the pace of communication.”

ForbesInsights produced this chart as part of its July 2017 study titled "The Connected Culture." It shows that 84% of the 333 surveyed global executives believe that videoconferencing improves the degree of understanding among participants.

6.  Improves collaboration  – The same ForbesInsights global study found that, “in terms of achieving the higher levels of collaboration, video conferencing is a real game changer – and should be the default setting.”^[5]
7. Improves concentration – Srini Koushik, chief technology officer at Magellan Health, was interviewed as part of the ForbesInsight study. For him, a chief benefit – which applies directly to the e-learning environment – is that once video starts “there’s no longer any semblance of 'out of sight, out of mind.' Participants are less apt to 'zone out' or multitask as they might on an audioconference but instead maintain 'virtual eye contact.'”
8. Improves civility – Koushnik told ForbesInsight that, when video rather than audio-only or textual exchanges are used for remote communication, “the entire feel and etiquette of the meeting changes.”
9. Increases engagement – The ForbesInsight study went on to note that, when using video conferences, there's a distinct advantage to having participants who can both see and be seen. “Any sense of distance is removed,” the study reports. Kerry Holling, CIO of Western Sydney University (WSU), told ForbesInsight that the use of Zoom (Zoom sponsored this study, fyi) has meant that “people no longer really put much distinction between an in-person and a [virtual] meeting.” The school’s video conferencing platform even enables participants to screen share on any internet-connected screening device, and includes 24 Zoom-equipped teaching spaces. “So, students – or whoever – can share in group settings” and maintain “high quality engagement and collaboration,” Holling said.^[5]
10. Improves social inheritance – Social inheritance is the product of the collective resources used to create a final project. A late-2018 report published by Lifewire^[6], a hub for expert-created technology content with more than 10 million users every month, covers “7 Benefits of Video Conferencing.” It cites one such benefit as follows: “Seeing is believing, and showing is convincing. Through video conferencing, you can write on a board and show it to everyone, demonstrate your latest product, or introduce a new recruit.” Thanks to video's visual way of ingraining information, words that could otherwise be lost to visual learners are remembered in the form of images.
11. Improves accessibility – Number seven on Lifewire's benefits-of-video-conferencing list^[6] is video's ability to facilitate learning and teaching online: “Video conferencing is a great way of acquiring and sharing knowledge beyond hurdles. While it will not be like being physically present, the interaction is adequate. You will be able to use multimedia facilities like online interactive whiteboards, and you can use online collaboration tools.”
12. Improves memorability – The ForbesInsight report^[5] cites a separate study that underscores the improved ability for learners to remember what is being discussed when visual clues are included. The study, titled “Achilles’ Ear? Inferior Human Short-Term and Recognition Memory in the Auditory Modality,” was conducted at the University of Iowa. Lead study author James Bigelow summarized the research in the Feb. 26, 2014, issue of Science Daily^[7], by saying "As it turns out, there is merit to the Chinese proverb 'I hear, and I forget; I see, and I remember.'”

As one of our e-Learning Ecologies professors puts it: “We have mountains of evidence that testifies to the fact that people working together, learners working together, are able to solve problems, and be much more creative with any particular set of task than someone simply working on their own.” It is my theory that video conferencing among students is the most effective way to provide those collaborative benefits in today's virtual classroom.