Abstract
This article describes the use of two-way videoconferencing for providing live clinical supervision of graduate students. It includes the rationale and description of a method of supervision as it has been implemented within a distance education program. The reader is provided with research findings and implications for policymaking within institutions of higher education and professional organizations overseeing the clinical training of future professionals.
TopVideoconferencing For Supervision
The use of videoconferencing for supervision of graduate students may be most appropriate in the context of a distance education program. Characteristically, students participating in distance education programs are located at a distance from the educational institution. For graduate programs requiring clinical training, student placement and supervision at such distances may become a burden for the student and the institution. As mentioned earlier, this places increased demands on the financial and personnel resources at the universities.
The use of videoconferencing for supervision currently employed at the University of Virginia was developed specifically to meet the needs of graduate students enrolled in a distance education master’s degree program. The students were enrolled part-time in the speech-language pathology program while maintaining full-time employment. The students received their academic training through courses delivered by videoconferencing from the university campus to a satellite location. The clinical training component was conducted at public schools throughout the state. Supervision of the the clinical training experience was accomplished through use of videoconferencing.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Videoconferencing: Two-way, interactive communication of audio –video data that occurs in real-time between participants located in two or more locations.
TCP/IP: (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) the basic communication language or protocol of the Internet.
Codec: A computer application that compresses and decompresses the signal for transmission over the Internet
Firewall: A set of related programs that reside on a network gateway server that protects the resources of a private network from users from other networks.
Videoconferencing over IP: The use of the Internet Protocol for transmission of audio-video data during a videoconference.
Bandwidth: The range of frequencies that can pass through a network. The greater the bandwidth, the more information can be sent in a given amount of time.
Videoconferencing for Supervision: The use of two-way interactive videoconferencing for the purpose of live supervision of graduate students
Transmission Protocols: The communication language used for transmission of data. For videoconferencing, there are several available transmission protocols.