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 telecommunication s network. This essay explores the communication that takes place duri ng one of these college courses and reports, from the students' perspe ctives, what it is like to be a participant in a live, interactive tel evision classroom. Results from classroom observations and from indivi dual and group interviews indicate that the distance learning setting influenced students' perceptions of classroom interaction. We make sug gestions for teachers who seek to improve interaction in the distance setting and conclude with research questions communication scholars sh ould pursue to help teachers improve the communication climate of the fiber-optics classroom.