An angel on my shoulder: Mimicking face-to-face supervision of computer-based experiential learning over a local-area-network

Irrespective of the methods used for its delivery, interactions or conversations with an instructor should always be the core of education. In the case study reported here the suitability of a commercially available classroom management tool, with built-in bi-directional audio communication and a range of computer application-sharing services, was explored for the supervision of online students who were performing computer-based experiential learning. Event recordings and practitioner reflections were used to triangulate the outcomes. Analyses of the data collected during this study showed that software utilities that support network-based audio communication and remote computer-desktop control enable the online mimicking of pedagogy that can be identified during face-to-face supervision of this style of learning. The findings of this research can facilitate the implementation of wide-area network-based education platforms that will enable the realtime online supervision of students performing learning-by-doing. The importance of such applications for distance educators has been articulated by those educationalists who have identified the successful delivery of laboratory content within their science-based curricula as one of the distance education providers' greatest challenges.