Audio technology is the probably the most underutilized of the technologies that can be used to provide an interactive component to training or education done at a distance. It is cost effective for large or small groups, provides users with a method to connect with other users and the instructor which reduces the sense of isolation common for distance learners. Equipment purchases for audio conferencing are low or nonexistent if a public bridge is used and the user places the call. Pilot studies are easily undertaken without major funding.

Uses for audio teleconferencing include:

• Viewers call the program origination site to ask questions which is common in satellite delivered teleconferencing;
• Continuous open audio line so that sites participate freely and fully in discussion which is common in two-way audio/two-way video systems;
• Conducting full classes using only audio technology;
• Augmenting audio technology with audiographics technology where an electronic blackboard or graphics pallet is used by the instructor at the origination site and the image is transmitted to and seen by all receive sites;
• Scheduling class audio conferences with the instructor/expert when using other mediated systems such as video tape based classes delivered by satellite, cable, student loan, or learning center, or to augment traditional face-to-face classes.

Setting Up An Audio Conference: If your facility does not have a conferencing function available through the switchboard, or a conference bridge, there are a number of bridge conferencing services available. These include ConferTech, AT&T, Darome, US Sprint, and DataBeam. Call the organization to determine charges and how they set up conferences.

To set up an audio conference, call the bridge operator with the following information:

• Time of day for the conference and approximately how long it will last.
• Whether the participants will call in or the operator is to call them. A list of names and telephone numbers. If users call the bridge they will incur the long distance charges. For public bridges with 1-800 numbers, international participants must be called by the bridge operator.
• Number of ports - one per person or one per site. Public bridges can accommodate hundreds of calls at once.
• If the entire group will meet and then split into smaller discussion groups, the operator will need a list of who is assigned to which group.
• The name of the meeting chair.

Equipment: Individuals will need only a regular telephone. If a group at one site is to call in, a speaker phone is the minimum equipment needed so that everyone can hear and speak to the other sites; however these usually "clip" the sound when there are too many inputs such as several people talking at once. The remedy is an audio conferencing product, such as those available from Shure, NEC and Darome, which connect with the phone line and are put in the center of a conference table with the participants around it. These units house microphones and speakers and have no audible echo, distortion, or objectionable clipping or dropout.

Using an Audio Conference: As a component of a national telecourse offered via C-band satellite by the University of Missouri - St. Louis (Lane, 1990), four hour-long audio conferences were held every two weeks for student interaction. Students viewed two hours of the telecourse every Saturday morning. Nineteen students and the instructor could participate in each of the three sections. If a student was unable to call-in, the conference was taped and sent to the student ($6). Students had three texts, including a 200-page study guide, and used self-directed learning contracts. Assignments were mailed to the instructor to grade and returned to the students.

Audio Conference Research

Research was designed to determine if group audio conferencing was a useful method of interaction with the instructor. The instructor holds a doctorate in adult education and used facilitation methods recommended by Knowles (1970). Little research has been done in audio conferencing (Williams, et al., 1988, p. 24).

Bales has defined interaction as the behavior of one person influencing the behavior of another in a face-to-face situation. Interaction analysis in its broadest sense is a method of describing and interpreting human interaction as it occurs in a specific group setting (Bales, 1950 in Emmert, 1970, p. 373).

Interactivity is a widely used term, but it is an underdefined concept. As a way of thinking about communication, it has high face validity, but only narrowly based explication, little consensus on meaning, and only recently emerging empirical verification of actual role (Hawkins, 1988, p. 110). The most helpful definition for interactivity would be one predicated on the issue of responsiveness. The distinction called for is between interactive, quasi-interactive (reactive), and non-interactive communication sequences. Quasi- and fully-interactive sequences differ clearly from non-interactive communication in requiring that sender and receiver roles be interchangeable with each subsequent message. The complete absence of interaction is marked by incoherent conversation (Hawkins, 1988, p. 110).

The users of interaction analysis techniques have identified three dimensions: the affective, cognitive, and multidimensional. The affective systems generally examine such teacher behaviors as positive/negative reaction to students, praise, criticism, encouragement, acceptance, and support. Cognitive systems focus on a statement's abstraction level, logical processes, and the type of logical or linguistic function a behavior serves. Multidimensional systems attempt to identify factors from affective and cognitive dimensions (Emmert, 1970, p. 374).

Enough categories should be established to describe any occurrence and should be mutually exclusive so that the observer cannot describe an occurrence with more than one category. All verbal behavior is classified into one of three divisions: Teacher talk; student talk; and silence, confusion, or miscellaneous occurrences. Teacher talk is further classified as indirect and direct. (Emmert, 1970, p. 381.) Subcategories were added to the existing system (E. J. Amidon et al., 1968, in Emmert, 1970, p. 398.) Occurrences are determined by calculating the percentage of time used for all categories (Emmert, 1970).

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