Syndialexi is the name of a set of intercultural training activities developed as the third part of the Estia pilot Project, together with Phaistos (the Internet part) and Hermes (the communication part).

Two kinds of activities took place under Syndialexi, at two different moments of the Project development :

• During the 1^st year : 2 day training sessions provided by an expert of one partner country, for groups of practitioners of another one. These sessions were organised in a traditional form, with an expert travelling to the "trainee" country to do his/her presentation in front of the audience. Although their main purpose was mutual awareness of project partners, those training sessions benefited larger groups of professionals in each country. This report doesn't deal with that 1^st type of activities.

• During the 3^rd year : training sessions provided via videoconference. These activities are the only ones described in this report.

 This report includes three parts :

1. report on the actions implemented
2. report on the questionnaire sent to the training providers and beneficiaries
3. general remarks about videoconference by the Syndialexi co-ordinator

 
Actions implemented

The common purpose of the training sessions organised under Syndialexi was to allow a better understanding of the information provided by the European Estia homepage on either all or specific aspects of the education and training systems in the partner countries. The target groups always included guidance professionals together with either teachers/trainers or students, and sometimes both.

All the sessions were multisite with normally 4 trainee sites and one training provider. The topics were chosen by the whole partnership during the co-ordination meetings

The following sessions took place :

• a first series of four sessions each of them provided by one partner country for the benefit of the three others. All those sessions had the same topic : « How to use the country’s national Estia homepage ».
• a second series of four, each of them on a specific topic (see table below).

• Step 1 : preparation. A few days before the session, the trainee partners informed the provider about :

• the expected audience (size, quality of participants)
• the main points of interest and the expected questions

For the second series of sessions, a few written documents were prepared by the provider and sent to the partners via e-mail, to be printed and distributed to the audience.

The training provider arranged the technical details with the bridge provider. Normally, test connections were organised prior to each session.

• Step 2 : the session itself. The connection normally lasted two hours with a 15 minute break in the middle. For the sessions dealing with the use of the national Estia homepages, a second computer on each site was simultaneously connected to Internet. With some variations, the typical session progressed as follows.

• The first few minutes were used to introduce the contributors and the audience on each site, and check that the connection was complete.
• The remaining time of the 1^st half (roughly 45 minutes) was a lecture provided by one or several contributors.
• The 15 minute break was used for a discussion on each trainee site. The questions to ask were listed by a chair person.
• The second half was used for questions, answers and discussion.

• Step 3 : feed back and further information. In the days following the session, each trainee site sent their evaluation including questions about points which remained unclear.

1. Report on the questionnaires

Two questionnaires were sent in March 1999 to the different partners who took part in the training sessions. One was for the training providers and the other one for the trainee sites.

All the training providers answered their questionnaire but, concerning the trainee sites, two answers from Finland were missing (Turku and Oulu).

Each "training provider" questionnaire was about all the sessions each partner had provided.

Each "trainee" questionnaire was about all the sessions in which each partner had participated.

Copies of the two questionnaires are attached to this report.

The questionnaires were sent between 2 and 10 months after the different sessions took place. Thus the answers were based more on a real remembrance than on an immediate impression. It must also be noted that several sessions were apparently "forgotten" by one or more trainees and even by the providers themselves. All the "forgotten" sessions were out of the first series ("How to use the national homepages").

 
Information common to both questionnaires

Audiences : an average audience included partners' staff, counsellors from other services, teachers and young people. The largest audience on one site was 24.

Technical facilities : together with the PictureTel Live VC system, all partners were equipped with the integrated Liveshare Plus program which allows the sharing of Windows applications and the use of accessories such as a white board. It is quite surprising that none of these facilities was used during the training sessions. The most likely explanation is that the training providers felt a lack of experience due to insufficient previous training and were afraid of their own clumsiness.

A few other facilities were used :

• facilities for larger audiences : video projector (twice), TV screens (three times), and specially designed studio (once)

• remote control and zoom camera, which proved to be most useful and almost essential.
• document camera, useful but with some limits (can't be used to show small details)
• Internet (WWW) picture sent by the training provider together with sound and picture (using the same ISDN connection). This facility was tested once and can only show the audience what a web page looks like. Due to the poor picture quality it doesn't allow the audience to read the screen, except maybe some titles which are in a large font size.
• Internet on a separate computer (each site connected on their own) : this facility worked quite well and was essential for the first series of sessions. It proved to be more convenient than the system mentioned above. But it requires co-ordination and discipline (all trainees have to do the same thing at the same time). Slow Internet connections are also an inconvenience as the slower trainee sites can easily get "left behind" and "lost".

Technical problems

The main difficulty by far was to have all sites connected at the right time and for the whole session. Frequent problems occurred with the bridge providers even when prior tests had been made. At least on two occasions a partner was unable to take part in the session, and several times participants missed part of it. The bridge provider provided vague technical explanations at each time.

Other less serious problems linked with the connection also disturbed some sessions: one partner's picture disappeared or remained "frozen" for several minutes, no sound on one site for a while, bad quality of sound…

Lastly, some so-called technical problems were just caused by mishandling of equipment or lack of preparation of the VC room :

• Problems with the sound : background noise (can be avoided by muting the microphones of those who are not speaking), echo (inappropriate VC room), inaudible speakers (speaking too far from the microphone).
• Bad picture due to insufficient lighting, back-lighting, participants sitting too far from the camera, speakers looking at the screen instead of the camera, people moving in the background, etc.

 
"Training providers" questionnaire

Answers received

Five answers were received (2 from Sweden, 1 from Finland, 1 from France, 1 from the UK). Six training sessions were mentioned and two were "forgotten" (both about "how to use the national website").

Bridge providers

A Swedish bridge provider (Dyning, from Göteborg) was used by four organisations, a Finnish bridge provider (HPY, from Helsinki) was used by the Finnish partner. The choice of the Swedish bridge provider was motivated by substantially lower costs.

Contributors

The number of contributors in one session ranged from 1 to 5. The majority were staff members of the partner organisation, but external contributors (guidance counsellors, teachers and youngsters) were present on at least four occasions.

Dealing with the ideal number of contributors, it seems that "the longer the presentation, the more the number of contributors. More contributors add variety and interest to a presentation. However, too many in a short space of time can be confusing. Perhaps there is also a need to have 1 or 2 persons to link the different presentations in order to provide continuity" (Careers Europe).

Dialogue with the audiences

A general impression is that the contact was "fairly good" and "relaxed". However, some obstacles to a good dialogue are mentioned. They include : lack of time (managing technique requires always more time than scheduled), audience not prepared enough, language problems, questions a bit disconnected (showing lack of attention).

General feeling about transnational VC training

It is fairly positive. VC is, at least, considered as a good instrument for introduction or general information on a transnational subject. Remarks for quality improvement include: very careful presentation, written material sent in advance, selected audience with some prior knowledge of the topic, presence of contributors from outside, a chair person on each site, site to site training rather than multisite, good planning, excellent equipment, skilled staff…

 "Trainees" questionnaire

Answers received

Six answers were received (3 from Sweden, 1 from Finland, 1 from France, 1 from the UK).

• One partner attended 4 sessions
• Three partners attended 3 sessions
• One partner attended 2 sessions
• One partner attended only 1 session

Outcome for the trainees

A majority of participants consider that, thanks to the session, they were "better informed and more able to find information on the topic". However, none of them felt "fully aware" and two participants thought they were "not really better informed" after at least one of the sessions. Although nobody thinks VC allows the same kind of contact as traditional training, the following statement reflects the general feeling : "Participants are very willing to forgive the minor disadvantages of videoconference technology when it allows meetings to take place which otherwise would have been more or less impossible" (Infoteket Uppsala).

Suggestions for a better outcome include : limited groups (maximum figures mentioned vary from 10 to 30), a chair person on each site, previous explanations about the technique and its limits, voluntary audience with an expressed interest in the topic, audience with some prior knowledge of the topic, pre-recorded presentations coupled with live discussion…

1. General remarks by the Syndialexi co-ordinator

3.1 about methods and technique

The remarks below reflect the views of the co-ordinator of the Syndialexi part of Estia (CII Lyon). They can't be considered as a synthesis of the conclusions of the whole partnership concerning videoconference. Persons interested should also refer to the report on the Hermes part of Estia, produced by C3L - Tyresö.

 
    A - A few basic principles

• The audience should be motivated and able to understand what is going to be said (in terms of language ability and awareness of the topic at least in their own country)
• Documents should be sent in advance, in a very clear format, with numbered pages
• Only very simple and clear documents should be shown on the screen, e.g. diagrams. Text documents should be reserved to small audiences (2 or 3) or excellent technical environment.

• Good lighting, no source of light in front of the camera
• Silence and no echo in the room
• Nobody moving behind the contributors
• Contributors sitting close to the camera, in front of it (not lower) and looking at it rather than at the screen.
• Not too many people in front of the camera. Remote control and zoom should be used to focus on the person who's speaking

• Contributors should speak very clearly, and loud enough. Non-native speakers should be careful with their English and their accent. Native speakers should use a standard English and keep permanently in mind the need to speak slowly. All contributors should check frequently that they are understood.
• Any term linked to a national context should be explained. Explanations should be repeated several times if necessary.
• Contributors should keep in mind that one gets easily tired when listening to a foreign language. Even motivated people eventually stop listening.
• Each site should have a chairperson responsible for gathering questions which allows the questions to be asked in an organised and clear manner.

• Application share users (including training providers and trainee site managers) should keep their competence up to date and retrain a short time before each session.
• A remote control and zoom camera is essential when more than three persons are present on one site.
• For larger audiences, TV screens or videoprojectors are necessary as well as darkness in the room.
• When Internet is used on several sites simultaneously, fast connections should be used to avoid anybody getting "lost".
• It's risky to have a whole session depending on a sophisticated technique. Simpler alternative solutions should be ready in case of a breakdown and the audience should be informed in advance that the system is not totally reliable.

Multisite or site to site ? Site to site sessions make the dialogue easier but cost more. Multisite sessions save some money and look more futuristic, but they may cause problems :

• Ensuring everybody is connected during the whole session is not so easy (the opposite happened more often).
• One can't be sure that the audiences are similar (in size, quality, awareness, understanding…).
• It is almost impossible to have a real dialogue with each site (especially with large audiences).
• It is necessary to mute the microphones, with some consequences (the link with the speaker is only one way, he/she can't know if you're really listening, you can say anything, make any comment…).

Continuous presence (split screen) or voice activated system ? (This choice concerns only multisite sessions)

The continuous presence system allows participants to see the four distant sites simultaneously each one on a portion of the screen. With the voice activated system, only one site (the speaking one) appears on the screen, with a full size picture.

Disadvantages of the "continuous presence" system :

• The very small size of each picture affects quality. It is difficult to see the expressions on the faces of the participants. When more than three persons are in front of the camera, it is difficult to recognise who is speaking.
• The audience on each site doesn't see the interest and would prefer one large picture of the training provider.

Disadvantages of the voice-activated system :

• The training provider can't see the reactions of the different audiences. There is no way for the trainee sites to show when they have a problem, except by interrupting the provider.
• The system requires a high level of discipline from the trainees, and requires the provider to stay very alert (to check periodically that no trainee site has a problem).

Ideally, the most convenient system would combine a split screen on the provider's site and a full size picture on each trainee's screen. This possibility was not available when the sessions took place.

3.2 About videoconference compared with traditional forms of training

A - How to meet real needs ?

Practitioners involved in transnational guidance activity tend to consider the need for training in that field as obvious. But we are forced to notice that :

• although their number is growing, still few professionals are really involved in transnational guidance activities. For the majority, personal curiosity remains the main source of interest;
• with regard to the public, the interest is mainly focusing on a very small number of countries. It can be difficult to gather a significant audience when less popular destinations are concerned.
• many potential participants, both professionals and clients have language problems and find it hard or impossible to receive training - or even information - in English (not to mention French, Swedish or Finnish which were not used in Syndialexi).

To offer really useful and popular sessions in the future we suggest :

• dealing with guidance practitioners, teachers etc. : to offer them training and opportunities to exchange and share experiences about their daily concerns on specific issues like "integration of immigrants", "drop outs", etc.
• dealing with education and training establishments : to involve only motivated students in the sessions, with some prior knowledge about what will be offered to them.
• dealing with the general public : offer group information sessions on really popular issues or destinations and arrange personal advising for individuals, using internet VC to reduce the costs.

B - Accepting and overcoming difficulties

Videoconference is not just a modern looking, fashionable, and money saving form of training. Its usefulness will appear only if the difficulties it can generate are identified and overcome.

For the training providers, the compared levels of difficulty of classical and VC training providing home and abroad are summarised in the following table.

For the trainees : the difficulties linked with technique and language have already been mentioned. Generally, we must keep in mind that :

• the trainee is not in front of a person, he/she is in front of a computer screen
• his/her physical connection with the trainer is very thin and fragile
• his/her mental relationship with the trainer is equally fragile

The relationship between trainee and trainer may easily lose its mental reality, leading to loss of attention or even complete "switching off". This may happen in four cases :

• Bad quality of picture or sound generating weariness and misunderstanding
• Understanding difficulties (much more likely to happen than during a classical training session)
• Inappropriate handling of technique
• Long sessions, or long periods of time spent just listening

Depending on the audience (size, quality, ages), the "switching off" phenomenon will appear more or less quickly and in a more or less visible way.

Regardless of the contents, the ideal conditions for a videoconference training vary with the size of the audiences according to the following table.

Updated 2001-05-28  Webmaster