ABSTRACT
Most of the distance education systems in use today have been built on the basis of a bidirectional video-mediated teleconference systems, that is, views of a lecturer’s face and/or learning material are transmitted to the learners’ sites, and vice versa. In such a system, however, it has been pointed out that gaze, gesture, and other body movements are generally not as accessible as in normal face-to-face communication. Heath and Luff (1991, 1992) found asymmetries in interpersonal communication through video-mediated presence systems. Resources, such as gestures and gazes, that a speaker might ordinarily use to shape the way in which a recipient should participate were found to be unreliable. Thus, the prevailing systems are not sufficient particularly for conducting collaborative learning where nonverbal interaction is crucial, such as in a scientific experiment or in a physical exercise, although they may be acceptable for an educational situation such as a lecture in which the maintenance of social interaction is less critical.
