The evolution of audiographics: a case study of audiographics teaching in a business faculty

Audiographics was an established educational technology prior to the development and spread of the World Wide Web (Web) in the early 1990s. First generation audiographics products used bridged telephone lines (audio) and modem linked computers (graphics) to synchronously connect an instructor with groups of students. In the second half of the 1990s the use of the Web increased dramatically and traditional audiographics use declined. Since the early 2000s, and as part of the development of a second generation of Web services, Web 2.0, a new generation of audiographics tools, now commonly termed collaborative or Web conferencing software, have become available. This evolution of the audiographics technology and its associated instructional capabilities is explored via a longitudinal case study of the use of audiographics in the Faculty of Business at Southern Cross University. Following a review of the first and second generation products used, we identify and show how four key lessons from the initial period of use have been addressed. We focus particularly on how the fourth lesson (flexibility of the delivery format) has been addressed and present preliminary data gathered from early student and staff adopters about their use of second generation audiographics during Semester 2 of 2005 and Semester 1 of 2006. We conclude by briefly discussing some potential developments and suggesting that second generation audiographics offers the opportunity to seriously re-think the nature of student-tostudent and student-to-staff communications in the context of our learning and teaching environment.