¶ … Video Conferencing In this chapter, actuaries are going to be looking at the methodology that will be utilized as a part of the research project. This will be accomplished by examining different areas to include: the research design, participants, procedures, instruments, data analysis, validity / reliability, ethical considerations and limitations. Together, these elements will provide specific insights as to how additional training can be provided to IT personnel. In the future, this will allow these individuals to use their knowledge and skills to improve the quality of higher education. This is the point that these insights will enhance the rates of responsiveness (among IT personnel) and quality.

Research Design

The basic methodology that will be utilized is the quantitative approach. This is when series of open ended responses are provided to respondents. The objectives are to understand their views on video conferencing. Actuaries will then, concentrate on how this influences the quality of higher education. Moreover, the study will focus on the effectiveness of these tools in developing curriculum, troubleshooting critical challenges, enhancing the skillsets of technicians and its impact. (Hughes, 2012)

To fully understand the way that these techniques could be used requires considering a number of variables that will focus on specific aspects of the problem and offer innovative solutions. This means carefully examining various challenges and possible resolutions over the long-term. It is at this point when these ideas can be used to enhance training and knowledge. (Needy, 1997) ("Annual 2010 -- 2011," 2011)

Participants

Target Population

The participants will be males, who are selected from within the IT and educational sectors. They will be chosen by asking each person to voluntarily contribute to the survey. The subjects will come from those professionals who are currently working in higher education. This will provide specific insights about the challenges impacting colleges and universities when it comes to video conferencing. Furthermore, the opinions of respondents will be sought out to understand the most effective approaches for dealing with these challenges. This will be the dependent variable of the project. (Needy, 1997) ("Annual 2010 -- 2011," 2011)

Once this takes place, is when a second group of female respondents will be selected from within the IT industry. They can share their ideas about potential challenges that are effecting other educational institutions and how to address them. This will serve as the independent variable. (Needy, 1997) ("Annual 2010 -- 2011," 2011)

These insights are essential, in allowing actuaries to compare the challenges of using video conferencing at a wide variety of educational institutions and inside other sectors. This will help everyone to see if these issues are isolated to the field of higher education. Furthermore, these insights are offer unique solutions for addressing these challenges over the long-term. This is when the quality of education is improved with stakeholders having more choices available to them. (Needy, 1997) ("Annual 2010 -- 2011," 2011)

The Population Sample

The population sample will focus on specific demographics of IT professionals. This will be subdivided into a number of groups to include: gender and age. The total number of participants will be 85 people. This is divided into 37 female and 48 male IT technicians. The gender responses will be based upon having a higher percentage of men vs. women. (Needy, 1997) ("Annual 2010 -- 2011," 2011)

This is designed to reflect the amounts of women that are working inside the IT sector. The age demographic will be subdivided into the category of 19 to 42 years old. This will ensure that the sample is taking into account a variety of individuals when analyzing the responses from numerous subjects. (Needy, 1997) ("Annual 2010 -- 2011," 2011)

The research will be conducted on site. The reason why male and female video conferencing technicians were selected is because they can provide insights about changes in the utilization of this technology and its applications. Moreover, they are familiar with how to develop these solutions inside the classroom. The inclusion of both in the study will avoid any kind of subjectivity. (Needy, 1997) ("Annual 2010 -- 2011," 2011)

As a result, this target population was chosen based upon the views they can offer about the effectiveness of video conferencing training systems. This is the point that they can offer unique insights about possible challenges and how to address them. The way that all data will be collected is in the form of an opinion survey. This is where respondents will provide their beliefs about various changes and the use of different applications. The main sampling techniques that will be used are the non-probability...

(Needy, 1997) ("Annual 2010 -- 2011," 2011)
Probability sampling is when every unit with the population has a zero chance of selection. This research will adopt with the convenience of random sampling techniques to determine the most appropriate population model. This means that the study will constitute videoconferencing technicians from the research site.

These approaches were selected because surveying larger samples will be difficult to collect and there are contrasting opinions. This makes it more challenging to accurately focus the research. As a result, the sample for the study will be a reflection of this group and their ideas. This will improve the accuracy of the findings and conclusions.

The sample size was selected by taking into account the industry average for males to females. To improve the validity of the study actuaries added to the total number of women in contrast with men. This will provide more insights about what the minority of professionals in the industry think about video conferencing and its use in the field of higher education.

The amount that is currently utilized for this project is accounting for 43.5% of female and 56.5% of male respondents. This is higher than the industry average for women who make up 25.3% of the workforce. These larger percentages will allow us to understand contrasting ideas and the way these applications can be utilized inside the classroom. This is the point that we can provide more specific insights about what approaches are most effective and their long-term impacts on the field of higher education. (Messmer, 2004)

Procedures for Selecting the Sample

The basic procedure that will be utilized for collecting the sample will be to concentrate on comparative analysis. This is when actuaries will objectively look at different facts and then compare their findings with other information. The basic idea is to understand the overall trends and how they are impacting respondents. This will improve the accuracy of the research and it allows everyone to mirror these results in future projects. These ideas can be used as a foundation for comprehending the challenges impacting IT professionals and improving training / knowledge. (Brown, 2011)

This instrument is often used in educational research to compare the impact of different ideas on contrasting systems. It was developed as a way to objectively analyze the data and identify the underlying trends. This improves the validity of the findings by forcing actuaries to corroborate these facts with others. Anything that does not meet these objectives will be disregarded as an anomaly. (Brown, 2011)

As a result, the other salient information will be divided into different categories to understand and compare these responses. The most notable include: current problems, opinions, recommendations and insights. These areas will help actuaries to quickly analyze the information and identify the overall trends. (Brown, 2011)

This approach was used by Brown (2011), for contrasting video conferencing solutions at: North Dakota State University and with special programs for New Zealand farmers. What is happening, is Brown determined that North Dakota State had an effective alternative education program (using e-learning solutions). To determine if these techniques can work on others, she compared them with those that were used by the New Zealand government. They wanted to offer low cost, educational solutions to everyone. The basic philosophy is to use this to increase the number of choices and provide better quality services. (Brown, 2011)

In a test program, the government began to see if teleconferencing will help select segments of farmers. The results were that there was a dramatic improvement in participation rates, achievement scores and the ability to recall key ideas in the future. Commenting about these findings Brown observed, "These trials have demonstrated that e-learning based on video conferencing supported by other technologies such as document cameras and flip-videos can successfully deliver an interactive learning program that caters directly for individual learning style preferences and their need for learning to be social and tailored to their own interests, experience, context, systems and issues." (Brown, 2011) This is illustrating how the basic approach we are using can be successful in deciding the issues impacting IT professionals and the way it is affecting quality.

Moreover, permission to invite all participants will be obtained from Director of Technology Facilities Planning and Support. They have already expressed their support for the research project and its merits. This office will play a central role in helping to recruit and maintain a list of the trainees. Any kind of personal data (such as emails and telephone numbers) will be collected through this office.

Researchers will…