Hi,
I have done Skype vivas a couple of times. I suggest that all participants wear headphones, even if participants think they usually don't have a problem with Skype sound quality. It's also useful to have the participants' phone numbers in case of dropped calls that can't be re-connected. Other than that, the process seemed the same as an offline viva.
Thanks.
Sean
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From: Teaching Linguistics [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of TEACHLING automatic digest system
Sent: 05 July 2016 00:01
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: TEACHLING Digest - 27 Jun 2016 to 4 Jul 2016 (#2016-55)
There are 3 messages totaling 549 lines in this issue.
Topics of the day:
1. remote viva (3)
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Date: Mon, 4 Jul 2016 08:36:18 +0100
From: Dave Sayers <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: remote viva
Hi TeachLingers,
Have any of you ever taken part in a viva remotely over Skype or other video link? If so, any tips?
Dave
--
Dr. Dave Sayers, ORCID no. 0000-0003-1124-7132 Senior Lecturer, Dept Humanities, Sheffield Hallam University | www.shu.ac.uk Honorary Research Fellow, Cardiff University & WISERD | www.wiserd.ac.uk [log in to unmask] | http://shu.academia.edu/DaveSayers
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Date: Mon, 4 Jul 2016 11:10:15 +0000
From: Robert Lawson <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: remote viva
Hi Dave/TeachLingers,
I did my PhD viva over my university's video conferencing system, since the department was concerned that Skype wouldn't be reliable enough, both in terms of video and audio quality. I have no idea about the actual set-up though, since it was all done and organised before I walked into the video-conferencing room. But in terms of once the viva had started, a few things stuck with me (being on the candidate side). For example, I remember having to wait a little bit each time to be 100% sure that whoever was talking had definitely finished, and there were far fewer opportunities for over-lapping speech, latching, and other interactional aspects of face-to-face conversation (on a few occasions, it got particularly awkward with speaker selection, when two or more people wanted to start speaking at the same time... As you can imagine, lots of false starts!). Since most people have experience of talking on Skype now, this might not be too big a deal though.
If I was on the other side of the table and was one of the examiners, I'd suggest getting participants to check that they have the right version of Skype to do a group-call and giving everyone enough time to check that the equipment works. It'd probably be a good idea to schedule 15-20 minutes before the actual start of the viva to make sure that everyone can hear/see everyone else, that microphones/cameras are functioning properly, that there's not too much lag and/or interference on the call, and deal with any other technical problems that might crop up (programs auto-updating etc). The candidate doesn't necessarily need to be part of this process, since it could be done by their internal supervisor/chair etc, but they're definitely things you'd need to check if you're an external examiner.
Best,
Rob
________________________________
From: Teaching Linguistics [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Dave Sayers [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 04 July 2016 08:36
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: remote viva
Hi TeachLingers,
Have any of you ever taken part in a viva remotely over Skype or other video link? If so, any tips?
Dave
--
Dr. Dave Sayers, ORCID no. 0000-0003-1124-7132 Senior Lecturer, Dept Humanities, Sheffield Hallam University | www.shu.ac.uk<http://www.shu.ac.uk>
Honorary Research Fellow, Cardiff University & WISERD | www.wiserd.ac.uk<http://www.wiserd.ac.uk>
[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> | http://shu.academia.edu/DaveSayers
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 4 Jul 2016 14:11:18 +0000
From: "Patrick, Peter L" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: remote viva
Dave thought this might be useful to the whole list, so sending it on…
Peter L Patrick
Dept. of Language and Linguistics
I am working to contract as part of the UCU industrial action in support of fair pay in higher education. You can find out more about the dispute here:
https://www.ucu.org.uk/fair-deal-for-HE
University of Essex
Colchester
[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
From: Patrick, Peter L
Sent: 04 July 2016 14:00
To: 'Dave Sayers'
Subject: RE: remote viva
Yes quite a few times. I used to have to do them by phone w/no video! Which was very wearying. I’ve done several recently to Caribbean where it’s a very formal process and tech support is not always so good.
Basically it is all the same except for a few obvious but central concerns, which however are often not quite properly anticipated:
--- - technical things, have actual AV person on hand at start to check everything ok and leave their mobile number – something ALWAYS goes wrong – and get contact of tech on other end early in the process of planning
- Much better to do it with Uni AV staff then Skyping yourself though it can work that way. Everyone esp candidate is nervous, best leaving tech issues to others
- Turn-taking and eye-contact and remote person being heard: get viva home people to walk thru briefly at start to make sure you can e.g. see the candidate’s PPT if any, see their face when they answer your Qs, and get everyone else in room who plays a role to introduce selves to you visually and aurally. I find it easiest usually to do vivas with both examiners taking turns within a section/chapter, but be prepared to switch to monologic interaction w/candidate if tech support makes this too difficult, in which case it often works better – even if you are external – to have the other person go first, since some things get repeated otherwise.
- Always takes more time to ask fewer Qs than you think and remote viva exacerbates this, so be prepared to cut Qs on the fly
- Make sure you have LATEST copy or PDF of thesis, ie same as candidate and internal, since constantly being 2, 4 and 7 pages off is extremely wearying when you are remote!
Good luck!
From: Teaching Linguistics [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Dave Sayers
Sent: 04 July 2016 08:36
To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Subject: remote viva
Hi TeachLingers,
Have any of you ever taken part in a viva remotely over Skype or other video link? If so, any tips?
Dave
--
Dr. Dave Sayers, ORCID no. 0000-0003-1124-7132 Senior Lecturer, Dept Humanities, Sheffield Hallam University | www.shu.ac.uk<http://www.shu.ac.uk>
Honorary Research Fellow, Cardiff University & WISERD | www.wiserd.ac.uk<http://www.wiserd.ac.uk>
[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> | http://shu.academia.edu/DaveSayers
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End of TEACHLING Digest - 27 Jun 2016 to 4 Jul 2016 (#2016-55)
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