Webcam Debating: Moving Debate into the Twenty-First Century

By John R. Foster, Ph. D.
Assistant Professor of Communication
Northwestern State University of Louisiana
foster@nsula.edu

Abstract

Students entering into debate programs are members of a generation that embraces technology as a matter of course.  These students are among the brightest minds who are not intimidated by uses of technology.  To that end, university, junior college, and high school faculty are blessed with the talent and the resources to expand debate options and program growth through the use of Internet webcam debating.

Abstract

What is proposed in this article is that schools make use of an inexpensive Internet webcam connection that provides real time debate competition between schools and teams in other parts of the region, state or even the country.

We are all looking for ways to reduce costs and improve outcomes.  Too many of us face stagnant or declining budgets that, at the very least, put a strain on under funded debate teams at both the university and high school levels.  Smaller schools may have only two to six members on their squad.  The level of debate experience ranges from novice to several years of high school and/or college experience.  The challenge is to offer opportunities that maximize the learning through the broadest range of debating experiences.   Certainly intra-squad rounds offer some of those experiences as does tournament competition.  The Internet offers ways to expose students to a broader range of debate opponents.

lsat sThis idea originated from a request by a member of our English faculty, who asked if I knew any way to allow a student studying in Korea to defend his thesis.  Our Communication Center is equipped with Internet connections in each of the presentation studios with forty-two inch flat panel monitors to view the webcam connection.   We purchased a webcam and we possessed all the basic  resources necessary to establish the link.   We then established the account and tested the connection between Louisiana and Korea.  When we were sure that this connection would work, we set up a table for the faculty committee in the presentation studio and the defense was conducted.  The connection lasted approximately forty five minutes.  We were able to video tape both sides of the thesis defense using external DVD recorders and a digital camera. 

In the same way, use of Internet webcam connections can provide debate teams the opportunity to debate against squads that they may otherwise never be able to debate.  These online debates are not heavily constrained by money or distance.  Students can improve their debating skills and gain an appreciation of their strengths and weaknesses before entering a tournament and face to face competition.  For those students taking courses in debate at different institutions who do not compete on the traveling squad, this would allow tournament style competition among these students at a very minimal cost.  Two or more faculty at different campuses coordinate their courses (or debate squad practice) to be at the same time of the day.  With a Internet webcam connection debates could be held with non-competing class members acting as judges.

What is needed is a room at each location that has Internet access, a reasonable high quality webcam that has a sufficiently wide angle lense to allow the opposing teams a view of the debaters at each location.  In addition, the room will need to have a monitor that is sufficiently large to view the opposing team and is connected to the computer to which the webcam is attached. Accounts will need to be established that carry the webcam connection through providers such as Yahoo and Skype.  The connections need to be made five minutes before the debate is to begin so that any adjustments to the systems can be made and tested.  A Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) or better connection is needed to ensure the least possible interruption of the link during the debate.

There are other possible applications which will benefit debate programs.  The webcam debates can be used as a recruiting tool.  A high school or junior college team could be asked to debate against a four university team as a means to build a relationship between high school and junior college students and a four year university program.  Post graduate debate clubs could be formed and teams could make connections with other debaters around the country to continue in active debate long after their college level competition has ended.  Webcam connections offer a tutoring option through which students may be able to gain additional help from a pool of coaches offering assistance to more remote sites.  Home schooled students with limited or remote access to debate programs at other schools may be able to become active in debate that would otherwise be inaccessible. We could use this method to promote debate to those in the elementary and junior high schools ranks by forming debate teams through schools or organizations like the Boys and Girls clubs or YMCA. 

Technology should be used to promote debate among the youth and young adults of our nation.  Internet webcam should become an integral part of expanding debate programs across all levels of education.