Online and Distance Learning

Cyd Strickland
Developing seminars on electronic community--22 seminars held so far

• Using a text-based menu system, but incredibly effective
• Biggest problem is technology (not friendly)
• Need to design a community with an ethic of learning, to facilitate the learning process

Bill Bramble
Issues in Rural Delivery of Higher Education Courses

Distance education at UNM:

• Started in mid-1980s
• Emphasizes video delivery of interactive courses
• Distributed by broadcast, cable, fiber, and satellite
• Deliver about 150 courses per year to both rural and urban students off campus

Importance to Students:

• Access to selected UNM courses and programs in home community
• Access to professional development programs
• Opportunity to evaluate program offerings prior to pursuing resident study
• Opportunity to interact with experts, political leaders less available in rural communities
• Opportunity to discuss issues of common interest with representatives of other communities
• Access to technological infrastructure developed by state's higher education institutions

Value to University:

• Consistent with statewide university mission
• Consistent with NM Commission on Higher Education priorities
• Increases visibility of programs, course offering, expertise
• Extends services
• Increases participation
• Allows involvement from a wider variety of residents

During 1995-96, UNM offered distance education programs in engineering, nursing, special education, extended services (graduate courses in nursing public administration, psychology, education, business), international programs, professional development, K-12 enrichment.

Tried to create an open network with gateways to the rest of the world. They have had conferences both within the US and internationally.

Rural Course Delivery

• Technologies: Digital compressed Ku-band satellite transmissions, telephone, Internet, courier/mail, ITELUNM

• Reception Sites: UNM Branches and Centers, Community Colleges, Public Schools, Hospitals, Community Centers

• Funding: Higher education extended services formula, corporate sponsorship, external funding, student delivery fees

• Course selection: Based on surveys and site requests, aggregate numbers must be sufficient for funding

• Credit: Courses are standard offerings taught by university faculty, standard resident credit provided for interactive courses as per NM CHE Rule

Issues in Rural Program Delivery and Reception include:

• Funding/support concerns
• Identifying and addressing community needs and concerns
• Determining and maintaining appropriate organizational linkages
• Providing training and assistance for remote sites and site facilitators
• Conducting effective system-wide marketing
• Alleviating the problems of institutional access for remote students
• Providing ongoing student support services
• Addressing faculty concerns--distance learning requires new skills and mindset
• Varied requirements of technological access
• Maintaining Community priorities

Howard Besser
Besser has taught a class jointly at the University of California - Berkeley and the University of Michigan for the past two years using distance learning technology. The Web page that resulted from that course can be reached at http://www.si.umich.edu/impact/Winter95.

The Berkeley/Michigan Experiment

• Impact of Multimedia & Networks
• Used generic WWW and Unix tools
• Work from previous classes become resources for subsequent classes

Frameworks for Examining Distance-Independent Education

Framing Distance Education Activities

• time/place intersection
• direction of communication
• level of interactivity
• backchannel

• to support the equivalent of classroom instruction
• to support interaction between the individuals involved in the educational process
• to provide instructional support material

Classroom Presentation Differs

• change in presentation material
• instructor dress and delivery style
• interaction between students and instructor (impossible to see how everyone is reacting to the speaker)

Role of instructor & Instructional Support

• new instructional support personnel
• new roles for traditional instructional support personnel
• new tools for instructional support and collaboration

Multi-campus sites

• scheduling
• differing administrative rules

Locus of control

• the closer students are to the instructor (both in time and in space) the more control the instructor exerts

Issues of Teaching With the World Wide Web

Management Issues

• Multiple Contributors/Collaborators
• Permission Control
• Physical arrangement of files
• Ownership/Maintenance of files
• Presentation to End Users

Social & Policy Issues

• Currency vs. Archiving
• Privacy
• Reliance on Technology

Course Modularization

Impact of Distance Education

Impact on Instructor and Instructor Community

• Reliance on Experts
• Centralized Control
• Education more subject to Market Forces (idea that you can spread the cost of a course among more people)
• Diminishment of Cross-Disciplinary Interactions

Impact on Student Experience

• Loss of a Physical Community
• Distance in Interactions

Important Questions

• What is Appropriate Subject Matter?
• Is it Viable for the Liberal Arts?
• What is Appropriate Context?
• What is Appropriate Methodology?

For more information, E-mail Besser or view his Home Page.

Also, a Distance Education page is currently under construction.

Finally, please note that a Special Perspectives issue on Distance-Independent Education, edited by Howard Besser and Stacey Donahue of the University of Michigan, will be available from the Journal of the American Society for Information Science in October 1996.

Reported by Emily Lenhart.