Editorial
Telecommunications, Internationalism, and Distance
Education
Michael G. Moore
Articles
(for abstracts, click here)
Research in Distance Education: A System Modeling Approach
Farhad Saba
Preferred Learning Styles
and Their Impact on Completion of External Degree Programs
Chere Campbell Coggins
The Use of Computer-Mediated
Communication in Training Students in Group Problem-Solving and Decision-Making
Techniques
Gerald M. Phillips, Gerald M. Santoro, and Scott A. Kuehn
Asynchronous Electronic
Communication: A North American-Thai Collaboration
George A. B. Moore
Forum
Lifelong Learning and Distance Education
Christopher K. Knapper
Grass Roots
Interactive Television at Community Colleges in Minnesota
Karen Kitchen
Instructional Television
Fixed Service in Arizona
Norman Wagner and Elizabeth H. Craft
Interview
Speaking Personally with Leslie N. Purdy
Avis Meenan
Media Review
Television, the Currriculum, and Distance Education: An Update
Gary E. Miller
Book Reviews
Technologies for Learning Outside the Classroom
Edited by John A. Niemi and Dennis D. Gooler
Jerold W. Apps
Instructional Telecommunications:
Principles and Practices
by D. R. Hudspeth and R. G. Brey
Sebastian Martorana
EDITORIAL
Telecommunications, Internationalism, and
Distance Education
Michael G. Moore
Distance education has been an important element of the educational scene, especially of adult and continuing education and the training of adults, for more than a hundred years. At times the dominant medium of communication has changed, and the media have been applied in different ways and in varying degrees in many countries, a result of a variety of factors but in particular, differences in countries' wealth and their communications' infrastructure.
Historically, the primary means of communication between learners and instructors separated by space and time has been through the printed word, and this is still the preferred medium of literally millions of distance learners throughout North America and abroad. In the years immediately before the Second World War radio became a medium of some educational importance in North America. It too is still widely favored around the world, especially in parts of Central and South America, Africa, and Asia, though it has not been a dominant medium in the United States for many years. In the sixties, educators concerned about distance learning experimented with television and with programmed instruction. In the seventies, while applications of television in education continued to grow, programmed instruction gave way to learning through the computer, especially the personal computer. Programmed instruction techniques have also lived on through the enormous improvements in the seventies in the design of the printed study guide, especially in the world's open universities.
The end of the eighties sees us on the threshold of a new phase in the evolution of the application of communications media in education. Current developments suggest that the 1990s will be the era in which we see the development, application, and promotion for education of the teleconferencing media. These include the already long established but still under-utilised medium of audioconferencing, the relatively new medium of computer conferencing, and most importantly, the application of videoteleconferencing delivered by satellite. The emerging organizational models and early leaders in this area include the National Technological University, the National University Teleconferencing Network, The College Satellite Network, the Electronic University Network, and the training departments of many major corporations.
Reference to teleconference networks has been made in each issue of the first volume of this Journal. In the first issue it was included in Whittington's account of interactive television and Miller's reference to technologies that send broadcast quality television over inexpensive telephone lines; in Issue Two, Brock mentioned five hundred colleges and universities already equipped with DBS-receive antennas, and Anderson reviewed audio and videoteleconferencing in the health care industry. In the last issue, England told us more about the National Technological University, and discussed the implications of satellite-borne education for educational policymakers, while Wagner and Reddy analyzed the unique transmission qualities of audiographic teleconferencing, audioteleconferencing, videoteleconferencing, and computer conferencing.
TELECON VII. Distance
Learning Conference
Since working on the last issue, I was able to participate in the Annual
Distance Learning Conference offered as part of the Telecon VII conference
organized by Teleconference, "The Business Communication Magazine."
I learned that membership of NUTN has grown nearly 80 percent in the past
year. Beginning with sixty-seven college members and ten programs in 1982,
there are now more than 250 organizations either providing or receiving
a range of more than one hundred programs in such areas as: aging, agriculture,
AIDS, child abuse, tax planning, reading instruction, engineering, interpersonal
relationships, international affairs, marketing, medicine, and social
and political affairs. Videoteleconferencing through NUTN has been the
medium of delivery of interactive programs to as many as six thousand
people at a time, located at some two hundred receive sites. Among individual
universities displaying their teleconference programs were Oklahoma State
University, the University of Notre Dame, University of Maryland, and
California State College, Chico. At the community- and junior-college
level, 66 percent of the members of the American Association of Community
and Junior Colleges have access to a satellite downlink, 48 percent own
their own, and 25 percent are said to plan to buy one in 1988.
National Technological University (NTU), now has fifteen universities that can originate live broadcasts on its satellite system, and twenty-four leading four-year colleges are members. Typical of a NTU program was last summer's project in which the Massachusetts Institute of Technology provided an updating program for electrical engineering faculty from seventy-two engineering schools across the nation. Typical of the efforts of dozens of major corporations to introduce videoconferencing into their training programs is The Interactive Satellite Education Network (ISEN), IBM's new satellite-borne system. This is a one-way video, two-way audio network, with originating studios in four cities, and receive sites in thirteen. Other corporations making impressive presentations at the conference include: Federal Express, with daily programs to eight hundred downlinks nationwide; Kodak Corporation sending twice weekly, two-hour training programs, currently nationwide but with plans for an international network; Tandem Computers, broadcasting to eleven European countries as well as to seventy-two sites in North America; the AETNA Insurance Corporation whose Director of Corporate Communication I heard say, "Unless you have interaction it doesn't work because education is a two-way street"; and Domino's Pizza, whose Director of Education sends his mobile uplink to any store in the country where an employee has something to teach the others. Beyond in-house corporate programs, organizations such as AREN, the American Rehabilitation Educational Network, offer open enrollment programs, in AREN's case continuing education for health care professionals at nearly one hundred sites nationwide. The pace at which this technology is being adopted was illustrated by some of the facts reported in a brilliant presentation by Dr. Alan Chute, of American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T). In a study of Fortune 500 companies, he said recently as 1982, 70 percent used audioteleconference instruction; 23 percent, computer teleconferences; and 21 percent, videoconferences. Just five years later, 40 percent use videoconferencing, and the number is expected to double again in the next eighteen months. Where there were two business videoconference networks in 1982, by 1987 there were over forty. AT&T itself has expanded from five videoteleconference sites in 1983 to 130 in 1987. Some 20,000 employees take courses by this medium each year, at a net cost saving of $497 per person. Evaluation studies report 90 percent student approval of this form of program delivery.
Nineteen eighty-eight is "The Year of Distance Education" for the Public Service Satellite Consortium. PSSC members represent a broad spectrum of telecommunications users-colleges, universities, hospitals, public broadcasting stations, and professional associations. Among organizations that PSSC has helped set up in teleconferencing are the American Hospital Association, American Law Institute, American Bar Association Committee on Continuing Professional Education, National Education Association, AFL-CIO, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, all of which now use satellites on a regular basis in their continuing education programs.
More, much more could be reported from Telecon VII, but lack of space precludes a longer report, and enough has been said, I hope to justify the opinion that teleconferencing is the part of the distance education field that is currently in a high volatile stage of development. There are many implications arising from this report that call for consideration, both by teleconference educators and other distance educators.
Internationalism
of Distance Education
To persons interested in international aspects of education, distance
education has some noteworthy characteristics. It is, and has always been,
one of the most international fields of education, perhaps for the obvious
reason that curricula and courses, and instructional procedures that have
been written down, printed, or recorded on video-or audiotape are less
ephemeral than what is said in a classroom. They can be transmitted abroad
and studied at leisure, because by their very nature they were designed
for use in that way. In studying distance education course design at my
university, for example, we look closely at the printed, audio, and video
materials produced by distance educators from overseas as well as in the
United States. Even broadcast and teleconference materials, though admittedly
more ephemeral than are print or recorded material, nevertheless are more
open to general examination than are more traditional forms of instruction.
Inevitably, as the characteristics of communications media have changed,
with certain newer media allowing ever faster interactions and others
giving more powerful descriptions, and instructions, so also has the pace
and intensity of international learning, and borrowing by educators of
one country from those of another, increased. If, as I have suggested,
satellite videoconferencing is to be the powerful new medium of American
distance education in the 1990s, by its very nature it will further accelerate
the international and transnational nature of distance education.
The beginning of internationalism in distance education through the teleconference mode can be seen in a number of recent developments. It is already commonplace for major corporations to run international meetings by videoconference; U.S. Sprint, for example, offers its Meeting Channel to thirteen locations in ten cities in France. Such meetings are rarely with a primary purpose of education, but recently we have seen the beginning of planning for organized systematic delivery of educational programs that use such technology. For example, a joint Europe/USA Forum held in Palo Alto, California, and White Plains, New York, in fall 1986 led to a second Europe/USA Forum on Continuing Education in June 1987, held near Paris, France, with the aim of preparing a European Programme of Advanced Continuing Education (PACE). The PACE program and delivery system will be modeled on America's NTU, will be based on close university/industrial cooperation in advanced continuing education, linking scores of corporations in nearly a dozen European countries. "It will use the most advanced methods of distance education, especially satellite transmission" (Cerych 1987). Satellite transmission is seen as essential because "the European dimension of PACE means linking widely scattered production and reception sites directly and quickly, and so makes satellite distribution the only suitable method from a practical and technical point of view" (Cerych 1987, 20). About twenty thousand students are expected over a six-year period, meeting at one of 150 receive sites. Since Hewlett Packard and IBM are included among the five corporations that have sponsored this initiative, there is already the potential for American participation, that could, and indeed is likely to lead in the 1990s to program development and delivery not only throughout Europe, but also across the Atlantic. The Europeans recognize both the possibility of cooperation and of competition in satellite-borne distance education. They state: "Competitors from the USA or other sources are already prepared, experienced and active. The best arrangement to try to develop with them would seem to be one of co-operation as equal partners through strength. This would mean that PACE should implement its programme as soon as possible and then develop a working relationship of two-way sharing with both the USA and Japan" (Cerych 1987, 36). The PACE project offers one of the first opportunities, and a potential prototype for international design and delivery of distance education programs.
In Hawaii in September 1897, the Pacific Telecommunications Council Tenth Annual Conference discussed "Telecommunications and Pacific Development: Alternatives for the Next Decade." According to the program, speakers from Mexico, Japan, India, Indonesia, Canada, and the United States were scheduled to discuss "Using Telecommunication for Education," and participants would be from such influential bodies as the F.C.C., Japan's Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and numerous major corporations and universities (including Thailand's Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University). Communications satellites now offer the opportunity of international collaboration with the Pacific countries in course design and delivery of distance education.
"We plan in 1988 to hold an international organizational conference, World EDUNET '88, under the aegis of the University of California at San Diego, It will take the necessary steps to put into operation an international electronic university employing state-of-the-art computer, telecommunications and television technology, which would disseminate courseware, research data, scientific documents, and other materials over a network connecting educational and research institutions globally; i.e., among countries anywhere in the world that are willing to associate with the university for educational and research purposes" (The University of the World, p. 16). This statement is contained in an invitation to countries throughout the world to have their colleges and universities join an international electronic network founded on the North American BITNET and European EARN electronic mail systems. This network would be called the University of the World. "It is obvious," concludes this statement, "that use of electronic networks is rapidly expanding throughout the world. Governmental and private agencies as well as individuals are employing these networks to accomplish diverse purposes on all the continents of our earth. Their use in education and research has barely begun to achieve the potential they promise." Computer-based electronic mail is another contemporary communications technology awaiting educators who will put it to use in the design and development of international distance education.
The emerging trend towards internationalism in distance education, of which these developments are illustrative, should give great encouragement to educators and learners alike, as well as their institutions (provided they can make the adjustments that will be needed to take advantage of the almost incredible new opportunities that international distance education can offer). Perhaps the most important benefits are those that traditionally are associated with distance education; they include the opportunity for every learner to study with the most expert of teachers, wherever that person is located; the opportunity to see and hear the richest of audio and visual resources; and the potential for the most highly individualized instruction in places and at times of the learner's choosing. What international communications makes possible is an even wider range of resources, and higher quality programs and instruction than even the richest country can provide from its own resources. Those traditional production qualities of distance education programs; namely, specialization and shared distribution of the fruits of specialization, become even more significant. The prospect of a new decade in which distance education is led by video-conferencing might be cause for some alarm as well as excitement. At times in the past, American distance education has been a cause for disappointment. The communications technology has always run ahead of the ability of our educators to put it to use. On the basis of our record it must be recognized we could spoil the opportunity offered by telecommunications by producing careless and shoddy educational work.
We know HOW to communicate internationally but will universities, colleges, and corporations invest the resources of people and money to ensure that WHAT we communicate is of the highest quality? Will we plan and produce the PRINTED MATERIALS that should provide the advance organizers, and the supporting reading, and the study guidance for the telecommunication programs? Will we distribute by audio- and videotape what needs learner control, and does not need to be shared in real-time? Will those who lead the way in organizing this latest technology bring together and attend to the advice of the adult learning specialists and the experts in instructional design as well as the communications specialists? Can we start out with a determination that the support given to the learner and the care given to the design of the educational message will receive the same investment of money and even more investment of time, as is given to the transmission of messages? Can communications specialists, training personnel and traditional academics who might be involved in decision making about the use of telecommunications in education even understand the significance of the questions being asked here? Will those who have experience of distance education in more traditional media be ready and willing to work with the newer communications forms as well as those they already know?
Since the scale of education that is under consideration here is literally universal, the consequences of wrong responses to these questions will be grave indeed. Until now the influence of this nation's educational system on those of other countries and of others on ours has been minimal. That situation will soon change. Will the United States give leadership to the international educational system of the 1990s, or will we come increasingly under the influence of educational programs designed elsewhere? If there can be any immediate strategy for a satisfactory response to the challenge discussed here it must be that communications experts, academics, and adult education specialists communicate among themselves. To contribute to this dialogue is a primary purpose of this Journal. Next November's Telecon VIII conference will be another such opportunity. A call for papers for that conference is found in this Journal, and I recommend that readers consider preparing a presentation of their own views on the future of teleconferencing and try to attend the conference.
References
Cerych, L. 1987. PACE General Report. Paris: European Institute
of Education and Social Policy.
The University of the World. Undated. 1055 Torrey Pines Road, Suite
203, La Jolla, CA.
Research in Distance Education: A System Modeling
Approach
Farhad Saba
The purpose of this article is to show how a computer
simulation research method, based on the System Dynamics modeling technique,
can be used for studying distance education systems. It includes a brief
review of research methods in distance education, a rationale for systems
research in distance education, a technique of model development using
the System Dynamics approach and the DYNAMO simulation language, and a
display of a computer simulation of a prototype model. (18 references)
Preferred Learning Styles and Their Impact
on Completion of External Degree Programs
Chere Campbell Coggins
An examination of the relationship between learning
styles and selected demographic variables on students' persistence in
external baccalaureate degree programs reveals statistically significant
associations among the following variables: intention to earn a degree;
level of education at time of enrollment; years since last credit courses;
and learning style scores as measured by the Canfield Learning Style Inventory.
Specific learning style subscales which accounted for the difference in
persistence included: student's expectancy of doing well and content preferences
in for working with things in contrast to people. The discriminant analysis
model generated allowed for 70% of persisters and nonpersisters being
correctly classified. Findings reinforce the need for pre- admissions
counseling which focuses on careful degree selection ensuring a close
match between the interests and intentions of the student and the degree
program. In addition, orientation programs emphasizing survival skills
and learning how to learn all toward enhancing a student's self confidence
seem indicated. (35 references)
The Use of Computer-Mediated Communication
in Training Students in Group Problem-Solving and Decision-Making Techniques
Gerald M. Phillips, Gerald M. Santoro, and Scott A. Kuehn
This article describes the use of computer-mediated
communication in a small group performance course. Typical instruction
in such courses is often ineffective because instructors are unable to
monitor group discussion effectively. Through the use of a computer network,
three objectives were achieved: (1) instructors were able to closely monitor
progress in the groups; (2) students were provided with detailed feedback
about their performance of communication skills in their groups; and (3)
the instructional staff was able to increase their monitoring efficiency
to effectively advise more groups than in a noncomputerized group performance
course. The details of the evaluation, feedback, and computer system are
explained. (19 references)
Asynchronous Electronic Communication: A
North American-Thai Collaboration
George A. B. Moore
Discussion of the role of technical media in facilitating communication between student and teacher. Focuses on a project involving the University of Guelph and Sukhathai Thammathirat Open University. This project was designed to test the feasibility of adapting computer-based instruction for distance education in a developing country. (ERIC #EJ372448) (20 references)
