Technology Convergence Accelerates Distance Learning

At Temple University, online class enrollment is growing exponentially, and currently tops 3,500 students a year.

Editor’s Note: Online education is such a hot topic for technology managers and end-users that we are running a two-part series. This month will explore usability and business issues; next month will focus on the technology driving the e-learning evolution.

Eileen Allen, co-author of The Babson Research Survey Group’s seventh annual online survey for the Sloan Consortium, said the convenience of online courses appeals particularly to older workers seeking new job skills in a tough economy but who, nevertheless, must juggle job and childcare responsibilities. The growth shows no signs of abating, she said.

However, the distance education boom also reflects a convergence of AV hardware, networking and collaboration software technologies that collectively enable teachers to deliver high quality, interactive online education without extensive training or assistance from high-paid specialists. Distance learning is now ready for prime time adoption.

“Conferencing technology in general has gotten better and easier to use, and, as a result, people feel more comfortable using it,” said Eileen Aitken, Temple University’s executive director of computer services.

For example, Temple professor Elizabeth Pfeiffer teaches most classes in her clinical doctorate program right from her home, with just a laptop, webcam and an Internet connection. The program is considered “blended learning,” because it combines asynchronous classes and synchronous chat rooms with on-campus classes three times a year.

“Distance learning is much improved now because we have better tools and content,” Pfeiffer said. “The more we can interface, the more students open up and feel more connected, both to me and to one another.”

According to Dominique Kliger, Temple’s vice provost of distance learning, only about five percent of the university’s 230 distance learning classes are delivered from special videoconferencing rooms; the rest are provided directly from PCs like Professor Pfeiffer’s.

Alter Hall, the award-winning center of Temple’s Fox School of Business, is equipped with the latest AV technologies.

Begun as a faculty-inspired experiment in 1995, Temple’s first foray into distance learning started with five classes broadcast from soundproofed videoconferencing rooms in Philadelphia to a satellite campus in Harrisburg, Pa., enabling Temple to serve more students at the smaller location.

In a more dramatic consolidation, nine smaller Canadian universities have expanded their collective courses by forming the Canadian Virtual University, which offers 2,000 distance learning classes, all recognized for credit by each participating institution.

At Temple, online class enrollment has been doubling in recent years, and currently tops 3,500 students a year, split evenly between graduate and undergraduate students, Kliger said.

“We discovered that the learning style and convenience of online learning was important,” Kliger said.

Online classes increase students’ confidence, offer more personal feedback and alleviate their scheduling conflicts, she said. In fact, the university replaced some campus-based summer school classes with online classes after discovering that the former were undersubscribed and the latter were maxed out, she said.

A distance learning high school class in action.

Adding to the popularity of online instruction are features that make it more interactive such as Wimba, Cisco’s WebEx or Adobe Acrobat ConnectPro collaborative platforms, Kliger said. Wimba, for example, enables classes to offer live virtual meetings and adds enhancements such as voice messaging, which is far more personal than the written word, she said. All it takes is a Wimba hyperlink for an off-campus lecturer to address a class or a student to join a group tutoring session from a remote location, she said.

Alter Hall, the year-old, award-winning center of Temple’s Fox School of Business, is a showcase of the latest AV technologies that can be used in class or for distance learning. Collectively, they enable a visiting lecturer with no prior training to activate complex, multimedia controls from a single touch screen. For example, AMX controls direct audio, lighting and visual signals from multiple peripherals to multiple screens, and products like AMX’s AutoPatch or Extron (which is what Temple uses) preserve the signal quality and route it to its destination while SonicFoundry Mediasite, in turn, captures the content for storage and/or future webcasting.

ONLINE ED ADOPTION GROWING IN HIGH SCHOOLS
Distance education also is growing rapidly at the secondary school level, with at least 320,000 students taking courses in one of 27 state online programs, not to mention other initiatives such as Virtual High School, which has nearly 13,000 students worldwide.

Distance learning at The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts, is powered by Tandberg equipment.

For example, the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts, a free, state-funded two-year boarding school for the state’s brightest students, created a distance education program in 1998 to compensate local districts for the loss of their academic superstars. The online program has its own classes and faculty.

Chris Robbins, the school’s director of outreach and distance education, said efforts the first few years were hobbled by inadequate technology: an audio-only conference platform that limited students’ vision to the instructor’s computer and a whiteboard. This ISDN-based system not only severely restricted interaction but cost thousands of dollars in phone bills every month, he said.

In 2003, the school switched to Tandberg equipment, which combine the video camera and the codec (which converts audio and video signals from analog to digital and vice versa) into a single desktop-sized unit, Robbins said. With $10 million in grants, the school has expanded its synchronous, online classes from 700 to 3,700 students in eight years, using the money to provide videoconferencing equipment to its expanding cadre of client schools.

The Tandberg system is operated with a remote control, which does require some training to learn the buttons and functions but operates essentially like a TV, Robbins said. It’s very user-friendly, even for those without a technical background, he said.

Natalie Humphreys, one of three Arkansas School teachers who won a videoconferencing best practice award, said the teachers strive hard to replicate a brick-and-business mortar environment including availability after hours and occasional on-site visits.

“The kids raise their hands and ask questions, just like a regular class,” she said. “If we are enthusiastic and fun, the kids respond.”

Humphreys hasn’t found any difference in achievement between her online Spanish students and those in regular classes. The only drawback, Humphreys said, is that she doesn’t get to know her students personally.

THE BOTTOM LINE
As for drawbacks to online education, the Babson survey showed distance learning has a way to go to win faculty acceptance, with less than half agreeing that it is just as good as conventional instruction.

While affirming that online education will continue to grow, Babson’s Allen said asynchronous learning can be more difficult because “you don’t have someone you can interrupt” with a question.

Online classes require more self-discipline and have a higher dropout rate but for motivated students, “it’s the way to go,” she concluded.

Pam Derringer is a frequent contributor to Tech & Learning and Data Center.