To the Academy

TO:            The Academy
FROM:          Jerry L. Hargis
SUBJECT:       Distance Education Decision-Making

Increasingly, those of us in continuing education with some responsibility for electronic delivery activities are being asked for advice or information on how this or that program, faculty member, or course can use television, computers, compressed video, etc. to reach more students, make more money, or get the latest in technology for their area, department, or unit.

There should be simple, easy answers for those inquiries, but I have not found them . . . and I have been looking.

Typically, questions fall into three groups -- access, cost, or transmission. Most often the questioner has heard of a new technology, or has heard about another institution that uses familiar technologies in new ways, and wants to "get in on the action."

In trying to structure reasonable responses to these inquiries, I have decided to divide the huge range of possibilities into areas of consideration so that I can at least focus the question process.

I have called these areas of consideration "domains." Webster defines "domain" as "the set on which a function is defined." It seems to me that there are at least seven basic domains of consideration for the development of distance education activities. It also seems to me that identification, consensus, and response to each domain -- as it applies to the particular learning situation, program, or activity -- is essential before the most cost-effective and educationally efficient combination of elements can be determined in response to the questions we are receiving.

My outline of each domain follows. It is primitive, at best, but it has helped as I have discussed with faculty, students, and administrators the complex world of options for electronic outreach.

There are several general "rules of thumb" that I also use. First, many of the terms suggested are relative and shift with the specific instance under discussion. For instance, high, medium, and low cost may refer to more than $100,000, $50,000 to $100,000, and below $50,000 respectively . . . but if we shift to another specific case, the cost ranges may change. The same is true for low, medium, or high levels of interactivity. These terms have different meanings for a correspondence course than they have for two-way, compressed video links. Each instance has to be explained within the context of the particular discussion.

With this sliding scale flexibility in mind, let us turn to the identification of those areas of consideration -- the seven domains -- that seem most appropriate.

The Seven Domains

Consideration of the Academic Domain responds to such questions as: Who shall teach? Who shall learn? Who shall pay? Consideration must be given to the administrative processes of the educational experience such as admission, enrollment, residency, comparability, student progress, evaluation, and certification. Questions of academic policy, standards, provision of support materials, access, supervision, time frames, and even accreditation implications must be fully understood and resolved. It is sometimes helpful to point to specific research reports that, generally, show there is no significant, statistical difference in learning outcomes for activities delivered electronically as compared to those delivered in the traditional classroom format.

The Interactivity Domain addresses the level of necessary and the level of desired interactivity between the educational resource and the educational need (learner). Levels of interactivity range from none to low to medium to high. Types of interactivity are written, audio, data, video, or combinations of these. Interactivity levels should be determined by the nature of the educational activity.

The Geographic Domain examines the linkage requirements of site/s and distance. It also provides information on whether the experience is to be point to point, point to multi-point, or multi-point to multi-point. These considerations also impact decisions about transmission, interactivity, and, especially, budget.

The Time Domain discussion will assist in deciding whether the educational activity is to be conducted in real or delayed time and in deciding the level and nature of appropriate processes and controls.

The Budget Domain often is decided before the discussion begins . . . but cost-effective efforts should be made by looking at such factors as cost per student/per site, one-time versus continuing costs, delivery model efficiency and "match" to the task, and consideration of intangible elements such as mission and the public good.

The determination of each of the above general considerations will lead to the ability to more effectively consider the technical considerations of delivery and transmission.

Consideration of the Delivery Domain provides the opportunity to examine the various methods of print, videotape, compact disk-interactive (CD-I), audiotape, computer, telephone, fax, instruction video, production video, etc., available to "package" the educational experience for delivery. Any one or combination of several will provide "platforms" for the delivery of the activity in a real- or delayed-time setting, featuring various levels of interactive capability.

Once the other questions have been answered, decisions need to be made to determine the most effective and efficient way of e-x-t-e-n-d-i-n-g the educational package to the client. The Transmission Domain consideration enables you to identify and choose the way the package will be transported from the point of origin to the individual or group participant/s.

Various methods of available transmission are: direct broadcast or narrowcast of audio or video; satellite delivery; microwave distribution including point-to-point (PTP) and instructional television -- fixed service (ITFS); fiber optic or phone line transmission of audio, e-mail, fax, or compressed video; or any combination thereof. Each of these transmission methods has its place when properly matched with the educational activity, its delivery platform, using real- or delayed-time settings, and featuring various levels of required interactivity.

We have a wealth of technology. Informed judgments as to combining the resources available are going to be demanded as we seek to provide cost-effective access to under- or un-served audiences.

The chart below provides some suggested relationships between the transmission methods and the various other domains. Once the decision is made as to whether the educational package is going to be presented in an instructional or production mode, then these relationships can be addressed. It is one thing to arrange for an electronic classroom where a professor may be seen and heard at a remote location by additional students, and quite another to develop and prepare a CD-I package for self-directed learning.

We in continuing education with some responsibilities for electronic delivery will continue to get questions. What we must do is have sufficient command of the resources of technology -- at least in concept -- and sufficient patience and determination to avoid the simplistic and "easy" answers, so that we fulfill our responsibility to provide the most complete analysis possible to enable the questioners to discover for themselves those combinations of elements (domains) necessary to meet the educational needs that sparked the questions in the first place.

Comments are welcome. Please write or e-mail to: To The Academy, Georgia Center Quarterly, Georgia Center for Continuing Education, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602-3603.

Jerry L. Hargis is associate director for communication services at the Georgia Center, a position he's held since 1991. Prior to coming to the Georgia Center, Hargis served as assistant vice provost for continuing education and public service at the University of Oklahoma. In a related story, the Georgia Center has just installed an electronic classroom that offers state-of-the-art outreach capabilities, including the ability to connect 220 classrooms throughout Georgia.