Electronic signals bounced off of an orbiting hunk of metal, wire, plastic, and other materials some 22,500 miles up. Students and teachers, hundreds, thousands of miles apart instantaneously linked, with sight and sound.
Exciting stuff, years ago. But not today, right?
Such distance education technology has been with us for a while -- satellites, two-way communication, computer links, etc. -- with commercial and educational success. Has it reached its potential?
The Georgia Center has developed a number of initiatives to bring the application of distance education technology beyond promise and into practice. Through renewed efforts this past year, the Center's teleconference programming conducted through the Department for Program and Conference Development -- uplinks, downlinks, and brokered (client-specific projects) activities with the Center's Room H -- was up 75 percent from the previous year. "Room H," a two-way, compressed-video site, part of the Georgia Statewide Academic and Medical System (GSAMS), was also booked consistently for other programming throughout the year.
The Georgia Center has been delivering quality programs at a distance through the print media, satellite teleconferencing, and video-, television-, and radio-based programs almost since it opened its doors in 1957.
"Most people equate distance education with the newer technology we are using -- compressed video, computer-based technology, or satellite teleconferencing. However, the concept of 'distance education,' that is, bringing educational programming to learners where they are, was integral to UGA's educational offerings long before technology borrowed the terminology," said David G. Wynne, distance education coordinator for Program and Conference Development, which works with other Georgia Center departments to produce the programs.
"Faculty and staff at The University of Georgia have been 'doing distance education' by traveling to distant locations and providing programs even before 1957," said Wynne. "Our philosophy today within Program and Conference Development is that technology only provides a different way to extend the Center's campus, through our teleconferences, our GSAMS programs, and soon, through computer conferences. We must produce viable, valuable programming. The customer's desire for quality hasn't changed."
Today, the Georgia Center provides audiences teleconferences on a wide range of topics from a number of sites; participants and instructional hours also increased dramatically. A major part of the recent increase has been the addition of 12 brokered GSAMS activities to 69 sites throughout Georgia.
Equally impressive is the range of topics and sponsors which included teleconferences for state and federal governments -- for example, for Georgia's Department of Family and Consumer Sciences and the U. S. Department of Agriculture. Numerous programs were provided in the area of social work, and the "Interactive Teaching Network (ITN)," a teleconference series that features nationally known experts and practical information on special topics in education. ITN, over the past four years, has produced 20 teleconferences with some 30,000 participants in 46 states, Canada, Samoa, and Guam.
The teleconferences are organized through Program and Conference Development and often combine residential and off-campus instruction. The department has worked to develop relationships with schools and colleges within UGA according to the area of instructional focus. In addition to teleconferences, the department addresses adult education needs via residential conferences, institutes, seminars, short courses, other methods of electronic distance education (such as video training and mixing GSAMS and satellite conferencing technology) and independent study.
"Program and Conference Development seeks to develop and use appropriate technology to assist educational delivery, making these educational opportunities more accessible," said Wynne. "We work with clients and give them technological options for reaching their audiences. Many times these options mix technologies to create a personal touch to the adult learner's experience. This spring, with a pilot test for ITN, we will start mixing teleconference with computer conferences to increase the interaction between the adult learners and the faculty."
From the technology end, the Center's Department of Television Services helps produce the events. "The teamwork of the various Center units involved -- my department, GSAMS, the Department of Television Services, hotel and food services, virtually the entire Center -- creates a "one-stop" booking system for our clients. This 'customer-oriented' approach is greatly appreciated by them," said Wynne.
In 1994, GSAMS (Georgia Statewide Academic and Medical System) technology was placed in the Center's "now-famous" Room H. Completed in fall of 1994, with funds from UGA, and upgraded periodically ever since, Room H is an instructional studio/classroom, which among other distance-education functions, links to the GSAMS network of two-way, compressed video sites. The room features state-of-the-art video and audio equipment, presentation technologies, and ergonomically sound desks, chairs, and other furnishings.
At present, the facility allows the Center to "link" with other locations throughout the state for two-way interactive audio and video exchange. The State of Georgia now has some 370 such sites at colleges, public schools, vocational/technical centers, medical facilities, and state offices. Room H design permits operation by a presenter or by an operator from an adjacent control room, or through combinations thereof. Special features permit the sending and receiving of signals from anywhere in the Center's meeting or production spaces, from the University Campus Cable System, to or from the Center's KU-band uplink, and, of course, to the state's GSAMS network. Instructors can provide "front row" seating to each participant in the room or at an extended site. Live shots of the professor and/or students in the studio can also be incorporated into presentations and classroom sessions.
Since the State of Georgia has made a significant investment in infrastructure during the last two years, more and more electronic outreach opportunities are possible for the member institutions of the University System of Georgia. The state has in place more than 2,000 downlink sites that receive information and educational activities from the state-owned transponder on a new TelStar IV satellite. The 350 two-way video sites mentioned above comprise the GSAMS network. Efforts are underway now to allow faculty members at The University of Georgia and other institutions to share their courses with locations throughout the state (these programs will be detailed in future issues of the Georgia Center Quarterly).
The five-year outlook is that the Georgia Center will increase the number of offerings and continue to reach new audiences.
"We want to expand our delivery systems. The Georgia Center client expects these technologies and wants to use them. The role of the Center is to help the client use the best-suited technology or mixtures of technologies to provide educational opportunities to adult learners." said Wynne.
"The best compliment has been that the Georgia Center has made the use of these technologies very easy for the client. Some clients have used the same technologies elsewhere, but have come back to us saying that the program provided there did not go as well as expected. It is also great to help clients who have never produced a distance education program. They are able to develop a quality educational program and the pride in and excitement about their program represent 'pure' success to us as well," said Wynne.
For information about scheduling and producing a teleconference or other distance education program: David G. Wynne, Department for Program and Conference Development, Georgia Center for Continuing Education, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602-3603, 706-542-5654, Fax: 706-542-6465, e-mail: wynned@gactr.uga.edu.
For information or technical specifications of the GSAMS instructional studio: Jerry L. Hargis or James F. Shehane, Division of Communication Services, Georgia Center for Continuing Education, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602-3603, 706-542-1226.
Web administrator: webmaster@gactr.uga.edu All contents copyright © 1997 University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education. All rights reserved. Last revised: Tue, Mar 18, 1997, 12:43 PM URL: http://www.gactr.uga.edu/GCQ/GCQwin97/defeature.html