February 9, 2012
TECHNOS QUARTERLY Spring 1995 Vol. 4 No. 1
Learning: A New Dimension in the NII Age
By Frank B. Withrow and Anuradha Sapru Kohls
Telecommunications technology makes it possible to connect our computers to our phones to our TV sets—to each other. Where is education's niche in this network we call the National Information Infrastructure, or NII? Lifelong distance learning is the place, and the ‘USE IT’ project provides the means with its 12 recommendations.
Ever since the first correspondence courses provided schooling to pioneers settling the untamed West, distance learning has been a part of American education. By the turn of the century, telecommunications had already entered the picture, as radio broadcasts of “School of the Air” provided formal educational programming to home listeners. In the 1950s the first broadcast television courses for college credit were offered; and by the late 1980s, 50-year-old satellite technology had become a popular and cost-effective way to deliver instructional programming across the country. Today, quantum leaps in communications and information technology have dramatically changed the context of distance learning. What was once seen as merely an alternative method for delivering instruction is now a powerful resource for high-quality, lifelong learning. Developing this relatively untapped resource should be a priority for educators, private industry, and telecommunications service providers.
Distance Learning Today
Almost all of the tools of telecommunications, including broadcast television,
satellite, cable, microwave, computer, and telephone networks, are already
being used for distance learning. Innovative new applications—from direct
broadcast satellites (DBS) and digital compression to inexpensive, user-friendly
communications software—are quickly being added to the distance learning
menu. As a result, old and new technologies can be combined and integrated
in ways that not only fill caps in curriculum or mining objectives but also
offer better learning opportunities. Today's distance learning experience
bears little resemblance to the “talking head” tele-courses of the
past. Instead, digital video, fax machines, electronic mail, instructional
software, and traditional classroom activities coexist in an enriched learning
environment.
The telecommunications industry is rapidly developing the growing web of complementary and competitive services commonly referred to as the National Information Infrastructure, or NII. The NII promises to provide full voice, video, and data services, presenting an unprecedented opportunity to offer quality education to more citizens than ever before. In spite of industry emphasis on business and entertainment applications, Americans increasingly rank education and instruction* as top priorities for services they hope to receive from the NII. The Clinton Administration's telecommunications initiatives have reinforced this conviction, challenging the industry to link every school and library to the NII.
(*For the purposes of this article, “education and instruction” are intended to include lifelong learning from formal schooling: K–12, community colleges, colleges, universities, job training and retraining, adult literacy, and continuing education. Technology is increasing the likelihood that anyone can learn at anytime and at any place and is challenging established definitions.)
The need for greater access to a broader range of learning options is obvious. The demands of the modern workplace require workers who not only are technologically literate but also are creative problem solvers able to continually learn new skills. Decades of education research tell us that learning linked to real-world applications is critical. Worker training, adult education, and professional development all continue to challenge educators and businesses alike. Distance learning is essential for meeting these expanding education and training needs, but the fact remains that most institutions lack the resources—human, financial, and infrastructural—either to access it or to make effective use of it.
In 1994 the 103rd Congress passed significant education legislation, including the benchmark Goals 2000: Educate America Act, which lay out comprehensive national objectives for education in this country. This legislation, for the first time, provides leadership and funding support for planning for educational technology. State education agencies, building on federal government support and industry initiatives, are designing and implementing plans for using telecommunications. Schools, colleges, and businesses are all realizing the potential for distance learning resources to provide greater access to effective educational experiences. Clearly, distance learning is a growing piece of the mosaic of learning technologies needed to achieve the nation's education goals.
Exemplary Programs
By integrating telecommunications technologies and resources, local communities
are able to design programs tailored to meet particular learning needs. The
state of Mississippi, for example, is addressing its literacy problems with
satellite distance learning: Project LEAP (Learn, Earn, And Prosper) uses
downlink sites in elementary and secondary schools to provide job training
and GED completion courses to adult learners, many of whom are single mothers
receiving public assistance. While Project LEAP uses a variety of local, regional,
and national programming, other projects are creating their own content. A
few years ago, innovative teachers in Mason County, West Virginia, came up
with one such project to help students who were a few credits short of high
school graduation complete the needed coursework. Using relatively inexpensive
low-end equipment, a team of local teachers produced courses in the most critical
subjects and worked out an agreement with the local cable company to air the
programs four days a week for two hours each day. Realizing the powerful potential
of cable to reach students in their homes, a county that couldn't afford to
offer traditional summer school was able to meet its citizens' immediate needs.
The challenge to educators is to make sense of the bewildering array of technologies
and resources, then make informed decisions toward achieving specific learning
goals.
Distance learning continues to expand its traditional role of providing education in subjects not otherwise available. The Star Schools program, which has delivered distance-learning services to more than 500,000 students nationwide, continues to find foreign languages, mathematics, and science courses among its most popular. Filling gaps in curriculum is still the most common use of telecommunications in K–12; half of small, rural school districts use some form of distance learning. But new technologies have begun to offer more than just distributed courses; electronic communications and high-quality two-way video programming have made possible electronic field trips, access to remote sites and distant experts, and unique opportunities for dialogue and collaboration. Increasingly, distance learning is doing more than just bringing the class to the learner; it is truly breaking down classroom walls.
Effective use of distance learning requires a thorough understanding of both learning needs and available technologies. Since the early 1980s, more information is stored in electronic format than resides in all of the print-based libraries in the world. The increased power of information technologies and the growth of distance learning resources at affordable costs are revolutionizing education. For some communities, telecommunications networks are changing the nature of learning and teaching and are linking homes, libraries, schools, and businesses into a community-wide learning resource. Taken together, these resources give learners control of what, where, and when they learn. Schools and communities that fail to understand the magnitude of such changes inevitably will fail to provide their citizens with the tools needed to learn and achieve world-class academic standards.
Understanding
the possibilities, though a daunting task, is only the beginning. Planning
for the use of these technologies requires a rethinking of traditional education
structures, from administrative organization and cost accounting systems to
teacher training and instructional design. Effective use of distance learning
depends on a combination of expertise in technology, content, infrastructure
building, and school administration; few institutions offer opportunities
to bring this expertise together. The lack of “technology-friendly”
organizational environments is a major barrier to planning. Unfortunately,
the ineffective use that results from inadequate planning often devalues the
potential of the technology itself in the eyes of many decision makers.
Cost Considerations
Issues of cost-effectiveness touch at the heart of institutional barriers.
Most K–12 schools use accrual accounting, which merges costs for all
aspects of school administration without distinguishing among content areas.
Distance learning becomes an add-on cost, the effectiveness of which is difficult
to evaluate. Schools must develop accounting structures that include amortized
equipment costs and operating and maintenance costs, as well as the actual
costs for content, training, and technical support. Moore's law, which states
that the processing power of the microchip doubles at least every 18 months,
is in direct conflict with school systems, which are accustomed to amortizing
equipment and other capital expenses over as much as a 20- to 30- year time
period.
The business world has already learned the lesson of cost-effectiveness. Ford Motor Company has been providing real-time, interactive university-level courses to employees directly to their desktop computers. The company realized that the initial investment in infrastructure made training their employees much more efficient in the long run. Hewlett Packard, which used to fly employees into training centers at a cost of millions per seminar, has saved over 98 percent of training costs by switching to distance learning.
To the extent that successful business and education networks can cooperate and learn from each other, entire communities can benefit. The Community College Satellite Network, for example, has encouraged such cooperation: businesses and local organizations develop training that uses the facilities of a local community college, approximately 85 percent of which have access to satellite networks. Partnerships between the public and private sector are critical. Community and district planning for distance learning is absolutely essential if schools are to take advantage of economies of scale for both hardware and content resources, and to avoid duplicating valuable resources.
The Future is Now
Schools must learn to work with the telecommunications industry and government
regulators to guarantee students adequate access to communications networks
and reasonable rates to use it. Distance learning service providers, in turn,
must work with educators to develop distance learning projects that are directly
linked to content standards and learning objectives. This important dialogue
is the only way to ensure that resources are effectively incorporated into
the classroom. Too often, programs that may enhance classroom instruction
go unused because they cannot be easily fit into rigid lesson plans. Basic
issues like inflexible scheduling become enormous obstacles between quality
resources and student needs. Learners and educators at all levels must equip
themselves to harness the potential for distance learning—to help remedy
inequities, to provide flexible learning to those who are hardest to reach,
and to enhance even the most traditional learning environments.
This is an important time for distance learning. The need for lifelong opportunities for education and training is affecting all Americans; telecommunications policy is being actively debated; and advances in technologies are making them cheaper, more powerful, and easier to use. The NII is being developed now, and it is being developed quickly. Distance learning could be a valuable dimension to life in the Information Age, but developing its potential requires immediate public and private action. Federal, state, and local governments, educators at all levels, private industry, and telecommunications service providers must all work toward making distance learning affordable, effective, and accessible.
“Electronic Institutions” computer illustration by Frank Morris.
Click here to access the From the USE IT Project: 12 Recommendations for Ensuring Education's Niche in the NII Sidebar that accompanied this article.
Frank
Withrow is director of Learning Technologies for the Council of Chief
State School Officers (CCSSO) in Washington, D.C. He has often been called
the “Father of ‘Sesame Street’” because of his role in
its inception and production. Withrow was also instrumental in the development
of closed captioning for the hearing impaired and of reading machines for
the blind. He is a member of the White House Task Force for KIDTECH and is
co-chair of the National Coordinating Council on Training and Education through
Technology.
Anuradha Sapru Kohls, a project associate for CCSSO's Learning Technologies Program, contributed to the research and writing of the USE IT report. She is currently working toward a master's degree in science writing at Johns Hopkins University.