TECHNOLOGY WATCH COLUMN

Understanding the True Cost of Distance Learning
by Terrence McCormack

MC Journal: The Journal of Academic Media Librarianship, v4#1, Summer 1996:116-119.


Distance learning has reemerged in this era of fiscal control as a
cost effective artifice for reinventing the pedagogic structure of
higher education.  That is to say, that the driving force behind
today's distance learning programs is an economic rationale designed to
facilitate the corporate downsizing dogma that now influences
academia.  Regardless of the economic motivation, one should also
recognize that based on historic applications distance learning
offers opportunities to advance the benefits of higher education to 
populations that are dislocated by time and place and difficult to
reach. Beyond the theoretical claims of economic expedience, some older
and newer forms of distance learning technologies offer benefits to
users such as greater individualized control over the learning
process. Therefore, and in an effort to be truly cost effective,  
any blueprint for the implementation of a distance a learning program 
must include system designs that analyze the user's educational
requirements, incorporates and builds on past experiences with 
distance learning, and considers the capabilities as well as the 
limitations of the technologies employed in the process.   

In past years, educational institutions and proprietary services have 
successfully enlisted the distance learning concept by utilizing
various methods and formats.  The 1960s saw the onset of educational 
television, subsequently, some universities and colleges started
airing courses via local public television.  In the private sector 
correspondence schools of the early twentieth century served people 
with print resources that were spread across the American hinterland.
Today, a variety of their successors, in the form of educational
services and professional associations, are serving their clients with

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satellite links and mail order video and audio cassettes.  Despite
the historically conservative tendency toward local classroom and 
seminar centered instruction, distance learning technologies continued
to evolve to higher and more interactive levels.   

The push toward high-end technology has resulted in such
manifestations as electronic classrooms equipped with two way digital 
cameras and ISDN connects (Integrated Service Digital Networks) to 
distant locations, and the  virtual classroom - which is becoming more 
of a reality by offering students access to course work at any time 
through the Web.  Potential distance learning applications offer 
audiovisual support for two way audio and video conferencing on the 
Internet through such Web "Plug ins" as  Apple's Quick Time. The 
bright promise of multi-media courses sent to student's home computers
with interactive feedback is alluring, and unfortunately still
impractical for the provider and user. 

The effort to stay on the edge of distance learning development may 
be the biggest factor impeding the practical development of distance 
learning programs in academia today.  Schools that are new to the 
process of developing programs may be making the costly mistake of 
overlooking immediate user needs, and investing in layers of 
technologies that have not yet fully developed, delivering only 
nominal results.  Such applications as interactive audiovisual 
delivery through the Web require a high level of continuity in 
connections that would also be dependent on a manifold of servers, 
Unix processors, and digital modems. The process is further 
complicated by the dubious nature that large audiovisual files 

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have in relation to transfer of data and associated bandwidth,
modem speed, processor speeds, and storage.  Distance learning 
digital video classrooms now have a track record that shows their 
viability in the distance learing environment.  However, here too, 
the economic cost is very high, requiring linked sites with similar 
equipment and infrastructure for data transfer, recovery, and 
redistribution. 

Does this mean that institutions should refrain from investigating 
and implementing digital and web technologies as viable alternatives 
to the more traditional modes of education?  Absolutely not.  Web 
and digital multimedia capabilities will inevitably become more 
efficient and practical, with enhancements to hardware and software 
applications, in conjuction with ongoing improvements in
telecommunications.   The virtual classroom works at a favorable level
when utilizing print and still image information. However, the
transfer of massive amounts of audiovisual data still requires
development before it will work as a viable application.

The real issue is to effectively meet the learning needs of our 
current distance learners, without bankrupting the provider with 
underdeveloped and self-proliferating technologies.  Most academic 
institutions have instituted distance learning through affordable 
means using existing infrastructure and assets. Serving remote
locations with video recordings through UPS Inc. or US Mail is a very 
cost effective method for accomplishing the job. Courses utilizing 
conventional video or audio could be further enhanced through a mix of
interactive channels such as the instructors production of course

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print materials on Web pages, student participation on topical
discussion lists, and direct student feedback through the telephone, 
fax, or by e-mail. 

For the success of a truly cost effective development of a distance 
learning program, providers will have to demonstrate the ability to 
analyze the users needs, mix and match the appropriate technologies 
to those needs, and understand the shortcomings of each technology. 
Only in this way will distance learning programs meet current needs, 
while building  a competent knowledge base for the ultimate
installation of newer technologies for our future users.  


Terrence McCormack is Head, M. Robert Koren Center for Clinical &
Legal Education, Law Library, State University of New York at Buffalo.
He is also Associate Editor of MC Journal.


This article copyright (c) by Terrence McCormack. All Rights
Reserved. All commercial use requires permission of the author and the
editors of this journal.

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