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 | Abstract: "There is a growing number of commercially available instructional
software applications for creating and managing Web-based asynchronous and/or synchronous
course content. These software applications empower the learning community to create new
teaching-learning environments. We are involved in a process of evaluating products and
developing an overall strategy for technology-based course development and management in
teaching-learning. The premise we work under is to explore as many products as possible
until we find one that meets open standards, fits the circumstance(s) and works! The
criteria for evaluating and adopting a possible solution(s) include: the product(s) must
be open standards based (currently Web-based) that is easy to use and maintain, portable,
replicable, scalable, affordable and has a high probability of success with a long-term
cost effectiveness. One of our circumstances (WDG) was such that there was a need to get
traditional face-to-face courses online in as short a period of time as possible in order
to provide universal access to the content anywhere anytime and to do it in a simple but
relatively seamless manner. In addition, in one of the courses approximately 40% of the
time was spent teaching students the use of computer-based technology and there was(is)
the desire to reduce this to 10% through the use of computer-based training (CBT) modules
so that more time could be spent on the content. These same computer-based applications,
e.g., CBT for Microsoft Office products, could also fulfill a similar need to train
faculty and staff. We wanted a course management system that could integrate and deliver
other course materials such as these off-the-shelf computer-based training modules as well
as traditional course content. In summary, the questions being examined are: What's out
there to do all this? Which one(s) do we use and why? What features do each have in
comparison? What features should they have? What's the immediate and long-range costs?
What and how long does it take for a faculty member to get a course online? What is the
role of a synchronous learning (SL) environment within an asynchronous learning (AL)
environment? We found that several well-established Web-based "support
utilities", e.g., CUSeeMe, Timbuktu, Web forums and chat rooms, Seminar-On-Disk
computer-based training modules, etc. interface nicely with the TopClass (formally WEST)
and/or LearnLinc I-Net. A faculty member at one end of New York State can create and have
online a complete course running at the other end of the State in as little as 4-6 weeks.
The amount of training needed for the faculty member and student can be done via the
Internet, Web and telephone. As simple as it seems either TopClass alone or the
TopClass/LearnLinc I-Net combination is still a "comprehensive CMS" package with
a low overhead for support." |
| "How can a student apply to college and be admitted in about an hour? With
CollegeNET. CollegeNET - a Web-based electronic college application service that offers
multiple capabilities in a key administrative services area - is online. The service gives
users the ability to review applications, notify students of admission and make electronic
payments securely. And it allows students, parents and educators worldwide to search the
Internet for college and university information, apply quickly and easily online and
search for financial aid and scholarship information.
This summer, IBM and Universal Algorithms, Inc. (UAI) announced an alliance for marketing
CollegeNET. IBM will market CollegeNET services to colleges and universities in North
America, or the higher education institutions can access CollegeNET via UAI or an IBM
representative - at no charge." - http://www.hied.ibm.com/multiversity/Aut97/book-review.htm |
| "Created to deliver high-quality, interactive instruction directly to students, the
Virtual College is the electronic equivalent of a traditional college and provides adult
learners with a broad range of course, faculty, library, and administrative services.
Through the Virtual College, students receive instruction, ask questions, conduct
analyses, manage projects, and complete assignments--all at their own convenience and from
practically anywhere. The teleprogram network provides an electronic workplace for
students and faculty, allowing them to go from just talking about course projects to
actually completing them. All Virtual College coursework is conducted from the student's
home or office PC--there are no on-campus sessions." |
| "Instructional software is essential if we are to solve the productivity problem
because:
Approximately 80 percent of the costs of colleges and universities are attributable to
personnel costs.
Higher education costs to the consumer are rising at two to three times the rise in the
consumer price index. They have been doing so for nearly two decades in spite of
significant efforts at cost cutting on the part of our colleges and universities. One
apparent impact of our cost cutting efforts has been to make salaries an even larger
portion of the operating budget-in the 80 percent range for many institutions. This
compares to 25 to 40 percent for most of the manufacturing industries and less than 60
percent for the service industries. Contrary to popular belief, the real money in college
budgets is not in the administration but in faculty positions. Significant savings can
only be realized by reducing personnel costs in relation to the learning outcomes
produced.(5)
Colleges and universities need to find ways to substitute capital for labor in order
to improve productivity.
Real labor costs tend to rise with economy-wide productivity gains (say 2 percent per
year, on average), whereas technology-based costs tend to decline due to learning-curve
effects, scale economies in production, and continued innovation. Increasing technology's
share of cost will reduce overall cost growth until the rate differential reduces
technology's share to the point where labor again dominates. By this time, however, total
cost will be lower than it would have been without the injection of technology. If the
real cost of technology were to decline at a 25 percent annual rate, after ten years the
alternative scenario would cost about 12 percent less than the baseline. If the rate of
decline is only 10 percent, the savings ten years out would have passed 9 percent and
still be rising. Given the differential growth rates of labor and technology, one can
expect positive long-term returns on investment even when returns are negligible during
the first few years.(6)
"Bolt-on" applications of IT cannot address the productivity problem.
During the past decade or so, a variety of technology-mediated learning environments have
emerged. So far, most IT-based improvements have involved doing more with more. Some
increase access (such as distance learning and networked resources) and some improve
quality (such as supplemental multimedia, interactive learning applications) but few
control costs. Instead, most of those applications "bolt on" to the traditional
classroom structure, thereby adding to the cost of instruction.(7)" |
| "Electronic Networks For Interaction (ENFI), is being used to change the social
dynamics of the writing classroom. ENFI is not a specific software package but rather an
electronic implementation of the concept that writing can actually be taught in a computer
lab with a network supporting real-time CMC. Because ENFI allows teachers and students to
explore, collaborate, and expand on ideas in class in writing, and allows them to see each
other in the process of developing ideas, writing to and for each other and not just to
"the teacher," ENFI supplements and expands on the activities teachers can use
to help students meaningfully participate in a discourse community and improve their
writing." |
| "Right now there is a huge push [by educators] for infrastructure dollars,"
much to the benefit of companies selling client/server products as well as those selling
networks, said Sue Collins, director of education for Compaq Computer Corp., Houston.
This demand, partly driven by widespread concern among federal, state and local officials
over the state of education, and by the new network-subsidy program established early this
year by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, has ensured that "almost every
integrator [is] looking at this market," she said.
But while the technology promises significant advantages for both educators and
administrators, it also promises great complexity, cost and management headaches for chief
information officers in the education sectors, including John Gay, CIO of Virginia's
Fairfax
County Public School System.
"Complexity goes through the roof and the cost of maintaining it goes through the
roof," Gay said. "We've got to find a way to make it cheaper to do this."
Client/server is the technology of choice for K-12 schools and universities for the same
reasons that it is favored by corporations: It links employees to each other and to vast
storehouses of valuable data. " |
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