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ED 220 916 -EA 014 833

TITLE Technology and Education: Policy, Implementation,

Evaluation. Proceedings of the National Conference on

Technology and Education (January 26-28, 1981).

INSTITUTION Institute for Educational Leadership, Washington,

D.C.

PUB DATE 81

NOTE 328p.; For individual papers, see EA.014 834-843, EA

014 845, EA 014 848, EA 014 850-855, EA 014 857-864,

EA 014 866-872, ED 201 312, ED 205 197, ED 205 212,

ED 206 270-271, and ED 208 871.

AVAILABLE FROM Institute for Educational Leadership, Inc., 1001

Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20036

($20.00, hardcover).

EDRS PRICE MF01 Plus Postage. PC Not Available from EDRS.

DESCRIPTORS Change Strategies; Computer Assisted Instruction;

*Computer Oriented Programs; Consortia; *Educational

Change; Educational Cooperation; Educational Radio;

*Educational Technology; *Educational Television;

Elementary Secondary Education; Government Role;

Instructional. Materials; *Material/DeVelopment;

Nontraditional Education; Postsecondary Education;

Teacher Attitudes; *Technological AdVancement;

Telecourses 1)-

ABSTRACT .

.Thirty-nine papers on the place of technology in

education are'collected in this volume of conference proceedings.

Several themes run through the collection, appearing in different

combinations in different papers. Among the major topics discussed

are the applications of computer technology to different aspects of

instruction and school administration; the uses of broadcast and

cable television and radio and of videostechnology in on-campus and

off-campus instruction; And the formation of,consortia of educational

institutions to share the costs and benefits4ssociated with-

courseware development and disseminAtion. Other major issues

considered include the nature of the changes that technology will

bring about in,traditional and nontraditional education; the role of

the government-in developing educational technology; the concepts

Affecting the develoOment of effective courseware) and the effects of

educators' attitudes on the adoption of new equipment and methods.

The .1% ajority of the papers consist of informed opinions or

gaper' ized analyses of the status of educational technology, while

others Iscribe specific programs or suggest techniques for

implementing and applying technology. (PGD)

************** ********************************************************

Reproducta s supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made *.

from the original document.

** ************** ***************************************************

-kit:awartsour OF IDUCATION

NATIONAL INSTRUTE OF EDUCATION

EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION

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A1113

mnisism

(Proceedings olthe National Conference -on

Technology and Education'

January, 26.28, 1981)

$ponsored by:Institute for Educational Leadership, Inc.

In cooperation ISitk American Associatice of-Junior and

Community Coiloges; American Aiiciciation kr Higher

Education; Association for Educational-Communications

and Teclmoloey; American Association of State Colleges

and Universities; American Association of School Admini-

strators; Corporation kr Public Broadcasthw Emerson

College; Joint Council on EducationaaelecoMmuricitions;

National AssocifitiOnof State Universities and Land Grant

Colleges; National School Boards Association; National

Science Foundatiom-National Public Radio; PUblic Broad-

casting Service; and National TelecomMunicatiorm aed

Information AdministratiOn.

Library of Congress-Catalog Card No. 81-81832

CopyrigM ° 1981 by. Inttittite for- EdUcational Leadership, Inc.

For Information:

Institute for Educational Leadership, Ine

1001 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20036

Manufacturedin the United Slates of America

'Edited desiMed, and produiced by Information Dynamic:a, Ine.

Contents

Congressional Perspectives on Information Technology

George.g. Brown, Jr. vii

Developing Technology to Enhance the

Educational Process

,Allan E. Hershfield 1

Educational TechnologyThe Congressional Perspective

Fred-W. Weingarten . 16

Technology and the Changing Ec8nomics of Education

Robert H. McCabe 22

Changing Organizational Structures to

Capitalize on Technology

Joseph I. Lipson 29

Public Telecommunications Policies and

Education's Options

Frank W. Norwood 35

Investing in Computer Technology:

Criteria and Procedures fa System Selection

Fred T. Hofstetter 45

New Public Broadcasting Programs and Services

Dee Brock 54

Computers/SoftwareMore for Less

Dorothy K. Deringer 63

Matching Educatibnal Neale with Available Technology:

,What is HapPening in the Rest of the World

Clifford H. Block 71

Securing Teacher Acceptance of Technology

Doris K. Lidtke 80

Effeetiveness of Technology in the Schools

Public and Taxpayers Response

Catherine E. Morgan 90

The South Carolina Telecommunications System

Thomas L Stepp 97

Higher Education Uses of TV and Ridio

Peter J. Dirr 103

Making the Cue for Changing Public Policy

Norman E. Watson 108

Faculty, Response to the Use of Technology

Dello K. Beal 115

Evaluating the Use of' TeChnology in Education

Kuala Anandam 126

Managing Technological Change in the

Dallas Public Schools

Nolan Estes 139

Managing Technological Change fit

Montgomery County, Maryland

Homer Elseroad 145

Managing Technology Change "MECO

A Management History"

John E. Haugo

Managing the Development of the Public Telecommunications

Center, Spokane, Washington

Walter Schiar 15 9

The Consortium Approach. Preserving College

Decision-Making

Philip C. Dolce j171

Accreditation and Technology Issues

Jerry W..Miller-4 179

Deploying Educational Technology at an Independent,

Urban Institution .

S. A. Guralnick 184

The Central Educational Network's Postsecondary Service

Carol A. Koffarnus 196

Evaluating an Instructional System in Mathematics

Steven M. F*ankel 203

A Description of the DAVID Interactive Instructional

Television System and Its Application to

Post High School Education of Deaf

James R. vonFeldt 210

Saninole Community College Working.with

Twenty-Seven Other Institutions

Thomas W. Hobbs 225

Bridging the ChasM Between Telecommunications

and Higher Education

C. Gregory Van Camp 233

Cuniculum's Technology Lag (Curricula and

Television Literacy)

Robert L. -Hilliard 241

"The American Open UniversityOne Answer

to the Technology and Curriculum Lae'

Don McNeil 248

Using TV to Teach High Order Thinking Sldlls

M. Virginia Riggy 251

Computers and CurriculumPromises and Problems

Robert-M. Caldwell 257

How Can We Best Produce Courseware?

Howard Hitchent 271

How Can We_ Best-Produce Courseware?

(The Process of Courseware Development)

Pete!' J. Rizza, Jr. 275

TechnolOgy and'HumanismAre they ompatible?

Edward A. Fdedman- 290

New Directidns for Training Technology

J. D. Fletcher 297

The Influence of Instructional Technology on

Education: Certainties and Possibilities

Christopher.Dede 306

Looking to the Future: What Business Are We In?

Elizabeth L. Young 313

r-17-1 Congressional Perspectives on

cIN Information Technology

cp(N1 Congressman George E. Drown, Jr.

r\J Committee on Science and Technology

Washington, D.C.

L.L.1

I am pleased to discuss a subject of considerable interest to me, both

personally and as a seniof member of the Committee on Science and

Technology of The House of Representatives.

There has been a long-standing involvement of the' Science _and

Technology Committee in efforts to improve the flow of scientific and

technical information and in the application of information technology to

education. I will spare you the ancient history and only summarize the

more recent activity for you.

In 1977 we held extensive hearings on Computers and the Learning

Society. These hearings served an iMportant educational function fOr

both the Congress and the public, raising in a liigh -visibility forum some

fundaniental question about the deVelopment anduse of computer-aided

instmction. Partly as a result of these hearings, Congressmen Scheuer, a

senior member of the Committee, intzoduced a bill, H.R. 4326, calling

for the creation of a National Comthission to study the scientific and

technical implications of information technology in education. The

Science, Research, Technology Subcommittee held hearings in October

of 1979, to gather testimony on H.R. 4326 and more generally on the

Z,.. educational implications of such "new" information 'technologies as

An videodiscs, teletext, and cable and satellite broadcast television, as well

00 as computers.

These hearings made it clear to us that much had changed in the two

Min years Mowing our 1977 hearings. Not only had technology development

S: And application progressed rapidly, but there had also been an important

institutional changethe establishment ofa cabinet-level Department of

Education and the resulting reorganization of much of the federal

educational bureaucrady. (Of course, it now appears at this new

3department may succumb to infant mortalitybut that's another story.)

As a result of our October 1979 hearings, we saw a need to bring

vii

viii Congressional Perspectives

together educators, developers of infonnition technology and the

associated courseware, and policymakers, in a forum to share ideas and

to begin charting a course for what seems certain to be an increasing use

of information technology in the educational tuture. In April of 1980, the

SRT Subcommittee joined with the Subcommittee on Select Education

in two days of hearings, a workshop for 150 participants, aixf atechnology

demonstration. The testimony of those two days left little doubt that

rapid technological advance will continue, creating exciting possibilities

in education and elsewhere. The witnesses and participants also made it

clear that public planning in this area will need to take a broad view of

what constitutes "information technology," and that this technology will

have educational impacts going well beyond our traditional educational

settings.

The April hearings helped to catalyze a number of activities. The

Subcommittees forwatded a copy of the recommendations of the

discussion groups to the Secretary of Education, with the request that the

Department identify initiatives falling within its preview and indicate

proposed actions in these areas. Partly in response to this request, the

Secretary appointed a task force on educational technology charged with

analyzing the Department's current efforts in support of educational

technology and identifying promising areas for future efforts, including

any additional legislative authority that might be needeil. I prefer not to

venture any predictions of the uses the incoming Administration may

make of the task force report.

On another front, the Subcommittees requested that the Office of

Technology Assessment undertake a study of information technology in

education, including an assessment of current levels of activity and

projections of future use and its impacts on educational and social

institutions. This study, an 18-month effort, was approved by the

Technology Assessment Board and is now under way.

The Subcommittees responsible for the April program are in the fm

stages of preparing conclusions and recommendations to the ConeI s

and the Executive Branch. I cannot yet share these w!th you, but I ould

like to share some of my personal views and concerns regr6ing the

future of information technology, in education and elsew re.

I don't think anyone needs convincing that the Inform tion Revolution

is upon us. By one estimate, approximately. half of otVwork force is now

engaged in information-related occupations, r6adIy defmed. It is

already clear that the productivity and innova e capacity of American

industry, which is an important concern of e SRT Subcommittee and a

focus of much of our activity, depends ip 4 critical way on the generation,

processing, and transmission of intr.) ation. In the home or workplace of

1990 and 2000, information te,hnologies will have uses ranging from

routine services such as eleytronic mail and banking to sophisticated

industrial applications ofAmputer-aided design and robotics.

Congressipnal Peispectives

We cannot allow developments of this importance to take place willy-

filly, without addressing some careful thought to what kind of society we

seek to build and what tools are appropriate in building it. Information is

an important national resource, and its impact on our lives has become so

great that we need to begin some serious planning of how best to use this

resource to advance our national goals.

Some of you are aware that I introduced a bill in the last Congress,

H.R. 8395, -aimed at stimulating this kind of planning. The bill

establishes an independent Institute for Information Policy and Reseal&

in the Executive Branch. I believe that the independence of the Institute

would allow it a broads and integrated perspective on such issues as

institutional structure and regulatory policy, a perspective rarely attain-

able within the btireaucratic constraints of the dispersed agencies, now

dealing with information issues. I view the Institute as a transitional

mechanism to facilitate our nation's evolution into an Information

Society. It would serve as a focal point for informationpolicy research

and analysis and would provide a forum for consideration of the

information interests of government, business, and education.

The ways in which information technology is usedor not usedin

our educational processes will have a great deal to do with how well we as

a society are able to cope with the Information Explosion. 'I" , issue of

compatibility of technology and humanism, and I -use the term to

encompass all systems of moral values, is significant. That issue should

be of concern to all of us, since inforznation technology raises some

particularly disturbing questions about these values.

When technological innovations are widely addpted, it is usually

because.they offer a demonstrated, or at least anticipated, enhancement

of productivity. InfOrmation technology is 'no exception to this rule. By

offering students both conceptual ind practical preparation in information

technology, we can help them to function more effectively in the

technology-rich environment of ten or twenty years hence. But in so

preparing them, we need to keep in mind the end goal of increasing

productivitya more humane, just, and equitable society for all. We

need to make a special effort to see that the benefits of these new

technologies are shared by all in our society, and that we do not end up

reinforcing current patterns of inequality. We need to develop in our

citizens the cognitive and social abilities that will enable them to adjust to

and thrive in an environment characterized by rapid change. And, not

least, we need to enhance the intrinsic value and sheer creative pleasure

of learning.

I doubt that any two would agree on the precise characteristics of

an educational- system that could accomplish all that I have just

described, let alone how to create it. It is very likely, however, that most

or even all of you will accord an important role to information technology

in your respective educational utopias.

xCongressional Perspective^

Butit is an inescapable fact that, as of today, information technology

is less pervasive in formal education than in virteally any other social

arena. To get to Utopia from here, we need to understand why this is true.

In my view the main reason is that teachers, administrators, and

parents have not been convinced that information technology can

increase learner productivity or enhance educational quality at an

acceptable cost. In our April hearings, this failure was consistently

attributed mainly to the lack of good courseware. It is true that the

application of information technology to education has largely been a

technology-driven process, in the sense that educational needs have not

been a major impetus in hardware or software development. I think there

is reason to believe that equipment vendors and publishers are starting to

take edncational needs seriously and are on the verge of major initiatives

in courseware development and promotion. The hature and quality of

these initiatives will have considerable bearing on the future of information

technology in education, and it is of the greatest importance that

educators have early and continued involvement in these efforts. The

development of technology must be guided, and its applications shaped,

to make it work toward that end goal of a more humane and equitable

soc iety.

If education is ever to take full advantage of informatkin technology, I

think it's important to understand that fundamental technological

advances, almost by definition, have the capability to change the way we

think about the world. Taking advantage of the magic of information

technology forces us to think about new ways to organize and transmit

knowledge.-Real improvements in educational quality are not likely to

result from using shiny new technology to do the same old things just a

little better. The power of videodiscs, fer example, will be wasted ifwe

simply use them as surrogates for printed textbooks. I see great

educational potential in imaginative uses of telecommunications networks

to "wire" together schools, libraries, and governmental and industrial

centers and to make distant data bases, as well as distant new and

important environments, accessible to home users. With the construction

of sophisticated "knowledge bases," computers will be able to query a

studentperhaps in natural languageto ascertain his level of knowledge

and to guide his explorations, complete with advanced graphics, at an

appropriate level.

There are challenges aplenty in this vision of the futurefor

researchers in cognitive sciences, for courseware developers and educa-

tional administrators, and for policymakers in local, state, and national

government. I applaud your dedication to this important task and urge

you to keep up the fight. As for the federal government, one of the

witnesses at our April hearings suggested that the federal government

should either help in the appli'ation of information technology to

education, or else get out of the way. It is not yet clear to me whether the

Lcj

Congressional Perspectives xi

new Ad Ministration makes a distinction between thise alternatives '

but, as for the Contress, I continue to believe that we.can help.

nt.'s

Developing Technology to Enhance

the Educational Process

'Allan E. Hershfield

Notional University Consortium

College Parit, Maryland

Several thousand years ago, there was an island in the Mediterranean

on whiCh the people hactresched a very high !evel of civilization. One

of the unusual characeiristics of this society was that it had no formal

system of education. Parents "educated' their childreis;in an informal

way, passing ilong the wisdom and history of their society in the course

of day-to-day activitiei.

Lace many other city states of that time, this island state had a large

central market that was both a commercial and social gathering place.

One day, a number of the adults who came to the market. regularly

noticed a fairly large iroup of children had assembled around a young

man named "Thok," and Were listening Avidly to everything Thok had

to say. They witnessed the children ask Thok questions and were most

impressed by the wisdom of Thok's answers to these questions, and by

the question he, in turn, posed to the-Children.

Attic talking among themselves, these adults agreed Thok was so

smart, and Potsessed so much wisdom, all the childfen in their country

should be eiposed to his brilliance. They approached Tholc,_and told

him they would all chip in to pay him a daily fee if he would share his

wisdom with all the children in the societythe children to be

assembled in the market place Monday through Friday from 9 Lm. to

5 p.m. Thok agreed and began to meet with the children daily. As the

adults continued to ao about their business in pie market place, some of

them listened with some enre to Tholes discussion with the yoanpiers,

and they diacovered- that Thok lied a great many thins; to say that

would benefit adults. So, they went to him and asked him if he would

meet with the adults in tha same way he was meeting with the children.

Thok agreed, ind the adults began to meet with Thok in the_ market

place froin 7 p.m. to 9:30 p m._ fives nights a week. (The market was,

afterall, of children t tie the daytime hours.)

This arrangement was successful; and went on undisturbed for

many years. As Thok got older, his voice began to weaken, and one

night, as he was speaking to the adults, a voice from the rear of the

2Enhance the EducationalProcess

market place shouted, "Speak louder, we can'thear you back here."

Thok's voice was weak and he couldn't sPeak louder, but he was quitk

witted. He walked over to a nearby palm tree, took off a long flat leaf,

rolled it up to form a mejaphone-Iike amplifir, and continued his

Presentation using the leaf. This -innovation worked very well. The

rolled leaf amplified Thok's voice and he was able to continue has

teaahing.

This-innovation, the use of the rolled leaf as an amplifier,hecame

routine and no one thought anything about it until one day, the island

received a visitora teacher from a neighboring city State. This visiting

scholar watched Thok speaking with the children in the daytime and

the adults at night, and noted the leaf: In his society, no one used a leaf

to teach, and so he began to ask the question, "Can tbe leaf teach."

Being an inqnisitive soul, and:after gaining the full cooperation of the

\, adults and the children of-the society, he submitted a grant propaal

to one ,of the country's largest, and wealthiest olive merchants. The

proposal laid out an ambitious research project intended to answer the

question, "Can the leaf teach?" The merchant was taken with the

question and funded the research project.

the visiting scholar theh divided the children, who assembled in the

market dyring the day, into two groups. He did the same thing with the

adults who, assembled in the market place at night to hear Thok. Then,

Thok Addressd each group separately. During the day, andone group

hear him through the leaf and the other listened to him without the leaf,

and the experiment was repeated at night. After using an abacus, and

conducting a lengthr- inulti-factoraj analysia, the visiting scholar

- _conchsded_there_ were no significant diflferences betweeh Thók and the

leaf:

The moral of this story is that most. of the- people interested in

instructional technology have focused their attentionon the leaf; and not

4., on Tbok and the students. If we are going to make effective-use of

teZhablogY for educational purposesAT must move away with this

simPlistic faith in technology, and understand how to help Thok learn to

'use technology to imprOve tfie education delivered to studenti. To do

this, we must dome to understand the past and make iealistic plans for the

future. ,,

Vnderstanding Past-.Realistic Future Plans

Breathless 'technologists andfutUrists have been predicting a techno-

logical revolution in education, at, all levels, ever since Motion pictures

appearea more than eighty years. ago. When radio broadcasting

developed in thel 920s, it too was supposed to bring about basic changes

in our educational systems. Then,leaching machines, television and

computers were seen by many as technological innovations that would

bting aboUt fundamental changes in the teaching-learning process.

Having received Ty own formal elementary, secondary and college

education from the 1930s through the 1960sr in a number of different

Is And, systems, ,l_can_state categolically. ihat,..apart_fronLan

Enhance-the Educational Process 3

occasional Encyclopaedia Brittanica film, my contemporaries and I saw

no evidence of this so-called revolution. The educational process through

which we went was very much like the process most young people

experience, today. Although, I daresay, it may have been somewhat

more rigorous.

Undaunted by the gross inaccuracy of previous predictions of

technologically diiven change in elementary, secondary, and higher

education, contemporary oracles are now forecasting video cassettes,

video-discs, lasers, communications satellites and two-way cable systems

will, at last, bring us to the educational millenium.

In spite of the extraordinary impact all of these technological

innovations have had (and are likely to have in the future) on American

societY in general, they have had little influence on what happens in the

average American classroombe it in an elementary or secondary

school or on a university campus. If we looked in on the average

American classroom, today, we would find one teacher of professor

standing in front of a group of students, presenting materials. At the

elementary and secondary school levelS, we might also find the teacher

'posing questions, and accepting responses from students with up-raised

hands. Thus, the educational process in the average classroom has

changed little since before the invention of m6vable type in 1448. Until

books could be reproduced speedily and inexpensively, the only way a

teacher could cojrnunicate knowledge to large numbers of students

rather quickly was to sttnd in front of them and read his or her own hand-

written notes. The students could then make their own notes foi later

study. When Johann Gutenberg began printing books, more than 400

years ago, he made this type of instniction obsolete. ?et, this approach to

education is Still the dominant mode of,classroom instruction, and the

classroom is the place in which most formal education takes place in the

United States'.

Thus, we have a single model of the way formal education takes place,

and the administration of cur schools and universities, with. a few minor

exceptions, is based on this model, as are state and federal policies

related to education. Educational approaches that depart from this model

have little chance of success because they don't fit the preconceived

notions of faculty, administrators, students, legislators, and staff personnel in

departments of education, statewide educational coordinating bodies,

and the-federallovernrnent.

Current Model

Before describing some of the impediments, systemic and otherwise,

that block of effective use, of instnictional technology in American

eduCation, it might be useful to sketch 'out some of the assumptions

implicit in our current model of education about what a professor or

teacher does in preparing to teach a class and in actually teaching it.

4Enhance the Educational Pmcess

Generally, educators do essentially the same thing no matter the level at

which they teach: They plan the course; present the material and make

outside work assignments; stimulate and motivate the students; assess

bow much the students have learned, report the information on how

much the students have learned to a central record keeper and to the

students, and most important, they provide an example to the students of

the way authority figures behave towards .stndents and towards one

another. Most of the_ teacher's time for a given course is deVoted to

planning and preparing the course and presentingmaterial to students. It

is, therefore, imponant to think about whitwe really expect of a good

teacher who performs these tasks extremely well.

Firct of all, the teacher should have mastery ofthe subject matter he or

she is supposed to teach. While the levelsef required mastery will vary

according to the level Of instruction, there is no doubt ourmodel teacher

should be able to select from all the information he or she knows, that

material which is most appropriate for the type of students he or she will

be teaching. Since knowledge changes rapidly in so many fields, this

means the teacher must keep up witk the latest discoveries in his or her

subject area, and must revise his or her course to take into account these

changes, every time the course is taught. 4

Secant-the superb teacher must- determine now bestto structure and

deliver the course so Ihe students will learn not only the material, but alsna.,

learn -how to solve: pmblems and how to be creative and use thee,

iMaiinatic td.

Effective teaching, then is a coinplex series of activities involving

many very different skills. Our traditional model ot education assumes

all teachers have all these sldlls and use them to near perfection. Yet, if

each of us were to reflect backon our own experiences in elementary and

secondary school and in colleges and universities, I suspect most of us

would be hard put to remembermore than one teacher who stimulated

and motivated us, as well as helpingus learn the latest knowledge in his or

her subject area.

From personal experience, r can say when a student has the great good

foMme to come in contact with one such teacher during the course of his

or her education, that teacher usually mikes a permanent, positive

impact on a studenes life. In twentyyears of schooling, I have been lucky

enough to have two such teachersboth of whom taught at the university

level. While I am extraordinarily grateful for having had the opportunity

to sit at the feet, so to speak, of two such great teachers,I ask myself what

about the other approximately 113 teachers who instructed me from

grammar school through two master's degrees and a Ph.D." Very few of

them possessed all the skills our traditional model of education assumes

each teacher to have.

Enhance the Educational Process 5

The Promise of Instructional Technology

The great promise of instructional technology is that it, at last, offers an

opportunity to develop models of education far different from the current

dominant one, and in so doing, make majorimprovements in the quality

and effectiveness of education. We may also be able to use technology to

improve educational efficiency. There is, however, nothing inherent in

thenature ofinstructional technology that guarantees these outcomes.

Instructional television, for example, is used frequently to do nothing

more than transmit What happens in the classroom. When that is done,

the televised lesson usually combines the worst 'aspects of the classroom

experience with the worst aspects oftelevision, without the benefits of

either form of instruction.

The perplexing issue with which all of us interested in improving

education must deal is, given the existence of new communication and

instructional technology, why haven't we been able to use these

technologies to make major improvements in our traditional educational

processes?

Why hasn't the mere existence of innovations in communication and

instructional technology brought about the same kinds , of sweeping

changes in the educational process that the invention of the steam engine

and its precursor inventions wrought when the Industrial Revolution

swept across England and then, much of the rest of the world? Critics,

searching for the answer to this question, frequently point their fingers at

teachers and faculty members, charging them with unwarranted con-

servatism, doworight recalcitrance, and being the major obstacle to

technolOgical innovation in education.

While no description ofimpediments to the use of technology would be

complete without an explanation of the fundamental basis for general

faculty conservatism, let me sketchout some of the systemic characteris,

tics and other types of barriers that make it most impossible for even

those few faculty members who might wish to use instructional

technology to do so effectively.

Comparing the Course Developmeit Processes

A good way to begin is to compare the course development process in

the traditionalinstitution of higher education with the procedures used to

create courses (instructional software) that make full use of instructional

technology.

The course development prdCess in a traditional college or university

is basically labor intensive, involving a single faculty member in the

development of a particular course. Usually,no major capital investment

is requiredexcept that originally needed for buildings, laboratories,

libraries, etc. Apart from an occasional sumnier grant to support a faculty

member while he or she develops a new course, there are no major costs

Enhance the EducatiOnal Process

associated with such-an activity. Most new courses are developed as

they are taughtwhile the faculty member is teaching other courses,

engaged in research, advising students, participating in committee work

and carrying on whatever public service activities can be fitted into a

busy schedule. Faculty are, in effect, being paid a single sum of money to

develop and to deliver a course.

Unlike the traditional course creation process just described, courses

developed to use technology effectively often involve recording an entire

course of much of the material in advance, in one or more formsfilms,

videOs pes, computer programs, programmed texts, audio-taPes, slides,

carefiilly-structured printed materials; etc. The development process for

thisAype of course is different from the one just described, and is not

corsistent with common institutional practice, state policy, faculty and

administrative values and behavior, and the traditional model of

education.

Imagine the reception a group of foreign language faculty members

from three different universities in one state would receive from their

department chairpersons, their deans, or vice chancellors, or the head of

the state's postsecondary commission or chair of the legislature's finance

cpmmittee, if they mtde the following request

Atter careful study and thought, we believe we can make a major

improvernent in the teaching of French by developing a technologically-

based pagan% to be used at our universities, and other universities in,

the state which might wish to buy or rent our materials for on-campus

use, or for off-campus, adult education. We plan to begin by developing

an introductory French course for first-year students. Here L what we

need to create this course.

We (ill three of us) need afull year of released time at- learning

theorist; and instnwtional technologist, two graduate assistants and a

full-time secretary, all at a total coit of $124,000. OW group,

functioning as a course developnieht team, will develop and test an

introductory French course. When we have completed this develop-

ment work, we will need another $150,000 to produce color video

cassettes, audio_ cassettes, computer-based programmed texts and

examinations, controlled vocabulary reading materials and adiagnostic

entry examination to be administered to all entering students. We will

also need $10,000 to hire as consultants the three senior experts in this

field in the United States, as well as several of our colleagues from

other universities in this state. When the course had been completed

and is ready for delivery, our three universities will each have to spend

$50,000 to deliver this course. Moreover, because the students will be

spending a great deal of time working independently with the materialS

produced for this course, and less tithe listening M us live in the

classrootn, our nwnber of student contact hours will be reduced

substantially, but because this course will be used to teach many more

students than we could have taught in the traditional mode, we should

havemduced course loads. If these materials are sold or used outiide of

Enhance the Educational Process 7

our universities, we should receive residual payments similar to those

paid to film and television performers. Finally, we'll need to provide

$15,000 per year for possible annual rvision of a portion of the

materials.

Although this approach to course development may seem over blown,

it is very similar (although not identical) to the development process

used by the British Open University to develop superb, internationally

acclaimed courses that are used by adults who cannot attend a college or

univeriity, on campus as full-time students. The development of one of

these British Open University courses costs more than $500,000.

The example just presented demonstrates only one of many ways of

creating course materials to Make effective use of instmctional technology.

Other somewhat less complex and expensive approaches can be used

with good results. This example is pirticularly useful, however, because

it provides such a stark contrast to the traditional model of course

development.

Nrriers

Now, let me describe some of the barriers that make it ll but

impossible to use a sophisticated course development process similar to

the one just described to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of

higher education.

Current administrative practice makes it impossible to consider

fiffiding eourse development in the high technology mode. Funds are

allocated to departments, and the largest proportion of the budget, 70 to

86 percent, is used to pay salaries. Ideas which do not fit this "bits and

pieces" resource allocation system areexcluded from consideration.

The full-scale, technologically-based course development process is

heavily capital intensivewith very large amSunts of resources being

required to develop a single course or unit. Capital is needed to produce

Ind.test the software: to set up and operate* system to deliver the course,

and to provide funds to update the twenty-percent of the soffirare °Ivan

annual basis.

Few, if 'any, American states, C011eges or universities have any regular

mechanism for funding course development activities of this nature on a

large scale. Development of this type, to the .extent that it does occur,

almost always takes place Is anunusualuception to existing practice.

The only way such heavy capital investments can be justified is for the

course or its various components to be used by very large numbers of

studentsmany more than a single faculty member would normally

teach during one academic term. Let us pursue this point further by

analyzing the situation of one of the three faculty members mentioned in

our earlier example.

Assume a faculty member normally teaches three different three-

credit courses per term, and the average enrollment in each course is 30

students. Using current adminlitrative terminology, the faculty member

would have "generated 270 student credit-hi:Airsninety for each course

(3 credit hours X 30 students @ 90 student credft hours 3 courses @

270)." If the faculty member's salary were S26,000 per year, for a nine-

month contract, and the academic year had two semesters, the direct cost

8Enhance the Educational Process

of instruction in the traditionatmode is almost $39 per student credit

hour ($26,000 V 2.semesters$13,000 per semester V 270 student

credit hours$48.15).

Looking at the high technology model, the costs mentioned above

come tq:

Capital $344,000 for software development

and equipment

Recurring annual costs $ 15,000 updating and deliVery, of

software

,This does not include the -facultY member's salary that is-treated

below. Since the average faculty member would seldom teach three

sections of the same con:* driringone sernester, let us assume two of the

three sections he or she teachesare of the same course, and this is theone

which will be produced using the technological approach to development

In two sections of this course, Lwith 30 students each, the faculty member

will generate 180 student credit hours. The cost for his or her salary,

. apportioned by student credit hours, is still $48.15.1f thetechnoloecally-

based course were to be used only once to teach two sections ofthe class,

the additional costs per student credit hour generated would be

$1,855.55. The faculty member's salary added to that would bring

overall cost to $1,903.70per student credit hour generated. Uweassume

the course will be used five years, without major modifications, (the

$15,000 budget for recurring costs is for minor modifications) to teach

two sections per semester,or foursections per academic year, the faculty

member would generate 1,800 student credit hours, and the annual

capital cost would be $78,800 derived as follows:

Total Annual

One Time Four-Year*AevisiOn .Capital Cost

Capital Cost Cost at $15,000 peryr. 5 yr.

$334,000 + $60,000 = 394,000 5 yrs. @ $78,800

* No reyision required during the first year:

The cost of course development would be $218.88 per student credit

hour. Adding the cost of the faculty member's salary, we arrive at a cost

of ahnost $267.03 per student credit-hour generated, if the course

developed is used only to teach those students the individual faculty

member would have taught anyway. The cost for this form of delivery

would be mcire than 5.5 times thatof instruction in the traditional mode.

The course would have to be usedto teach 3,416 students over a five-

year period, rather than the 600 who wouldnormally be taught, to get the

cost per student credit hour downto $38.44, not counting the added cost

of the faculty member's salary. This analysis makes it clear that the full

scale use of technology cannot result in the more efficient delivery of

educational services within a few univeisities and colleges unless

technology unless technology is usedto displacefacully membvs. This

paes 4.M.ciaTental dilemma.

Enhance the Educational Process 9

The Dilemma of Development

If One were the president of a large manufacturing firm, interested in

increasing .the Productivity of the manufacturing operation, he or she

could- call upOn the research and development section to develop or

aiquire new, and More efficient machines or processes. Once these were

available, management would make the decision to install them in the

factory (assuming there westno legal obstacles such as union contracts);

the workers would be instrult.W on how to operate the new machines;

they wbuld begin- tci operate IfferN and the coinpany *mid benefit from

increased produCtivity, and in most instances, so would the workers.

Unlike the fact*, it is the University's "workers," the faculty, who

mtist develop the software to be used on the computer, the television set,

the teaching- machine, etc. Thus, even those -few -individual faculty

members who might be willing to tryto develop new, More _effective and

efficient-approaches to delivering educational services, would stop very

quickly once they perceived they were being asked to invent the means

by which to put themselves and many of their colleagues out of a job.

Many individuals who push for the wider use of inatructional

technology seldom-Aake into account student attitudes .toward auch

developments. In an Urban-industrial society, increasingly depersonalized

by the use of technology in alrnott every -phase of life, university

students are not.likely to be pleased with an approach to instn4ction

they perceive will qlford -them less face-to-face contact with their

professors. Indeed, there is some anecdotal evidence ,to suggest

substantial numbers of older adults may enroll in exterision courses

primarily to be with other peopleand to have an opportunity to interact

with the professor.

Faculty, too, generally react negatively to what they perceive to be the

depersonalization of the educational process that may result from- the

increased use of instructional technology.

There- are those both within and outside of our institutions of higher

-education who appear to be.breathless_enthusiasts for mediated instruc-

tion as an end in itself. Such individuals take on a variety of formsallof

which with good reason, tend to alienate the faculty.

Absence oj Technology Objectivity

Itiadifficult to find, within most Amerkan universities and colleges,

trained instructional technologigis whOein deal with a -wide- variety -of

technological and non-technological approaches to education with equal

competence, -professionalism and ease. One tends to fmd exPetts in

instructional television, computer-basedinstruction, And audio-visual

equipment such as film and overhead projectors, etc. Each of these

individuag is a devotee of his or her particular form of technology,

"Experts" such as these often lose sight of studenta as the beneficiaries of

andrectimmends -it- vigorously to resolve every pedagogical problem.

the educational process. -

Moreover, faculty, administrators and students have all-t000ften been

frustrated by the failure or inadequacy of both the equipment and the

10 Enhance the Educational Process

software provided by these "experts," and this too eontributes to the

reinforcement of negative attitudes towards the use of technology.

A second, but no less vexing, aspect of the instructional technology.

panacea is frequently demonstrated by a politician, state agency official,

or self-styled-expert who sometimes exhibits a bid case of "mediaitis."

This illness takes at least two forms. A symptom of Type A Mediaitis is a

suggestion that gobs of money could be saved if only "we would putone

faculty member on television, somewhere in the state, and broadcast that

faculty member's sterling lectures to thousands of exPectant and eager

--students." Typt-BsMediaitis is-someWhat-different InthisfOrth of the

illness, an expert spends a great deal of time expoimding upon the need

for a particular type of technologically-based delivery system, e.g.,

broadcast, closed circuit TV, satellite, videodisc, etc.

Faculty Conservatism

-Having described many of the systemic barriers to the use of

technology to improve educational effectiveness and efficieridY, if nav

seems wise to attempt to understand the basis for the university and

college facultY's general conservatism towards new approaches to

instructionboth-technological Mid non-technological.

Because the selection of instructional techniques iS almost always a

matter of free choice by each individual faculty menilier, new approachei

to instruction will onlY be adopted widely if each faculty member is made

aware of a particular innovation, becomes interested in it, tries it,

evaluates the results of this trial, and if pleased with the results, adopts the

approach 'More or less permanently. Very few university and college

faculty Members go through this proceSs of adopting newapproaches to

instruction because their training and experience do not move them in

this direetion.

This is the case because there is a single more or less pervasive model

of excellence in higher educationthe prestigious research university:

Faculty members. who are successfid in such institutior..; emphasize

certain activities and patterns of behavior which are antithetical to

seeking out and using-Information on new approaches to instruction.

These Patterni of ficUltY behavior are also not- consistent-with- the

requirement that the development of high technology education software

is, of necessity, a team effort requiring the close, collegial cooperation of

a variety of professionals.

As graduate students, most doctoral candidates focus their attention

on becoming competent in one or more sub-fields of an academic

discipline and on acquiring the skills needed to do research within that

sub-field. They, also learn, from their faculty mentors, that the primazy

function of university faculty members is to push forward the boundarita

of knowledge in their choSen speciality by doing original researchthe

results of which will contribute to the development of a body of theory

and will be publishable in the most respected scholarly journals in

their discipline. A closely related function is that of communicating the

knowledge they acquire to graduate and undergraduate students.

The emphasis, then, is on highly individualistic, creative, intellectual

Enhance the Educational Process I I

work focused on problems defined by an academic discipline. Judgments

of the quality and quantity of a faculty member's published work are

made largely on the basis of evaluations made by specialists in his or her

disciplinary sub-fields, many of whom are at other institutions of higher

educatipli. These judgments and those of his or her departmental

colleagues are of primary importance in decisions on promotion and

tenure, and to a lesser extent, annual salary increases based on merit. A

faculty member's performance will bejudged by the extent to which heor

she conforms successfully to the behavior pattern described above.

Departures form that, pattern will be punished by negative evaluations.

The reward structure in prestigious,research universities reinforca the

highly individualistic, creative intellectual behavior patterns learned in

graduate school.

The pattern of faculty behavior just described is dominant in most

research universities. It is, indeed, one of the primary reasons for the

preeminent status of our mt5st prestigious universities. Faculty at these

institutions have made extraordinary contributions, to the gowth and

development of human knowledge, and these contributions have been

stimulated by the system just described.

Another major aspect of individualistic faculty behavior and institu-

tional practice is that a single faculty member usually teaches a single

course. This is neither the most efficient nor most effective way to

develop packages of mediated materials which will be used widely. With

respect to the use of mediated materials, it usually leads to "the not-

invented-here syndrome" often expressed by an individual faculty

member not involved in the development of the mediated materials as

"those materials are not of sufficiently high 'quality to meet the

educational needs of my students." (Translation: 'That isn't the way I

would do-it, therefore, it doesn't meet my quality standards.")

Hone cannot expect a technological revolution in higher education to

begin at prestigious universities, is it then possible that other, different

types of American institutions of higher education will make the changes

necessary to move in new directionST-With the possible exception of

some community colleges, the prospects for this sort of change are not

good. The reason for this is that even though there are relatively few

prestigious research universities, *there is a single model of excellence,

in the minds of most faculty members and administrators, and many of

them exhibit all the patterns offaculty behavior found-in die research

institutionswithout producing the quantity, or quality ofpublications

produced by their counterparts at Harvar4 YaleStanfor4 Berkeley,

Wisconsin, Michigan, etc.

These less prestigious American institutions are, the ones which might

be expected to adopt more effective and efficient approaches to

instruction and learning. Most of them have not done so, however, and

All facuk9 members, regardless of the type of institution in which they teach, must be

actively engaged in the pursuit of knowledge. This is the only way they can be sure they are

providing current, accurate information to their students. This does not, however, mean

they must be involved in "state of the art" research in their discipline.

12 Enhance the Educational Process

will not do so Until alternative models of excellence emerge and are

awarded sOcietal recognition. Unless and until that happens Most of

these colleges and universities will continde to emulate the research

institutions in behavior and values. if not in high quality scholarly output.

The suggestions which folio* are intended to help these colleges and

uniYersities wishing to use the high technology mode of instruction-

overcome many of the foregeing barriers.

Policies and Practices Intended to Facilitate

the Use of Instructional Technology

A number of changes -in institutional policies and procedures can

activate faculty to become= involved in the development and use of

instructional technology_ and at the same time, protect their jobs, and

reward them for their efforts. Here are some general stateMents which

might be included in a policy designed to attain the goal:

1. The faculty, students and administration of University

commit themselves to develop and use instructional technology

whenever there is sound reason to believe such technology can

improve the effectiveness and the efficiency of education. Since the

-centetif and-the pedagogical_objectives of all courses do not

necessarily lend, thems&es- to a technOfogicalSteatment-major--

development efforts will:be undertaken only after.discussion by the

-parties involved and general agreement that such efforis-should be

2. No faculty member currently employed will be displaced by

instructional technology.

-3. Within the frameWork of #2 above, technological approaches to

education will be used to:

a. Extend- the capaeity of faculty to ser7 larger numbers of

students More effectively; and

13: Where jiossible and appropriate, to substitute for faculty-

members who are planning on leaving the instinition volun-

tarily; to fill-vacancies created by death; and to begin new

programs or courses for which new faculty would normally be

employed.

4. Productivity gains derived ftom the development and use of

-instnictional_technology, if any, will be shared with:

fa. The faculty members who jiittieipate-in-coursadevelopment

and delivery;

b. The-academic departMent of schools to Which the faculty

mentioned in "a" are assigned; tInd

c. The main funding source for'the instituton (e.g., the state, for

public colleges or universities, and the trustees of independent

institutions). 6

5. The faculty and the administration will, together, develop an

2 a

Enhance the Educational Process 13

institutional policy on ownership and use of mediated materials,

the development of which have been completed .With substantial

institutional resources. This policy will define and protect both

the institutioni's and the faculty member's rights and obligations.

Among these are:

a. The institution's right to recoup funds committed to develop-

ment, in the event there is a substantial external market for the

material produced;

b. The faculty member's right to additional remuneration from

external distribution, after the institution's capital investment

is recouped;

c. The conditions under which the materials may be used bY the

institution in the event the faculty member terminates his or

her employMent;

d. The faculty thember's right to ensure the continued accuracy

and utility of the materials by the regular provision of

institutional resources for annual revision of a specified

percentage of the material (ten to twenty percent);

6. The extent, character and quality of a faculty member's contribu-

tions to- the development of mediated materials will be given

substantial weight in the tenure, promotion and merit review

process; and

7. New means will be developed for assessing the efficiency of

instructional techniques making heavy use of instructional

technology.

While any one who has ever taught in a classrciOm-w6uld have grave

doubts about the utility of the number of student contact hours* as a valid

measure of anything, it is clear such commonly-used measures can be

major impediments to faculty members who might wish to develop and

use high quality instructional software. To do so could reduce markedly

their number of student contact hours.

Obtaining Development Capital and Measuring Efficiency

State and nitional goveinment officials and individuals in the private

sector, interested in stimulating the use of instructional technology, must

create some regular funding mechanism to provide the capital necessary

to develop and deliver instructional software, and they must be willing to

re-examine and discard those measures of efficiency that prevent faculty-

and administrators from developing and using technologically-based

approaches to instruction.

Many American public universities are reouired to reoort the number of student contact

1%ours (the measure of students X the number of credits for each course) to state

\ governments. This statistic is used as a measure of efficiency.

Enhance the-Educational Process

Encouraging =Wider Use of Instructional technology and Avoiding

"The Not-Invented-Here Syndrome"

.Individual faculty members generally have different areas of expertise

within the same discipline, and one is likely to get a mediated course or

unitin which the content is accurate and current if different faculty

members handle that part of a codrse in whiCh they five the greatest

expertise. _A second reason for actively- involving as many faculty as

possible in the development of-a single course is that by doing so, one

greatly increases the probabilitY each of the facultY members will

approve the use of the course: This should increase markedly thenumber

of students who will use the course. Another way to expand even further

the numbers of students and institutions using a course, is to leave out

certain segments or sections of the course, but to suggest some ways that

faculty in other institutions and departments might prepare materials for

a these segmentstluis personaliiing the course and, increasing the

probability these faculty and dePartments will use it Using this "blank

spam" technique is one way of mitigating "the not-invented-here

syndrome," and encouraging creative and individualistic faculty to give

their own personal touch to software developed elsewhere.

To get ab individualistic faculty member to become a full participant in

a group of professionals Working on a common Project, one probably has

to make it possible for that faculty member to work with the group on a

full-time basis, long enough to complete workon the group project Poing

this shout& remove the faculty member from his or her workday

university world and the system which reinforces individualistic behavior.

An explicit orientation may also help the facultymember understand the

difference& between the normal pattern of faculty behavior and-that

required to develop packages of mediated -materials successfully.

Such an orientation might explain that the effective development and

useof instructional-technology is basically a_ team effort which requires

careful planning and the close cooperatian ofhighly skilled professionals

in several fields. First and foremost among these is, of course;the faculty

member. The faculty member is, the content expert responsible for

ensuring that the course goals are realistic in terms of the entry level

=knowledge of the Students; that the content is appropriate to both die

students' entry knowledge level and the goals of the course, and that the

content is both current and aecurate.

While the faculty member mustbe treated as the first among equals,

someone must be put in charge who hit a firm understandingofthe entire

process, and can activate Cboperative effort and who can resolve disputes

in a creative abd non-destructive manner. Whichever member of the

'team can bestcarry out this sophisticated leadership function, stiould be

put in charge of the project In any event, the faculty member must have

the find word on content

Enhance the Educational Process 15

An orientation program during which the points just stated lire made

would help the faculty member adjust quickly to the new circumstances.

This adjustment would be facilitated further if sooperative efforts were

reinforced by group processes and financial rewards.

Both students and faculty must come to understand the advantages

they can derive froni the effective use of instructional technology; what

the limits uf this technology are; and when it should not be used.

The high technology4 capital intensive, mode of couise development

described earlier can best be used for those courses and parts of courses

in which the content is relatively stable, and the teaching-learning

objectives -are fairly clew'. Basic, introductory courses in almost any

discipline other than performance courses in theater arts, music and art

are genirally appropriate for this type of development work.

In these types of courses, the professor's role should be changed, by

use of the high technology mode, to that of a tutor in comparatively small

group, face-to-face interaction, rather than a presenter of material to

hundreds of students assembled .in Massive lecture sections.. The

advantages of this type of faculty and graduate assistant role change

should be obvious tO both students and faculty.

The high 4echnology mode probaply should not be used for.those

courses or parts of courses in which the content is changing rapidly, or in

which students and faculty are studying-or doing research on problems

for which there are no known answers. These would include someiunior

and senior courses and a- good many graduate seminars. One could,

however, probably make a very good case for the high technology

development of introductory research methods and statistics dourses

normally required in many graduate programs in the physical, biological,

and social sciences, and the full range of courses in Many professional

masters programs.

CONCLUSION

Akhough sOme univelsity-level instruction may not be suited- to the

development of sophisticated packages of mediated materials, American

educators are maids% little effort to use instructional technology

effectively, in their regular programs, in those areas that show great

promise. The problems I've described are not insurmountable. They can

and will be overcome, given initiative, imagination, commitment- and

cooperation on the part of the faculty, administration, students and those

governmental institutions that supervise and provide ftmding for education.

The 'technology to improve both educational effectiveness and

efficiency is now available. If educators do uot reorient themselves

quickly to take advantage of this technology, private industry and new

types of non-profit educational organizations will do so.

Educational Technologr- .

The Congressional Perspective

Fred W. Weingarten

Office of Technology Auessment

Washington, D.C.

INTRODUCTION

Even in the Most stable political times, a person would be pletumptuous,

indeed, to attempt to present a Congressional perspective on any topic.

:Who Could speak for more, thin five hundred highly, independent men

and women? And theie- are anything but-stable times on the HU The

Federal role in many, areas of donsestic life is likely to be reasseued, and,

in the view of many observers, education will receive its share of

attention.

Sensing that use of-information teChnology in edema:on:is going to

-present new oppatunities and problems for Federal pahoy makers,

-Congress -has reqUested that the Office of TechnologY Assessment

(OTA)Prepare for it a report on information tecinriogy and education.

This assessment has just started. A report on its initial directionsmight

givesenne sense of how Cengress may choose to look at education policy

in light Of new information technologies, and that task is -the one I will

t\9 undestakelhis morning.

Ic% The Office of TechnologY Assessment

U% The Office Of Technology Assessment is an agency of the Congress. It

is -responsible to both houses of Congress and is dirented by a

Technology- Asiessment Bowl connoting of three members fiun each

N, party, Atom each chamber. Its role is to examine the long term effects of

% -*they dui** regarding technological issues.

OTA' studio,- generally last from severalmonths to:a few years, in

Stk contrast to the generally shorter,' mote tightly focussed studiet conducted

by -the Congressional Researth Service -cc the General Amounting

`44 Office. The agency does not make policy recommendations to Congress,

bht rate; trim to ptoject -as objectively as possible the available

2 /

The Congressional Perspective 17

decisions afict their social, etonomic- and political effects. Each study

Must be requested by at least on6 fiat- committee and approved by the

Technology-Assessment-Board.

The StudyPwpose

Rear.

what has heen said so far:

The Federal Governinent has nothing to de with education.,,it's.

The Defense Department- spends an estimated twelve billion

-dollars on manpewer training.

-The Federal GoVernment has never done anything with the

express intent of aidingeducation per sebut to achieve other

social goals.

The Federal Government pays over ten percent orthe budgets of

local- schixit disocts.

These are just a few, of the eminent: I have colleded in the first few

months of the study, iiictthey illustrate the paradoxes in U.S. attitudes

toward-a Federal educaVon policy that mikes a study such as this so

complex and undertaking

It is clearly possible _that_tbe_new information teehnology_ holds great

prom* kir' traditional edueation. This same technology, coupled with

our evolution into an "Information Society," is also changihg the very

_meaning of educatien, the mechanins for providing it, and the nature of

societal demands for it.

The purPose of this study is to examine these technological trends,

assessmhat they have to offer the educational process, determine how

their are likely to be used, and explore how the Federal Government

might respond'HoPefully, the study will answer the follov4ing questions.

Are there policies that will encourage the use of infonnatidi technology,

are Ihere legislative or regulatory barriers, and est there potential

problems stemming from educational use of infornition technology that

may call for legislative-remedy?

Comniunicating this aisessment to Congress it complicated by the

problem that educational policy is not made solely_ hy,Committees with

the word "Education" in their titles. The Armed Services Committees

must wotrY about manpower, the Civil Service Committees- about the

competence .of Government workers, the= Commerce Committees are

concerned with copyright and the Science and Technology Committees

are concerned with communication policy and R&D. Thistype of cross-

tutting issue isi-theoretically,a particular specialty of OTA. in reality, it

is hird to focus ind communicate sucha study.

Study G.Oals

The study has four major goals:

Assess Existing Federal Interest and Roles: The Federal GovernMent,

18 The Congressional Perspective

even-though not directly responsible for the -schools of this nation, has

many programs that affect them and many interests_ in_ the quality of

education in the United States. What are reasonable objectives for the

Federal GoVernment that may shape policy strategies?

Determine Opportunities and Barriers for Use inthe Schoolr-Many

experts think that the new developments in information technology hold

great promise fertile schools. Tileprcblems ;acing the schools have been_

cataloged in many places. Theyinchide the following:

A declining support, from taxpayers as the percentage Of the

taxpaying population with children in school drops and as the

support- of the middle class for public "education declines.

Increasing pressure -from the Government and the Courts 'to

provide equal access to education for all types of students, racial

minorities, non-Eng,fish,speaking groups, the handicapped, and

other 'such groups. In addition pressures to -sery, more varied

student groups in the traditional sectors oeducation, new

demands for education by women, by the elderly, and by those,

trying to adapt to a changingjob Market, are also creating new

demands on the education establishment.

The increase in labor costs as experienced in all service sectors.

Productivity inereases often depend upon the substitution of

capital for labor. Those activities that haVe not traditionally been

subject- to productivity improvements are squeezed by the

inflationary prestures of labor costs increasing faster than the

overall inflation, rate. .

The need to train more proactive and technologically sophisti-

cated citizens, to _help the U.S. economy and to Provide more

effective citizens in an informatiOn society.

Faced with these pressures, it is only natural that education decision-

makers woukl ask whether the neW advances in information technology

cotild contribute to solving their problems. Can inforMation technology

improve the quality of education? Can it improve access to education on

the parts of those for whom it is difficult because of physical restrictions

or geographical separation? Can it provide better productivity offering an

improved product at lower cost'? At the least, this report should be able to

summarize for The Congress what is known about the potential benefits

and costs of information technology:

Assuming that a set of policy options might be intended to encourage

the use of information technology, it is also important to describe the

barriers that exist to such use. Many have been proposed in the literature

-and ta me in preliminary conversations with exper's. Among them, the

need for teacher training might be pointed out, along with the lack of

sufficient support in the way -of training and service, the existence of

overly restrictive purchasing policies, and ignorance at the higher

Nwdministrative levels of the school bureaucracy.

Cis

The Congressional Perspective 19

A number _of problems that could be characterized as societal, or

Constitutional, in nature need to .be examined. _Many experts have

expressed concern about the long term effects on learners, particirlarlY

children, of rePlacing the classrOom experience by television or cornptiters.

As another example, the use of infonnation iechnology may greatly

increase the amount of record-keeping on students. More records .of

traditional types of information -such as-test scores or other types of

claisroom performance will be stored in machine readable form for !Ong

periods of time. In addition, new ,types of information conderning

thinking processes, psychological diagnoses, and so on inay be collected

and retained. What will be the privacy rights of students under these

circumstances, and what will be the-responsibilities of the schools in

handling this.data. An analogy may be seen in the area of medicalrecord-

keeping, in which hospitals and doctors have been deluged with a

plethora of new legislation and regtilation at both the state and Federal

levels.

Anotherissue will be equity. As information services become a major

industry, information is becoming a significant marketable commodity.

An important question Will concern the degree to which access to some

basic threshold of information literacy is a basic right of U.S. citizenry.

One scenario would hold that the benefits (if they exist) stemming from

the use of information technology in education may accrue only to the

private providers and, perhaps, to the well-off public school districts.

This trend would leave the poorer schools, those serving the poor of

society, in the lurch. Should such a scenario come to pass, the schools

could serve to increase rather than_to narrow the bridge between groups

irr this society,-to provide barriers rather than bridges.

A final-example is the-problem of Federalism. The schools, as the

quote at the start of this paper suggests, have traditionally been regarded

as the preserve of local government. One of the general observations that

have been made about high technology it that it tends to centralize, to

Place a value on thelarge operations, as opposed to the small. True, this

tendency is the subject of endless argument about whether this iinperative

is necessary, but one can observe that most automated systems to date

seem to centralize control. Any Federal policy toward use of information

technology must take into, consideration the possibility that more

national conticol and less local choice over the content and style of

education will result. This centralization may not be onlyon the part of

the Govenuirent, but reflect the influence oflarge publishers, broadcasters,

program_ produCers, and the like. Choice of curricular material may

simply be restricted.

The-Changing Role of Education ,

Evidence mounts that in the firture information society edudation will

be provided by a much wirkr spectrum of agents. Historians of education V

20 The Congressional Perspective

such its Lawrence Cremin have point out that education has, fora long

time, been provided in a number Of environments other than sehools.

These -other providers may be in-a position to exploit the technology,

more quickly and effectively than can traditional schools. The following

examples come to mind:

The investment by industry in training and employee education is

not well-known, but estimates range from $40 billion to $100

billion. We do know that the number is large and growing rapidly,

Surely faster than the budget of the schools. More important than

size, the type of eduCation offered by employers is also changing,

moving toward topics, such as writing skills, that have traditionally

been considered the preserve of the education establishment

The recent White HOUseConference on the Library spent much

time discussing _the importanCe of the library in an information-

sotiety is a purveyor of knowledge rather than an archive,a role

that, again, borders closely on that of the schools.

Many museums, partieularly the relatively new science and

technology museums and the even newer children's musetuns,_

are developing -public setvices that are clearly educational in

nature._

Public broadcasting, radio and television, whose recent emphasis

on cultural programming may be under strong challenge in light

of new cable and broadcast satellite technologies, may return

more closely to their original interest in education. Several

proposals have been floating around that show revived interest in

a- nationwide, broadcast-based educational service.

In the microcornputer market, manufacturers are starting tO

attack the home consumer market directly with educational

devices such as "Speak and Spell" and software packages for

personal computers such as.the Apple and the TRS 80 that are

starting to appear in the home. Videodisks, if a large constimer

market develops, could stimulate a similar trend.

These trends affect Federal policy in a number of wayi. In the

first place, they may- offer opportunities, provided the markets

can be guided or encouraged to develop.

However, these developments may also cause difficult poliCy problems

for The Congress. The public schools may be under even greater streises

than they are today, if an economic, more effective, andmore convenient

ilternative source of education is available to the middle class. To the

extent that the alternative is available to those who can afford it, the role

of the public schools as the educational system of the last resort becomes

vital. And the Federal Government may be called upon to provide the

funds to support that role.

-Thai CohgressionalPerspective 21

Federal Policy

The principal aim of this part of the study will be to determine whatt

Congress may wish to achieve, and to decide what policy levers exist to

accomplish those goals. --

The assessment will develop a limited number of policy scenarios that

appear to befessible and responsive to the various probteiris discussed

above. Among them, expanded in detail, with substantial fme structure to

be added, might be the followinx

A laissez-faire policy that keeps a strict distance between the

Federal Government and developments in education, save for a

few efforts to remove unintended barriers to the developing

educational use of information technology.

Some form of a VoucherAystem-may be adopted that removes

Federal support of the schools directly, but that recognizes the

developing choices of educational style and provider.

The Federal Government could direcdy subsidize the schools in

order to sustain a free public education system and to enable

schools to obtain the new technology they used.

The Government could directly fund the creation of educational

materials, curriculum, television programs, and soon, thitWould

be available to all users.

Agencies such as NSF could greatly expand support for research

and development on information technology for education.

These efforts could include dissemination programs to help

schools get access to the knowledge developed by the projects.

Approach

The Assessment will consist of three stages. The first, nearly

complete,' is a study planning phase. Second, there will be data

collection and analysis, and, finally, apolicy assessment will be done.

An advisory panel of distinguished experts in the field ot education is

being assafibled and will meet shortly to kick-off the data collection and

analysis effort: This work will be conducted by in-house research staff

and outside contractors and consultants,.

SUMMARY

I will close by saying that the success of an assessment such as this will

depend greatly on the quality of help that is provided by die interested

communities,. From experience with other projects at OTA, I can state

with certainty that the report will probably not fully satisfy anyone. It

must present the full possible spectrum of actions for Congress, and

represent the interests of all stakeholders. However, it is the active

involvement of those stakehoklers that assures that their interests are

fairly and completely represented.

.t. 32

Technology and the Changing

Economics of Education

Robert H. McCabe

President Miami-Dade Community College

Miami, Florida

INTRODUCTION

After years of faltering progress, it is_ now reasonable to forecast

substantial growth in the use of technology in-postsecondary education.

Colleges and universities will change dramaticallyin the decade ahead.

A series of factors, incuding operational econoMics, will stimulate

greater use of communications technology. As a basis foç discussing

changes in the'Use of technology, it is important to take a brief look at the

changing clientele and services, Public attitudes towards higher education,

and some considerations in financing

By the end of this decade, the successful postsecondary institutions

will be very different from the present: For one thing there will be more'

older students. For a number Of years state "legislatures have been

awaiting the widely forecastdecines in highereducation enrollment. All

were aware that there are 20 percent fewer eight-year olds than eighteen-

year olds in America today, and that high school enrollments were

already declining Yet, the decline has not materialized. The reason is

that growing numbers of older Americans are beginning college careers,

or returning for continued educational servies on a lifelong basis. For the

lf) first time in _the fall of 1980, there were fewer first-time-1n college

stio students who came directly froni high school than those who did nota

considerable and important-change. More individuals are coming back

'present jobs. In my fields continued education is being required to

on a continuing basis to upgrade _their skills often simply to, keep their

maintain certification or licensure. The paramedical fields are a very

Ct( good example. The average American has three careers during th

444 worklife, and many students_ return to college to facilitate c

career:Many others return for personal development. This ispart* arly

Chinging Economics 23

important to the substantial number of Americans who have jobs that are

not personally fidfdling.

Another major change will be the continued diversification in every

attribute. The older students have more life-experience and:necessarily

more varied, competencies, knowledge, and attitudes. There are more

part-time students; more from previously under-served Minorities; and,

most importantly, more with less academic skill. We are now in _the

thirteenth conseeutive year of decline in -academic skill for American

"-high school graduates as measured by standardized tests. If one uses

1975 norms on standardized academic-tests -with 1980 high _school

graduates, the median score is tenth gildeeixth month. This decline in

skills has profpund impact on colleges, especially cOmifilinitycalleges. It

has brought public concern for the quality of our work, and with it

growing dentand for standardized testing competency-based programs,

and increesed use of assessment and standardized measurement This in

turn is requiring a more directive approach to the educational program,

and the-need for increased information concerning progress for students

and staff'.

Less Academic Skills

Students are coming with less academic skill, and colleges are being

asked to upgrade expectations and raise standards. Thus, colleges are

faced with a critical dilemma which will be very difficult to resolve, but

some tliings are clear. For one, the application of a standard amount of

educational services will not bring a student who is considerably behind

academically to the expected standards. Further, the tremendous

diversity among students will require time variable and individualized

programs. The programs must be more directive, with considerable

control of student flow. Only through the use of communications

technology will these necessary changes take place. I seeno prospect that

appropriations to colleges will be increased sufficient!), to achieve these

ends through the use of additional personnel. Even if funds were

provided, it is doubtful that the-necessary changes in program could be

achieved without utilization of the capabilities of the improved

communications technOlogy.

Cable

There are so many important changes in communications technology,

that for this presentation I will select only a few on which to comment.

There will be many new ways to deliver television to the home, but most

imisattant for education are the growing cable networks. Unlile open

circuit broadcasts,lcable delivery can present specialized fare for low

volume listenership. Even the public television open circuit broadcasters

worry about the impact on programs before and after educational

programs which draw small audiences. Audiences that are practical for

24 Changing EcOnontics

delivery from the standpoint of the educational institution are often

viewed negatively by open circult broadcasters. Cable operators have an

entirely different view. Thus, the spread of cable systems may resolve the

serious broadcast access problems of the colleges.

Vida;

The growth in videotape recorders and the adient of videodisc plaxers,

of course, have important implications for education. At this time -in

Miami there are seven videotape purchase and exchange-operationi

-within a ten minute drive of my home, and prices for exchange are

dropping rapidly. Already more than 4,500,000 homes have videotape

recorders. With the beginning of sales of videodisc players, some

educational discs are being offered for as little as $5.95, and disc players

have fascinating flexibility, particularly for information, storage, and

random access. With regard .to equipment, it is important to us in

education to follow the home market development, as the volume sales

will reduce prices to the minimum, and in the long run it would be well to

think of the equipment in individuals' homes as part of our educational

delivery system.

Computers

-011 the computer front there are two developments that arecf special

interest One is the tremendous gain in power of microcomputers. The

impact is well illustrated with the .Miami-Dade Community College

RSVP system, a combination of CMI/CAI systems which is operated on

a $2 millionmain frame configuration. We are currently worldni with

other institutions to redevelop this system with limited compromiies on

scale, and added capabilities. The new system will requie an $8,000

microcomputer configuration. This will not only make the system more

available in Miami-Dade, but will make it practical for the smallest

institutiOn. This is a major economic breakthrough, not only because of

the reduction in the cost of the hardware, but, even more importantly, the

potential-for reduction of per-student cost for software. The number of

students who will benefit from a software package (course) both dictates

the financial feasibility of the development of the software and the level of

that development If many institutions have similar equipment, the

number of potential users imreases, and more dollars can be allocated 'for

the software deyelopmentand quality software is costly. The very large

institutions have always been able to develop some course software,

while small institutions have had limited capability. Now small institutions .

-*ill be able to afford to acquire quality computer-based courses for their

students from the large institutions, and the large institutions can have

software for a larger spread of their curriculum, as they can draw from so

many sources. Tliis should result in a boom in development of high

quality computer-supported learnink programs. When we reach the

Changing Economics 25.

point of volume utilization thatwill permit modest charges per student to

amortize development costs, institutions with very few students and

small facilities will be able to access broadly diversified learning

programs. From the standpoint of economics, what is created in effect is

a situation similar to a very large lecture section with supporting faculty

services.

The other development in computers that interests me is what I call

"Christman games" computersthe very small processers that utilize

the television receiver as a screen, operate interactive games, and sell for

lets than $200.. I an intrigued by the possibility that such a micro-

processer, particularly the type that utilize cassettes, could be in typical

homes by the end of the decade. The possibilities of combining such a

processer, a videodisc player, and a television receiver are fascinating.

With this configuration, colleges could easily deliver quite sophisticated

branching programming with interactive learning arrangements, particu-

larly where drill is essential; From the standpoint of economics, it is

important that the eqnipment is in the home. Not only because of the cost

of acquisition, but also from the standpoint of maintenance of equipment.

The discs themselves are very inexpensive to reproduce, although high

volume is necessaiy. If this part of the work occurred at home, there

would be no investment in plant or equipment for that part of the

individual's educational program. There is investment only in software

development and/or purchase. The discs, which are quite durable, and

the cassettes, which are very inexpensive, .could be checked out to

students.

Another important application of the use.of videodiscs, cassettes, or

telecasts relates to the growing need for recertification and the learning of

neviskills and information to maintain current positions. While in urban

areas it might be practical to configure sufficient individuals to operate

standard classes, these services must be delivered on a location variable

basis. Many individuals live in areas where there are not enough persons

with the same need to operate a standard class arrangement; thus, only

methods using video appear to be practical. Further, the developments in

many fields today are so rapid, and in some occupations the number of

specialists so few, that it will be necessary to develop such programs for

use throughout the country, or at least throughout a state. It would be

impactical for each institution to attempt such programs independently.

Impact of Student Financial Aid

One change which has taken place during the past five years and has

important future impact is in the area of student financial aid. Begkining

with the post World War II G.I. Bill, the federal government has used

financial aid to student& as a principal vehicle for expanding access to

3 6

26 Changing-Economics

postsecondary education. It has left the fmancing of operations to state

and private sources. In recent years the expansion of the Basic

Educational -OpPortunity -Grants (noW -the Pell Grants) -and other

fmancial-aid increases in many institutions -resulted-in-a-majorityof the

fulkinieStirdents receiving financial aid. Thus, most of the students are

being paid to go to college. This has brought with it a growing concern

the the -people -who-receive- this aid-benefit- demonstrably frofir-the

services, and-make progress toward achieving,the objectives for which

the grants are given.-Without question this further contributes to the need

for more measurement and more inforritation about student progress for

-the institutions, the government, and the student. The institution's

approach to students must be more directive. This type of feedback and

control cannot be achieved without the use of communications technology,

and there is clear evidence that much headway is being made. There are

at least five national guidancer-sytemS utilizing interactive computer

applications, and many institutions are developing other applications to

take greater control-of the student-flow process.

-Monitoring Student Progress

Progress based on the concepts that students can-take any courses that

they want at any time, have a right to fail; should get credit for any

coursesdevelcipmental or not, are dead. At Miami-Dade Community

College-the student's progress through the institution is now monitored

from point of entry to exit:There is assessment, placement, competency

requirements to move into collegelevel courses, restrictions on load as

early as seven credits attempted, required intervention courses as early-

as fifteen credits, individualized letters to all 45,000 students after six

weeks of each term concerning their progress in each course, and

computerized information at the end of every term concerning progress

toward graduation and towards meeting the requirements of the institution

to which they are planning to transfer. All of this is at increased cost to the

institution, but is an absolutely necessary part of the cost Of a student's

education, and only affordable because of the use of communications

technology.

The key in the econoinics of education is massing. Simpli put, if large

numbers of people want to do the same thing (take the same course), it is

easy to develop traditional classroom delivery methods that meet

economic expectations. A well run student scheduling and registration

procedure should tie able to handle class siie for large enrollmentcourses

almost like an assembly line filling milk bottles to the proper level. But,

where the numbers of perions taking a single course is small, class size

ccntrol is lost and costs rise. Where the number of persons with the same

goal begin with considerably varied skills traditional methods break

down, and individualization through the use of personnel, is clearly

beyond our fmancial capability.

Changing Economics 27

There are a number of things that can and should be done that involve

technology, and that are economically feasible. However, one should

never forget most students, especially Older students, are anxious to have

a personal interactive experience, and the number of students who work

well completely without such interaction is relatively small. One of the

purposes of the controlled student flow system at Miami-Dade

Community College is to reduce the student diversity in the broad

spectrum of courses, so that there is reduced diversity in academic skills

in the classes. In that way, faculty can deal more effectively using

traditional methods. In this case, technology, is utilized to make

traditional practices more economically feasible and more effective.

Individualiz a tion

When a learning program utilizes technology so that a faculty member

,does not deal with students in a class group, individualization, rather than

being more expensive, becomes less expensive. A result is produce4that

economically is similar to large group instruction. The new technologils

provide tremendous capability for individualization that seem not only

desirable, but absolutely essential if we are to deal with our much more

diverse student body, and preserve the opportunities for students to

interact with faculty and staff.

Sharing-Deyelopmental Costs

One important key, and perhaps the most difficult hurdle for academic

institutions, is cooperation. Technically, the improved capability of

microcomputers and the new developments in video -have made: the

sharing of materials among institutions very feasible. TO reducethe cost

.per student for development, it is absolutely essential to share the

development cost, and good software is expensive. None of us,

regardless of size, can expect to develop all of our ownit is, simply not

economically possible. The teohnical developments that have made

sharing practical, and the experience of the cooperation of a number of

institutions over the past decade have provided important steps- in the

right direction. In terms'of academic attitudes,- there is still kway to go.

Faculty-like to do their own thing in their own wayit is part of the

academic tradition. While progtess is being made toward necessary

collaboration, it is also important to provide for manipulation of softiVare

so that faculty in each institution, and, if pasible, each faculty member in

an institution, have some way to make the materials their own. Yet, there

is no escaping the need for faculty to workin collaboration if educational

services are to be delivered in the most efficient and effective way for the

future.

SUMMARY

;. One advantage in the introduction of technology into the institutions in-

21, Changing Economics

am& is that it appears certain that the reeistanceamong faculty Will

der** for use of techcoloiy is no lingerunusual The gosvth in the use

of Computers and video in- every lield, and -the daily interaction with

tsclaricigy in the lives ofstudents airclfircukywill =keit seem/gra* in

_the Mars if the- initihkions do not 'Use communciatiOns

The Mire growth _in the use of technology in higher' edwationis

cat*. It holds great hope farus in corninunily collegetto finally match

our keg heidaspiration to help each student succeed through realistic,

affordable, and effective educational programs. ,

1erg -

' NI Changing Organizational Structures

cr. to Capitalize on Technology

mi ibseph I. Upson

t c%) Notion& Sdence Foundation

i::) Watthington, D.C..

Most observers ogee that educational teclmology has na lived up to

its promise. Many &mons for thii havi been paposecL I would hIce to

explortjte possiblity that an important reason is the following

We have tried to bnplement new technologies with a school organiza-

tion that evolved in taconite to an older teclmologythe technology of

the clissroom, the blackboard and the textbook. The effective use of

educadonel- technology wil'iequie the Mrolution or design of new

orpnizational sbuctures.

If this is tnie, it *lies thit 'schools should be re-organized to help

people to be productive with the new inforaation technologies such IS

the coaputer, the videafisc, and the ccamunications netwak. By

orgadizational structure I mean simple, rraxlsne things such as who

roports to whom, how the budget is Allocated, hovi .the budnet is

organized, who must sign-off before various decisions or purcksAl are

Made, the names given to organizational units, unit descriptione

goali, job desotiptions; how people are hired, who can ask whom to any

out a task, and who must apprOve requests fir Fork by a given unit or

Persori

co.iplex and chimps more rapidly, I); our organizational structure must

Ratted ideas are that as educational technology "becomes more

-become more adaptable, less rigid, and 2). we must invest more of our

effort in the design ind maintenance of the orianization,that helps us to

use this technology.3. 4

)' The Challenge of Innovation

railroads, the steel Wish'', the auto induitry; and sobools have so much

Why is, it that established organizations such. u the hotels, the

difficulty raponding to the opportunities of new technologiel? Why is it

(Li that innovations are so difficult to institutionalize? Perhaps the stay is

something hie this: Laup.established organiations tart a life of their

Z. 1 0

10 Organisational &roams

own. They do stable and suecessful. Presumably they are successful

because their organizatibnal structure was, during their time of growth,

well-suited to the tools of their operaticin. Theirorganizational structure

was appropriate. They were well-organized to enable people to be

productive ,with the technology them available.

Their very suet:els and stabilityis what getsiong-lived organizations

MtOdiMCuk.Wbánaballilatthebofabow1Orá&jj.hekljfl

place by a set of, eprinp, a small disturbance bringi forces into play that

return the ball tO the bottom of the bowl or return the spring-held object to

.its original position. Similarly, when& stable organization is disturbed by e.

an innOvation, forces come into plpy to resist the innovation and to return

the siMation to normal. The status quo is the condition of stable

equilibrium. All departures from the statio ,quo are resisted.,

In a personal conVersaticii, Rob Spaulding used the analogy of

residence to infectibn. If we think of the school or School systern as an

organism, an innovation is analogoug to an infection. The school systein

immediately:responds to maintain its character Ind its integrity, to resist

the infection of change. Etch individual in the system thinks that s/he is

acting autonothOusly and intelligently,not realizing the myriad ways that

the organizational structure Ind procedures are encouraging hini/her to

act so as to reject the innovation. There issome evidence that awareness

of the forces ope4ting on us helps us to resist thern, to -be more

discriminating in our actions and decisions; and if our consciousness is

raised with regard to the subtleways our organizations, influence us, we

may-learn to modify our traditional reactions.

I.have seep the following haPpen several times: An individual

Proibuor will become intereated in using sonie form of educational

technology.Tor a while s/he it able to resist the fbrees that encourage a

rettirn tothe status, quo. If energy in the form ofresources (e.g., money,

released dine) is allocated to the innovation, then for a while a tenuous

stability cab be breated.bf all the innovationsthat are tried, a few may

even be coMPitible with the existing structure and such innovations may

survive and be institutionalized (e.g., the research institute, the use &the

Xerox mabhine). However, the more common courie of events is that

evendially the professor gets tired, lives or is simply forced to Ore up the

innovation and the system. The schoOl returns to the status quo.

At the microscopic level of detailed human interiCtions, many causes

am Observed and offered as reasons for the failure ofan innovation: The

faculty member feels that his/her efforts are MX adequately considered in

the promotion/tenure process. /slot enoughhelp is provided. &federal'.

grant runs out and there are 'no replacement resources made Available,

and so on.6 HoWeVer, after observing theprocess of attempted and failed

or limited institMiOnalization several times, I have come to the hypothesis

that the prob)im lies deeper than the surface events imply and that the

solution must dealwith the deeper relationships betweeirbrganizational

40.

Organizational Structuies 31

structure and the way -we- use the tools available to us.

Put another way, we need social- and organizational- inventions to

enable us to effectiVely use new hardware-and software inventions. As

Dobrov3, 4 states,

without technology, society is disarmed; without technical knowl-

edge and people ivho can manipulate it, technology is stillborn; without

social organization enabling- tedmological systems to be rationally

used and developed, those systems are oflittle Use and can even 1*

The Existing Technology

If cine looks at mod schools and colleges, one sees that our curriculum

and the activities that we assign to students are -largely limited and

controlled by our reliance and commitzneat to word and symbol oriented

technologies. These technologies are the classroom, pencil and paper,

the blackboard; and the textbookin contrast to the held trip or

laboratory, and the TV/computer screen or direct observation. The

existing technologies are used because a.) words and symbols are to

important to the educational -process tind.b.) tlfeY ire reliliiieffehetii

The result is that studen(activities with objects, photographic images,

and equipment are not well represented in the curricullith. As a further

result we have the recUrrincomplaint that students can repeat word and

symbol strings' but:that *.:ty do not have the skill needed foractually

doing things. This distinetfon is characterized as the difference between

knowing what and knowing hOw, the difference between declarative sus;

procedural knowledge. Examples of the differetice are a.) being ?Ile to

describe the operation of an auto engine vs: being able to design, build, or

repair an engine and b.) being able to state mathematical rules or

theorems vs. being able to solve problems with those rule*. (Note.

Another technolOgy that hat seriously influenced education is the

nidtiple choke test. There is evidence that students who are preparing

for a multiple choke test engage in different kinds of study activities than

those who are preparing for essay or problem tests. In general, the

anticipated form of aisessment [e.g., having to make an oral presentation,

having to teach a class while, being obseived, having to carry out an

experiment or construct a work dart] modifies the activities students use

to prepare. The cOnclUsion is that a technology that allows a wider range

of assessment procedures to be carried out economicak and reliably will

modify the -learning experiences of students. The computer is such a

technOlogy.)

Departments and Clastroom Teachers

The organizational siructure that has evolved to effectively use the

existing technologies is a realtively flat one (i.e., a group of peers

repotting to a department chairperson) that tends to focus on the teacher

:in the classroom as the basic operational unit with the subject-based

32 Organistuional Structures

department as the basic-organizational unit. Services, administration,

budgeting practices, promotion and tenure, etc., all tend to sipport the

classrOom teachers in their standard role of developing knowledge using

words and symbols. I know that many teachers would disagree with this

and exiress dissatisfaetion with the degree of support- they get. I would

propose that their divatisfactica with anything except direct support of

their role in front ofthe class is one ofthe forces that tends to maintain the

current structure. Teachers resist anr.new organizational arrangement

that drains resourdee from traditional classroom activity. In my view, this

is correct is lceg as the principal sources ofproductive woric in the school

is the teacher-led class. The question is, can we invent new technology-

based arrangements .ffiat, with different combinations of roles, tasks,

reporting lines, schedules, etc. an more productive and more satisfying

to both faculty and students? There are interesting examples in medical

education and in the case of the British Open University that suggest but

do not prove or conclusively demonitrate that this may be possible.

The Failed Technologies

The motion picture, television, radio, the LP record, the electric

typeivritir, the audio-cusette player, the video-cassette player, and kits

of laboratory materialihave not had a signifiCant knpact upon the nature

of the currAculum and the qUality of foaml school education. In order for

them to hair had a greater effect many inter-related steps to modify the

organizational system would have had to be taken: -new purchasing_

regulations, new federal, state, and local arrangements to support

curriculum development, new organizational support units, _new in-

service and pre-service training programs, new budget formulation

Procedures, etc. would have had to-be developed.

For example, hecaustof its new organizational structure, the British

Open University has the largest publishing operation in the United

Kingdom and the docnments they print are widely used throughout the

higher iducation aystem. In this case an organization modification was

required to enable higher education to serve the distant, isolated learner,

and a resuk has been the creation of a hUge organizational subsystem to

exploit the existing print technology. A similar story holds for their TV

production. However, Oen the British O.U. has difficulties in using new

media because of the fact that they have, a matrix organization of course

teams combined with academic departments of the Open University.

The academic departmeats seem to_ be the culprits that create a

reeistance to innovation and may eVen be a force for reversion to a

campus' system with classes, etc.

The New Technologies

The compuer, telecommunications networks, and image devices such

as the videodisc offer a wide range of instructional options.1, 2,5 Even on

4 3,

Organizotional Structures 33

a Straight economic basis the continuing reduction in the cost of

computing combined with the increasing cost of printed materials

suguests that electronic publishing will compete directly with printing

within the decade of the 80's (Evans, 1979). The question is, can we re-

organize otir educational systemat all levelsto make effectiie use of

these new information teehnologies?

At the national level; can we coOrdinate the resourde allocation and

decision procedures to have needed equipment standards, inforination

and dissemination networks, and courseware development?

At the local and state levels, can we create support units such as the

science teacher suppott centers that Doug Lapp has designed and

implemented in Virginia? Can We develop -nevt training provims for

teachers to use the new technologies and for authors who are needed to

create the new materilli?

At the achool level, can we create new organizational arrangements

that move away from the cottage industry format of the classroom and

that allocate resources to the purchase, maintenance, and improvement

of educational technology systems? And can we do these things in a cost

effective way ,that makes the schooling experience more interesting for

both faculty and. students?

The Likely Scenario

If the above questions are to have a pesitive response, their urgency

needs to be recognized si every level of the system. Decisions are drilien

by emotions, and until the problem of educational technology has

emotiOnal and political Rome, little is 'tidy to happen. One of our tasks is

to find the arguments, images, anecdotes and demonstrations that give

the issue tbe needed-force. Some of our best arguments will be Oen

during this conference and also are listed in existing documents?, a My

expectationis that the new technologies will begin fo take root outside of

the formal systeth through home learning, through industrial training

programs, through medical training programs, and through militaty

'training programs. When they are sufficiently established outside of the

colleges and public schools, smite schools and colleges will respond to

the thallenge and try new organizational schemes to use the technologies

and some new schools,and colleges willhesres4_! d scifically to make

use of the new technologies. Oral Roberts University is a .posSible

example of the latter case. The use oftechnology is built into the structure

of Oral Roberts; and the contracts of all faculty require that they learn

about educational technologies, contribute as authors, and use the

technologies.

Knowledge and skill are so critical to a modern society that eventually

'inter-national pressure will require the organizational changes needed.

Forethought and planning can make the transition easier, can minimize

the pain of change; but the change is inevitable. Failure to make the

34 Organizational Structures

investment of human talent and ingenuity will cause much greater misery

and dislocation at some future time. To paraphrase Ann Landers:Unless

we take the steps to renew the quality of our schools, we will become a

fourth-rate nation without a shot being fired. Ipropose that the intelligent

and 'humane use of educational technology is, a necessary part of any

program of improvement.

REFERENCES:

1. Atkinson, Richard C. and Joseph I. Lipeon,Instructional Technologies qf the Future

paper delivered at the APA 886 Annual Convention, Montreal, Canada,

3, 1980. (Copies available from Lipson, National Science Feundation, W=Z

D.C. M550.)

2. Brown, Gone E., Jr., Chairman, Information Technology in Education, Joint

Hearmps bekre the Subcommittee on Science, Research and Technology if the

Committee on Science and Technology and the Subcommitteeon Select Education of

the Committee on Education and Labor, House of Rewesentatives, 96thCongress,

Apr98il 2, 3, 1980, No. 134, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.,

10.

3. Dobrov, Geimady M., Technolog, as a Form qf Organization, inint. Soc. Sci.

Journal, Vol. =CI, Nri. 4, 1979: pp. 585-605.

4. Dobrov, Gennady, M., The Strategy*. Organized Technology in the Lightqfl ad:

Se-, and Org-ware Intenwtion, in Long Range Planning, Vol. 12, August, 1979:

_pp.-70-90.

S. Evans, Christopher, The Micro Millenium, The Vildng press: New York, 1979.

6. Hershfield, Alan F., Education's Technological Revolution: An Event in Search qf

Leaders, m Change, Vol 12, No. 8. November-Decemixr, 1980: pp, 48-52.

7. Uspon, 3.1., Instructional Technology and Organizational Structure in Higher

,Education, in Fraley, LE. & Vargas, B.A. (Eds.) Proceedings of the Third National

Conference on Behavior Research and Technology in Higher Education; Society for

Behavioral Technology and Engineerjog. 1976: pp. 215-220.

8. Lipson, J.L, Technology in Science E n: The Nat 10 Years, in Con;puter,

Vol. 13, No. 7, July, 1980: pp. 23-30.

9. National Science Foundation, Science and Engineering Educationfor the 1980's

and Beyond Report to the President q fthe Unued States, subm;tted by Hufirtedler,

S.H. and Langenberg, D.N., 1980.

10. Molnar, Andrew R., Understanding How to Use Machinato Work Smarter in an

IrOrmatian Society, in T.H.E. Journal, Vol. 7, No. 1, January, 1980: pp. 42-46.

(Note: Dr. Molnar has written a large number of important articles that represent

advanced thinking and planning for educational technology. A list ofthese articles may

be obtained from Dr. Molnar, National Science Foundation, Washington, D.C.

20550.)

Public Telecommunications Policies and

Education's Options

Frank W. Norwood

Joint Coundl on Educational

Telecommunications

Washington, D.C-

INTRODUCTION

Of the numberless public policy decisions which impact on

schools and coileges, few are farther from the educator's focus of

attention than those Which shape communications policy. The school

superintendent or the university chancellor may know that the Federal

Communications Commission grants licenses to cothmercial and

noncommercial radio and television stations, but it is not likely to occur

to either that that has much to do with education or with education's use

of technology. What may happen in Geneva, Switzerland, at the

International Telecommunications Union's World Administrative

Radio Conferegce, cc how the work of CCIR Study Gmup 10/11B or a

Joint Government/Industry Committee might open or close education's

doors to a future full of satellites, computerized data bases, interactive

cable television systems and the like are questions not even formulated.

With or without the participation of educatms, decisions are made.

With or without their knowledege of the war, the battles for

canununications policy advantage go on. And their results impact schools

and colleges-- and the options for ofkampus learners as surely and as

1\n- seerely as if the superintendent and the chancellor understood the

demonstrable fact that other parties lire deciding their future for them.

Historical Perspective

N., The JCET is concerned with this interaction of communieations policy

and educationid policy because it was born in response to a policy making

crisis. In 1950, the Federal Communications Commission struggled with

a dilemma. The post-war public successs of the infant television medium

4.1 had demonstrated that the demand by potential broadcasters and eager

viewers for the new medium would require more stations than could be

accommodated in the twelve Very High Frequency (VHF) channels that

4 6

36 Public Polic4s

nad been allocated to television broadcasting before World War IL

Rather than a rich man's toy, limited to well-to-do urban areas, television

-promised to be a medium of news and entertainment for all.

The Commission's pioblem was that of finding a way to create enough

new channels_ for television broadcasting to make possible a variety of

services for substantially all of the American public. Adding additional

channels in the VHF spectrum was not possible. Other services already

occupied those frequencies. The next available spectrum was in the

untested Ultra High Frequencies (UHF) for which no television hardware

had yet been developed, or even tested. To seekout the technical solution§

to the problem, the FCC in 1948 calleda halt to the construction of all-

new TV stations for what was to be a period of six months. But difficult

technical problems sometimes refuse to conform to bureaucratic schedules.

The six month "freeze" lasted fouryears.

For the oneLhundred-nine "pre-freeze" stationswhich had television all

to themselves from 1948-1952, it was a period of financial bonanza

beyond the wildest dreams of avarice. For the educational community it

was a fortuitous opportunity.

The very speed at which televisionwas making a central place for itself

in American life convinced a handful of alert educational leaders that

something must be done to exploit TV's power for more than Mass

entertainment and the sale of consuMer products, or the opportunity

would be lost forever. After the passage of the 1934 Commimications

Act, the Congress had held an inquiry to determine whether 25 percent of

the frequencies for AM radio broadcasting should be reserved for

education, but the- educational interests failed to press the case, and

private sector broadcasters assured all concernedthat school and college

interests would always find-a warm welcome and plenty of free air time

from the commercial stations.

The following decade saw the number of noncommercial radio stations

shrink from more than 300 to about thirty, and leaders like Arthur Adams,

then president of the American Council on Education, we're determined

that the promise of television would not be lost

The Joint Committee on Educational Television included the ACE, the

National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, the

Association of State Universities, the National Education Association,

the American Association of School Administrators, the Council of

Chief Pate School Officers, and the National Association of Educational

broadcasters. Its mission was simple ahd direct to persuade the Federal

Communications Commission that when the freexe was ended, some of

the channels should be set aside for education. When the Commission

issued its Sixth Report and Order in 1952, the Table of Allocations

which matched channels with cities and towns across the nation marked

reserved for noncommercial TV, some 242 assignmentssome in the

VHF band, the rest in the new UHF <spectrum.

4 7

Public Policies 37

National Educational Television, the Corporation for Public Broad-

casting, the Public Broadcasting Service, Masterpiece 'Theatre, even

Pledge Week, were then still years in the future, but that future could

never have arrived without timely action in 1950. Television's appearance on

the American scene was so arresting, and the history of educational radio

such a stern warming that the need for educators' participation in

communications policy making was sharp and clear. If the FeC's

extended freeze had not provided the JCET with the time to make the

case for educational television, the opportunity might well have passed

without notice in academe.

Contemporary Significance

Now, as what_ has become "Public Television" begins to-look at

multiple services, including a separate instructionally-oriented PTV-3,

and multiple channels of distribution for such programming the signifi-

cance of the communicatiOns policies urged by education thirty years ago

becomes all the more apparent.

To an educational leadership besieged by pressing and immediate

problems of increasing inflation and falling budgets, demands for confor-

mity to new regulations andfor making good on old promises,issues of

communications policy,which may have their-benefits far in the future,

are easily pushed*aside to deal with Problems whose impacts will be felt

tomorrow. But those who bear the mantle of leadership can hardly

disdain the responsibilities of the statesmanship.

The growth curve of technology and electronic communications has

risen sharply since 1950 and the protection of edudation's long term

-interests in communications chnhot be left to an ad hoc .Proup of

Minutemen who can put down their lecture notes or annual conference

plans and leap into the breach whenever a crisis in communications

policy making occurs. That spberrecognition came in the moment of

victory in 1952, when- the FCC did, indeed, reserve, channels for

educational television. The Joint Committee on Educational Television

reconstituted itself as the Joint Council on EduCational Television (later

changing its title in recognition of the factthat the coming technology

battles would be fought on a wider front than TV). .

Satellites and Cable television, are technologies which, in 1950 were

still beyond the purview of most educators and of most communications

specialists. Sometimes it is not possible to await for the, arrival of the

technology, for a chance to. "try it on for size," before developing

communications policies. Policy decisions can prevent or promote the

birth of new communications technology. Direct broadcasting satellites

are a case in point.

From the viewpoint of the scientist and engineer, the eventual

possibility of satellites capable -of broadcasting television directly to

individual homes has been obvious for twenty years. Whir.-was lacking

38 Public Policies

was the requisite technology. There is a complementary relationship

between the size and power of the satellite and the size and sensitivity of

the associated receiving stations on earth. In the 'Sixties, our limited

launch capability meant that the first satellites were small and weak, their

earth stations very large and very expensive. But by the end of the

decide, the know-how to build satellites powerful epough to beam

programming directly to small, low-cost earth stations had been

achieved.

In 1969, the Indian Space Research Organization and the U.S.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration signed a Memorandum

of Understanding providing that the hardware for a direct television.

broadcasting experiment to 2,000 village schools in India would be

included on ATS-6, an experimental NASA satellite scheduled for

launch in the early 'Seventies. American educational interests, wanting

to explore the possibility of similar experimentation at home found

existing oammunications policy a major roadblock.

By international agreement, satellite transmissions are restricted to

certain frequency bands where they will no interfere with existing

terrestrial services. By special arrangement, the Indian SITE (Satellite

Instructional Television Experiement)Avould take place in the UHF

band. There are no UHF television broadcast stations operating in the

Indian subcontinent But here, in North America, the UHF band is in use

in this country, Canada and Mexico, so UHF satellite broadcasting was

ruled outeven on an, experimental basis.

An Alternate Route

An "alternate route" was technically possible: the use of nigher

microwave frequencies in the band 2500-2690 MHz. Those frequencies

are also in use, but by schools and colleges for the Instructional

Television 1 ixed Service. Engineering calculations indicated that, under

the proper constraints, satellite broadcasting could take place without

interference to existing ITFS systems.

NASA was convinced, and the Department of Health, Education and

Welfare was prepared to fund satellite experimentationbut existing

international agreements on frequency allocation made no provision for

space services in the 2500 MHz band. (Since radio waves know nothing

about political borders, the allocation of pieces of spectrum to specific

services is coordinated by the International Telecommunications Union,

a UN agency whose agreements have the force of international treaties.)

Preparations had already begun for the ITU World Administrative

Radio Conference on Space Telecommunications to be held in 1971.

Unfortunately, the U.S. positions and proposals were already well

developed .. . and they did not include satellite broadcasting in the ITFS

band. Despite NASA's willingness to cooperate with educators in the

U.S. as well as India. inclusion of an ATS-6 experiment at variance with

4 9

Public Policies 39

proposed communications policy- was hardly possible.

Education's fight often begins at home. Policy pkiposals for a World

Administrative Radio Conference are developed by the Department of

State with inputs from other parts of the Federal sector funneled through

the Interdepartmental Radio Advisoty Canmittee (IRAC). Participation

by nongovernmental interests, public and private, go through the Federal

Communications Commission, which typically established a Joint

Government/Industry Coinmittee (JC/IC). The Department of HEW' s

Office of TelecommunicationS Policy (now disbanded) and NASA

worked through IRAC; ,the Comoration for Public Broadcasting and the

JCET attempted to persuade the JC/IC and the Commiision that a last

minute turn-around in the U.S.'s agenda for the Space Telecommuni-

cations WARC was possible and desirable.

Influencing Policy

To -influence technology policy, it is necessary to understand the

technology. The first task was to convince the seven Federal Communi-

cations Commissioners that their own staff was wrong inits insistence

that the educators were wrong in asserting that satellite broadcasting

could take place without interfering with terrestrial ITFS systems.

Fortunately, the necessary technical studies had been done within the

aerospace. industry. Commissioner H. Rex Lee and his staff studied the

evidence' and he became the educators' invaluable ally.

The result of the last minute FCC turn around was that the U.S. went

'toile-World Administrative Radio Conference on Space Telecommuni-

cations proposing co-allocation of the 2500 MHz band to the Broad-

casting Satellite Service. Thanks in no small measure to the presence of

HEW's Dr. Albert L Haley on the U.S. delegation, the proposal

carried at the. Geneva meeting and the barriers of domestic and

international communications policy were removed.

The immediate result was thatIthe way was cleared for American

satellite broadcasting experiments on NASA's ATS-6. Those experi-

ments in the Rocky Mountains, Alaska,_ and the Appalachian states

demonstrated for the first time that television transmission from space to

small and inexpensive receivers, capable of operation by non-technical

personnel could bring services to hitherto inaccessible educational and

health care institutions. The Alaska and Appalachia experiments laid the

groundwott for today's operational services. In Alaska, RCA's Satcom II

satellite now provides telephone service to every 81askan village, with a

special line for _emergency medical traffic. Mani villages also get

television by satellite, including programs for ttte, schools, and the

University -of Alaska has extehrve plans for extehding its services by

satellite. From the early ATS-6 experiments undertaken by the Appala-

chian Regional Commission has come the .Appalachian Community

Service Network, which is providing a daytime schedule of educational

40 Public.Policies

and instructidhal programming foi all ages through the Use of s atellite and

cable technology.

Our experimencal use of the 2500 MHZ bandfor satellite broadcasting

was not followed up in this country. The Alaska and Appalachian

operational systems use commercial satellites in the 3700-4200 MHz

band. But the WARC allocation is world wide, and the Indian Space

Research Organization will use the 2500 MHz band fof its operational

follow-on to the Site project (the Inset I satellites are already under

construction), and the planned Arabsat includes educational television in

the same band.

Implications

The connections between communicatiora policy and education

sometimes have their implications for the priorities and budgets of other

agencies. Those who planned the ATS-6 experiments at 2500 MHz

expected that ATS-6 would be followed by ATS-7, a still more

advanced satellite which gould have had satellite broadcasting for health

and education as its primary mission. When, early in 1972, NASA

trimmed its budget by gutting applicadons R&D, ATS-7, and the

Applications Technology Satellites thatwere to follow it, were canceled.

A second opportunity for educational broadcasting from space

*sated itself in the Communicatkos Technology Satellite, a joint U.S.-

Canadian venture pioneering in yet another frequency band, 12 GHz.

Still more powerful, CTS provided opportunities for mo`re than two

dozen experiments in health, education, and public service communi-

cations in this count*, and in Canada. But whenCTS reached the end of

its useful life, the U.S. experimenters once again found themselves

without a satellite with which thek earth stations were compatible. For

the Canadian experimenters, things were different

NASA is concerned with the needs of the public service community

and the process of technology transfer, and has supported the Public

Service Satellite Consortium, the Appalachian Community Servite

Netyork, and the Joint Council, but its prime responsibility- is the

development of new technology: Developand demonstrate satellite

broadaasting in the 2500 MHz band. Move on and do the same at the

next "frequency frontier," 12 GHz. Now, NASA is looking toward the

development of space communications in the 30/20 GHz bind, with

inviting possibilities for service to rural areas. NASA will welcome

experiments in public service communications, but cannot be expected

to take responsibility for seeking them out

Canadian Organization

Canadian space communications, however, are under the direction of

the cabinet-level Department of Communications which has a broader

\ mandate. Having demonstrated on CTS the technical feasibility of

Public Policies 41

satellite direct broad4sting to the villages of Canada's Far North, the

Department of Communications sought a means by which an oper-

ational service could grow from such experimental beginning& Canada's

operational satellites are owned ,by a government-carrier partnership

called Telesat Canada. The Department of Communications asked

Telesat to include four 12tGHz channels on its Anik B satellite, offering

to lease the channels for a rpinimum of four years, thus assuring Telesat a

return on its investment

The United States la4s an equiValent Federal mechanism for

considering and advancing pommunications technology and policy ac-

cording to some concept ofhe public interest which goes beyond mere

technology development. C er's- Presidential Directive 47 charged

both NASA and the Natioial Telecommunications and Information

Administration with respons bility Lor promoting communications in

support of public services, but he division of responsibility is not clear...

nor is the future of the NTIA

U.& Executive Branch Part' ipation

The history of Executive Branch concern with communieations policy

is less than endouraging. Until die end of the Johnson administration, the

Office of Telecommunications Management concerned itself only with

the governmenes (ie, Defense, (toast Guard, Forest Service) use of the

spectrum allocated to govern4nt uses (although the White House,

its0:1f, gave strong support to the Itublic Broadcasting Act). A presidential

Task Force on Communications Policy recommended the establishment

of a White -House Office of Telecommunications Policy to formulate

policy and to speak for the Preident That recommendation came to

fruition in the Nixion years, but TP's threats to public broadcasters and

to media critics of the White HOuse gave it an unhealthy political Odor.

The Naticoal TeleccmMunications and Iniamation Administration was

successor to the Nixion OTP and the creation of an early Carter promise

to reduce government agenci ; starting in the Executive Branch. The

Executive Branch was by moving OTP administratively,

although not physically, in the Commerce Department What, if any,

shifts, changes, or deleti can be expected from the new Reagan

administration remains be seen. If education would protect its stake in

the need for a commu cations policy focus, it must do what it can to be

heard on the subj

Coun Actions

Sometimes communiCations policy made by the Federal CoOtuni-,

cations Co ssions can be unmade by the courts. As access to the

broadcast/ levision bind for education required action in 1950, two

decades ater it was necessary- to press education's case for access to

42 Public l'olicies

- -cable television. The CoMmission's 1971 cable television rules,reCog-

nized the important role the CATV could play in prdviding more than

improved reception of local and distant,television stafions. The technology

of cable is by its very nature local, and channels can be provided toserve

a.community or even a neighborhood. The Commission's 1971 rulesput

CATV operatOrs on notice that all new systems serving more than 3500

homes should be capable of at least twenty channels and that dedicated

channels would have to be provided for government, education, public

access, and- for lease to commercial interests.

A 1979 court challenge overturned the FCC's access channel

requirements on the grounds that they go beyond-the Commission's

powers in the Communications Act Not challenged, however, is the right

of local governments when granting cable franchises, to incorporate free

channels for education as a contractual condition. The rush for

franchises in each of America's major cities is on, and in many other

communities, franchises granted in the 1960's are up -for renewal. If

school administrators and university presidents are going to Protect their

future4tions to bring classes to homes and offices via cable, they will

have to become informed participants in the battles at the local level.

And not WO there. After seVerat tiniuccessful attempts to rewrite the

Communications Act-of 1934, the new session of Congress will see yet

another proposal from the Senate Subcommittee on Communications. .

The starting point4is expected to be last session's S. 2827, -whose

provisions on access channels were unclear, but thought by some to

undefcut even the city fathers' right to insist on cable channels for public

services.

The Co)nmunication Policies Battles

Unfortunately, the battles for communications policies favorable to

education are more constant than sporadic, and as the example of cable

television dem&Istrates, eternal vigilance is the price ofcommunications.

LastSpring, the COmmission issued a complex of inquiries andproposed

rule makings which threaten edUcation's long-standing frequency reser-

vatiohs for thi Instructional Television Fixed Service. Hittingworked to

open these ,2500MHz frequencies for satellite broadcasting for education

only a feW teari ago, we are now in danger of losing them for multi-

channel instructiOnal television on the ground. The basicissue is that the

Commission finds itself with a pressing demand for,more channelsforthe

technically similar Multipoint Distribution Sel-vice, currently enjoying a

boom as a means of distributing pay television, and Commission staff is

proplosing to meet that deinand by allowing commercial services into the

ITFS'band, a de facto end to reserving these 'frequencies for schools,

colleges, arid-health care agncies.

On.other fronts, the issues, are not so dear dut The Commissionfigs

instituted steps to foster the birth of a whole new class of television

5 3

ft Public.Policief ,. 43

broadcasting stations of limited power. While the Commission's TV

'Table of Allocations (in which education got its reserved channels)

specifies a priort which channels are aVailabl'e in which cities and

towns, these new low power stations woolci be approved;Wherever it

could be shown by the applicant that no intetference to er.istmg stations

would be approied wherever it could be shown by if* applicant that no

inierference to existing stations would result How many such new

"mini-statione"-could be created in any given city or towh, or in the U.S.

as a whole, is impossible to predict. By the F't's own estimate, perhaps

ilrousands of low power stations will be Stet

Low POwer TV

For education, opportunities are broadened._Low pOwer TV stations

can be constructed for as little is $50,000 and minimal studio equipment

(not meeting conventional broadeast standards) 'can be used for local

programming: In feet, there is no requirement that the mini-station have

facilities for lOcal programs. As has been done in Alaska on an

experimental basis, a small community can have its own PBS affiliate,

Jebroadcasting programs from the satellite. Small collegeseven

schoolscan get into educatiónarand- public teleVision at suprisingly

modest costs.

Such mini-stations Will be permitted to do nothing butiecal program-

ming or do no local programming at all. they tin be commercial or

noncommercial. They can corny pay TWThe Copunission's proposed

rules would give preference to minority applicants and to those -who

propose- noncommercial serVices, brit the "land _rush" is _already on.

Local stations (including PTV stations)are prohibited from applying for

low poWer operations in their own coverage areae. but the ru1es which

limit any licensee to seven conventi,Ural TV stations do not applyto !Ow

power, and while educators =and minority groups contemplate the

possible opportunities ahead, eager entrepreneurs are beseiging the

Commiesion Fith applications: one, for example; propoees to own more

than one hundred across the nation, anetwork cf, country and western

television.

The questions are complex. Since there is noeasy way to estimate how

=many low power stations can be accceinodated, it is impossible to-assess

whether this spate of comthercial interest is-or is not Closingxlucation's

future access. The 1950 strategy of asking for frequency, re.sarvations

simply inapplicable.

And watch the heavens! While our 1970 efforts secured us a band for

satellite broadbasting at 2500 MHz (and reserved in this country by the

FCC for educational and public service use), the near term possibilities

for an operational satellite in that band seem remote.

5 4

44 Public Policies

Direct-To-Home Broadcasting -

In the meantime, direct-to-honur satellite broadcasting is being proposed

as a commercial venture by the Satellite Television Corp., a subsidiary of

ifie Comsat

Proposed is a three-channel pay television service. butes STC notes.

theoionomicrof bBS are such that the medium can be "to asseMble_an

atulience for programs which would not be economically-viable under-

tikinp for conventional TV broadcaiters." Comsat surveyed more than

1300_ community leaders and members of the general public and found

evidence of a latent andience- forin addition-to movies, sports, and

Broadway showsedUcational, college, medical and scientific courses;

biogaphical and natural science documentaries; and- news,

news analysis, news Magazines, editorials and- business and fmancial

news.

Channel_ A of STC' Proposed service wouid include movies, pop

concerts, theater specials and family entenainment Channel B, Classic

films, children's-TV, variety,-arti and culture and publicaffairs. Channel

C wetild offer adult _education, sports, and special interest programs.

The question of authorizing a direct broadcasting satellite service puts

before the Federal Communications Commission a long list of difficult

polity -questions. The international agreements arrived at at the 1971

World Administrative Radio 'Conference clear away somebut not

allolthe international issues. While frequencies for satellite broad-

casting were established on a world-wide basis in 1971, the specifics of

how those frequencies are to be us4X1 in the Americas is the agenda for a

Regional Radio'Conference in 1983.

What the Federal Communications Conamission must now decide are

such questions as: Should any American 'action wait on the RARC?

When., the potential impact of satellite broadcasting on the viability of

local television broadcasters? Would approval of a commercial DB S

, system presage or preclude the development of noncommercial direct

broadcalting from satellites .. . and how would a noncommercial DBS

service be paid for?

Summary

Which ansWers to those questions and a dozen more will build-

communications policies which preserve the greatest number of degrees

of freedom for education's future needs?

The march of communications technology is inexorableand at

double time to boot. Each new development will create its Own

imperative for nel communications policies. The members of the

education community have only two choices: they can participate or they

can leave the decisions to others.

What they cannot do is escape their consequences.

tiNJ

co% Investing in Computer Technology:

c" Criteria and Procedures for System Selection

(NJ

.c\t Fred T. Hofstetter

is= University of Delaware

UNA Newark Delaware

INTRODUCTION

Matching needs with available technology poses a constant challenge

for educational- decision-makers. Seven years ago the University of

Delaware began what hit become ,a major institutional effort aimed at

determining to what extent theneeds of higher education can be met by

computer-based educational techniques. Essential to the success of this

effort was the identifidation of what available computer-based educa-

tional system offered the most capability. -As the result of a careful

assessment of the characteristics whieh that system should have and a

naticawide search involving both visits to existing computer-based

educational projects and consultation with exPerts in the field, the

PLA TO syttem was selected.

Since 1974 the University of Delaware has -made a considerable

inVestment in its PLA TO capabilities, having installed iti own ceitral

system in 1978, and having since upgraded it on an annual basis to meet

the. needs of its growing user community. Over one huhdred faculty

members- are developing coi.nputer-based learning materials in thirtY

4.. subject areas and-testing them with students using the two, hundred

terminals -connected to the Delaware PLATO system. The progress

140 made toward determining the extent to which PLATO can meet the

L. needs Of higher education at Delaware is deseribed in The FM

Sammative Report qfthe Delaware PIATO Projeot which concludes

with an eleven-part cleisification of the benefits of computing in higher

education?

Ct It was , well known in-1974 that rapid changes were_ occuring in the

cemputer field, and it would appear On the surface that-the University

took a substantial risk in investing in a large central systenflikePLATO.

Indeed, recognized authorities publicly stated in the mid-1970's that

45' 5 6

46 Investing

PLATO was a dinosaur that would never make it into the I980's. Just the

opposite has happeped; PLATO has emerged in the 198Q's in a hew

microcomputer format which combines the power, communications, and

reeord-keeping features of a central system with the microcomputer's

ability to run off-line, to acquire real-time scientific data, and to interface

with new microprocessor-based perioheral devices like videodiscs.

Through comparative study of the capabilities of available educational

computers and through careful analysis of trends in microelectronics and

of vendor commitments to making use of microelectronic advances, the

decision to install PLATO at Delaware was not as risky as it may have

seemed. It is the purpose ot this paper to present the system selection

criteria used at Delaware and to describe the procedurss followed in

making a selection based on those criteria.

System Selection Criteria

Table 1 shows how the system selection criteria used at Delaware

considered support for instructional strategies, requirements of the

student learning station, features for instructors and authors, general

operation'al characteristics, dissemination.networks, and future viability.

Each of these system selection criteria is discussed in turn as follows.

Support for Instructional Strategies

There are a variety of initructional strategies which can be used in

"designing educational computer programs. Some educational computer

sytems are quite limited in. their 'support of instructional strategies.

TICCIT, for example, is designed around a preselected strategy of

objectives, examples, practice problems, and tests;3 forsome applications

this strategy may be appropriate, but there are many others which

TICCIT cannot do. It is important for a University system to support the

gamut of instructional strategies which include tutorials, drills, simula-

tions, games, problem solving, testing, and computef-managed instruction.

Reguirments of the.Student Learning Station

Careful attention must be paid to both the quantitiand the quality of

the features of the student learning station. Not only is the learning

station the only part of the system which the student sees, but it. also

greatly affects how instructional materials are prepared. Resolution is an

important consideration because it affects how much text can be

displayed at one time as weli as how many points can be used in making

graphics. Sugarmans has indicated that a resolution of 512 dots across

by 512 dots down is certainly adequate, and that a resolution of 320 by

240 may also be adequate. At this lower resolution which is typical of

systems using ordinary TVdisplays, 16 lines of 40 characters each would

fill the screen whereas at the higher resolution 32 lines of 64 characters

can be used.

5 7

Table 1: Sistem Selection Criteria

1) Supiort for Instructional Strategies

tutorial

drill-and-practice

simulation

gaming

problem solVing

testing

computer:managed instruction

2) Requirements of the Student Learning Station

high-resolution gophics

progrannnable character sets

animation

touch input or light pen

student connol keys

instantaneous response time

support of peripheral devices,

3) Features far Instructors and Authors

-Program libraries

indexes and routers

ittident record keeping

communication options

prograrruning aids

4) General Operational Characteristics

reliability

Maintainability

accesiability

ease-of-use

security

doéumentation

5) Dissemination Networks

international program distribution

communication links

user groups

6) Future Viability

corporate commithem to CBE

flexibility of system design

planned use of microelectronics

. investing 47

tett

48 Investing

In order that the system is not restricted to those characters and

symbols which appear on the typewriter keyboard, there should be

auxiliary memories where new characters can be defmed. System

response time should be instantaneous so that students never have to

wait, and the system should also be fast enough to move characters

around on the screen. Control keys like NEXT, BALK, HELP,

EASIER, HARDER, and ANSWER_ should be available so that

instructors can give students some say as to the sequencing of lesson

material. And the learning station should have connectors whereby

peripheral devices can be attached.

Features for Instructors and Authors -

Often neglected in system selection are the fetures which make it both

easy and less time-consuming for instructors and authors to prepare

lesson materials and to manage student records. It is widely recognized

that the greatest cost in computer-based education is the design,

programming, and evaluation of instructional materials. Important

criteria in system selection are therefore the availability and the quality of

pre-existing materials organized into lesson libraries, indexing systems

whereby instructors can select and structure courses around these

materials, on-line programming aids whereby authors can quickly get

help when they have technical questions, communication options

whereby instructors, authors, and students can share information

regarding lesson development, and student record keeping which allows

instructors to collect data on student achievement and progress in a

lesson. Regarding student record keeping it is important for the systbm

not only to make available standard,-pre-programmed ways of keeping

student data, but also to allow the instructors to design their own ways of

collecting 'and summarizing student records.

General Operational Characteristics

Educational computing services must be reliable. Down-time muSt

never exceeefive--percent of scheduled hours in any one month, and

annual up-time shouldaverage at least ninety-seven percent. Mean time

to failure should not average less than six days. Maintenance support

must be readily available so that equipment problems can be solved

promptly when they occur.

Students, instructors, and authors need to be ableloschedule terminal

time when they need it. Especially if a centralized approachiltilizinjone

large computer is adopted, eare must be taken to insure than variouser

groups do not compete for the same resources. There must be a way of

allocating memory and processing time so that no single groupcan usurp

resources belonging to another. Educational computers must be easy to

use. Human engineering, the effort made by computer vendors to make

their equipment easy to use, is an important consideration in system

selection.

Investing 49

There must be an adequate system of passwords, security codes, and

file safeguards in order to insure that information cannot be obtained by

persons who are not allowed access to it. The system must prevent access

to persons trying to use accounts, user numbers, and sign-ons which are

not their own. All users need system documentation that is complete, up-

to-date, and correct. Indexes and libraries of published programs reflect

the extent to which a given system can be used, and they make it possible

to project the amount of programming which may have to be done

locally. The number, extent, power, and ease of use of available

programming languages are important system selection criteria, as are

staff training programs offered by vendors in how to use available

software packages and programming languages.

Dissemination Networks

One of the greatest national problems encountered in education today

is dissemination. For a variety of complex reasons there is a resistance to

using materials developed eleswhere. It is important for vendors of

edueational computers to make available dissemination networks where-

by materials can be published, exchanged, reviewed, and shared.

Electronic links among major development sites facilitate the preparation

of materials that are suitable for inter-institutional use, as do peer review

mechanisms and user groups.

Future Availability

Evidence of long-range corporate plans and commitments to the

systematic development of curricular materials is just as important in

selecting a system as is the evidence that the hardware can be upgraded to

remain compatible with technological advances. Flexibility is a key

term. Educational programs which allow instnictors to select -local

ierininologies and to adjust levels of difficulty and sequencing of material

for different grcups of students will be more widely applicable than those

in which instructional variables cannot be changed Hardware must be

designed for the future. Rapid changes in microelectronics have madeit

necessary for computer hardware to be both modular and redefinalile.

Upward compatability and expandability-are vitally important to its

long-range viability.

Procedures Followed in System Selection

Educational uses of computers are becoming increasingly widespread,

and documentation of their effectiveness is growing more complete.

Many institutions have made system selections and are happy with their

decisions, others are re-evaluating their selections, and still others are

selecting a system for the first time. Regardless of the past history of

computing itt an institution, it is important for system selection to be done

50 Investing

in an open manner following objective procedures which will hopefully

lead to an informed decision. Table 2 lists twelve steps followed in

selecting a system at Delaware. The manner in which eachof these steps

contributes to the selection process is discussed in turn.

Table 2: Twelve Steps Followed in Selecting a System

1. Form system selection committee

2. Reach agreement on system selection criteria

3. Compile list of available systems

4. Acquire literature on available systems

5. Compare systems based on selection criteria

6. .Determine which systems are frontrunners

7. Visit projects using frontrunners

8. Consult directors of projects using frontrunners

9. Make.preliminary selection of suitable systems

10. Get pricing information for suitable systems

11. Consult impartial experts on system selection

12. Make final decision regarding system selection

Form System Selection Committee

Itis mportant for the system selection committee to be representative

of various groups in an institution. Administrators, professional staff;

trainers, and faculty members should be included. At Delaware the

system selection committee was a subcommittee of the faculty senate.

The faculty played an important role in the Delaware PLATO Project.1

Reach Agreemerg on System Selection Criteria

The system selection committee should carefully assess the needs for

educational computing and compile a list of the features needed to meet

those needs. Care should be taken not to let preconceived notions of

committee members who might be advocates of particular systems to

influence how these criteria are written. At Delaware only one member

of the sy'stem selection committee had seen a PLATO terminal before

the criteria were written.

Compile List of Available Systems

The first step toward determining if there is a system which meets the

needs of the institution is to compile a list of available systems. Local

computing faculty and professional staff members can be asked to name

the systems of which they are aware, and publications like Computer

World,Byte, and the AEDS Bulletin can be scanned for the names of

systems Used elsewhere. If the system selection committee does not feel

Investing 51

confident that its list of available syStems is complete, outside consultants

can also be asked to look it over and point out any omissions.

Acquire Literature on Available Systems

dne quickway of accomplishing this step is to write to system vendors,

informing them that the institution is planning to make a substantial

investment in educational computing, and asking them to send all

available literature describing the-hardware, software, performance

characteristics, and educational effectiveness of their products. However,

there are -additional sources of information in professional publications

which vendors do not usually supply. Zinn has described these sources of

information and has provided mailing addresses whereby materials can

be ordered.6

Compare System Based,on Selection Criteria

At this stage it is helpful to make a table listing at the left side the

system selection criteria and across the top the names of the systems

under consideration'. Ratings of how well the criteria are met by the

respective systems can then be entered on the table resulting in a

composite view from which systems can be compared. McClain and

Thomas have developed such a table for microcomputers.4 At Delaware,

considerable attention was given tothe realtive strengths and weaknesses

of available programming languages, and a separate chartmas made up

just for this one aspect of system selection.

DeterMine Which Systems are Frontrunners

As a result of the previous step a few systems should emerge as

obVious frontrunners, meaning that they meet the system selection

criteria better than most of the available systems. These frontninners

then become the focus of attention for the remaining steps toward making

a final systems selection.

Visit Pmjects Using Frontrunners

The ability to travel to sites where the frontrunners are being used is

very important at this stage. It is one thing to read about the claims which

vendors make in promotional literature, and it is often quite another to

see how a system actually operates in a real instructional environment.

Important information regarding the physical set-up of the site can also

be gathered at this point and used later when arranging for local space

acquisition and modification.

Consult Directors of Projects Using Frontrunners

Directors of existing projects can be extremely helpful in providing

information and advice regarding the operation and organization of

educational computing. Each system has its own idiosyncracies which

'52 Investing

affect prciect management, and persons who are experienced in directing

projects can help new prciects avoid problems that they encountered in

the past. Advice given by Dr. Donald Bitzer, the inventor of the PLATO

system at the University of Illinois, and by his associate director, Dr.

Frank Propst, profoundly influenced the organization of the delaware

PLATO Project

Make Preliminary Selection of Suitable System(s)

By this time it should become apparent whether any existing systems fit

the criteria well enough to be seriously considered as candidates for a

&ill selection. Ideally there would be more than one system so that

vendors could bid against each other in a competitive situation. At

Delaware there was only one system judged to be suitable.

Get Pricing Information for Suitable Systems

Cost should not be considered until this step is taken. One might argue

that if the consideration of cost is delayed until now, institutions might not

be able to afford the candidates for final system selection. However,

neither can institutions afford to have their needs dictated by cost. A need

exists whether or not a computer-based solution to that need is

affordable. If cost is included earlier as a system selection criteria, then a

second-class alternative may seem to be appropriate when a first-class

system should have been used. Related to this concern is the marked

downward trend in the cost of computer hardware. Cheap systems are

beingsontinually replaced by newer models while advances in micro-

electronics are allowing expensive systems to lower their costs. An

institution which values the investment which its faculty and staff must

make in program development and implementation will carefully

s, consider longevity as well as cost in making a final system selection. If

more than one vendor can supply a system to meet institutional needs,

then competitive bidding will help keep costs down. In any case vendors

should be asked to make educational discounts.

Consult Impartial Eiperts on System Selection

Even if there is cely one vendor u4r consideration at this point,

advice from impartial outside consultants.;vill tend either to reinforce or

to refute the thinking of the system selection committee. Before the final

decision to use PLATO was made *Delaware, the Educational Testing

Service was consulted because it had been awarded aniNSF contract to

evaluate both PLATO and TICCIT and could render an unbiased

opinice as to whether or not it was reasonable to expect that the

University of Delaware could achieve its educational computing goals

using the PLATO system.

Investing 53

Make FinalDecision Regarding System Selection

If all the steps outlined above have been carefully followed, the fmal

'decision will be well documented for any higher committees and

administrators who may be required to review it before funding the

project. One might ask how long it takes to arrive at this fmal decision

point; at Delaware it took sik months.

CONCLUSION

With the N1:Aiiing interest in an importance of computers in our

society, all educational institutions will need to consider both wah what

criteria to use and what procedures to follow in selecting computer

systems. Whether institutions are doing this for the first firm or have

experience from previous hardware acquisitions, it is important to

consider the objectivity of the procedures and the effect which the

selection criteria will have upon the quality of education. The criteria and

procedures presented in this paper are not the only ones that can be used.

They are ones which were used at the University OfDelaware in 1974,

and no one at Delaware has regretted the rigor with which they were

followed.

REFERENCES:

1. Hofstetter, Fred, T. A model for administering computer-based education. Submitted

to the IFIP Third World Conference on Computers in Education, Lausanne,

Switzerland, July 27-31, 1981.

2. Hofstetter, Fred T. The fifth summative report of the Delaware PLATO Project.

Newark: University of Delaware, 1980.

3. Jones, Michael C. TICCIT applications it, higher education: evaluation results.

ADC'S Proceedings, 1978, pp. 398-419.

4..McClain, Donald and David Thomai. Selecting microcomputers for the classroom.

AEDS Journal, 1979, 13, 67.

5. Sugarman, Robert A second chance for computer-aided instruction. IEEE Spectrum,

1978, 15, Pp. 29-37.

6. Zinn, Karl L Sources of information about computing in instruction. Educational

Technology, 1978, 18, pp. 29-32.

6 4

c1Cr New Public Broadcasting Programs

r\I and Services

Dee Blvd(

Pubik Broadcasting Service

Washington D.C.

INTRODUCTION

Among the many things public television and education hold in

common is a loyal following of doomsayers a cadre of critics clucking

away in pri vt. and speech that we have not fulfilled Our promises to the

nation, that we have become obsolete, that we are inefficient,-that we

will, should be, perhaps even have been, abandoned or replaced by

technological, societal, or demographical changes. On that score, as one

of my favorite authors Mark Twain aptly put it, and one of my favorite

public broadcasters Lany Grossman aptly preempted it, I am happy to

say on behalf of both public television and education, that reports of our

death are greatly exaggerated.

Certainly, we cannot ignore that we face trying times. The economy

has taken its toll. New scientific discoveries, societal changes, and

advancing technologies challenge traditional concepts and traditional

procedures. We face government retrenchment at both local and federal

levels. Luckily for all of us, we can not only survive these pressures, but

we can thrive on them.

Fu from seeing the eighties as a period for gloom and doom, I see the

decade as offering at last the opportunity for public television and higher

`aat education to forge a powerful partnership, a partnership long desired,

collectively sought, progressiiely approaLhed since the advent of

television in the 1940's. Of course, it is accurate to say that television has

not fulfilled itaeckicaticcal potentiaL But, one should add the wOr1 ye4 and

one should also look at new initiatives in education undertaken by the

tk Public Broadcasting Service (PBS); for the future looks bright.

Programming Services

In June, 1979, by a large midority vote, the member stations of the

Public Broadcasting Service voted to establish three programming

services. Thus, PTV-1 to provide programming for the large general

New Public Programs 55

audience during the evening hours; FIT72 to provide targeted audience

programming, and PTV-3- to provide educational programming were

formed. The PBS planning team spend more than a year in extensive

consultation with broadcasters and educators in designing the Educa-

tions; Telecomthunications Programming Service. As of September 2,

that unit is a fully staffed and functioning part of PBS.

Within PTV-3 there are three departments. The Children's and Youth

Programming Service is concerned with the schedule of programming for

children and young people at home. It offers such wellAnown series as

SESAME STREET, ONCE UPON A CLASSIC, UP AND COM-

ING. A second department is responsible for instructickal programming

for in-school use, kindergarten through high school. Faced with a real

shortage of new programming, these Departments are actively seeking

new sources of funding, and untapped, high quality domestic and foreign

products, as well as encouraging and stimulating new program develop-

ment. There is a serious effort to make all series as flexible as possible so

that they can be used effectively in and out of classroms through

development of print components for children, teachers, and parents and

through good scheduling.

The third area, the one w which I am working is the Adult Learning

Department It is the rust programming service devoted entirely to

adult learning, and it em Irces the ambitious goal of providing "a full

range of educational and instructional programs and program related

services for . . . adult audiences for at home and in school use." Perhaps

because it is my field of interestor perhaps 6ecause it is trueit seems

that it is in higher education that the critics are most disappointed about

the use of television for education. As one wag put it, television still

"looms small on the landsCape of higher education." Yet even in higher

education, it is important to remember that if the instrumental television

cup is half empty, it is ago half full. And I am happy to report, the level is

definitely rising.

College Level Programming

Tfie last decade was one of exceptionally vigorous growth ofsollege

level programming. Although the beginning of the seventies saw only

what Newton Minow characterized as the grey professor with the grey

lecture on a grey screen, by mid-decade these were giving way to exciting

and effective college credit television courses. By the end of the seventies,

there were over fifty telecourses, produced by individual colleges, public

television stations, or college consortia, that were marketed to other

higher education institutions across the country.

According to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's "Higher

Education Utilization Study," there were almost a half million students

enrolled in college credit courses in 1978-79. Though most of these were

enrolled in on-campus courses via closed-circuit television, almost

6 6

56 New Public Programs

200,000 were distant learners, that is students taking courses at home, at

work places, or in learning centers. Obviously, that number is a very small

percentage of the number of students enrolled in colleges and universities

in 1978-79. However, the numbeis represent significant growth from the

first of the decade, and the demographic make-up of these students is also

significant. Many of them are the `tnew students," the older, part-time

students from which higher education must draw if it is to maintain or

increase enrollments in the next decades.

And the numbers of the enrollees in television courses are growing, as

success storiej in several parts of the country demonstrate. For example,

in Ken , the State Departmentof Education and Kentucky Educa-

tional Television backed a statewide effort to offer college credit

instruction via television. The number of enrollees has climbed steadily

during the first two years of operation. In Texas, the community colleges

serving Dallas County and Tarrant County began in 1977 to use, the

same public televsion station 'to present college credit instruction.

Together they now regularly enroll over 17,000 students a year. The Tri-

State Consortium, recently reorganized as the Eastern Educational

Consortium, has grown to represent fifty colleges in the Northeast (two

year, four year, public, and private institutions), and the enrollments for

television courses have 'increased as dramati6ally as the numbers of

institutions in the organization. And there are other such examples.

However, though there are a few areas where television is successfully

used for adult learning, there are even more places where television is not

used for adult learning at all or is not used very successfully. Now, at last,

... to enhance those efforts already under way and to provide service where

there is none, here is PTV-3, the first PBS national programming service

for adult learning.

Adult Leaining Programming

The details of the PTV-3/Adult Learning Programming Service were

announced at a national teleconference February 26. Over 120 public

broadcasting stations participated in the conference on that day. Others

taped the teleconference for later use with the postsecondary institutions

in their communities. Altliouth we do not yet know how many colleges

we reached, we do know that stations requested about 3,500 packets of

:nforination to send along with invitations to their local institutions, and

we know that over 2,000 public television and higher education

representatives were tuned in to hear the details of the plan I am going to

hare with you now. .

The basic principles underlying the plan have been announced and

pu *shed several times, but they still bear repeating. First, there is a need

for a 'onal delivery system of top quality educational and instructional

television courses and series directed at adult learners with all of the

accompanying economies of scale and potential for excellence that

Nelif Prograrns

nitional delivery can provide. Second the choice and the use of these

programs must remain under the control of local broadcasters and

educational institutions. Together, they must decide which of the available

programming they wish to use and when and how. Just as individual PBS

member stations must be the fmal judge as to which programs fit their

missions and their schedules, so local colleges and universities must

decide which programs fit their canicula, and they must grant college

credit ff college credit is to be granted Thus, a stning working relationship

between local stations and the institutions within theircommunities is

imperative. The afin of PTV-3 is Co help establish suck new local

partnerships where hone exist and to enhance the effectiveness of

existing partnerships where they are already functioning. ,

The PIN-3 Adult Learning Programming Service will take a multi-

.faceted approfch to adult learning. It will offer college cralit courses;

non-credit, life-long learning series; and career training and professional

development courses. The first PTV-3/Adult Learning sehedule will

concentrate on Credit courses. These courses were chosen after months

of screenings and formal and informal consultationq/ith the leadership of

educational associations, college and university administrators and

faculty, college consortia, and a specially conver.e4 PTV-3/Adult

Learning Advisory Council of ten distinguished educators and broad-

casters..

College Credit Courses

There are, of coarse, several kinds of college credit television,courses.

The most common type, produced by colleges and used primarily on

campuses, is the televised lecture, dither live or taped, which transmits,

virtually intact, a classroom presentation. It may or may not include

elements in addition to those used in the original classroom version, such as

on-campus use, PTV-3 will not be distributing this type of television

course.

Telecourses

Another' kind of college credit course 'using television is called a

telecourse. In this caie, the television programs are productions prepared

for open circuit distribution with general audience viewing in mind.

However,the television series would not have been produced had it not

been part of the telecoutse. The complete telecourse is an integrated

learning system. In addition to the television programs, it includes other

components, such as a textbook, a text bank, a student study guide, an

administrator's guide, a faculty manual, and other materials as needed.

PTV-3 will distribute the best of this kind of college credit coursethat

is, telecourses that include television programs which have open circuit,

broadcast quality, technical and production standards sound academic

content, anid the most effective instructional design.

58 New Public Programs

Headlining the schedule will be UNDERSTANDING HUMAN

BEHAVIOR, produced by Coast Telecourses, in partnership, with

several other producing institutions: Dallas County Community College

District; Miami-Dade Community College District; the State Depart-

ment of Education in Florida; Chicago City Colleges; the Southern

California Consortium for Community College Television; and the

University of Mid-America. A new telecourse featuring the best-selling

psychology textbook by Dr. James McCormell, UNDERSTANDING

HUMAN BEHAVIOR, is being field-tested by the producing partners

and selected institutiOns this spring. It will make its national debut on

PTV-3,

The other telecourses in the PTV-3 schedule are AMERICAN

GOYERNMENT SURVEY (produced by Dallas County Community

College District, Coast Community College, Chicago City Colleges,

and Tarrant:County Junior College), a thirty-segment overview of the

governmental system of the United States; THE AMERICAN STORY:

THE BEGINNING TO 1877,(produced by Dallas County Commu-

nity College District), an American history survey; CONTEMPORARY

HEALTH ISSUES (produced by the Southern California Consortium

for COmniunity College, Television), an examination of the critical health

questions facing today's society; HUMANITIES THROUGH THE

ARTS (produced by Coast Community College and City Colleges of

Chicago), a survey of film, drama, music, literature, painting, sculpture,

and architecture, featuring Maya Angekm as narrator; INTERACTION

(produced by Maryland Instructional Television/Maryland Department

of Education), an in-service course for all school instructional personnel,

or a graduate course in teacher education; IT'S EVERYBODY'S

BUSINESS (produced by Dallas County Community College District),an

introduction 10 the complex range of operations which constitute the

contemporary United States' business scene.

Wraparounds

Still another kind of college credit course is cglled`a wraparound. This

kind of television course begins with a television series slch as THE

ASCENT OF MAN,which would have been produced and-broadcast

regardless of whether it was to become a part of a college credit course or

not. Ancillary materials prepared during or after the production of the

series integrate ,the television programs into a learning system. The

wraparound is currently the most commonly known and. widely used

type of college credit course on public television, and of course, PTV-3

will _use wraparounds in its distribution schedule. In fact, one of the

important functions of the Adult Learning Department will be to

coordinate the development of the instructional materials with the

production or the television programs for prime-time PBS -series that

have potential for adult learning so that these series can be effectively

New pieblic Progtums 59

utilized from their first airing.

The fall, 1981, schedule includes two wraparounds: COSMOS,which

garnered a higher viewership than any previous PBS weekly show and

now has a full set of integrated instructional materials, and THE

SHAKESPEARE PIAYS, featuring six plays from the past two seasons,

-selected by Dr. John Andrews of the Folger Shakespeare Library. These

plays will be aiSembled with apPropriate print materials to provide a

'Survey of Shakespeare's work The series will include twgtragedies,

(Julius Caesar and Hamlet ); two comedies (Measure for Measure

andTwelfth Night ); and two histories (Richard II and Henry IV, Part

I).The first schedule of Adult Learning Programmingwill begin transmission

via satellite to paitieipating PBS stations on August 29. Each telecourse

program wil be fed on -Saturday from 9:00.a.m. ET to 4:00 p.m. ET

with the first three hours of the schedule repeated from 4:00 p.m. ET to

7:00 p.m. ET to Provide for Pacific and.Mountain time zones. All of the

-telecourse programs will have a daytime, weekday repeat. THE

SHAKESPEARE' PLAYS will be broadcast by, participating stations

on every other Sunday afternoon beginning September 6. COSMOS will

be part of the PBS prime-time schedule beginning (on an evening to be

announced) the week of September 27.

To participate in the service, colleges and universities will pay a small

license fee for each telecourse, plus student enrollment fees. (There are

no PBS fees for wraparound courses.) In return, they will receive the

right to use the courses for credit or non-credit; a full set of administrator

and faculty materials; and permission to tape off-air or act:juke in

advance a full set of videocassettes of the television programs. These

cassettes may be used for the entire license period for makeup and

review, or even as the primary delivery for enrolled telecourse students.

Participating colleges and public television stations will work together to

inform the community about the service, to schedule programs and to

serve students.

The full details of the PTV-3/Adult Learning Programming Service

are available now: how you can preview and evaluate programs; what

your rights, responsitidities, and costs are in this plan; where you can seek

xtting-up or improving.ah adult learriing television outreach; and

°what you should do next. For this arid other information, you can write to

me at PBS-PTV-3/Adult L..tarning Programming Department,475

L'Enfant Plaza, Washington, D.C. 20024, or call me at (202) 488-

5361.

Annenberg Gift to CPB

The prognosis for the development of superior programming for an

adult learning service was greatly enhanced by Ambassador Walter

Annenberg's generous and substantial gift of $150,000,000 to the

60 New Public Programs

Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). This fund, to be givenat ten

million dollars a year for fifteen years will be used to support the creaton

of high quality college level television and radio programs and other

materials for distribution through existing and developing communica7

tions systems. Recognizing the long history of development of adult

learning through telecommunications, the fund was established tO

develop programs and projects (in collaboration with other organizations

and with higher education institutions) which would result in courses to

be offered generally, but not exclusively, for baccalaureate degree credit.

The administration of this gift, to be called the Project, witha capital P,

will be housed within CPB. A director appointed by CPB and an

Advisory Councilconsisting of two representatives from PBS,two

from National Public Radio, two from CPB, and two from the

Annenberg School ofCommunications, and perhaps two more members

at largewill administer the fund. The goals of the Project are to create

one or more significant collections of new, innovative, high quality

college level materials and to demonstrate the use of communications

systems for addressing unique higher education problems. The primary'

target audiencei are those persons who demonstrate an interest in college

level education, but because of lack of time, or resources, or other

reasons are unable to pursue that education. The fund was formally

presented and accepted the morning of February 26; thus, Lawrence

Grossman, President of PBS, was able to announce this magnificent gift

to education and public television personnel all over the country at the

beginning of the Adult Learning Teleconference.

Other Services

In addition to programming, the PTV-3 Adult LearningDepartment

will provide a number of related services. Included are two more

teleconferences this spring. A teleconference on March 31 will deal with

implementation strategies for telecourses. Dr. John Flanagan,Associate

Dean for Non-Traditional Programs at Eastern Kentucky University,

and Dr. Terence Kelly, Vice-President for Education at Miami-Dade

Community College, both administrators of successful television outreach.

programs for their institutions, will be featured guests, along with Stephen

Pence, Adjunct Professor at Eastern Kentucky University,and Elizabeth

Koster, Professor of Nursing at Bergen Community College, both

enthusiastic teachers of telecourses. A packet of materials about

implementation will accompany the video presentation.

On April 29, PTV-3, in cooperation with the Public Information and

Advertising Departments of PBS and practicing experts in promotion

and marketing, will present a teleconferencp on promotion. This meeting

willull together the public information staffs and other interested

personnel of colleges and universities with those of the local public

television station to address the problems of informing communities and

New Public Programs 61

recruiting students. PTV-3 will provide press kits, including stories that

can be localized about the service and the courses within the schedule;

photographs; appropriate art work and copy for brochures, newspaper

advertising and direct mail pieces so that the local institutions can easily

adapt them by adding only their names, addresses, and other pertinent

.local information. On-air promotion for public television stations and

public service announcements for commercial radio and television

stations will also be available to participants. All of these materials will

be integrated into a presentation that will suggest several viable

approaches to planning and implementing effective promotion cam-

paigns for adult learning via television.

The PTV-3/Adult Learning ,Programming Service is already well

along in planning for its second Semester in spring of 1982 and its second

academic year 1982-83. Among its goals are earlier announcements of

schedules to provide a longer lead timenine to twelve months inyear

twofor colleges and universities; development of new programs and

services; and a more systematic feedback system involving all of the

participating institutions and stations. We want to get advice from all of

our PTV-3 participants about the courses to select; the courses to

encourage in development; the days and hours courses should be

transmitted; the services needed to make the Adult Learning Pro-

gramming Service effective; and other curricular, instructional, and

broadcasting issues.

Public Subscriber Network

Though PT1!-3/Adult Learning is a functioning department within

PBS, still another PBS national initiative in education is on the drawing

boards. Called first the Grand Alliance, but now named the Public

Subscriber Network, this initiative is a part of the PBS plan for a

subscriber or pay-cable service. The plan was conceivedas a partnership

between PBS and the cultural and performing arts institutions and groups

in the country, and the focus of the evening schedule will be on first class

cultural and performing gt programs. However, the daytime schedule

will be devoted to education. The shape ofthat educational programming

is taking form now. It seems likely that it will be bighly targeted to appeal

to the same audience paying for the evening service, but will also be

particularly usefill to its institutional members, which will include such

entities as school districts, colleges, universities, professional associations,

businesses, hospitals, and industry. Though it is too early to say exactly

what the daytime components will be, perhaps one strip of progxamming

will be devoted to i.he needs of academically talented children and youth;

another block of programming might provide advanced professional

development for scientists, executives, and professionals; still another

might schedule master classes by the world's greatest scholars. These

potentials and others are in sesearch now.

62 New Public Programs

StMMARY

Television has been an increasingly powerful force in our society since

the fifties. Its power in business, in politics, and in all phases of

communication is certainly far advanced. But television has not yet

emerged as the powerful force it can and should be in education. Clearly,

the arrival of PTV-3 and the coming of the Public Subscriber Network

demonstrate that it is time for the good friendship between public

broadcasting and education to become stronger and deeper, to grow into

not so much a marriage, as a partnership. This partnership will be forged

from our combined efforts to achieve our highest goals, for we have long

had mutual needs, common interest, and shared values. And from this

powerful partnership should come the most exciting educational experi-

ences of the eighties.

(NJ

cr-

'c:21

U-1

Computers/Software More for Less

Dorothy K. Deringer

National Science Foundation

Washington, D.C.

INTRODUCTION

Computing has profoundly influenced our society; science, govern-

ment, business -and even our household appliances and our children's

toys have been affected. Indeed, computing is one of those rare

commodities within our society for which the cost continues to decline.

,Or stated in another way, the increase in cost-effectiveness over time has

been exponential. The rule that cost-effectiveness doubles every two

years has held up forthe last decade and current projections indicate that

it will continue to hold for still another decade.1 the character of the

computer industry is 'More &Less."

In a recent report, Technology in Science Education: The Next 10

Years, J.C.R. Licklider of-MIT says "the world is rapidly_ moving into

the Information Age" and information technology is flourishing everywhere

but in the field of education. He concludes that "education is not only

missing a great opportunity, it is failing to discharge a responsibility."

However, in spite of the fact that the computer pervades all segments

of our society and the toy industry has "gone electronic" with computer

based toys, "Less is not Always More" especially in public education.

What is the role of- the education establishment in preparing our

NA,studentsto live and work in this new world and how are we fulfilling this

role? How should the education establishment use the new technologies

to improve our performance as so many other professions-have done?

Many of you at this conference are asking yourselves this question. Some

of us have already decided and wish to learn more about the best ways of

doing it. Icexpect that many of us here will talk about not only the

promises but also the dangers which exist in an increasingly

technologically-based educational syStem.

444-

Some recent reports have delineated many problems and issues in the

use of infonnation technology in education. These reports come from the

exetutive branch of the federal government, the Congress and the field.

64 Computer/Software

NSF and Information Technology

The National Science Foundation's mission for maintaining the health

of science education in the United States leads to our involvement in this

topic in a variety of ways (For NSF, the word "science" includes research

and education in science, mathematics and engineering). NSF's legislation,

the NSF Organic Act (P.L 81-507), gives NSF a speCial mandate to foster

computer technology for research and education. Section 3(a) (4) author-

ized the Foundation "to foster and support the development and use of the

computer and Other scientific methods and technologies primarily for

research and education in the sciences." Underthis mandate, NSF has

invested well over 50 million dollars over the last 10years in technology for

science education.

The national concern for the decline in U.S. productivity and the

recent reports of the heavy emphasis of science and technology in the

Soviet curriculum for elementary and high school students led the

President to request a report on the health of American science education

an51 its ability to prepare students to function in a technological world.

The report, Science and EngineerinrEducation for the 80's and

Beyond3 prepared by the Secretary of Education and the Acting

Director of the Natibnal Science Foundation, shows that we will have a

prolonged shortage of engineers and computer scientists. Moreinterest-

ingly, we are fast becoming a nation of technological illiterates. The gap

between those few who study science and technology and themany who

don'.t is great and ever growing such that it portends significant problems

for our society over the long run.

The report recommends computer literacy courses as one of many

possible actions, greater support for university departments ofengineering

and computer science topurchase research equipment so that faculty can

conduct state of the art research in these areas, and it recommends that

the educational profession use the technology itself to improveperformance.

It urges NSF to encourage the development of software for classroom

computers and for the Department of Education to encourage schools to

use it. Schools are urged to use video technology, classroom television and

other technologies in educating students.

The Congress

The Congress as well has been concerned about the use of information

technology in education. During the most recent hearings, Congressman

George Brown (D, Cal.) in his opening remarks stated that the objectives

of the seminars were "to enhance the awareness of the Congress, the

executive branch, and the private and public sectors of the potential

educational benefits of new information and telecommunications tech-

nologies and ... the possible social and economic impacts resulting from

the widespread use of these technologies in the educational process."4

Computer/Software 65

After witnesses spoke, six panels met to discuss the problems and make

recommendations.

A report synthesizing the recommendations will be available later this

year. Congressional staff members indicate that two central issues are

emerging in theme of information technology for education at all levels

and in all environmentsthe need for trained personnel and for high-

quality courseware and software.

The House Committee itself has taken an innovative step in the use of

technology to share the material of thete hearings. For the first time, a

videotaped report of the hearingsactually three 1 hour tapes and one

half our tapewill be available from Congressman Brown's office. These

tapes have also been shown on the House closed-circuit television system.

Colleagues of mine who have seen these tapes give them high marks for

articulating the probk -ns and issues in discussing the use of information

technology in education.

Th. Yield

In December 1980, a conference on National Goals for Computer

Literacy5 was conducted by the Human Resources Research Organization

(HumRRO) and the Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium

(MECC). Over 85 experts in computing and education participated.

Though there were some widely differing viewpoints expressed the

group identified the need for

a national commitment to a computer literate society;

talent development;

software, courseware and curriculum guidelines;

equipment availability;

a total effort in the school, the home and the workplace; and

further research, development and policy studies.

The conference participants also pointed out that the availability of the

computer could result in two distinct classes in our society: those who

have the ability to use computers and those who do not. Those who do

not have the ability will be technological illiterates in the technologically

sophisticated society of the 80's and beyond. This will most likely further

widen the gap between the rich and the poor, and serious social, political

and economk consequences, could result. .

Clearly there are many fine policy statements and recommendations

from the executive branch, the Congress, and the field. All of these and

other reports rev.eal a consistency in views of different groups and

organizations on the important problems and issues.

And now, I believe, that the people of the United States not only see the

increasing importance of computing and technology, they are attempting

to use it and teach about it. The question is no longer should the

computer be part of instruction, but how should it be used and studied

best? Enrollments of students in computer science and engineering

7 6

66 Computer/Software

courses in higher education are increasing faster than our institutions are

able to provide well trained professors to teach them. Schools are

acquiring micro computers for their classrooms through planned pur-

chasing programs, state-wide purchasing agreements and PTA bake sales.

But our strategies for using these computers and training teachers are

varied. People are searching for sound approaches, as we are here, but

there are no agreed upon solutions. The change in the last five years is

that the number of people searching for solutions has increased

enormously.

The National Science Foundation Projects in Computing

All of these studies mentioned above are useful if you are trying to

convince advisory committees, school boards, parents, and other

decision makers that information technology should play a vital role in

our schools.

When one actually takes the step to use technology, however, one

fmds a variety of different approaches to the use of courseware and

software in the education of students, teachers and citizens. The needs

for large quantities of high quality courseware and software and for

trained people are identified by policy makers, but there are many

different and high quality approaches to fulfilling these needs.

NSF's approach is to support a variety of different projects which are

examples and models of the uses of computing in science education.

Then you can pick and choose among these approaches and decide for

yourselves what is best for your local educational needs and objectives.

These federally supported examples provide benefits to many at a much

lower cost than if each institution fmance its own research and ,

development.

I would like to tell you about several ofour projects which are trying to

anticipate the educational needs of the late 80's in science, mathematics

and engineering education. They are characterized by diversity of su bjedt

matter, levels, strategies, focus and environment.

The National Science Foundation concentrates on computing because

to be able to do science and engineering in the 80'sand beyond one has to

know something about computing.

We see three different approaches to the computer in science

education:

I. The computer as a tool of science;

2. The computer as an object of study; and

3. The computer as a deliverer of instruction.

Ftsr the last of thesethe delivery of instructionthere is still

reluctance on the part of many institutions to change. Dr. Joseph Lipson

of NSF in an earlier talk has outlined some reasons for this reluctance.

To know about the computeras a tool of science and an object of study,

however, is becoming a requirement for a well-educated individual. I

7 7

Computer/Software 67

believe that it is in these areas which the computer is best received and

used in pre-college and higher education. It is, by far, the area in which

the Foundation has the largest investment.

The Cdtputer as a Tool of Science

Materials in which the computer is used as a tool are being developed

for a variety of different science and engineering topics. All of these

applications are focused on bringing research strategies and techniques

in the discipline to undergraduate and graduate classrooms.

Are you interested in improving the education of our meteorologists?

Sophisticated computer graphics systems such as the one at the

University of Wisconsin/Madison ire used by professional and

research meteorologists to analyze and predict weather systems.

Dr. Donald Johns9n is preparing a version of these color graphics

systems, accompanied by teaching materials, and designed for

use within atmospheric sciences classrooms and laboratories.6'

How about improving the analytical skills of undergraduate

biology students? A package of programs incorporating techniques

from research in biology will be designed for use in the first two

undergraduate years of biology laboratory for data analysis and

simulation by Dr. James Spain. at Michigan Technological

University.7

One strategy used by political scientists and economists to predict

the state of the world in the 80's and beyond is a world computer

model which incorporates political, economic and other scientific

data. A simplified version is being constructed for use withinthe

classroom by Dr. Barry Hughes at the University Of Denver.

Computer Litoracy: Strategies for all Ages

If learning how to use the computer and about its use in our society

becoming computer-literateis an important goal for your faculty and

students, consider these different projects in different environments with

different philosophies.

If you're involved in elementary schools, curriculum kits for

introducing computing into science and mathematics courses

taught in grades K-8 are being produced by the Human

Resources Research Organization (HumRRO) in Alexandria,

Virginia;

At the middle and high school level, a project at the Minnesota

Educational Computing Consortium directed bY Dr. Ronald

Anderson is producing materials which will be integrated in

mathematics, science, and social sciences classes;

How about mit-of:school learning? Professor Seymour Papert at

MIT will use the 'opportunity afforded by a summer camP to

explore the mathematics learned by early adolescent youngsters

68 Computer/Software

within a computer culture;

If you believe the library should be the center for change in our

information-based society, look at the project conducted by

People's Computer Company at the public library, recreation

center and local business locations. This project will give the

27,000 residents of Menlo Park, California an opportunity to

have a direct experience with a microcomputer.

Computer Development and Revision

One of our recent efforts which has generated strong interest among

mathematicians, educators and the public involves pre-college mathe-

matics education using computers. During Fiscal Year 1980 twenty

projects were supported, nine in cooperation with the National Institute

of Education under the NSF/NIE Improvement of Mathematics

Education using Information Technology effort. These twenty projects

Imitate a diversity of approaches at different age levels.8

If you are looking for materials for gifted young children, games,

inquiry learning sequences and puzzles will be programmedunder

the direction of Dr. Ann Piestrup of Advanced Learning Tech-

nology to help gifted second and third graders learn geometry and

logic. Children will use a variety of input/output mediajoy

sticks, graphics tablets, color graphics and speech;

It you envision a classroom with both calculators and computers,

you might consider the techniques used by Dr. John Miller at the

Lawrence Hall of Science. Calculators and computers will be

combined in the mathematics .classroom ina project to teach 4th,

5th and 6th grade teachers and parents about the potential of

calculators in elementary mathematics instruction;

If you consider the networking of teachers and classrooms an

intriguing technique for improving the interest and motivation of

both teachers and students, consider this project directedby Dr.

Diane Resek at San Francisco State. A network of micro computers

will be used to link middle school students and teachers learning

mathematics through games, simulations and information storage

and retrieval techniques;

Looking for a technique to involve talented but non-science

oriented students in computing 'and mathematics? Tenth grade

students (talented but non-science oriented) will use the computtr

in their roles as mathematics tutors for underachieving sixth grade

students. Dr. Marc Swadener at the University of Denver

anticipates that the mathematics and problem-solving skills Of

both groups will improve as well as their enrollment in math and

science classes.

Do your students think that math and science are too abstract? At

the All Indian Pueblo Council in Albuquerque, NM, Pueblo story

Computer/Software 69

telling techniques with color graphics will be used to teach Indian

students about energy use in the Pueblo culture.

'a- When your teachers express the desire to use the computer as a

"dynamic blackboard," consider a project at Georgia Tech

directed by Dr. Les Karlovitz and one at Carroll College by Dr.

Gerald Isaacs. In -both of these projects, teacher tools for

illustrating and describing mathematical principles and problems

in the classroom are being developed.

How about a math lab? A mathematics laboratory akin toa high

school physics or chemistry lab will be created by John Staib at

Drexel University.

If your school serves adults who need to learn or refresh their high

school mathematics, the mathematics 'clinic at Virginia

Commonwealth University will help adults learn high school

algebra and trigonometry graphing through computer graphics.

Ten to fifteen more prototype projects in mathematics and computing

will be supported in Fiscal 1981.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, technology is flourishing everywhere but in education.

The President's report says that in the long range this situation is going to

Have a significant negative impact As we search for trained people torun

our technological society, we will find fewer and fewer of them..

Predictions are that we will soon find a technologically illiterate society.

If we are tO meet the challenges of an information society we must ensure

that we have a literate populace.

NSF has funded programs to stimulate the development of ideas and

systems to assist those who are interested in using technology in the

classroom. Much more is needed.

If we are to integrate the use of technology in all of our nation's

classrooms (not just in pilot projects and prototypes),we need to develop

national strategies to stimulate the large-scale development of high-

quality educational courseware, software and materials and to facilitate

the acquisition of appropriate hardware.

If the pourseware, software, materials, and hardware are to be created

and used effectively in our nation's classrooms, we need a nation of

trained peoplefaculty, teachers and administrators, who ire prepared

to use technology wisely.

If we are to capitalize'on the strengths but avoid the dangers of these

information technologies, we need continued research and development

activities to determine long-term benefits and dangers.

And finally, if we are to remain a technologically sophisticated nation,

we need to establish national policies, goals and strategies to ensure that

our educational system can produce students who can participate in such

a society.

-60

70 Cotnputer/Software

REFERENCES:

1. Licklider, J.C.R., Technology in Science Education: The Next Ten Years, National

Science Foundation, July 1979, U.S. Government Printing Office, Grip 038-000-

00432 ($2.50), p. 3.

2. Ibid, p. 2.

3. Hufstedler, Shirley M. and Donald N. Langenberg, Report to the Presklent of the

United States, Science and EngineerinpEducation for-the 1980's and Beyond,

October 1980, NSF 80-78. All NSF Publications (except 1 above) are available from

the National Science Foundation Publications Office, NSF, Washington, DC 20550.

4. Information Technology in Education. Joint Hearings before the Subcommittee on

.Science, Research and Technology of the Committee on Science and Technology and

the Subcommittee on Select Education of the Committee on Education and Labor,

Hoese of Representatives, Ninety-Sixth Congress, Second Session, April 2 and 3,

1980, No. 134, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, 1980.

Also, Computers and the Learning Society, Hearings before. the Subcommittee on

Domestic and International Scientific Planning, Analysis and Cooperation of the

Committee on Science and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives, Ninety-Filth

Congress, First Session, October 4, 6, 12; 13, 18, and 27, 1977; No. 47, U.S.

Government Prifiting Office, Washington, 1978. A report of these hearings is also

available (June 1978).

Information and Communications Technologies Appropriate in Education (In-

cluding HR. 4326), Hearings before the Subcommittee on Science, Research and

Technology of the Committee on Science and Technology, U.S. House of Represen-

tatives, Ninety-Sixth Congress, First Session, October 9; 1979, U.S. Government

Printing Office, Washington, 1979.

5. Seidel, Robert J. et al., National Goals forComputer Literacy in 1985 _Conference

Proceedings and Recommendations,fortheeming from Human Resources Research

Organization (HumRRO), 300 North Washington 'Street, Alexandria, VA, 22314.

6. SourreBook offtiects, Science Education Development and Research, Fiscal Year

1979, National Science Foundation SE 80-80, p. 49.

7. All of the next awards except Papert/MIT are described in"Development in Science

Education (DISE) Program, Project Awards, Fiscal Year 1980," National Science

Foundation SE 81-52. The MIT award is described in reference 8.

8. The mathematics using computing projects are described inPre-College Mathematics

Education Using Computers, Project Awards, Fiscal Year 1980, Development in

Science Education, National Science Foundation, SE 81-51.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I would like to thank my colleague at the Nation! Science Foundation,

Dr. Andrew Molnar, for his advice and assistance in preparing this

paper.

Maiching Educational Needs

with,Available Technology:

What is happening in the Rest of the World

Clifford It Mock

\U.S. Agency for Intemotionai Development

Washim, D.C.

INTRODUCTION

As I prepare this paper in Washington this afternoon, my thOughts turn

to some of the place* on this earth where educational technology is today

being used to makea differenceplaces where it is playing a central role

Ail the educational process. It is early morning inthe South Pacific, and

students of Fiji,Tonga, Western Samoa and eight other islands scattered

over hundreds of thousands of square Miles are preparing to take a

university course in tropical disease control, thanks to audio links

Provided to each island by :NASA satellite 23;000 miles in orbit above,

the earth. FUrther to the West, in the Republic of Korea, in a few,houzs

250,600 primary and junior high schOof students- will attend schools,

where learning is organized in a sophisticated sygem based mina-Stet*

learning concepts, delivered by programmed instruction, radio, tele-

yisiokirafteacher=led exercises, while thousands of Korean adults will

erlater, in Thailand, students will be studying primary -school

highlchool degree through Korea's High School of the Air.

('01 milhentratios provided by radio to their classrooms, and they will be

learrinyift well. In the Ivory Coati of Africa tomorrow morning 580,000

>41. students throughout the mtenor of that country will be Studying through

Gt, 41ssrbonkelevision in almost eVery subject In England, of course, tht;

litatiorlalsiiiiit university will be operating using the postal systemant

:the ficilifiei Of the BBC to bring higher education of estimable quality to

65,000litudentsoneinwhile, in our own hemisphere a similar system is

Pnividingrefief to Venezuela's bulging university classrooms, While even

in SkIfilfed El Salvador education is being provided for niost of that

cciii#5,4 junior-high school stUdents through classroom television.

'-we in 'this country are part of a fabric of experimentation and

commitment- to. new -ways to provide the best educational opportunity

72 iwatching Needs

that can, be' afforded to pur children and to ourselves, no matter the

material; political and cultural differences among Os. 'Fiero issome merit

to the thought that we can learn together from somEof these experi-

encesas well as_ pro!ide a boost our collective morale, as- innovation

wends its-rocky way through the very testing trials of reality.

World Trends

would- like to give you= some sense of the trends -in educational

technOlogy throughout the world, at least at I see them from my vantage

uoint, where mY job is to _select promising, approaches and concepts

Worldwide and to work with spec& developing countries to -generate

applications to their Problems. It is tettiPtingvery tempting .-7-to

speculate abbtit the new world that we see coming into reality in the next

few years: Whole libraries available on a handful ofyideodisOc students

of all ages learning at home through microcomputers linked by phone

with vast edudational data bases; instant access -by satellite to an

unlimited variety of televised information. But4, like many of the other

contactors believe we have learned that those fundamental changes

will- come to realization, An most cases, only in a gradual and often

evolutionary *ayrather than by soine instantaneous sea change.

Educational institutions, and those within them who learn, and teach,

and adminiiter; need time and experience to incotporate these new ways

of leaning into their individual, social and economic._ patterns of

behavior. The organizational changes to which Many of this book's papets

have referred will take some time, -some fits and starts, and many

adaptive processes ip order to become viable. So instead of speculating

about what could come to pass, I would like to examine cunently existing

trends in the rest Of the wórld; it is these existing trends which are most

likely to condition the educational alternatives of the near future.

I see four basiotrends that now have a firm basis. The best established

is that embodied by the concept of the open universitythat is, "teaching

at a distanec," for motivated adults. The second is an increasing use of

broadCasting to Meet basic -edutitidial nee& within primary and

secondary schools,-particularly the emerging rediscovery of/Indio as a

Rawer* in-school educational Medium, When appropriately program-

med. The third is the now familiar world-wide use of televisionfor early

'Ackildhoodeducation as pioneered by the Children's Television Work-

ihoP in -its Sesanie Street and Electrie Company efforts. And finally,

serving as die intellectual underpinning of many of educational tech-

Woe's sisecess stories in the world's educational marketplade is the

slow but steady growth offastructional systems delign, used as a formal

methodology for developing the content of instruction. 7EACHINGAT

4.4 DISTANCE: 77IE OPEN UNIVERSITy

:Elierivhere_itt the world, as-in our own country, innovations succeed

when--theY are able to combine effective instnictional methods- with

Matching Needs 73

delivery systems that are cheap, reliable and simple for the users to

operate. Even then, they persist only when such innovations become

incorporated into institutions that themselves are stronginstitutions

which are viable because they serve important social needs.

The Open University

The Open University movement fits all these criteria. The British

Government of the late 1960'S and '70's was deeply, politiCally

committed to expanded higher educational opportunity beyond the

selective and indeed elitist university system extant in the United

Kingdom.By using television; radio, and the post, the production skill of

the BBC, the instructional, design skill of its superb educational

technology group, and the content expertise of a first-rate faculty, the

British Open University has grown to more than 65,000 students, by all

odds the largest universityin- Britain and one of the larger ones-in the

World. Its graduates have acquitted themselves so well, and their

intellectual standards are So high, that an Open University degree means

a good deal oven in status-conscious Britain. The model has quickly

become transplanted to other nations where university entance is

difficult to achieve. The Bavarian Open University now enrolls thou-

sands of German students; the model has been extended to Venezuela, to

Pakistan, to at least a dozen other-countries including, of course, the

,United States. We can expect some of the particulars to change from

place to place and to evolvein Britain, for example, the use of the audio

emends creasingly viewed as having advantages for some purposes

over both te1èison 'and radio, and is rapidly becoming a Major element

in the media knix. In _the South Pacificwhere Mailing cassettes or

documents mejns in manyinstances takingthem over dangerous reefs by

longboatitb adcist _techniques are predominate, and there is now

serious experimentation willi slow-scan teleVision.

But the basic elements__ of the Open UniversitS, model remain the

sarneworking adults 4udy in their own homes, or in some countries in

Community centers, using some form of audio or visual instrudtion; their

performance is: Monitored and guided ihrough correspondence, tele-

phone or sony .other means; and in most cases, instructional- systems

design techniqües frame thedevelopment of anstruction content. These

systems generally wOrk well. They are econothically attractive be-Cause-

stadents ,can -still-be_ employed, and they fill a tremendons need for

servical& new populations.

In some develoPing countries, theselsystems,are being used,also to

eitend the societal usefigness of the university. In the South Pacific, for

emnPle, with -cantle help through AID., university faculty in such

fields Is agronokvi pUb1c health,!and economic policy am providing '

spedialyzed in-service courses to_ development Wórkersttl'tinughout the

regionto nurse-inidwives, to r,grieultural_ extension agents, -to :plan-

nersthrough Satellite radio. In the pmcess,incidentally, these faculty

74 Matching Needs

are being profoundly influenced in their regular academic teaching by

their two-way comrnunicatiOn- with those who are facing real-world

problems, on the job. So I expect these open universities to continue to

function, to giow, and to become even more sophisticated educationally.

Because the); are now permanent and important institutions in their

countries or regions, they can take on that task of continued, steady,

instructional improvement, through new instructional techniques and

better testingone of the great promises of educational technology that

has so rarely been fulfilled.

InstrUctional Broadcasting: The Re-Discovery of Radio

Let Ine turn now to basic education and the expanding role of

instvictional broadcasting, increasingly by radio in the developing world.

By basic education I mean the fundamental language and numeracy

skills one is supposed to acquire in primary and junior secondary school.

Here the developing nations are facing even greater burdens thenwe are,

because of their rapid population growth. Although school enrollments

have risep dramatically in the last two decades, in many African

countries fewer than half the children are in school; in India a majority of

school-age children fail to complete the fifth grade; and in Brazil just a

few years ago fully half the school children in the country were in first

grade classrooms, many of them repeating the first giade because of

failure, or simply the absence of schools with higher grade levels

available. In India last month, a noted Indian educator observed to me

that-if India were to keep up educationally with its entirely predictable,

indeed quite certain, population growth over the next twenty years, a new

school would have to be built every ten minutes. In addition, ofcourse,

trained teachers would need to be recruited to live in the difficult

conditions of village India, and to be paid by a very poor nation.

'With conditions like these, some countries have been working

seriously at using the educational technologies to carry a majorpart of the

instructional-burden. To planners in some countries it seems almost

inevitable, and the-only practical hope of coping with the population

explosion, let alone improving educational quality and capitalizingon the

vast human potential in Third World narions. We at A.I.D. have had the

privilege of working with several such countries as they seek out basic

educational alternatives. In at least a few of these countries there has

been the, recognition that fairly fimdamental organizational change will

be a requisite to meeting their needs. Starting a dozen years ago,

television was the chosen medium, and it is those systems which are now

the most mature. When they were developed, the use of instructional

design methods was rarely used in educational broadcasting; Seseme

Street and the Open University had yet to emerge as successful hybrids

of these two approaches to educational technology. Thus, the quality of

these systems might have been limited, to some degree, by their early

8 5

Matching Needs 75

birth. But they have had considerable achievements: in El Salvador, for

example, a doubling ofjunior high school enrollment without diminishing

quality (in fact, with significant learning gains) was made possible

through double sessions supported-by classroom television, television

closely integrated with daily teachers' guided and intensive teacher

retraining. At the same time, the curriculum was entirely overhauled.

The system continues. In the Ivory Coast, something of an educational

miracle has taken place. From I WO to 1977, primary school enrollment

expanded from under 80,000 (almost entirely in the cities) to 560,000;

again daily television lessons in every key classroom subject have made

this expansion possible, while teachers have-been giadually trained, in

part by television progiams for that purpose.

But television=based systems are perceived as too costly -by many.

Therefore, we at A.I.D. and later others, such as UNESC6 and the

World Bank, began some years ago to work with selected developing

countries to develop radio as a key medium for distributing much of the

core of instruction. Because radio ha: been around a long time, it was

initially very difficult to interest educational planners in using it in a

significant way. Our strategy has been to try to make it so effective

educationally that people would have to sit up and take notice. In this

enterprise we have had the great advantage of having the leadership of

Professor Patrick Suppes of Stanford and his very able colleagues,

Barbara Searle, Jamesine Friend, and-Klaus Galda, to carry out the

initial efforts.

The first result of this new commitment to radio education has been the,

creation ,of a complete, daily, radio7based curriculum for all of primary

school mathematics, widely usable in schools where teachers themselves

are inadequate in mathematics teaching. This curriculum, tested in daily

broadcasting over several years, has shown learning gains over trad-

itional rural schools ranging from 20 percent to 35 percent per year. The

method was first developed and tested in Nicaragua; it is now showing

equal success in the very different culture of Thailand, and is being

examined for possible adoption by several other nations throughout the

world. Its power -derives, incidentally, from adapting many of the

instructional principles associated with computer-assisted instruction to

the mass medium of radio. The progiams, for example, are filled with

' elicktations of active responses by the childrenworking out sums with

bottle caps on their desks, shouting out answers, singing mathematical

songs. The schedule of repetition of drills in particular skills, such as two-

digit multiplication or three-digit subtraction, is deternined by fine-tuned

principles of distributed practice, based in part on students' performance.

And feedback on performance is rapid, frequent and non:perjorative. All

this, plus some creative radio formats that are culturally sensitive and

warm-hearted, has created a system that is a delight, welcomed in the

classroom as a lively guest each day, and that succeeds educationally.

76 Matching Needr

When one sees this system operating in otherwisedreary and sleepy rural

classroOms, it is a jorto see the electric aliveness itcan bringmuch of it

deriving from the delight that is inherent in active learning. If one ever

wanted to puncture the mYth of passivity associated with instructional

broadcasting, these-are the classes to see.

Many of these same' techniques are now being used by A.LD. to

develop a curriculum in the language arts by radio, initially in Kenya. We

soon will be testing elsewhere a complete primary school system for

rethote rural schools, where family members of community volunteers

can play many of the roles of the teacherthe classroom organizer, the

nurturer, the interest-stimulator, while the radiolessons provide a core of

instruction. So, while just out of its infancyor perhaps its second

childhoodinstructional radio is being rediscovered throughout the

world, with significant new uses now emerging in such countries as the

Philippines, India, Korea,- and several Latin American countries.

I must also ,rnention some of the-extraordinary uses to which radio is

being Put to reach adults with both basic edueation and practical

inforntation. In almost every Latin American country, radio schools

daily_ teach tens of thousands of largely illiterateor semi-illiterate farmers

the basics of education, as WelLas a wealth of practical information on

health, agriculture and family economics. There are now 34 such

systems, most of them initiated by the Catholic Church; One of thenvin-

Colombia,' has a regular newSpaper for new literates, the "Campesino,"

with a circu litiorrof-6430;000-

The U.S. has-assisted a number of these effort:s -through-

A.I.D., is helping develop new techniques for making-eadio_a full-scale

information and educational service-for rural people.: We areAssisting

projects which are teaching basic nutritiOnal skills to families by radio,

providing daily detailed agricultural information, and teaching mothers

themselves to deal -.:ven with severe health problems being faced by their

infant children. Fci radio is increasingly educating, informing, training

and even savir g ',lives in the developing world, using techniques

entertaining enc ugh to attract listeners and useful enough to retainThem.

Television for Pre-School Education

The third trend I alluded to earlier, the= adoption of Seiathe Street-

types of television programs for the pre-school instruction, is so well

known I need not dwell upon it. More than thirty countries are using

Sesame Street Or the Electric Company._-Even more importantly, the

Children's Television Workahop has dene a i7eat service by engaging in

co-productions with cOuntries as diverse is Mexico, Germany, and

Saudi Arabia (a total of 6) and so has left these nations with basic skills

on which to build future activities themselves. Since pre-school educa-

tion is generating increased interest in many nations,as it way to

ilnprove school' -success and to overcome intellectually deadening

Matching Needs 77

environments in many of the poorest householdsthe use of this model

will, I am confident, continue to thrive, especially as television becomes

more widespread.

Instructional Systems Design

Now, a word on the fourth trend, the one that underlies, I think the

success of most of the othersthe growing acceptance of instructional

systems design as the framework for developing instructional content, no

matter what the medium. Here, I think, we can take pride in this

peculiarly American intellectual export that is beginningto take root and

flower, and that is of enormous importance to the future of education.

The systems design approach to empirically based instruction, which

grew out of programmed instruction, basic psychological research on

learning, and the use of computers, is in a way the essence of American

pragmatism, as at Avery point in developing a lessonor a systemit

says, "Go see what is really being learned; if it doesn't work, try it again

until it does work." I cannot emphasize enough how radically different

that underlying attitude is from the methods still extant in so many

places"copyrreeite, repeat the knowledge exactly as it is in my head,

or fail;" an approach, incidentally, that seems to work reasonable well for

the few, and seldom works well for the many.

As we have begun to combine these methods of instructional systems

desigg with the wide access provided by the mass media, substantial

movement has begun to occur. One of the most impressive achievements

in this area, incidentally, has been in the Republic of Korea. Eight years

ago, with the help of U.S. A.I.D. and experts from the Florida State

University, led by Professor Rpbert Morgan, Korea set in motion a

-complete-overhaul of its school system, a reform based on instructional

design concepts, esiiialYr-bil mastery-learning,_an on the use of radio,

television and programmed texts. Here, gieat attention has en p-aid

also to chancing clasSroom and school system organization. It_is an

extraordinarily ambitious effort, and one of the few where the instruc-

-tional technologists have been put in charge of the reform of an entire

school system. Last year a near-fmal test of the system in 200 schools

showed major learning gains; the model systern now has begun its

national scale adoption.

Satellite Communications

Finally, I must briefly mention the revolution that satellite com-

munications promises and that is at its beginning overseas, as it is in this

country. After years of worldwide speculation about the possible use of

satellites to enhance education in the developing world, India in 1975-76

used a NASA experimental satellite, ATS-6, to bring community

educational television to almost 2,400 remote villages throughout India.

It broadcast science lessons: it reaches hundreds of thousands of adults

78 Matching Need.s.

with health .and agricultural information, news, and cultural program-

ming; and it provided in7Service training to 48,000 rural school teachers.

This was the same satellite that in the U.S. spa*ned that now-

blossoming Appalachian Community Service Network and a variety of

educational and health uses in Alaska, and that also served the Rocky

Mountain states. In India, too, the experience encouraged the nation to

develop an operational system; in 1982 India will have its own satellite

(U.S.-made and launched, by the way, and fully paid for by,India) which

among other things will bring educational broadcasts in ten languages

into schools throughont rural India. China has declared its intention to do

the same (although just recently delayed by budgetary constraints), in an

effort to Tapidly overcome the deficits in basic and technical education

produced by .the Cultural Revolution.

The power of newly available satellite communication systems derives

fnihr two factorstheir ability to reach rural people economically, and

their capacity to aggregate learners in any specialized field, without

regard to distant. These capacities will find many applications.

The United States is associated with developing these new opport-

unities through the new AID. Rural Satellite Program, which -will

provide both radio broadcasting and community telephones to rural

freas in several countries, in an effort to show that educational and two-

way communications can, in fact,ebe a catalyst to social and ecmomic

development in the rural areas of the worldwhere, afterall, majority of

the people on this planet live. We are working in developing this program

with Peru, Senegal, several Caribbean nations,and soon, we expect, with

the Philippines and several additional countries. Among other things, we

expect, to making some dramatic new uses of another "old" technology,

the telephone, a "feedback" medium of great flexibility, as well as a

means of access to many sources of information.

Briefly, these projects will use small earth stations to bring radio and

telephone communications to rural towns. We will be assisting local

agencies such as agricultural extension and health provider systems to

fio-47-so"utilize-these-media-to.improve their effectivenessi and we

will be evaluating very carefully theircost, revenues, andeffeels: --

So, in this panorama I hope you've gathered that some important seeds

of productive change are sprouting in education around the world. New,

more educationally powerful, uses of old media such as radio and

telephones are emergin& and instructional methods based On learning

effectiveness are beginning to make difference. Some new institutions,

such as Britain's Open University and Korea's Educational Develop-

ment Institute, have arisen to give some permanence to these new

systems.

SUMMARY

There is still a very, very long way to go, however, to. effect

Matching Needs 79

fundamental improvements in the basic educational opportunities

available to most of the world's people. In attempting to go that long way,

I look to a lively interchange with the many in the United States who are

?aiming at some of the same objectives, and I also hope that the people oC

this nation will continue to support this effort through the AID.

program. We in this country have a special,professional contribution to

make to this effort because of our well-rooted pragmatism and our

leadership in the new learning technologies. In turn we can perhaps be

inspired by the efforts of other countries to ourselves take bolder and

more rapid steps to overcome our own difficulties. Weare now realistic

enough about our own educational constraints that we can have the very

genuine satisfaction of learning together during this next decade, a

decade which should be exciting and which, together, we can make

satisfying.

Securing Teacher Acceptance

of Technology

Doris-K. Lidthe

Towson State Unlversity

Baltimore, Maryland

INTRODUCTION

When addressing the topic of securing teacher acceptance of tech-

nology in schools, a great number of educators today are talking about

bringing computers and computing into the ichools and this means

.change. Bringing computers into schools some years ago might have

been considered a minor change and could have affected only 'a few

teachers, particularly the mathematics teachers, some business teachers,

and those few teachers using Computer Aided Instruction (CIA), since

CIA was too expensive for most schools. Today, however, there is a new

problem. Computers pervade all aspects of our lives. Everyone in our

society needs to know about computers in order to function in the society.

Joseph Lipson in a 1979 report for the National Science Foundation

(NSF) said, "Failure of the Federal Government to move swiftly to

facilitate educational uses of the new technologies will endanger the

economic-and, eventually,-the military security of the country. If our

democratic institutions are to remah stable, we must welcome, rather

than fear or ignore, the imperatives of technological change. It is unlikely

that we can do this without firmly weaving advanced information

technologies into the fabric of our educational system."1

He continued by saying we need a major program to train specialists in

this areacomputer specialists and people with artistic arld instructional

design talent. And herein lies one of our major problems, there are not

and will not in the foreseeable future be sufficient trained personnel for

the-schools-unless-some near miracle occurs.2

Further Lipson said,-"We evr dice-that-only-with-an-inforrned,

public, can the nation hope to move into a computer age with the speed

and sense of purpose required. The adoption of a new technology is

incredibly complex. At almost every stage there is strong intereaction-I

Teacher Acceptance 81

with public attitudes and public understanding. Investments, markets,

legislative positions, enrollment in courses, and selection of careers will

all vary with public awareness and knowledge."3

-Beyond consideration of these problems,_the acquisition ofhardware,

software and courseware for use in the schools must be addressed:"The

dramatic change in capability, and the cost of inr.wmation and image

machines will touch every aspect of our personal lives and health as a

society. And science education . .will face a unique challenge in

responding to the opportunity. Newinowledge and skills can be taught

through new forms of learning experience. Concepts and procedures can

be more, effectively taught to a wide range of students."4

The returns are great if a real commitment is made. The teachers'

commitment is important, but is only one part. For "the acceptance by

teachers of an educational program is a necessary precondition for its

success."5 However, "a school district must have a strong commitment

from the Board of Education add the administration in order to provide

the policies and resources needed to establish goals and implement

systematic_ curriculum change."6 Does this commitment exist to allow

teachers to incorporate the needed technological change?

Aspects. to Consider

There are several aspects that must be examined with regard to teacher

acceptance of technology in the schools. It seems appropriate to consider

the reasons that teachers may not accept technology, the reasonsthat will

persuade teachers to use technology, and fmally to look at the methods

and means that may minimize those factors which inhibit the use of

technology and those that maximize the acceptance of such technology.

Before examining these factors a brief look at history seems appropriate.

Historically there has been only minimal acceptance of technology

and innovation in schools. There has actually been only incremental

change when the long term is considered. Today there is still a great deal

of teacher explanation [lecture presentation], student listening, students

doing assignments and reading from textbooks, and students writing

examinations about the material presented to them.7 That is, there is

great reliance on lecture, text, and test. This is not to say that there has

not been considerable emphasis at times on the use of media other than

blackboard, chalk, and textbooks, but these older materials-irmain

dominant in the majority of classrooms. Dr. Andrew Molnarcites a 1975

National Science Board report stating, "that overhalf of all science and

social studies and two-thirds of all mathematics classes use a single

textbook and many teachers use no supplementary aids other than the

chalkboard."8 The question' is why is this so? Why are television

-teaching, programmed learning materials, films, direct-dial access

systems, and language laboratories- not more dominant? There is no

single answer. Some of the explanations for the failure to use these

9 2

82 Teacher A cceptance

technologies in schools include: little concrete evidence of the effective-

ness of the use of these..media, teacher resistance to change, lack of

training in the use of eqiiiphient, the lack of adequate hardware, software

and courseware, the deed to change teaching style to use the technology,

and thaact that extra time_ ahd preparation are required to use these

technologies. Acceptance, the other hand, occurs when the teacher

feels 'that the technology is effective with students, the teacher has

adequate training to effectively andefficiently use the technology, there is

adequate hardware, softWare and courseware, and the technology fits the

teaching stYl-e.Of the teacher.

Almost parenthetically it seems appropriate to mention that one of the

technologies that has succeeded is the language laboratory. Here the

special feature seems to be the active rather than passive involvement of

the learner.9 This and the experienceof most teachers seems to agree that

active involvement of the learner in the learning process is more effective

than passive involvement..

Classroom Effectiveness

The primary factor most teachers consider in relation to the use of

technology in the classroom is its effectiveness in the teaching.learning

environment. Nearly all technology will requite an investment of time

and effort on the part of the teacher, if they are to use it in their classroom.

Unless the teacher is thorougly convinced that this is Worthwhile for

students, the teacher will not be motivated to expend time and/or effort in

preparing for the use of the technology.

Today, the technology that seems Paramount in the minds of most

educators is computers, more particularly microcomputers, and micro-

computers with videodisks. In terms of schools this is a very recent

development. Computers were unheard of in the schools in 1950.

Indeed, there were only 15 computers in the United States in 195010 and

in 1951 the first commercial computer, a UNIVAC, was deliveredto the

Census Bureau.11 It was 1954 before a commercial computer was

delivered to other than a governmental agency. But computertechnology

developed rapidlY and by the late fifties there were alitady many

"second generation" computers.12 These comPuters were more reliable,

faster and less expensive. At that time many schools acquired their first

computers, business and induStry recognized the need for computer

specialists, and the general interest in this new technolou spurred the

development of courses in programming and the useofthe computer. A

.few experimental programs were developed in the late fifties and a

scattering of credit and non-credit courses appeared at various educa-

tional levels. The problems of the emerging new disciplinewere apparent

from the beginningequipment, teaching staff, texts and curricula.13

On the secondary level a pilot program in Livermore, California in

1957-9 was one of the _earliest reportethcourses.14 This_successful

9 3

Teacher Acceptance 83

program led- to the introduction of a regular course in computer

programming in 1958. Designed for mathematics and science students,

the purpose was enlightenment and,enrichrnent of their programs. Local

business and industry provided computer facilities, materials, and

instructors. It should be noted that this was one of the few areas of the

country where firms hal computers at this early date and where they

were willing to donate so generously of their time, facilities and

personnel. This cooperation between sehool and industry was present in

the early states of many programs.15

Until the mid-sixties progress was slow. In 1963 the PIP Newsletter

listed all the courses and programs known to the Project on Information

Processing, a committee of the National Science Teachers Associatidn.

The report showed that only a scatteringof courses were being offered:

There was evidence of a lack of equipment and of trained personnelfor

teaching. The lists of available texts and visual aids revealed a dearth of

suitable materials. Many non-credit courses were offered by business

and professional associations16 for the enrichment of the regular Ihigh

school program. Significantly, two distinct varieties of programs were

reported, the one with a mathematical scientificorientation and the other

with a business orientation. Hard facts as to the number of secondary

schools teaching data processing are not available, but one estimte is

that in 1966 one-fifth of all high schools had access to data processing

equipment for instructional purposes, though most of the equipment was

\unit record equipment.17 Another report at that time indicated that

nationwide about 400 secondary schools were psing computers for

programming scientific problems.18 Throughout the sixtiesthe problems

were still:cquipment, teachers, texts, and curricula. But.some schools

were finding solutions.19 Time-Sharing services provided the equipment

at a price many could afford. Some teachers obtained training at local

colleges or attended summer institutes sponsored by the National

Science Foundation. Some texts were appearing, though not always of

good quality, and the results of experimental andearly course offerings of

a few schools provided the basis for curriculum development.

The situation ai the seventies began is well summarized by Warren

Stenberg of the University of Minnesota:

Computer science courses have not as yet played a major role in

computer use at the secondary scene but they now seem to be coming

up fast ... [Even tough no standard curriculum has yet been

developed ...(and] textbooks are not generally used.20

Courses in data processing"are still in the category ofpipe dreams since

the teaching personnel just does not exist."21

Computer Acceptance

But events in the seventies changedlthis picture. Today there is a

sudden increase in the numt er of schools across the nation which are

84 Teacher Acceptance

beginning to use computers or are considering the use of computers in the

claisroom. There are two major forces behind this movement. First,

computers are, with the advent of the microcomputer, relatively

inexpensive. Second, the computer has become such a pervaiive factor._

in our daily lives that nearly every citizen must have some knowledge of

computers to function in the society. This means that schools must

educate students to function in a society where they will interact, airectly

or indirectly, with comptfters.

Surveys of teachers indicate that most teachers believetaar all

students should learn about the computer. Not all teachers are cOnvinced

that they should use computers in their own classrooms, and §ome of

those who are not interested in using computers indicate that they are

unaware of the possible uses of the computer in the classrook22

Other factors which cause teachers to be reluctant to use computers

include earlier claims that the computer will replace the teacher, their

own lack of knowledge about computers, the feeling that computers will

deliver a less personalized education for the student, a lack of under-

standing of the adVantages and modes of use of computers in the

classroom, being ill-at-ease when ,using computers, and having, seen

examples of problems with the uie of computers in various school

administration applications.

For those teachers who are convinced that computers are an important

part of the classroom, there May remain some reluctance to use

computers. This reluctance comes from anxiety in dealing with equip-

ment, .a feeling of loss of control of the teaching-learning situation,

inadequate hardware, software, courseware, and support, or because of

the considerable time and effort required to obtain adequate training, to

remain current in the field and to use computers in appropriate ways in

the classroom.

Training Needed

What will persuade teachers to use computers?

First appropriate training is essential. Through pre-service, in-service

and professional development the leaders in education need to see that

teachers understand that the computer is to be viewed not as a

replacement of the teacher, but rather as a sophisticated tool to be-used

by the teacher to allow the teacher to do a better job in the classroom.

This means that teachers must realizeThe potential of the computer in the,

classroom, that the computer can be used in many modes, as a tutor to

provide information- and-drill and practice, as a tool in courses that

require a calculator or information retrieval device, and as a machine to

be instructed. Teachers should be given ample, opportunity to see

computers used in all these ways and to see how they may effectively be

. used in their own classroom. Seeing examples of quality uses of

computers should allay misgivings and motivate teachers-to consider

Teacher Acceptance 85

-using computers in their own classrooms.

Support

Second, adequate hardware, software andsupport must be assured. At

the present time manyschools face tight budgets and this naturally means

strict limitations onfunds for hardware, sOftware and support. There are

areas Which are trying innovatiVe programs for the use of computers

through sharing of facilities, one school using the microcomputer for a

few weeks and then passing it on to another school. This is certainly

preferable to no computer at all, but.it is far from adequate. In fact for

most usesone computer for a classroom is inadequate. While research

supports the use of onernicrocompuer or terminal by a pair of students !..t

one- time,23 in a classroom` of twenty toihirty students, one computer

means that theteacher cannot help the students usingthe computer and

negleet the vastmajority of the students in the room. Ideally, a computer

for every four students is suggested. A single laboratory in the school,

where students may go to use the computer, might be a good solution.

The teacher could accompany the students and various classes could be

scheduled to use the loboratory, or the laboratorymight'function in much

the same wr, as thelibrary. Even now it is being suggested at Carnegie

Mellon University that each student should have his/her own micro-

computer.24 This is certainly along way off forpublic secondary schools,

but gives sortie idea of the thinking of someprofessional educators about

the importance of computers for students.

Software is beginning tobe developed for usein schools. At the present

time much of the software that is being used hasibeen developed by the

teachers who are using it, or has been givin to them by friends and

acquaintances, or swapped through user's groups. A current projeci of

the North WestRegional Laboratory in Portland, Oregon, headedby Dr.

Judith Edwards and funded by NSF, is evaluating and cataloging

software for use in schools. Other materials, primarily for use in higher

education, are availablethrough"CONDUIT at the UniversiV of Iowa.

Several microcomputer vendors are also active in assisting in the

exchange of software among their users. WI,"e there is not at the present

time an abundance of software,_positive ..,eps are being taken in the

development and dessimination of quality software. This is an area

which needs continued attention.

There must, at leastfor the present, bb a realization that the classroom

teacher requires support in the use of computer. or computers in "the.

classroom. Many teachers, especially in the initial stages, are unfamiliar

with computers and fmd such small problems as hooking up and

adjusting the _color monitor or TV, tightening up a connection, and

checking out the machine' for proper functioning to be overwhelming.

For some time after the initial introduction into the classroom the teaCher

needs someone towhoin to turn in case of a malfunction, someone to be a

9 6

'86 Teacher Acceptance

resource when questions arise in the use of software and for lesson

planning.This seems essential if the transition into the classroom is to be

smooth. One "expert" in the schooi blinding who has the time, expertise',

and assignment fo assist other teachers seems to alleviate many

problems.

Third, teachers must be given time for training to use a cornputer with

ease in the classroom, time is also needed to remaincurrent in this rapidly

changing field. The amount and type of traMing that an individual teacher

needS will vary considerably. depending on the previous training of the

teacher and the mode and extent to which the computer is to be used in

the classroom. For those teachers who will use only prewritten software,

'the training need not be extensive. However, for teachers who are

teaching computer literacy and computer programming much more

training will be necessary and frequent updating will be necessary since

the field is so dynamic.

Encouraging Usage

What can administrators and educational leaders do to encourage the

use of computers in classrooms?

There are no simple answers to bringingcomputers into the classroom.

Indeed it has been a long process and it will not occur imMediately.

However, it is crucial that the process of bringing computers into the

classroom be addressed in this decade. Dr. Andrew Molnar of NSF sees

this as a critical issue for schools. Change .cannot be -mandated, but

leaders can persuade. This is an appropriate time because the public is

aware of-the importance of compiners,-Nrents are-seeking; in-many

cases, for computers to be introduced-into schools. News magazines,

such as TIME, indicate that the USA is falling behind Japan in

technology, particularly in computerized robots. Many leadars point

to the need for better science training, which means training in the use of

cOmputers. With this stimulus, it is time to aevelop a plan of action which

should include:

1. Provide teachers with an opportunityto learn about appropriate

uses of computers in the classroom.

2. Provide pre-service and in-service training for teachers.

3. Provide adequate, not token, equipment for the classroom.

4. Provide software packages for use in classrooms.

5. Provide auxiliary teaching resourceifilms, texts, lesson plans,

and curriculum guides.

6. Provide a specialLt tO consult withclassroom teachers concerning

hardware, software and classroom usage of the computer.

7. Reward good teaching with cOmputers.

8. Provide examples of teachers doing superior teaching with

computers.

9 7

Teacher Acceptance 87

Though this lists seems long, and some items involve considerable

expense, we must consider the cost of not providing these items for our

teachers and students. Because "the computer has, today had an impact

on the lives of each and every one of us; already, most-of our financial

affairs and many of our social affairs are subtly controlled or structured

by the computer, and the future promises only more of the same,"25 we

must see that every student has a "basic understanding of the computer

.. a critical component of the knowledge of any educated man or

woman., ,26

We must realize that the status of computer literacy among the

students in our schools today is woefully low, Dr. Ronald E. Andersonof

the Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium (MECC) reported

in December 1980 at the National Computer Literacy Goals for 1985

Conference in Reston, Virginia that

In brief; the best data we have suggest that few students in either senior

or junior high school have opportunities for computer eperience; few

have algorithmic problem-solving skills;and many lack an awareness

of the role and value of computers, Since these findings are true for 17

year old students, most of whom were in 1 1th grade, we would

speculate. that many students are graduating from high school and

perhaps from college without a minimal level of computer literacy.

What is equally disturbing is the evidence in the data that what little

literacy exists in the nation's students is unequally distributed .across

social groups. Computer experience is much less common among

minorities, womenoind those living in the Southeastern U.S. or ruF1

areas. Not only is computer experience lw common among these

groups but there is good evidence that computer knowledge and skills

are lowerarwell:26

All students must become computer literate. We must see to-it-that-

computer education is equitable and that we do not develop a gronp that

is information and computation rich and a group that is information and

computation poor. For information and computational ability are power

and these belong to all.

Learning from the Successes

Finally, it is instructive to look at some examples of computers in

schools and to try to determine how they came about and why they

succeeded. There are many examples that should be considered and here

only a few are mentioned. One of the earliest known programs in a pulic

schOol was in Livermore, California in 1957. Here parents wanted their

children to learn about computers and programming. Some ofthe parents

and local professionals taught the course and the programs were taken to

local facilities to be run. There are many similar examples of parents

teaching a course or courses, providing adcess to equipment and giving

excellent support to the classroom teacher. A program of this type can

work in the initial phases, but eventually it must become a regular part of

9 8

88 Teacher Acceptance

the curriculum and be handled bya regular teacher.

One of the important examples of an entire state takingthe initiative in

bringing computing into the schools is in Minnesota. nit Minnesota

Educational Computing Consortium has been very successful in this

respect They began by using a system of time-shared computers with

terminals in the schools and now are also using microcomputers. They

provide- teacher training, software, group purchase of hardware,

curriculum guidelines and support. State and local school systems in

other areas can gain considerable expertise from publications ofMECC.

You will be able to learn more about this in the next sessionwhen Dr.

John Haugo, Director -of MECC, talks in the session "Managing

Technological Change in the Schools."

The, impressive work in the Philadelphia Public Schools under the

direction of Ms. Sylvia Charp is an excellent example on a local level.

People from around the world visit this project and emulate many of the

fine parts of this program

Many, of the secondary schools in New England owe much of their

succesi to Dartmouth College which not onlY made computer resources

available to these schools, through their time-sharing system, but

-Dartmouth also trained teachers and encouraged-the development and

exchange cf software.

The early and successfulprograms in computing in Oregon owe much

to Dr. David Moursund who obtained NSF grants to fund summer

training sessions for secondary school teachers at the University of

Oregon. ArL outgrowth of this was the establishment of the Oregon

Council on Computer Education and the Publication The Oregon

Computing Teacher which has recently become The Computing

Teacher and is distributed nationally.

SUMMARY-

These are but a few of the projects that have had an effect on the local

or state schools, but they are important and we can learn much from

them. In every case there was at least one very dedicated individual who

gave guidance to the project, there was training of teachers, there was

involvement in acquiring of hardware, there was development and

dissemination of software, andthere was ongoing support forthe teacher

in the classroom. These are the essential ingredients to encourage

teachers to use computers effectively in their classrooms.

REFERENCES:

1. Josephl. Lipton, "Technology Program Recomthendisticins," Technology in Science

Education: The Next 10 Years (Report for NSF , July 1979, ISE-79-57)), p. 32.

2. Peter J. " U.S. Productivity in Crisis," Communications ofACM (November,

1980), pp. 617-619.

3. Lipeon, p. 33.

4. Lipson, pp. 36-36,

'Teacher Acceptance 89

5. Mar lo Leyton Soto, "Teachers, Parents and Community DataSources," Handbook

of Curriculum Evaluation. Aneh Lewy, ed. (New York: Longman, Inc., 1977), p.

252.

6. Beverly Hunter, An Approach to Integrating Computer Literacy Into the K8

Curriculum (Alexandria, Virginia: HurnRRO, 1980), p. 8.

7. A.E. Conord, "How the Computer Can Bring Teacher andStudent Closer Together,"

AEDS JournaL (Fall, 1973), pp.11.

8. Andrew Molnar, "The Next Great Crisis in American Education: Computer

Literacy," AEDS Journal, (Fall, 1978), p. 12.

9. A. Kent Morton, "Provoking Educational Change Within Existing Academic

Structures," AEDS Journal, (Spring, 1975), pp. 19-81.

10. Eric A. Weiss (ed.), Computer Usage/Fundamentals (New York: McGraw-Hill,

Inc., 1969), p. 10.

11. Richard N. Schmidt and William E. Meyers,Introduction to Computer Science and

.Data Processing, (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc. 1965), p. 25.

12. Carl F eingold,Introduct ion to Data Processi g , (Dubuque, Iowa: William C. Brown

Company Publishers, 1971), pp. 26:27.

13. Howard E. Topmkins, "Computer Education," in Advances in Computers, (eds.)

Franz L. Alt and Morns Rubinoff (New York: Academic Press, 1963), Vol. 4, pp.

135-168.

14. Darrel G. Littlefield, "Computer Programming for High Sctools and Junior

Colleges," in The Mathematics Teacher, LIV (April, 1961), pp. 220-223.

15. Reports of experimental programs appear in several sources. See particularly PIP

Newsletter, 1963-1965. Curricula for programs at all levels exist in fakabundance in

several ,volumes of AFIPS Conference Proceedings and SIGCSE Bulktin. Many

articles from these sources were compared to formulate the statements of this paper.

16. George C. Heller, "KCiimputer Curriculum for the High School,"Dataniation,VIII

(May, 1962), pp. 23-26.

17. C.B.S. Grant, "Data Processing Instruction Predicted for Most High Schools Within

5 Years," Business Automation, XIV (Septimber, 1967);- pp: 36-37.

18. Charles H. McCoach, "Computers in the Classroom," Software Age, III (April,

1969), p. 44.

19. Ibid., pp. 46, 48.

20. Warren Stenberg, "Computing in the High Schools-Past, Present and Future-and

Its Unreasonable Effectiveness in the Teachingof Mathematics,"AFIPS Conference

Proceedbrgs, XL (Montvale, New Jersey: AFIPS Press, 1972), p. 1052.

21. Dorothy Jo Stevens, "How, Educators Perceive Computers in the Classroom,"

AEDS Journal (Spring, 1980) jip. 221-232.

22. Doris K..Lidtke, "Paired and Individual Learning in Computer Programmins An

Evaluation of Student Achievement and CostEffectiveness," Unpublished doctoral

dissertation, University of Oregon, 1979.

23. Jack Magarrell, "Universal Access to Personal Computers is Urged for College

Students, Professors," Chronicle of Higher EduCation, (January, 1981) pp. 1, 14.

24. William S. Davis and Allison McCormacic, The Information Age (Rea&g, MA:

Addison-Wesley Publishing 'Company, 1979) p. 15.

25. Ronald E. Anderson, "National ComputerLiteraq, 1985." A paper presented at the

"National Computer Literacy Grials for 1985," Reston, Virginia, December18-20,

1980.

100

Effectiveness of Technology in the Schools

Public and, Taxpayers Response

r\1

CT% Catherine E. Morgan

-CD Edikational Consultant

_EN.1 Kensington; Maryland

r\.1CI

INTRODUCTION ,-1

Tradition is defmed as "the passing aownof elements of a culture from

generation to generation" of"a mode of thought or behavior followed by

a people continuously froni generation to generation" or "a set of such

customs viewed as a coherent body of precedents influencing the

present" These defmitions providejustifications for what is taught and

how it is taught. Any field or method which has the aura oftradition needs

no justification for inclusion in the school program. As an example of

tradition, consider that although metric measurements and decimal

notations are almost universallyused, we continue to spend an inordinate

amount of time on common fractions and English measurements iu the

elementary schools. These traditional emphases appear to need little or

no justification and are, in fact, difficult to drop from the curriculum.

On the othei hand, innovation means "something new or different."

Where does non-traditional technology fit into the schools? Television

and r:ompuers represent innovative instructional subjects and tools

which are nbt accepted readily by educators or the public. Interestingli

eneugh, these twg media are of recent vintage but are well accepted as

media for entertainment andbusiness. Television has been part of most

of our entertainment lives since thelate 1940s. Computers have infringed

on our business and economic lives since the late 50s and now are

making their way into our homes.

However, in education, the use,of computers and television requires

11 that it be "sold" to a variety ofconstituencies. These groups include: (1)

the decision-makers the guperintendents, members of Boards of

Education, curriculum specialists;(2) the implementorsprincipals and

teachers; (3) the publicparent and non-parent taxpayers; and (4) the

clientelethe students.

ol 90

Effectiveness in the Schools 91

Uses of Computers in Education

Let's l;egin by examining where computers are used in education and

how they got into the schools.

For Administration

In almost every public school, as well as the college and university, a

computer was leased or purchased for business applicationsouch as

payroll and accounting. In that capacity, the computer is firmly

entrenched in our educational institutions.

As a Subject of Instruction

A second area is that in which the computer is The actual subject of

instruction. Vocational data processing in high schools began in the

1960s and was justified as job preparation. Most of the equipment was

called unit record equipment and young men and women learned such

skills as key punching and sorting. At the same time, colleges and

universities began teaching computer science and their graduates had no

difficulty setting employment in a rapidly growing field.

During and since that period of time, certian public schools and

particularly certain teachers began to recognize the need for all students

to acquire a new literacycomputer literacy. The subject teachers, who

were most likely to be interested, were mathematics teachers. Here is

where the idea that improved problem solving skills results when students

are taught to program the computer. I recall believing this to be u fact and

stating it unequivocally at a board of education meeting in 1973. My gut

feel still is that it is true but we couldn t prove it and no one else to date has

proved it, despite many past and on-going studies. I'm grateful that we no

longer need to prove it. Universal computer-knowledge is a legitimate

goal in itself. School systems should develop policies under which they

support computer experience fotall students. The computer is here to

stay; our children will use computers in their work and in their homes.

They need to know how to access information from a variety of data

bases; how to read documentation and run computer programs; and how

to make judgments and decisions about computer uses. Many of our

students will need to know how to program a computer. All will need to

know how to exploit and control their uses.

Fortunately, technology has changed the ermomics of acquiring

-computer equipment for literacy and programming. The microcomputers

available for several hundred dollars can be used by many students to

learn a, programming language and Acquire the necessary degree of

computer literacy to function in the modem world. The languages are

part of the machines and the students write their own programs in the

available language to solve problems. Their programs can be stored on

inexpensive reusable cassette tapes. If a school system now is doing

little or nothing with computers, this area should be its fust thrust.

102

92 Effectiveness in the Schools

As a Source of Instruction

The most controversial area for the studentuse of computers is when it

is the source of the instruction. Since the early 1960s, educators have

been experimenting with the use of the computer as a direct aid to

instruction: computer-assisted instruction. In this mode, the computer

takes on all or part of the teacher's role. Instructional programs may

provide the actual teaching dialogue. The student interacts with the

machine in a primitive tutor/student relationship. More commonly, the

machine supports the normal classroom instruction by providing drill

and practice, remedial instiuction or a simulation. This latter mode may

be used when a classroom laboratory experience may be too lengthy, too

expensive or too dangerous.°

Adyocates of computer-assisted instructionstress that the need exists

to individualize instruction and make student and teacher time more

productive. A student who only needs ten practice problems before

progressing to a new level will get only ten whilea classmate may need 50

or more before,attaining the same proficiency. A student who cannot

factor a polynomial would not progress to solving quadratic equations

which require factoring Nationally known experts made statements

assessing that computer instruction for remediation would go far toward

overcoming educational deficiencies and inequalities. Computer equip-

ment and supporting instructional materials were purchased with monies

for disadvantaged students. The city of Chicago bought hundreds of

computer terminals to be used by deprived students using TitleI funds.

Now let's look at the economics of this type of instruction. In the past

and, even today with large computers and teleprocessing, the equipment

and supports-needed for computer-assisted instruction represented add-

on cost of $108 per year per student for drill and practice in arithmetic.

school system decision-makers were familiar. Justifiably, these people

want io know: Does this new type of instruction make a difference in

achievement? Is the difference worth the cost?-Are we able to do some

things the- an not be done without computers? Are there any side-

effects? Are the niachines dehumanizing? All of these legitimate

questions need to be answered.

The costs have decreased` at a startling rate. For example, in 1974, in

Montgamery County, we provided the Board of Education with an add-

on,cost of $108 per year per student for drill and practive inarithmetic.

This $10.8 figure gave each student one-half hourofCA I per week during

the regular school year. A major portion of that cost was for computer

and communciations equipment. The $108 figures was predicated on

involving approximately 4,000 children in the program.

Today using the same parameters and assuming that the costs of a

fairly elaborate microcomputer at $3,000 plus maintenance over a four-

year period, the cost of providing the same half-hour per week over a

1 03

Effectiveness in the Schools 93

school year.would be less than $18 for equipment. The equipment cost

would be constant if there were one or 50 computers. Obviously, if a

large number of micros were purchased at the sametime, the cost would

be reduced.

A more important question to ask about computer-assisted instruction .

is that ofeffectiveness. Are there differencesin achievement when CAI is

employed? Many research reports describing the useof drill and practice

CAI programs have shown that student achievement increases sigpifi-

candy. Favorable results were shown in Chicago, Illinois, with Title I

children, in Los Nietos, California, with Mexican-American students

.and in Montgomery County Public Schools, Maryland, with mostly

middle class students.

Other examples can be cited, such as those reported by the Penn-

sylvania State Univeisity, an early leader in the field of computerrassisted

instruction. The two Professors Cartwright developed a series of courses

called CARE, which provided classroom teachers with information on

how to accommodate blind, deaf and other handicapped children into the

regular classroom. At registration, students were placed randomly into

the conventional college lecture course or into the CAI laboratory to

work at a computer terminal with an individuSlized program. The

content of the ,course, Introduction to the Education of Exceptional

Children, was identical. Only the mode of instruction differed. The

course time under conventional methods was 37.5 hours while the mean

time for completion of the CAI program was 25.2 hours. The fmal

examination contained 75 items with the conventional class having a

mean of 52.78 with a standarddeviation of 4.68 while the CAI group had

a mean of 65.89 with a-standard deviation of 5.89the difference was

significant at the .001 level. These results represent a 24 percent higher

mean grade on the final examination and 35 percent less time required for

course completion. Similar studies in the military and in industry show

significant differences in training time when all trainees are required to

meet a standard level of competency.

In the area of special education, the use of the computer has been

particularly intriguing. Students in special education, unique in many

respects, require remediation and attention unlike that needed by other

students. For exampie, maintenance of skills by mentally retarded high

schooi age students is difficult and an actual increase in achievement is

highly unusual. Yet, for selected students, the computer has been a

remarkable motivational and teaching tool. In a Montgomery County,

Maryland, study 10 mentally retarded adolescents, with an average IQ

of 74, participated in a CAI arithmetic program once a week from

January to June, 1972, and made an average gain score of 7.6 months in

arithmetic achievement with a standard deviation of .4. In spite of their

low mean IQ, their gains which ranged from 3 months to 1.7 years, were

analyzed as though ihey were normal.

104

94 Electiveness in the Schools

Currently, computers are being used with deaf, blind, orthopedically

handicapped, learning disabled, mentally retarded and emotionally

disturbed children. Enhancements for computers include audio, color,

graphics, touch panels, light pens and other devices. These special

additions to an already motivational tool increase its versatility, both for

teaching special student groups and for the presentation of subjects like

music, art and foreign languages.

Is the difference worth the cost? This question is a valid one and should

be asked of all programs. For example, in the same year that the $108

add-on figures was cited for CAL\ the cost of providing diagnostic-

prescriptive tutoring for a single chikkwas approximately $500 yearly.

No proof existed that this program made any difference but the time-

honored tradition of one-to-one tutoring comes down from the Greeks,

and as such needs no justification.

A cost/benefit analysis can be made for industry where the less time

required for training places the employee into production earlier. If the

training normally occurs at another city, travel andper diem expenses are

actual cash savings'. However, in public education, the cost/benefits of

saving student time is not of immediate value to the school system. IF

fact, it may raise pew complications. What happens is 5 students finish

Algebral in March, 8 in April, 10 in May and 4 the following October?

Similar difficulties exist in public education for costing out effectiveness.

What does a month's gain in achievement normally cost? If a student

makes a half-year grain during a school year, is his education twice as

expensive as that of the childwho makes a year's growth? The long range

effects of poor school achievement are well-known and may cost

taxpayers millions of dollars for maintaining people on welfare and in

prisons.

Are there some things that cannot be done without a computer?

Management of instruction may be one. This type of program provided

the classroom teacher with profiles of the students in many skills and

concepts and keeps these records uP to date. These reports reflect

individual and group needs and strengths assisting the teacher with

planning If records were kept in 25 areas of two subjects, mathematics

and reading, the teacherwould have 1,250 pieces ofinformation on each

child! And when a parent wants to know can Johnny add; measure and

solve problems, the teacher has information supported by data.

Another area in whichschools can prcivide new services may be when

insufficient enrollment in a course causes it to be cancelled. What about

Latin IV for two students? Could students in different schools study

Statistics at computer terminals three days a week and meet with a

teacher once a week to discussproblems and go over difficult assignments?

Will, in the future, students work on most skill areas at computer

terminals in their own homes and attend schools much less time than

currently? Alvin Tofler suggests this possibility in his latest book.

105

Effectiveness in the Schools 95

Are 'the machines dehumanizing? Not in my experience, In fact,

students say, "The computer says the same thing to me that it says to

everyone else." Students in Montgomery County wrote personal and

endearing notes to "Dear Computer." Studies in Los Nietos, California

showed that Mexican-American students made significant gains in self-

concept after using computer mathematics programs. Children are not

only engrossed in their interactive computer work but they are loath to

give the terminals up when their turns are over. There is an old English

proverb which states that "when kids stand quiet, they have done some

'harm." Computer kids don't stand quiet.

The computer situation in public schools has changed radically during

the past year or two. Prior to 1978, educational technologists in public

schools were begging to retain whatever equipment they had in place.

Today large numbers of microcomputers are being purchased and

installed in schools; many times into situations in which no one in the

systems knows what to do with them. Monies from general funds, year-

end surpluses and PTA's are being expended and no planning for their

use has been made.

Current gational Situation

A recent report published by the Task Force on Computer Assisted

Learning Subcommittee in the Secondary/Elementary Schools

Association for Computing Machinery (July 1980), stated that they had

surveyed 974 school districts and had a 62.3 percent return. The

association determined that the response was balanced as to geographic

and urban/rural districts. Analysis indicated that 74 percent of the

districts used the computer for instruction with projections to 87 percent

by 1985, and 54 percent reported usage in the form of computer-assisted,

instruction with projections to 74 percent by 1985.

Further the report stated that major impediments to increased use were

fmancial, lack of knowledge about computers and their use in instruction,

attitudes of faculty and the need for more and better instructional

materials.

Recommendations

If your school system is a novice in the computer field or would like to

increase its usage but presently has no plan as to how to proceed, I would

recommend the following steps:

I. Key school personnel and board members should become

knowledgeable about computers and their uses in instruction.

This can be accomplished by attending workshops or seminars

which are given by national organizations or by planning for in-

house presentations.

2. A careful I.Jeds assessment should be undertaken. An analysis of

what equipment and expertise exists within the district. This

1 0 6

96 Rffectiveness in the Schools

needs assessmen,. should begin to delineate where the district

would like to be to, 1985. At the same time, an examination of

academic areis id which students are having difficulty should be

undertaken. The literature in the computer field should be

researched to learn if any areas of deficiency can be addressed by

computer-assisted instruction.

3. The school system should formulate a policy *ting to instruc-

tional uses of computers.

4. The school system should designate an instructional leader to

develop short and long-range plans for the implementation of the

policy. Care should be given to acquisition of equipment,

guidelines for selecting or developing instructional materials,

staff development needs and the process for implementation.

One goal of each school system '.tiould be Computer literacy for. all

graduating students by 198$.

Let' s prepare kids to function inan information rich world remembering

the words of Elbert Hubbard when he said, "The object of teaching a

child is to enable hini to get along without a teacher."

1 o 7

The South Caroling TelecommUnications

System

Thomas L Stepp

Deputy ManagPr

South Carolina Educational Television Networic

tolumbia, South Carolina

INTRODUCTION

I would like to address the topic of technology in schools, not from a

broad, superficial point of view, but rather from thepoint of view of local

impact in local schools.

The reason that this perspective is important(from my experience) is

that all of the applications of educational technology which exist are

completely moot if individual students and teacheis in schools and other

educationalinstitutiors are not motivated to use the productwhich those

of us who are program distributors provide. We can engage in a lot of

planning. We can engage in a lot of sophisticated instructional design.

We can spend vast sums of money producing highly attractive radio and

television courses. We can provide tape recorders in classrooms to

improve the smooth integration of our product into overall instructional

plans. But if our products do net suit the educational needs of individual

students and teachers they are valueless. The grandest scheme for

production and distribution is worthless if it is not utilized.

South Carolina System

In South Carolina we transmit signals hundreds ofmiles. Our national

programs travel 22,300 miles to a satellite half-way point, returning to

earth over wide geographic terrain. None of that is of any merit if a one-

quarter inch, off-on button on a tel visioa screen or radio receiver

negates the use of our s Orvices by students for whom they are

intended. It is impossible to consider t ology in schools without

contiidering the impact of an individual program on an individual student

.inii splxific classroom under the supervision of a dedicated teacher in a

school system devoted to principles of improving instruction for all of its

students. .1

1.08

98 The South Carolina System

I don't want to boreyou bydescribing the South CaroliniEducational

Telecommunications System. I think perhaps many of you 'know

something about what we do. For those of you who do not, let me briefly

state that within South Carolina weAheSouth Carolina ETV Network

operate 10 television transmitting stations, 6 FM radio stations and an

extremely Complicated closed circuit, statewide network made --u-p of

leased cable, ITF S, state-owned microwave, and the physical deliveryof

tape. In South Carolina,.Ave apply this technologir to all of the

--educational-needs-oftheState-.-WeprodutetriddittiginteprograMs for

preschoolers, for the elenientary grades, for secondary schools, for

college credit (in fact, offering more courses for college credit than any

other institution in the world, more than 60 last year), for post-graduate

education (including two dynamically unique programs through which a

student can achieve a Masters Degree in either Business Administration

or Engineering during evening hours from any geographic location in the

State). We extend our college credit to home viewers, in an "open

university concept." And, ofcourse, we provide the entire array of public

television and radio programming for, all of South Carolina.

In .cooperation with NOAA, we operate the State's comprehensive

twenty-four hour weather and emergency weather services. And I an

very, Very proud of the efforts we make in providing 12 hows per day of

special programming for the visually handicapped broadcast on the

4subcerriers of our FM radio stations.

Impact-

Many times, when discussingmy trade in public, I speak from three

rhijor points bf reference and they-generally deal with, fitit, the inipactof

electronic telecommunciations 'on the lives of each of us. The second

point is the information explosion and the usefulness of telecommunica-

tions delivery in meeting the- demands for increased educational

opportunities and needs. And, third, both at home and out of thestate, I

like to talk about die economy of telecommunications as an important

and significanf new means of providing educational opportunity to all

citizens no matter how remote they might be in socioeconomic status or

geography from the traditional centers of learning.

I think .that you will probably join me in understanding the now

traditiceal concept that the application of man's most powerful communi-

cations tooltelevision--toour daily lives his changed the waywe live.

-My late friend and colleague, Marshall Mciiihan, was the proponent of

"probes" dating from the early '50s about the flow of electronit

communications into our daily lives and the resultant impact on us.

We're lila fish who are not aware of the water hi which they live, in that

we live in an'electronic ecology and are not always, I think, aware of the

impact of that ecology on us day by day. Parents often tell me they are

:startled to learn that, according to recent Nelson data, children under

the South Carolina System 99

five watch television 2314 hours a week. I don't know why they're

surprised. The same data reflects that they watch television 44 hours a

week.Arthur Clark, creator of 2001 said, "The single greatest industry ofthe

future is going to be education. For every person, education will have to-

continue throughout life. That will be essential in a world where half the

things a man knows at 40 hadn't even been discovered when he was 20;

and half the things he knows at 20 are no longer true by the time heis 40."

Ninety percent of the scientists who have ever lived are alive today.

Our task in educational communications is to try to make just coping

with the information explosion even possible.

Teleconferencing

To put our efforts in perspective, I would like to make a few points

about the impact of the South Carolina System in areas other than the

public schools before turning directly to the specifics that you have asked

me to present today. A major arid most exciting development in our

operation is that we have moved actively into a significant degree of

statewide teleconferencing. We are pioneering in this area, which is going

to become increasingly important as state agencies are forced by the

pressures of inflation to become more cost conscious.Teleconferencing

is a way forwoups to meet and receive essential training without

expensive travel to a central location. The very best experts on any

subject can be brought in to provide information and to conduct meetings.

Their audience can be at any of SouthCarolina's technical education

__centers University of South Carolina regional campuses, health care

centers, hospitals and many high scholls. Through teleconferences, state

agencies have been conducting training, making surveys and meeting

other management communciations needs. Viewers in the field talk to

experts at the ETV Center in Columbia by way of telephone talkback

circuits.

Economics

The State of South Carolina saves per diem, mileage, lodging costs,

training costs, lost time from the job, and wear and tear on vehicles by

meeting through teleconferences. ETV saves money for the State by

moving information to peopleelectmnicallyrather than by transporting

peopleat great cost--to the traditional information centers. This is a

nut* basis ofjustification of our System to policy makers and decision

makers. I do not mean just teleconferencing; I mean the presentation of

the advantages of economy and efficiency of telecommunications

services. When a comprehensive telecommunciations center exists, the

economics of scale of its operation are the most dynamic and forceful

reasons by which to explain its importance. Itis certainly-a mainstay of

how we justify our institution to the State of South Carolina.

1 0

100 The South Carolina System

Now, quickly, I must insert that, yes, it is most importaThtat we

speak to the quality of product which we deliver and to the quality of

educatigtal opportunities thatwe provide to students of all ages, in all

areas oreducation.

However, in these harsh economic times it is crucial that we also

justify ourselves on the scale of economic efficiency. And that is what we

do.

Take teleconferencing, fOr example. In the last three years ETV has

conducted 319..teleconferences-forourfellovrstateageitief,

specialized training for 74,000 people. The use of our closed circuit

network for teleconferences during that period of time has provided

services that could have cost the State eight to nine million dollars by

traditional methods. That figure is equal to the total three-year leasing

cost for the entire closed circuit system, with only a smallpercentage of

the time of the closed circuit being required for the teleconferencing

activities which achieve these savings. The remainder of the time is

available for, and heavily usedfor, in-school instruction, highereducation,

medical education, and many other services.

Le me give you just one spe/1fic example of the economic inipact of

teleconferencing. Prior to each general election the State of SoUth

Carolina has some .8,000 poll workers who must undergo mandatory

training by the State Election Commission. Prior to the last three

elections, these 8,000 workers have received their two days Of

training through ETV at a savings to the State and to the individuals

involved (who are volunteers) in lost time from the job, mileage, lodging

per diem and instructor costs ofover $1,300,000 per statewide election.

That is a total savings of nearly $4 million during a six-year period.

That is language that legislative leaders, school boards, college

trustees, governors and citizens understand,

There is no longer any question that it is much more economical to

take education to people than .to take people to education. Marshall

McLuhan, to whom I referred earlier, once said that ". .. when two

seemingly disparate situations are placed in opposition, often startling

results occur." So it is with the energy crisis and increased tele-

communications capacity.

A central argument for theexistence of the South Carolina Educational

Telecommunications System fellows art economic theme. In 1961,

shortly after we began serving schools in South Carolina, we taught

3,300 students at a cost per student of $19485. By. 1919, Ave-were

serving 1,691,069 course enmllees-at a Coit of $5.83 per course

-deliveredld it student. Let me repeat the dollar numbers : 1961$195,

1979S5.83.

Let's look at that in a slightly different way. Ten years ago the delivery

of a television course to a school in South Carolina costroughtly $10 per

course per student. In those ten years, the cost of that delivery of

The South Carolina System liej

television instruction has dropped to $5.83, a drop of 47.3 percent. At

the same time, the average cost of a school textbook in South Carolina

increased approximately 300 percent A $2.59 textbook in 1975 now

costs $7.38.

Justify telecommunciations education? Why not use a dollars and

cents approach? The entire South Carolina Educational Telecommuni-

cations System, which_has one out of every seven South Carolinians

enrolled in at least one of the 346 courses of instruction offered through

oursystern;-costr only-1-1-percenrofthe-State'swduatit5frbud-

thlt is the cost of th z. entire delivery system and progams for public

television and radio viewers and listeners, progams for children in

school, programs for college credit, for continuing professional education,

for technical education, for doctors, lawyers, ,nurses, the visually

handicapped and others. -

Scope

For 1.2 percent of the South Carolina *edlication budget, we deliver

176 television lessons in a typical school day. Yes, on our multi-channel

system that amounts to over 80 hours per day of instructional television

delivery. And, don't forget radio in addition.

Thus, I have no trouble in looking toward the future to predict that

telecommuilications will play an increasingly major role in education

particularly as adapted, specialized and particularized for local educa-:

tional needs. Telecommunications improves the quality of instruction. It .

imparts knowledge skillfully and permits one to learn wherever he is in

the-educational process. And it permits him to learn equally with others

no matter where he is in a geographic sense. Educational telecommunica-

tions is like a beam oflight It provides illumination to help us cut through

the fog of change that could otherwise obscure the world ahead.

Telecommunications allows us to more quickly and ably move from one

point to another as we strive to generate creative worth from our

intellectual enterprise. Communications technology is an integral part of

the process transforining our lives and shaping our destiny.

But in a more overriding sense, it is economics which will compel the

use of telecommunciations in education. Our system in South Carolina

has shown this clearly. There are many other justifications. But rather

014n_ki9k arcAndfor means to justify our existence; I am proud of the fact

thif, in iouth C irolina, we have taken a strong stand on the usefulness of

television and radio in education and have proceeded to put those

dynamic-tools-to-work. In putting them-to-work-we have found that one

service stacks naturally on top of another service and additional services

compound the efficiency of delivery geometrically: -Herein lie vast

economies of scale which make use of the system compelling.

112 ',1

102 The South Carolina System

Significant Enrollment

No user has to use any program which we provide. Therefore, the

statistics concerning the enrollment in our courses are very significantto

us in that enrollment is voluntary and engaged in solely at the discretion

of the user. Increases in in-school utilization alone are indicative of a

great dear of success in what we have accomplished. Innovations in

providing new services are equally impressive andjuideed,hambeguato--

become part of our basic justification of the System.

I think we need to be careful, however, thatwe do not let the need to

justify the system control its purpose, direction, or the motivations for its

use. The South Carolina System was created to enhance the educational

opportunities for every citizen in the State. We are beginning, after 22

years of hard effort, to work our way toward doing that. The capacity

required for delivery of our services was virtually unpredictable. Each

new service generates another. The number of users we serve is startling,

compared to two decades ago.

SUMMARY

Serving these people is the reaso:. we are in existence. Edward R.

Murrow once said that "The trouble with television is that it is like a

sword rusting in the scabbard during a battle for survival." Frequently,

however, I confess that the more pragmatic way to explain the impact of

what we do must include both economies as well as philosophy and

educaticial accomplishment.

In South Carolina I sincerely believe that with the support of teachers,

superintendents, State education officials, boards of education, colleges,

universities, legislatures and goyernors, we havethrough the years

proved that there is a major place and a major role for a significant

educational broadcasting system to impact on the educational progress

of in entire state.

11 3

Higher Education Uses of TV andikadio_

Peteri. Dirr

Corporation For Public Broadcasting

Washington, D.C.

INTRODUCTION

For years, colleges and universities have used television and radii.) for

instruction but until recently we had little systematic dataon the nature or

extent of those uses. Since 1978, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting

has been working with the National Center for Education Statistics

(NCES) andthe national higher education associationsto document the

extent of use and to explore factors which were thought to affect use.

The information which I will discuss is drawn from two studies

conducted by the Corporation in eonjunction with NCES and the

following education associations: American Association of Community

and Junior Colleges, American Association of State Colleges and

Universities, Association of American Colleges, Associationof American

Universities, National Association of State Universitiesand Land Grant

Colleges, National Institute of Independent Colleges and Universities.

The information was gathered in two phases: the first, conducted in

1979, was a universe study of all 3,000 colleges and universities in the

countrybut looked only at television and involved only one administrator

at each institution; the second, conducted in 1980, included radio/audio

as well as television and involved a 'sample of 120 institutions, 960

faculty members, and 1,920 students. Together, these two studies

provide a wealth of information about current uses of television and radio

as well as a wide variety of opinion about the factors that most affect

those_uses

Institution al Level

More than 70 percent of all institutions of higher education (IHEs)

make some use of television: 10 percent use it only for non-instructional

purposes such as promotion/recruitment or staff development; 61

percent use it for instruction, including 25 percent which offer courses

103 1:1 4

104 Higher Education Uses

over television and 36 percent which use it to supplement existing

courses.

Looking only at the instructional uses, the greatest portion of the effort

is spent for on-campus credit offerings (66 percent), followed by off-

campus credit offerings (17 percent), then on-campus non-credit offerings

(12 percent). So, while many contend that television is a way to reach

o ge o campus, we fmd that 78 percent of the

instructional television effort at colleges is devoted to on-campus uses of

the medium. -'

Tracking the exact number or students enrolled in courses using

television is complicated by problems of defmition and unavailability of

adequate data. However, from the data we have obtained, we are

confident in estimating that in 1979, about 1/2 million students were

enrolled in more than 6,000 courses offered over television. While some

colleges and universities make extensive instructional use of television,

the most common experience is for a college to offer one course per year

over television and to enroll 20 students in that course.

Technology for delivering television progremming seems to fall into

four categories by the extent wo which they are used: more than 90

percent of the institutions reported using self-contained video tape units;

approximately 75 percent reported using public and commercial tele-

vision stations; about 50 percent reported cable and closed circuit

systems; and 10Ipercent reported using satellite ,distribution and

Instructional Television Fixed Service (ITFS).

More than one in four IHEs (28 percent) is a member of a formal

consortium offering or producing televised courses. Another 17 percent

are members of informal consortia. The services most often provided by

the formal consortia include: program previews (77 percent), progam

exchanges (74 percent), and goup buys and/or acquisition of program

rights (63 percent). Three out of four members of formal consortia

expressed satisfaction with the services provided by the consortia and 86

percent planned to remain members of those consortia for at least the

next three years'.

The television equipment resources of colleges and universities vary

greatly: 94 percent of those that use television have TV cameras but only

58 percent have control rooms or studio facilities. (This seems to indicate

that mobile production is more prevalent than fixed studio equipment.)

7.4..percent,of TV-userspro_duce their-own programs. Abouttallhave

closed circuit or master antenna lefilEriildrandblack--and-white-TV

sets are about ,equally available.

Institutional expenditures for television seems to be increasing or level

but not decreasing: funds for equipment and staff have increased over the

past 3 years (in 55 percent of the cases) or remained the same (30

percent) and will continue to grow (45 percent) or remain the same (35

percent) over the next 3 years. Projected increases are geater for

115

Higher Education Uses 105

equipment than for staff. '

These studies have identified the major barriers to the use of television

for instruction at IHEs as the following:

Lack of institutional funds and support 70%

%.1 ment 55

Cost and availability "of courses 50

Lack of trained support personnel 45

Lack of record rights 40

Poor broadcast times 35

Insufficient advance notice "30

Data on the use of radio tie just beginning to be available. ThOse data

indicate that 53 percent of all IHEs used radio/audio for instructional

purposes in 1979. Those colleges and universities offered a total of

almost 10,000 courses involving substantial use of radio/audio and

enrolled almost 1/2 million students in those courses.

Eighty-four percent of IHEs which used radio/audio for instruction

had on-campus production facilities. Seventy-six percent usedavailable

facilities to produce original programming for instruction.

The barriers to the use of radio/audio for instruction are exactly the

same as those for televisionlack ofinstitutional funds and support, lack

of faculty commitment, cost and availability of courses, lack of trained

support personnel, lack of record rights, poor broadcast times and

insufficient notice. These findings, as well as the use patterns, suggest

that radio/audio's use is more like than unlike television's use.

Faculty Level

More than half of all faculty members reported using television for

educational purposes either in 1979 (43 percent) or prior to the 1978-79

academic year (22 percent). Those who had used the medium for

educational purposes averaged 6 years of Use. Most reported having

videotape playback units available (85 percent), as well as TV cameras

(84 percent), TV receivers (73 percent with color receivers and 71

percent with black-and-white receivers), and control room and studio

facilities (62 percent). Most reported using videotape playback units (82

percent) and TV receivers (58 percent color and 48 percent black-and-

white).

The delivery system most often iffedW facultY- wife: Self-CO-ntated

videotape playback units (73 percent), public television stations (57

percent), commercial television stations (37 percent) and campus closed

circui mr(-3-3-pereent)____

Funds for the acquisition of television equipmc--ilre

come from non-departmental accounts whereasKinds for the acquisition

of instructional programs is likely to come from departmental accounts.

Eight-five percent of faculty members who used television for

educational purposes repotted that production facilities were available

116

106 Higher Education Uses

for their use. Fifty-six percent reported having participated in a

production at their institutions.

Twenty-nine percent of those using television for educational purposes

haft had formal training for such use. Fitly-seven percent reported that

they had taken_a_college_course-in which-teleon-played-mbstariti-W

role. When those faculty members used television in their own courses,

the dominant production modes were lecture/monologue and demon-

stration techniques.

Even in courses where television was reported to have played a

substantial role, only 12 percent ofthe course hours were televised.

Faculty members reported the folloc.ving factors as major hindrances

to their use of television for instruction:

Lack of adequate departmental funds 56%

Programs do not meet adademic needs

and/or standards 49

Cost of available courses 39

Poor broadcast times 35

Insufficient advance notice 34

It was the opinion ofmany faculty member respondents, the use of

television for educational purposes is not readily accepted by the

profession or the institution. They view their course framework as

unadaptable.to television, maintainthat the-use of television adds to their

work, and feel that the institutional and professional reward structures do

not recognize efforts spent in developing and using television course

materials. Interestingly, faculty members see none of their major barriers

coming from the students.

More than one out of four faculty members (28 percent) reported that

they used or assigned radio/audio for educational purposes in 1979; 7

percent of all faculty members reported tLitthey used radio/audio in an

average of 2 courses each, enrolling an average of 27 students in each.

course.

Ninety-two percent of all faculty members reported that radio/audio

production facilities were available to them.

The barriers to the use of radio/audio for instruction are exactly the

same as those for television: lack ofdepartmental funds, unsuitability of

available courses, cost of available courses, poor broadcast timesr.and_

insufficient-advance-notice:

Student Level

Almost all students have used or expect to use television for

educational purposes during their college careers; 47 percent, or 5.5

million students used TV as part of their college programs in 1979;

an6thTF3:51MIkiii hId used TV prior föl 979-add1:5-ttilliotrap-etta

to use it within the next three years.

Slightly more than one in fourstudents (28 perent) who used television

11 7

.44611igher Education Uses 107

in 079 used college-owned equipment, especially videocassette play-

back units (88 percent) and color TV sets (44 percent) and black-and-

white TV sets (39 percent). Most of the use was in traditional college

classrooms (70 percent) asopposed to non-college housing (29 percent).

e evision in I 979Teported that such use was

voluntary (63 percent), did not.constitute a substantial portion of the

course (76 percent):and that the courses which used television cost the

same as courses which did not (82 percent).

The major barriers to the use of television for instruction as reported by

the students were: .

Poor broadcast times 33%

Inadequate equipment 26

Insufficient advance notice 23

Inadequate courses 20

Students did not view the use of television in courses as too

burdensome, depersonalizing, or an easy way to get credit. Neither did

they see courses with television as being particularly more relevant and

informative than other courses. In general, they viewed courses with

television as worthwhile and appropriate for their areas of study.

More than one out of three students (35 percent) reported that they had

used radio/audio for some of their courses in 1979; 13 percent of all

students reported that radio/audio was used for a substantial portion of

one or more of their courses.

The major barriers to the use of radio/audio reported by the student

respondents were:

Lack of appropriate radio/aUdio courses 41%

Inadequate courses available 20

Poor radio/audio reception 16

Poor broadcast times 13

Insufficient advance notice 14

In all other opinions about the suitability ot radio/audio for college

instruction, the student resrionses closely paralleled their opinions on

television's suitability.

SUMMARY

-- These data-and-the limhed-analyses-alreadyperfonnedorithenibtgin-

to provide use with an appreciation for the roles of television and

radio/audio in college and university instruction. Analyses will continue

and the implications of these findings will be carefully examined over the

next 12 months. For instance, we already know that differences exist in

the ways in which different types of colleges use television for instruction.

Further analyses might disclose some of the reasOns for those differences.

At least they should help to further describe the nature and magnitude of

-the differences.

118

c\J" Making the Case for Changing Public Policy

Normr E. Watson

Coast Communky Colleges

Costa Mesa, C3l1fornia

INTRODUCTION

The community college today, as an institution, is entering a period of

extremely rapid and sudden change. During the decade of the 70's, the

community college was an institution in transition. It was learning to

become a "matUre" institution, one which had experienced significant

growth in numbers, in facilities, and in students served. During the

decade of the SO's, the community college will be an institution in

transformation, moving from the traditionally accepted goals of its early

years to a heightened and expanded mission to, provide lifelong

education.

Some of the critical problems that will face community colleges as they

move into a new era will be public policy, state laws, and administrative

regulations. In times of rapid change,,the old rules and social arrange-

ments can become rigid barriers standing in the way of adaptations and

modifications.to new environmental conditions.

Teclmological developments in delivery systems that are laking place

today have immense potential for the community colleges in connection

with their ability to fulfill the mission of lifelong education. Already,

hundreds of community Colleges throughout the United States are

utilizing broadcasting to offer additional opportunities for learning to the

adults they serve. An mcreasing number are using cable to make learning

opportunities more available. And, as the technology develops, tape

cassettes, discs, teletext, the satellite, and the computer will see greater

use.In order to fully utilize much of the new technology, traditional ways of

dealing with personnel, with reporting procedures, and with funding

mechanisms will require close study and scrutiny in order to ascertain the

extent to which they assist or obstruct an institution's ability to meet neiv

needs.

11.9 108

Changing Public Policy 109

Without entering into a long and dusty discourse on the origin and

listorical development of the community colleges in California, I would

like to select by means of chronological timelines, a few examples of

policy, and administrative difficulties which have had to be

addressed in allowing institutions to cha-lirWeilthihrtimeb.

Public Education Regulations

To betem, community colleges in California evolved from the public

school, or K-12 segments ofeducation. They started, in fact, as a 13th

and 14th grade appendage to the K-12 segment and for many years were

tied administratively, legally, and by funding mechanisms to that

sesment of public education. With such a heritage, many Of the

regulations that the community college was required to enforce were

regulations that were developed over a period of time as appropriate for

the K-12 segment but that had little relev,ance or worth for community

colleges.

One such definition which existed in administrativc: regulations was

the definition of "immediate supervision." For attendance accounting

purposes, "immediate supervision" was defined as having acertificated

instructor physically present with students when learning was taking

place. Only those hours of attendance where "immediate supervision"

could be certified were eligible for state support. Such a regulation,

obviously, was admirably suited to keePing unruly adolescent boys and

girls under reasonable control in a standard size box-likeclassroom, but

had serious deficiencies when it came to the use of learning centers,

tutorial labs, television, etc.

The first movement away from the strict construction of the terin

"immediate supervision" was spearheaded by vocational educators in

allowing cooperative work experience to be funded by state allocations.

Including Technology

Riding on the coattails of the success of the vocational educatorswhich

had necessitated both changes in state law as well as administrative

regulations,a number of us in the community colleges set out to broaden

further the meaning of "immediatesupervision" by permitting the use of

modem technology. A task force wasformed, a research committee was

put in motion, and in advisory- coinmittee was activated--all in an

attempt to open the door a crack for modern technology. This activity,

years of research and study, resulted in a report, signed off by the

California Junior College Association, which became a position paper to

support legislation modifying one provision of Education Code Section

11251. We created a new temi called "Coordinated Jnstmction SyStems"

to describe the process being advocated. The paper's purpose was to call

attention to the critical need for development of new coordinated

instrudion systems which combine classroom lecture with modem

technoiogy to improve the effectiveness and ef&iency of instructional

programs in community colleges; and to identify a problem areain the

110 Changing Public Policy

_California Education Code which serves as a deterrent to progress

toward that goal."

The paper went on to point out that 'coordinated instruction systems,

combining the resources of modern technology with traditional proce-

.1. IIi44 I

iAstruction. Television instruction, computer-assisted instruction, auto-

mated slide-sound tapes, single-concept film loops, and other technical

resources serve to strengthen the teaching process."

Ever aware of the watchful eyes of the professional teachers' gyoups,

the paper painstakingly pointed out that "the role of the community

college instructor is expanded with coordinated instruction systems to

encompass more instructional development, learning management, and

evaluation of student progress. Instruction is more flexible with greater

opportunity for student success. Educational progress and competenty

of students are coordinated and evaluated by professional community

college instructors." The paper documented research on the effectiveness

of such instruction, pointed out that there would be no increase in cost,

and concluded that "legislation is needed to provide the same Average

Daily Attendance (ADA) apportionment for, students earning credit

through community college coordinated instruCtion systems techniques

as though traditional programs limited toClassroomlecture techniques.

The paper was comprehensive in thes.overage of the problems that

existing legislation posed, and the necessity for modification of code

requirements,"Developinent of adequate coordinated instruction systems

in California community colleges will not occur until changes,are made

in the procedure of ADA apportionment for students enrolled in these

kinds of classes. Programs must have an adequate base of fmancial

support within the school budget if they are to exist."

Legislation

Next came the immense task of mobilizing the support of the many

diverse educational and professional Organizations for the new legislation,

finding an author for the bill, presenting testimony at various.hearings,

and making nIcessary changes in the legislation in order to obtain the

support needed for its passage.

Years of effort, and many work hours of input later, the two following

miniscule changes made it possible for the community.colleges to move

into the Twentieth Century. I will remid you that "Ws oecurred as

recently as 1970. '

1. "One student contact hour is to be counted for each unit ofCoordinated

Instruction Systems credit in which a community college student is

enrolled during any census period."

2. "For purposes of community college Coordinated Instruction

System, 'immediate supervision' of instruction should be defmed as

student participation in approved Coordinated Instruction Systems

programs of instruction using such modem technology as television,

1.21 _

Changing Public Policy 111

computer-assisted instruction, automated slide-tape systems. and pro-

grammed learning materials under the coordination and evaluation of

certified college instruction."

All was well thus far. However, it then became necessary, in order to

om.abuses,to.develop_aionglistpfsaveats

and guarantees which were to be elaborated in Title V, Administrative

Regulations. These, in themselves, barely escaped throttling the new

code provision with rigid requirements which colleges were compelled to

meet. Rather than treating Coordinated Instruction Systems on the same

level as lecture courses, the regulations required such things as: prior

state approval course by course, a proof of credentialed supervision, a

rigid interpretation as to what could be considered as current costs, a

restrictive limitation on the amount of state support (only 50 percent of

current cost), the elimination of anrcapital expenditure, and the

requirement of detailed evaluation reports to the state for each cerse

offered at the-close of each semester.

Is it any wonder, then, that television instniction was extremely slow in

taking off in California, even after the new legislation allowed it to be

offered'in the early 70's. For many districts, and for many administrators,

the added paper work and bureaucratic requirements were just too much,

added to the Already heavy burden of acquiring hardware and software,

and of attempting.to fend off the attacks of a considerable body of

professionals.

But the door was ajar,,ever so slightly, and with great-effort.

Modification-of Regulations

The next hurdle that had to be overcome was the interpretation by the

state office that a specified number of hours of television broadcast

material would have to equate with each upit of credit offered: Such an

interpretation, of course, overlooked all elements of the coordinated

instructional system except those which actually went over the air, and

did-not, address, in any-fashion at all, eie rigor of the materials or the

learning objectives, At this stage of the game, the state office was willing

to "buy" fifteen one-half hourlelevision programs for one hour of credit,

but no less that that, accepting the principle that there was a certain

amount of compression in television-courses, and that other le4rning

activities took place in some, fashion.

The Modification of that regulation set the stage for an entire re-

examination of Coordinated Instructional Systems., A task force ws set

up by llie state office in 1976. With the goal that "The Board of

Governors shall encourage the development of instructional tech-

nologies, varied learning modes, and resources to-more adequately meet

the diversity of student characteristics and learning styies," the task force

was charged with identifying problems, recommending revisions in

Atatutes and/or regulations, and developng a prospectus report.

122

112 Changhig Public-Pcilicy

The task force considered whether the defmition should be broadened

:to-includeodietbistmctional Method514*i than hardwareand software

whether developmental costs should be reimbursed, whether the 50

percent cost factor should be eliminated, and whether only current costs

should be reimbursed.

As a result of the report of the task force, the definition broadened. As a

Matter- Of hict; Coordinated Instruction System, with all its good points

and bad points,- was eliminated from statutes andreplaced with a neW

piece of legislatien entitled "independent study."

With the amendment of -the law in 1978 setting up ".independent

studif," it was necessary -to formulate and adopt a new set of Title 5

regulations for its administration. Once again the battle heated up

between those who were attempting to move community colleges into an

innovative and changing direction, and those who would hope to prevent

the community colleges from doing anything that was not traditional.

The following proposali were Made to the Board of Governors as

needing to be included in the new regulations::

1. State apportionment would be based on passing grades at the end of

the -ternia completely -different standard from that imposed on any

otheetype-brinstruttkin!

2. The number of students assigned to any one instructor should not

exceed ten perceig more than -the average number-Of students per

instructor at the college unless exempted -by waiver from the State

Chancellor.

The number of independent-Study courses at a college shall not

exceed 4.en percent of ,the credit couries. certified for transfer unless

exempted by waiver from the State Chancellor.

Obvionsly,,the adoption of suchregriations, in the faceof the fact that

television courses- were accepted4Or transfer by all state and private

colleges in California 'for full tredit, would have been a giant step

backward

Then followed the long series of hearings, the testimony, the written

arguments, the counter proposals at the state level in an attempt to

prevent the loss of all the ground that had been gainedsince the original

legislation in 1970.

A new task force was formed and issued the following statement:

In general, these regulations would discourage the offering of

independent study, specifically CIS courses, in community colleges.

They assume that students all learn the same way, in avlassrooti with

a lecture and texts. They would freeze community colleges into one

form of instruction and an "average faculty-studentratio. Btit, in a time

of financial limitations, there is a need to encourage fleXibility and

innovation as well as continur the standards of quility instruction

which have distinguished community colleges in this state up to now.

Under the proponed regulation community colleges will,- for all

practical purposes, find it impossible to continiie to offer alternative

1 23

Changing Public Policy 113

modes of education. The nontraditional student, many of whom-are

unable to attend a regular academic program, will not be able to earn

academic credit.This.ineani that a direct and foreseeabk.resuliof the

regulation will be discrimination against the nontraditional and often

disadvantage student including homebound, seniors, and handicapped

student. It is ironic and unfortunate thatthe Board of Governors would

consider cutting back on such programs at the very-time that society

has recognized the need for such programs."

The Edlication Policy Committee of the Board of Governors, in turn,

requested that proposed regulations be "tightened up" to reduce the

potential for abuse and/or misunderstanding. The staff was also

requested to put a ceiling on the student-teacher ratio for independent

study courses, although no ceiling exists for any other type of course.

The new regulations were adopted, willi some softening of the

language. The college must certify to a number of requireMents with

regard to independent study courses. The restrictions on the number of

students in the course and the number of courses which may be offered

remaAn in the regulations and we have been forced to request a waiver, as

permitted by the regulations, from the State ,Chancellor.

Conclusions

What conclusions can we draw from the California case studies

beyond the obvioils one that "it ain't easy to get from here to there"? We

can probably come up with three rather important conclusions:

1. Our laws and regulations are beset by countless archaic provisions

which now thwart and will continue to impede progress toward meeting

new environmental demands.

2. Public policy can be changed and must continue to be modified if

the community colleges _are ta continue --to -be the innovati-ve, flexibie

institutions of postsemiaafy education.

3: External vigilance is essential in order that simple-minded solutions

to complex. questions do not become'part and parcel of our bureicratic

inheritance,

Our community colleges, in our fifty states, function in highly

differentiated environments. Although we share many common goals

and are -influenced by broad and pervasive changes in society and by

developments in technology, we exist in different structures with varying

legislative frameworks. It is essential that we exercise our influence, to

the strongest extent possible, in interpreting the traneormation which

must take place in the xommunity college during the coming decades.

Local boards, state boards, accrediting commissions, state commissions

on higher education, departments of finance, and state legislators must be

brought to See what it is the community colleges are attempting to achieve

and what must be done in order that they can fulfill their function. In this

connection, the Coast Community Colleges are currently attempting

through membership on the Telecommunications Advisory Committee

124

114 Changing Public-Policy

and the California Postsecondary Education Commission, to influence

the direction of future public policy. Included as a special category of

society'5on:going needs for education identified by the Commission are

the needs- of significant portions of the populations that have special

problems or barriers. These include the imprisoned, the physically

handicapped, the homebound with dependents, displaced homemakers,

and mid-career people pressed to change careers. The Commission

states, "Providing reasonable access to education for these groups of

adults mast be seen as another dimension of publici.e. societal

needs."_California possesso vast resources in the area of telecOmmun-

nications to meet the changintsocietal needs of the state. The community

colleges are equipped by inclination and experience to coordinate such

activities. It is vital that we give close and continuing attention to evolving

public policy.

Faculty Response to the Use of Technology

Dallas K. Deal

President State Univershy College

Fredonia, New York

INTRODUCTION

I will begin this paper with a qualification diat requires expression, one

whichis_4_re.statement of_the obvicusitis-asimpossible-to-reference

"a!_facultyresponse to the use of technology as itis to characterizea"

faculty on almost any matter or issue you may care to mention. For

example, on my own faculty, a recently retired political science professor

reliably cast a single opposing vote on any occasion where unaMmity

prevailed on the principle of retaining the "purity" of a persitent

minority viewpoint as a benchmark characteristic of true faculty loyalty

to the. academy.

Of course, there are faculty responses to the use of technology for

instructional purposes as you might well expect; clearly, the liters:tare on

the subject documents a range of views not unlike the response io the use

of anything else except perhaps the book, or the library. But keep in

mindLineberry is quoted in Willett's Modernizing the Little Red

.School House as saying, "the antitechnologists of antiquity were

convinced that even the book, by downgrading memory, could produce

only a race of imbeciles."

The safer and more creditable reference to Make about faculty

response is that it is best seen by the current instructional Methodologies

they emtiloy. Our planners should be pleased to know that the evidence

in surveys and studies by Stern, Evans, Kozma, Cogan, and others

clearly warrants the convening of a National Conference on Technology

and Education. But for a pitifully few college and university exceptions,

the collegiate response to technology fits the discomforting view

expressed by C.P. Snow almost twenty years ago (Evans):

"In a society like ours, academic patterns change more slowly than any

others. In my lifetime, in England, they have crystallized rather than

loosened. I used to think that it would be about as hard to change say,

115 126

116 Faculty Response

the Oxford and Cambridge scholarship examinations as to conduct a

major revolution. I now believe that I was over optimistic."

My own belief is that progress is being madehowever slowly and

there is reason'to-believe that the-pace-of progress will accelerate in the

years ahead if the academy wills that it be given high priority.

I would like to touch upon a few of the available research studies which

deal with faculty response to innovation; the 'technology currently

available to colleget and universities in the public sector; a set of

assumptions which to me set in place the principal guideposts for charting

the course of progress; and, I shall conclude with a brief description of a

Major proposal to spur progress jointly sponsored by AASCU and

NASULGC.

Selected Studies

Although the study is along in years (1967), the comprehensive study

by Evans and Lippman reported in their book, Resistance to Innovation

in Higher Education is classic and is really quite relevant and topical.

The a-uthui exaniffled an academic czmmunity's response to Instruc-

onal-Televisiosing-a-mmther-of-variablEs=and-obtained data on

the general beliefs and the personality orientation of the faculty of nine

colleges- and universities which they visited. Among their observations

and findings are the following which are pertinent to our discussion at this

conference:

To put our work in perspective we are reminded:

"As early as 1965, the textbook committee of a state legislatUre

holding hearings on high school biology texts was confronted by an

impressive group of literate citizens who bitterly opposed the teaching of

evolution in the public schools. When we consider furthermore, that in

our own research case historyone of the respondents, a college

professor, remarked that television is the 'invention of the devil,' we might

indeed predict that Copernicus would have had a hard time introducing

some innovations to our generation as he did in his own time." (Evans)

Evans and Lippman go on the declare, and in my view, quite

accurately,

"The greatest resistance to change will be found in those institutions

whose traditional primary function has been the perpetuation of a

society's folkways, mores, and values, such as religious and educational

institutions." r--

Indeed, beyond being no surprise to the student of higher education,

there is in this resistance to change a needed sense of dependabi lity which

society in general must feel and appreciate and which is referred to by the

authors when they state:

"Educational institutions would be derelict in their &ligation to

society if they were totally responsive to fads and fashions of the

surrounding community."

127

Faculty Response 117

What was learned about faculty response to the use of technology?

Evans and LipPman report:

"There is little empirical evidence to support the assumption that

faculty and administratorseven though they carry the responsibility of

imparting both old and new knowledge and are viewed as experts-in

evaluating new developmentswill choose methodological innovations

which seem to provide the greatest potential for learning."

They go onto say:

"It is undoubtedly clear by now that the present study proceeded from

the assumption that the attitudes which most of our faculty members held

toward ITV did not exist in isolation but were often inter-connected in

varying degrees with other attitudes, such as those -toward teaching

machines and teaching methods versus content. They were even inter-

connected with the respondent's attitude toward himself and his general

philosophy- of -life."

In the above connection andfurther from the analysis of attitudes and

beliefs of profesw

"Forty perceulofthevgessors believedthaledge-efeontent-is

a sUfficient prerequisite for university teaching, thirty-five percent felt

that method is of some importance, and only ten percent felt they were of

equal importance." (Evans)

And a very significant and humbling clue to any of us who dares

'believe he or she is destined to be a significant agent of instructional

change, is the discovery that

"In effect Professors were saying, 'The machine cannot provide those

ingredients which I, myself, can provide. I am personal and provide

discussion; I Inotivate students, and I am creative.' Therefore:

"The college professor sees himself in the traditional role of standing

before a class, delivering a lecture on which his students take notes

notes he expects them to commit to memory, supplemented by readings

in their textbooks and some additional work in the library."

Even the more negative responses in this study (Evans) take on at times

humorous incongruities such as:

"ITV is a fine instructional medium and should be encouraged for all

to improve instruction, but not for my subject area," and

"ITV is the best means of teaching in the long run, but/ would leave

college teaching if / had to use it."

However, it is interesting to note that there also surfaces in the survey

literature, professional types who are pro-IV and they can be described

and I presume identified on our faculties.

The study by Evans pictures them as being "more adventuresome,

flexible, and mobile in thinking and teaching... whosee the university as

asocialas well asacademic community ... mbre free to experiment with

new methods and techniques."

And although such categorical typing may be useful early in the

1.28

118 Faculty Response

development of strategy for innovation and implementation, it is

important to teep in mind that:

"Although we have given evidence to show that some professors have

consistent attitudes toward innovation in general,we think it quite likely

that other professors are very selective about the kind of innovation they

are willing to accept." (Evans)

The research findings do not altogether present a bleak picture about

the current readiness of faculty to climb aboard technological vehicles

which may hold promise for the improvement in and the satisfactionfaculty

seek to gain from teaching. What seems clear iS the evidence that

approaches to faculty have not been well designed, showed a lack of

concem for readiness, and have too frequently not given sufficient

attention to the importance of self-motivation toward tangible rewards

provided by the "system." For example:

"To utilize ITV many professors stemed to think that much training,

aching goals and activities

Avould-be-requiredevidence-seemed-to-intliaTe-thirif a complex

innovation can be broken down into palatable bitsat least partial

acceptance will be more rapidly affected." And, further:

" ... evidence suggests that the degree of acceptance ofan innovation

by professors may partly depend on whether they viewedthe innovation

as being instituted by the university administration or.... within their own

dcademic departments as a result of their own planning."

" ... evidence suggests also a reversion effectoccurs most often where

reinforcers are not programmed beyond certain minimum limits

reinforcers include salary increments, promotions, and overt administra-

tive approval" and it is:

". . . highly plausible that an individual's position in the university

(rankjob security) bears some relation to receptivity to innovation."

(Evans)

A point so often overlooked in the context of effecting change is

mentioned by Cogan:

"Any plan that seeks to rationalize the process of innovation in our

schools will perforce be slowed down by the imperative necessity to train

the men affd-women who will be centrally involved. And that delay will

be a blessing if it serves to educate us to understand that the phases of

education are long, longer than the phases of a fad, style and local and

national politics."

Telling it more stridently, Stem and Keislarin reporting their survey of

five thousand references on teacher attitudes conclude:

"The success of any broad-based educational innovation is not simply

a result of whether the proper procedures have been technically carried

out; rather, if innovation is imposed authoritatively on the teacher, with

no attempt to understand and enlist support, it yill not succeed."

12.9

Eaculty_Response 119

The above surveyors suggest six categories of guidelines for considers-

tiorrin the development- ofra, strategy for-innovation:

1. Accepting environmentlargely an administrative responsibility.

2. Assurance of personal involvement.

3. Acceptance of personal responsibility.

4. Role models.

5. Incentives for change.

6. Preparation.

A more recent experiment dealing withFaculty Development and the

AdoptiOn and Diplision of Classroom Innovations by Kozma and

funded by FIPSE is reported in- the Journal of Higher Education.

In a faculty fellowship project at the University of Michigan the

findings showed that the incentive of fellowship_grants. increased

significantly the fellows use of innovations as compared to a random

&LIU

fellowships had relatively little success in influencing fellow faculty

members to adopt instructional innovations as a result of discussions.

I suppose any examination of research fmdings should end on a note of

caution and in this instance, a bit more pithy than the typical dissertation

conclusion which concludes the need for more study.

Willett, Swanson and Nelson say in Modernizing the Little Red

School House bring into view a rather fascinating comparison between

thefeaSibility and the logic of change as itapplies to the introduction of

educational hardware.

"The feasibility of change to man-machine systems of education is

clearly seen in the dollar savings . ..the logic for change is another

matter . ..the educational establishment represents an intrenced

moving to man-machine systems of education will receive quick

moving to man-machine systems of education will receive quick acceptance

should be viewed with reservations."

Availability of Technology

Until recently those of us concerned with expanding the use of

instructional technology in the public sector of higher education had

available as evidence of its availability only isolated reports of commit-

ments by campuses across the country.

In the late 70's, AASCU and NASULGC cpnducted the first

national survey of existing technology available to the faculties in over

four hundred member colleges and universities. The results of this survey

may be known to some of you; however, its highlights should serve an

important documentary purpose of this conference.

The survey covered three major areas: availability and description of

present communications technology facilities, the instructional use

served by this technology, and the plans for expansion. Responses to the

national survey indicate that member institutions of both associations

1,3

120- -Faculty-Reiponse-

exhibit a strong commitment to the use of cornmunications technology in

their educational programs. Many institutions in the study operate

television and radio broadcasting stations whicfiare used for educational

programming. In factAASCU and NASULGC institutions constitute

approximately one,third_ of -the station membership of the Public

Broadcasting System.

Seventy-nine percent of the NASULGC institutions in the survey

operated non-commercial broadcasting and fifty-four percent of the

AASCU members carried-non-commercial radio programming. FM

frequencies were licensed by seventy-five percent of the NASULGC

and fifty-tWo percent of the AASCU institutions.

Closed cirduit television systems were found to bequite coMmon and

in addition,"the public colleges and universities in the two associations

produced educational programs for the broadcasting stati

.percent). They utilized

Cable TV to distribute even more progrants. NASULGC cable utilizers

totalled fifty-two percent and AASCUresponders totalled forty percent

in "the Cable TV category.

The survey covered also the provision for faculty utilization of

telecommunication facilities for instructional purposes. In excess of

ninety percent of the member institutions stated media services were

available to faculty and staff and over eighty percent reported the

availability of telecommunications facilities to the adult public. Instruc-

tional programs include credit and non-credit courses, continuing

education units and open learning and external e.tgree programs. .

With a view toward expansion, member institutions who operate

telecommunications systems in both associations, as well as those who

do not, indicated expansion plans especially in the areas of instructional

media facilities, radio broadcasting and cable television.

It seems reasonable to conclude from this nationwide survey of public

colleges and universities that a surprising array of educational technology

is presently available to faculty for their 11S4, and the awareness of the

emerging significance of this technology as a means of enhancing-and

extending outward the teaching boundaries of the campus is ofconcern

and importance.to these public institutions. With this advantage clearly

in view, there is reason to hope thatwith proper trainingand inducement,

faculty in increasing numbers will rise to form the critical linkage

between the communication., technology found to be in place with the

needs of students in a variety of educational settings.

Some Working Assumptions(Six, in Fact)

From the standpoint ofa working administrator who has spent some

time immersed in the process of learning and thinimg about the current

state of instructional technology, and who also has endeavored to bring

into being a small amount of change, I have drawn assumptions, some.

13.1

FOeul0 Response 121

of which I hope you will fmd worthy of consideration and perhaps even

helpful.

Assumption Number I

There rentains ab-road in the land a legacy of unfilled promises

promulgated by hardware advocates who, during the sixties, in

particular, convincingly influenced the purchase of vast amaunts of

instrUctional equipment with the promise of relieving the then shortage

of faculty and at the-aame rime reducing the cost of instruction.

State budget analysts and, indeed, many, legislators make painful

reference to the millions "wasted" in purchasing educational hardware to

equip new buildings during the sixties. The space utilization studies

which yearly demonstrate our failure to make sufficient use of large

!whirr halls and inventoreis of dial access equipment. TV studios and the

like are too often silent and also_unfortunatelestimony against proposed

new initiatives at a time when higher education is strapped for funds.

It is my view that any progress we hope to make toward the goal of

more effective use of new technology in teaching, even with faculty

motivation at a high peak, must be calculated within the existing

constraints of continuing inflation, unfriendly budget examiners and

public policies which reflect an attitude on the part of decision makers

that higher education has had its =tient on the stage and now must make

way for other pressing societal needs.

Our requirements for new equipment, if met at all, will be drawn from a

convincing demonstration of yearly savings through more efficient

management and the never ending search for dollars which must flow

from gifts and grants.

We can, I believe, overcome the unfortunate legacy of our past

stewardship of instructional technology. It is not unrealistic to suggest

that the necessity of such a struggle is after all our best insurance that

progress will be more sustainable because it will have been so hard won.

Assumption Number 2

Most college faculty have insufficient experience as learners via

technology for us to expect them to be advocates of Vie implementation

of available communications technology eller as a teaching tool or a

mom comprehensive teaching methodology.

There is little or no evidence to suggest that graduate students

preparing for careers in teaching have been taught other than the lessons

of scholarship and research. Whatever teaching methods they adopted

came as a result of imitation of their mentors or by trial and error, rather

than studied examination of the teaching process. From this direction as,

a starting point -is where we must begin as we introduce also into the

current equation faculties which are unionized and who are forced to

pereeiv depreiging immobility as a carrer reality.

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122 Faculty Response

An exaggeration, perhaps, but our overly sanguine assumptions in the

pastwhich overlooked the critical necessity to begin where faculty

areresulted frequently in the wrongheaded purchase of "hardware

_methodology" -far ahead:of-any attention-to- the needs, expeditions,

abilities and realities ofour faculties.

Faculty development initiatives generated largely by faculty them-

selves, and primed and sustained by administrators whdunderstand the

role of "facilitator" hold the plonnse of bringing abouta gradual, ierhaps

even an assuredly sustainable involvement of faculty in the use of a vast

array of new and more available educational technology.

Assumption Number 3

The pervasive and fewful spectre of broad exposure to the risk of

failure, before de eyes of watc4ful colleagues is intimidating and 'a

retaniant obstacle in the oath uf the mosrsecureofinstructionalfaculty.

Itis-the-rare-faculty-meMberwho-would spearniolEeTthin fearless

tones about the educationalvalue of an occasionalfailure. Usually in this

context of failure our reference point is the students whom we instruct

The .carryover of this belief into the very diferent and personal risk

context of teaching methodology demonstrates clearly a considerably

different and largely hesitant faculty responseat the very least those of .

us interested in building a strategy for change should assume so.

The intramurals ofpeer evaluation for reappointment, promotion, and

retrenchinent mechanisms engaged as a result ofshortages of funds and

reduCtion in generated student hours in the latter instance surface

resistance factors even from faculty who have traditionallrbelieved

themselves to be secure in their positions. The perceived exposure to

criticism felt by even the best professors sometimes_ easily sets in.

motion subtle and curiously department-wide episodes of resistance

rather than acts of courage.

Overcoming the anxietiesmarried to potential failure is most success-

fully accoinplished in a general sense by the recognition of its presence.

Steps which follow are largely situation specific and are better locally

planned and constructed, except for the all-impiitant necessity of

confidence building that comes from early if only modest success and

followed by deserved recognition.

As'sumption Number 4

The sanguine declaration that excellence through resource enrich-

ment is hardly creditable during the current andprolonged era of the

equivalent.ofzero-based budgets,faculty retrenchmcn4 and long-term

fiscal ex4enctes.

The sooner we engage the operational assumption that resource

enrichment belongs to a bygone era of educational finance, the better will

be the operational design of instructional schemes which make use of

instructional innovation.

133.

__Eaculty_Response 123-

Priorities will of necessity require reordering. Programs and earlier

mibsions may be called into question and consequently', be repleced by

current plans for instructional improvement which require the shifting of

resources. Indeed, there may emerge a new "art" ofcreative management

that allows, for a process ofsubStitUtion rather than addition.

We should not fail to recognize that higher education management

requires the similar challenge of rethinking and reassessment of attitudes

and methodologies as does the instructional process; indeed, it is not

presumptuous to recommend such a process as a beginning expectation

of any plan designed to change substantially instructional modes of

owation.

Assumption NuMber 5

Promotion workload considerations, financial, and success in-

re high on the list of reward factors which spur faculty

onsimeness.

If we dream of a world of change absent of thesecompelling factors we

dream of a time that will never be. They are, indeed, stituational and

often personal, but they persist as perceived and real expectations. They

are for the faculty, the tangible outcomes that make the effort worthy.

They are for the faculty, outcomes related to ego fillfillment which out-

distance institutional goals atid expectations. They can bf.1 silent killers of

change or the very real difference between the success and failure of a

strategy. At the very least; faculty must perceive an administration

involved in and willing to articulate with conviction and to document with

creditability, positive action that the university reward system is

responsive to faculty willing to make substantive commitments to

instructional change.

Assumption Numter 6

There is no foreseeable technological substitute for the creative,

learner oriented andhighly knowledgeable "director" of the learning

enterpriserather, there exists a mounting array of workable instruc-

tional tools aroundwhich to surround and assist those prepared and

motivated to use them.

In eariier times evea some thoughtfill educationists took the highly

questionable leap from the knowledge base directly to the learner via.

available handware. Witness, for example,- the dismal failure and

regression that accompanied the wholesale distribution of the "teaching

machine.", One is reminded of the earlier experiments in man's

fascination with flight, and the do-it-yourself contraptions which were

fastened to arms and legseach in its own way destined to fail because of

a lack of knowledgeable application of correct theory and creatively

directed into practice.

It is my view that effective utilization and progress in the use of

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124 Faculty Responsi \,

technology will succeed to the extent that the process remains directly in

the hands of the teacher with prior knowledge of le subject and

compassidnately aware of the needs of the learners.

A -model- of =the.director- of- learnintset forth 'by-tonic media pto-

fessionals places the professor within a centerpiece similar to the role of a

nightly newscaster. He or she directs the conduct of the enterprise,

selects the content, chooses from an array of sources and resources and is

responsible for a format design which is appropriate to the viewing

audience orlearners as the case may be. Portions may be altogether pre-

cast. Other segments are flexibly utilized to meet the changing deltoids

of the situation.

The point to keep in mind is the requirement of a, learner-oriented

knowledgeable manager of theprocess to_ have resources of his choosing

available on demand, and appropriatelymatched to the broadly based

needs of students. The achievement ofa systeni-that responds to these

demands complerand demanding challenge and cannOt be viewed as

anyeconomy-measurerorrwoffible subst'ildlIedWessionals.

However, the degree to which it may be more expensive over the longer

run than present instruction requires muchmore study and experience.

The Response of Two As-Sociations (AASCUNASULGC)

The American Association of State Colleges and Universities and the

Nztional Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges

have given increasing concern to proposals which may result, in the.

establishment of an gn-going system with the potential .of dealing

effectively with the potential of facultiesto exploit instructional enhance-

ment through technology., It is their beliefthat progress has been retarded

and can be pttributable to:

(.1) the lack of understandingamong most faculty of appropriate and

pedagogical applications of technology, and

(2) the fear of losing creatiVe control of their classes and course

work by using the materials developed by others.

The proposal set forth through the combined efforts of the associations

has the potential of involving some seventeen member institutions and

over one hundred sixty instructional fpOulty, academic deans, and

-instructional supportstaff. Essential to the success of the proPosal is the

requirement that institutions as well as faculty commit themselves to a

continuing involvement in the projectthroughout its duration through the

allocation of a portion of the support c&tsof the proposal, the remaining

cosisqo be covered by an outside agency.

Following* each orientation Conference, faculty will be required to

"formulate their own ideas for applications 4 technology to aCademic

,subjects which they teach. irti their own. institutions. Delegations from

institutions chbsen to participate also will be *encouraged to work as a

"team" ddring the training institutes.

135

FacultrItTponsi-125

As an ultimate outcome and beyond the hoped-for advantages to

Partici Paling faculty will be the dissemination of what has been learned

ind achieved to Other colleges and universities.

SUMMARY

I chose to end on a bright note of hope. for reasons which go well

beyond dmy own involvement ia the advancement of instructional

improvement Indeed, the fact of our generally low morele, the

doomsayer piedictions of.the future and our failures in the past can, I

believe, be tailed to productive use. We have perhaps come of age. We

are hard headed, more So than in tile put, not so easily led and curiously

demanding more accoUntability of ourselves.

It niay very well come to piss that the 80's will bring forth a faculty

"iespOnse" to technology that surpasses our imagination in part because

---wearepoorer-,-yerwiser; butdue in part also ta the- understanding and

etous-througlrreunionsmedepossible bTthisT

conference.

BIBLIOGRAMY

I. Evans, Richa:d I., Resistance to Innovation in Higher Edueatian'Jasey-Bass, Inc.

2. Journal of kesearch and Development in Education, Vol. 10, Number 2, Winter '77:

"1"eachr Attitudes arid Attitudes Change: A Research Review by Stern and Keislar.

3. Thozny Into Practice; Vol. XV, Number 3, June '76.' "Educational Innovation:

Educational Workload" by Cog,an. '

4. Willett, Swanson and Nein:in, Modemiring the Little Red Sehaol House, Educational

Teclmology Publications, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. 1979.

136

Evaluati the Use of Technology

in Education

Kamaka Anandom

Difector, Corn Dosed Instructional Development

and Research

*and

J. Terence Kelly

President for Education

mi-Dode Cwnmunity College

MlgmL Florida

INTR DUCTION

There are probably few, if any, assignments more difficult or evasive

than esiiluating the use of technology, in education. The impondefables

could fill up pages. Therefore, one must immediately ask: "What do we

mean by technology?" "Whit is a logical classification system for the

various technologies that cunently exist?" The same types of questions

must be asked about the meaning of evaluation. Bufeven beyond the

definition stage, one must consider other elements associated with

evaluation, such as the philosophy of an institution and the goals of

particular instrUctional programs, in order to determine what is to be

evaluated and how it is to be evaluated -

Frustration and aggravation mount when legislators and others who

are-outside-the bducational-arena-ask the question: "Is technology cost

effective?" Frankly, we have never understood those terms, and are not

sole whether those who ask the question fiilly comprehend the complexi-

ties associated with-what appears to be a rather simple and straightforward

question. Overall, one might even make an argument that perhaps

education by itself is not cost effective, whatever that might mean.

However, if a price tag can be computed for ignorance and its impact on

society, one might have a different perspective regarding education's cost

effectiveness at all levels throughout the, country.

This preamble is not intended in any way to suggest that one cannot

126

13 7

Evaluating the Use 127

discuss the topic of evaluating technology or to simply say that there are

no answers. Answers I can be found, but one must be cautious and

understand precisely what it is we are trying to evaluate. Often we think

of how educational television was nearly doomed' by its uses in the fifties

and the sixties. Part of the reason for those early failures centered around

some of the misunderstandings of what its capabilities were and what it

was attempting to,do. In certain instructional settings, it simply mas an

instrument to increase productivity in terms of ficulty-teaCher ratios, nr$

necessarily to improve learning. It is not surprising, therefore that we

found huge auditoriums with thousands of students listening ;to a TV

lecture given by one faculty member. If one were evaluating the

prOductivity of its use, it would he rated as a rousing success. However, if

Students' satisfaction and learning were_ considered, thosetarly educa-

tional TV days might well deserve tcy be classified as a dismal failure.

This, for the purPose of this paper at least, let us defme the framework

within which the present topic will be discussed.

Technology that is used in education can:be divided into five major ,

Categories: 1) Print technology is the most widely used technology

thotigh it is not always thought of as one. 2) Telecommunications include

telephones, radios, and twomay communication systems which are just

barely beginning to make their mark in variout instructional applications.

3)-M-6tion piettire.altd vide?, technology reptegents-a-combinatitin-of

visual, 'motkit, animation, and audio components. 4) Computer tech-

nology is exploding with unbelievable dimensions into every phase of our

lives. 5) Biological mamPulation, perhaps the most frightening of ali,

links all the other technologies to modify human behavior.

,'The single most decisive observation that' one can make about

technology todey as it relates to educatiOnal use is that the hardware

developments far out-distance the -human and software developments,

< thus making it impoisible to capitalize on the hardware capabilities. If

one agrees with this preinise, which we think can be demonstrated

thout much difficulty, one can better understand the results of the

,evaluation of technology in education. Fot example, the studies on two

popular computer interactive syttems, PLATO- and 77CCIr, did not

bear out the .high expectatiOns for their effect on student learning

therefore, theiruse-inithe-community-colleges-failed-taexpane-These

results occurred because the most imp( eant facetsthe human and

software developmentswere not attended to in a manner that would

have permitted the entire technological innovation to be fully implemented

and fairly evaluated.- .

Benjamin Bltiom2 discusses two roles of evaluationformative and

summative. Fonnative evaluation pertains to the process of developing a

program, while summation evaluetion focuses bn the completed program.

The former is "the Use of systematic evaluation in the process of

curriculum construction, teaching and learning for the purpose of

138

128 Evaluating the Use

improving any of these three processes" (p. 117). Mostevaluations with

respect to technological innovations failed to include formative evaluation

and are thus beset with mixed fmdings. Rather than be discouraged by

this situation, we should relentlessly explore the numerous ways to

exploit the capabilities of the technological innovations in order to

momplish our educational goals.

Evaluative studies_ focus_on different objectiveseconomics, faculty

acceptance, number of students reached, their motivation and per-

formance. All of them are valid objectives worthy., of independent

evaluation, but they wit.provide meaningful information of practical

significance only if they are considered together. In reviewing the

research literature on the use of technology in education, we would like

to introduce the concept of the three E'sExtensiveness, Effectiveness,

and Endurance. Extensiveness refers to how widespread is the use of

technology in education; effectiveness refers to improvement in human

(faculty and student) satisfaction, student motivation, retention, and

learning and endurance refers to the long-lasting continuation of an

innovation.

Extensiveness

What has become of the ,1Q.1.1.gas5aillt ortilighpreducation bvnedia.and- --

technology enthusiasts? Do traditional systems of teaching prevail

against all odds? Based on approximately 1,000 in-depthinterviews with

state commissioners, administrators, faculty, students, and alumni in six

states, the question is raised: "Does Education Want What Technology

Can Delivell"3 This study concluded that what is generally in. use

(meaningwhat more than three-quarters'of the educationalinstitutions of

a particular type are using) is not very much different from what was

generally in use'in the 50'schalkboard, a piece of chalk, some books,

filmstrips, audio cassettes, projector of some sort, or an occasional

computer terminal. 'Examined from a different perspective, in the late

70's, expenditure for technology constituted 0.3-0.5 percent of total

expenditures at the elementary and secondary schools, 0.2-0.4 percent

in vocational and 2-year colleges, and 0.5-1.1 percent in 4-year colleges

and universities. In other words, the technological innovation that has

skyrocketed in industry is rather limited and isolatedin education. This is

not surprising because technological innovation in educationwas mostly

prompted by what technology could offer rather than what educators

wanted. Even though media andlechnology enthusiasts oversell their

products, the capabilities of technology will not in and of themselves

create or even prompt changes in our educational activities. It is the

people who are going to make a difference.

In terms of extensiveness, printed materials have outscored every

other technology. Although they have become second nature to use in

education, they also had their day of being rejected and resisted. At the

139

Evaluating the Use 129

time.when the printing press was introduced, people's objections rallied

around much the same themes as they do today against computersloss

ot human factors, loss of jobs, necessity to learn new skills, discarding of

traditionally cherished values, etc. Decades passed before the potentials

of the printing press were acknowledged, utilized, and appreciated. The

text and the printed word have endured in higher education for so long

that no one cwill dream of questioning its effectiveness. Ironically, the

computer technology that is resisted so much today will perhaps see the

demise of the printing press, although new print technologies hold far-

reaching promises. It has been estimated that by the end 'of the 80's,

computer information transfer will be less expensive than print technology

and will allow us to store whole libraries roughly the size of the Library of

Congress in a computer.4 I.itoponents of video-disc claim that they can do

the same or better with their discs.

Telephone and radio, although widespread in their use for personal

and commercial purposes, are rarely used in education. There are some

isolated trials going on with this technology that require our consideration

and exploration. These are the Satellite Tele Education Program

( STEP), Roche Laboratories, experiment on teleconferencing, the Cono

Educational Network (CEN) in lows, and American Issues Radio

Forum. Because the application of the telephone and radio in education

is rather Ili-lilt-4ft is premature to discuss theiF effeetiveness and

endurance.

How extensive is the use of television in education? Next to the

printing press, television perhaps enjoys an extensiveness of use that is

worthy of being evaluated. With the initiation of distance learning (or

open learning, as it is sometimes called), we can truly say that television

has come of age. A 1980 report prepared for The Station College

Executive Project in Adult Learning5 states that more than 1,800 of the

nations' 2,993 colleges and universities use broadcast and nonbroadcast

television for instruction. In 1978-79, 735 institutions offered more than

2,300 courses over television, enrolling 500,000 students in those

courses. At the community college level, 789 out of 1,088 institutions

(75 percent) make use of television for instruction. Of these, 349 colleges

offered courses over broadcast television enrolling approximately

162,000 students in 1978-79.6

Intitast of colfiptirerre-elfirology,-the Unite-d-Statesis-the prime user

and major exporter of computers. The report by the American Federation

of Information Processing Societies7 mentioned that approximately 60

percent of the world's computers are used in this country. How does the

use of computers in education measure up to this phenomegal growth of

computers in industry? The Fourth Inventory of Computers in U.S.

Higher Education and a servey conduced by CONDUII8 ( a national

organization that evaluates and distributes computer-based instructional

software) covering 3,595 departments and 4,489 faculty reveal the

140

130 Evaluating the yse

following and we quote:

The computer_ is an integral part of higher education only in the

disciplines where it is a required skill for post-baccalaureate

work.

The computer Ls a teaching aid-is not widely used in higher

education, but interest in applications such as tutorial materials

in mathematics is growing

A significant number of schools make little or no use of

computing in the undergraduate institution.

Computing equipment and software currently in place for

instructional use is barely adequate for moderate use and

inadequate for extensive use.

Effective instructional soft.ware is increasingly the major factor

in using the computeM in teaching

Among those institutions not using the computer today, lack of

faculty training is cited as the most important reason.

Despite seridus baniers to the use of instructional computing

an overwhelming number of department heads and instructors

see their use of instructional computing increasing in the figure.

Effectiveness of Instructionil Television

ItiolFiNfill*-emnsiveness- of the use Cif technology in

education is not exhilarating, the topic of effectiveness' is somewhat

distressing. In the first place, research is available only in the areas 'of

television and computers. The best results we can bring to your attention

on instructional television (ITV) are by way of extensive review reports

published periodically. One of these reviews9 published in 1967

summarizes the results of 421 comparisons between ITV andiraditional

instruction (TI).

NUMBER OF CASES

No $ignificant ITV More TI More

Level Difference gffective gffective

Elementary 50 10

Secondary 82 24 16

College 15224 22 ,

7282

TOTAL 308 63 50

Another review10 examined 191 comparisons at the college level and

reported that 102 of these comparisons favored ITV and 89 favored TI,

although most of the differences were not significant When attitlides

were considered, administratm were more likely to befavorable to ITV

than teachers. At the college level, students seemed to prefer small

discussion closes to television classes, and television classes to large

lecture classes. In general, students were more favorable toward ITV

141

Evaluating' the Use 13 1

after they experienCed it than before. Unfortunately, liking ITV was not

always correlated with learning from it.

In the 70's, similar reviews were available. For instance, one review! I

discussed approximately 862 studies that compared the effectiveness of

ITV and TI and concluded that there was strong evidence that ITV which

closely simulates TI was as effective as TI.Although there was very little

evidence concerning the effectiveness ofITV used in ways that utilized

-the unique capabilities of the medium, at least the uniqueness of the

medium was recognized as an important factor. A number of students

and teached had an unfavorable attitude to ITV, but the incidence of

such attitude diminished as *institutions gained experience with the_

medium.

ITV in distance learning programs seems to have yielded somewhat

different results. Research conducted by the University of Mid America12

pointed but that ITV in distade learning perhaps acted as a pacer,

motivating the students to keep up with their work. The completion rate

was markedly improved for courses that included television broadcasts.

Correspondence courses that did not use any television had an average

completion rate of 25 percent, whereas those with broadcast television

Jegistered an average completion rate of 65 percent. More spectacular was

e cise in w -c 361 sufents-enrolleciln a diita-riceliaiiiiiig-Ebtide

television .broadcasts were compared to 185 enrollees in a non-television

course. The completion rates were74 percent and 44 percent respectively.

Effectiveness of Computer-Based Education

There is-no simple uniform conclusion that can be drawn about the

effectiveness of computer-based instruction. The instructional uses of the

computer can be classified as: 1) learning about the computer, 2) learning

through the computer, 3) learning with the computer, and 4) learning

with oomputer support.13 Learning about the computer is the most

rapidly growing aiea of instructional computing commonly known as

data processing. Learning through the computer is more popularly called

CAI (Computer Assisted /nstruction) and is represented by a student

directly interacting with the computer for drill and practice. diaznostic

'testing, and tutorials. PLATO is a good example of this classification.

gwiththecomputerrepresents-thecomputer-as-an-aid to learning

and as an adjunct for the learner. Practical uses include simulation,

gaming, problem solving, etc. Learning with computer support is

probably the most expanding aspect of instructional computing within

higher education. This is known as CMI (ComputerManaged/nstruction)

and the expansion is taking place quietly and often without any notice of

the computer's role. A significant percentage of colleges are using

computer systems to aid in classroom management.

In a summary of the studies conducted in the late 60!s and early 70's

by institutions such as Florida State University, State University of New

142

132 Evaluating the We

YOrk, University of Illinois, Univetsity of TeXas, and Stanford University,

a conservative conclusion was that CAI is about as effective as

traditional instruction when used as a replacement.14 The review

concluded that the pattern of no significant difference in achievement is

depressing, to say the least. This is an uncomfortable position. On the

one hand, it is almost inevitable that the colleges will require the use of

technology if they wish to increase productivity. On the other hand, in

spite of considerable expenditures on educational technology, we have

yet to find positive evidence of its impact on productivity. If cost

. reduction (productivity) were the goal oftechnology rather than learning,

there might be a greater chance of utilizingtechnology ana doing it well.

In 1977,15 anotherreyiew article presented the research of the 70's on

CAI. Despite the large number of CAI projects in existence, the number

of methodologically sound evaluations was -quite meager, the results

were conflicting, and what exists leads to the conclusion that CAI was at

least as good as, if not better than, traditional ornon-traditional methods

in terms of performance scores. However, nearly in allcases, there were

time savings with CAL One can conclude, then, that research has shown

CAI as a possible alternativeto the, other methods but hasnotestablished--.

'teffoctivaless

'Vet another review of research On instructional computing published

by the Florida Commissioner of Education Advisory Board on Instruc-

tional Computing16 examined the most recent studies-36on CAI, half

of which were experimental,20 on CMI, and 12 on Computer Assisted

Guidance (CAG). This report also included three major reviews

published in 1974, 1975, and.1979. What the report has to say is this:

"In summary, results of research on CAI, CMI, and CAG seem to

indicate that computerized methods of all kinds are either better than or

at least as effective as notl-computerized- methods in bringing about

learning gains" (p. B-12). The report further stated that computer-

managed learning seems to make a greater difference in productivity and

lqprning and is more acceptable to teachers than computer-assisted

learning,

One of the problems with CAI is its simplistic approach to learning,

Applications of CAI have notattemptediotonsider-studentvharattens-

tics-andliibjecfffiatter tiiiqueness. The frame-oriented approach in CAI

develops a data base oflessons and expects the computer to transfer this,

frame by frame, to thestudent. The student is routed through the lesson.

This passive view of students is a legacy that CAI inheritedfrom the

stimtilus-respOnse theory. The current trend is away from frame

orientation towards the development of generativeCAI systems in which

algorithms are used to generate problems, questions, answers, and

diagnostics. This approach is influenced by cognitive theories. In this

area lies the challenge of the 80's for the use of computer technology in

education.

143

.Evaluating the Use 133

Individualization of learning is a necessity worthy of our attention and

effort. Note that we have used the term "learning" instead of"instruction."

We have done it deliberately to make our point that our attention and

effort should focus OQ student learning. If the researsh ofthe"60's and

70's has a message for .us, 'it is that the capabilities of computer

technology need to be exploited by the ingenuity of facility to create

educationally sound environments for learning. Kearsley" describes

four levels of individualization as follows: 1) arranging a predetermined

instructional sequence conditional on different responses to pre-specified

questions (the emphasis is on immediate feedback); 2) choosing

subsequent instructiombased on a dynamic measure of performance on

previous materials; 3) providing different presentation modes or instruc-

tional sequences based on individual differences such as aptitudes,

interests, or personality; 4) hypothesizing a 'Model of learning for each

student consisting of procedures for presentation of instructional materials

and assessment of performance (as learning occurs, the model is

modified; this level enables the student to learn the material and gain

"asightrintoJeaming,itse1f): --

What do these levels mean for us in education? Although a vast

majority of the existing CAI programs belong in Level I , we have to raise

the question: "Is it economically and educatiOnally sensible to com-

puterize programmed texts?" We should also raise the question: "Is

immediate feedback necessary and sufficient for all types of learning?"

We think not. "Is there a need to promote reflective learning (self-

correction learning) prior to providing feedback?" If your answer is

"yes" (which of course is the case with us), then perhaps the effectiveness

ofCMI at Levels 2 and 3 should be explored. This leaves us with Level 4

which, m our estimate, should be the subject for CAI programs.

Miami-Dade's Experience

For the pase 10 years, the faculty, advisors, and administrators at

Miami-Dade CoMmunity College are using a multipurpose flexible

CM1 system called RSVP (Response System with Variable Prescriptions).

In the world of iiWP, you will not see stuaents sitting at the terminals

interacting directly with the computer. In fact, there is nothing we can

show you about the computer. Instead, we will show you faculty who are

quitely redesigning their curriculum plans in order to provide indi-

vidualized instruction for their students. The not-so-obyious changes that

are taking place in this setup have led to collaborative work among

educational technologists and content specialists, peer review and

revision of curriculum design, learning activities and assessment tools,

well thought out individualized and prescriptive feedback, and formative

and summative evaluation.

At the administrative level, the management of individualized learning

the accuracy of record-keeping, the availability of research data for

134 Evaluating the Use

evaluating and improving instruction, the, generation of statistics for

federal and state reports, and the sharing of quality work among faculty

are chief among the benefits mentioned for RSVP.

At the faculty level, the possibilities for creating innovative RSVP

coursewares, for providing necessary individual attention and response

to snodents when they need reinforcement rather than when the faculty

are reedy to give it, for making efficient and meaningful use of the time

when f'aculty interact with their students, for being analytical about

evaluating the RSVP coursewares, and for becoming expansive in their

conceptualization of the teaching-learning pi ocess are frequently men-

tioned by the faculty who are using RSVP.

At the student level, RSVP is a decisive winner. Whether RSVPois

used in the lab or classroom or remote setting, the students endorse the

RSVP system of instruction unequivocally. They cherish the privacy in

becoming aware of their errors and the personalized feedback for

correcting their errors, appreciate the "caring" shown by their faculty,

and like the provision for self-paced learning.

Tnational---and--international-recognition- earned-by=RS-VP-is-best---

illustrated by the following two quotations. Particia Cross18 says:

The Miami-Dade experience with the use of computers to manage

individualization is pulling the rug out from under the defense of group

instruction and semesters on grounds of fiscal and administrative

necessitywhich is not necessarily to deny that group instruction may

have its own contributions to Make to some forms of student learning.

But the fact is that it is no longer necessary for economic or

administrative reasons to organize education into semester-long

courses taught to groups of students. We now have the freedom and the

obligation to reassess the usefulness of our organization of education

for its contribution to student learning (p. 17).

Based on their study of the users of computer technology in higher

education in the United States, Great Britain, and the European

countries, McMahon and others19 state:

We have chosen to include a short study of RSVP and its use at Miami-

Dade because it is probably the most extensive, and in many ways the

most effective, compute rrmanaged open learning system now oeprating

in the workL.. The RSVP System at Miami-Dade Community College

is more effectively institutionalized than any date CML systems now

operational in the United Kingdom (pp. 21, 25).

Often people ask: "What is the payoff for Miami-Dade in using

RSVP? Is retention improved? Are grades improved?" Although we

cannot answer many of these questions in the affirmative with any degree

of certainty, and clearly not with hard-core data, except in a few cases,

we have found indications that RSVP improves student attitude and

motivation and thereby their retention and performance. In one applica-

tion in which RSVP is used to provide individualized prescriptive

Evaluating the Use 135

feedback on students' writing, a significant difference between RSVP

ahd non-RSVP groups was observed in the objectivetestComparative

Guidance and Placement Program: Written English Expression. Since

the completion of the experimental study in Winter, 1979, the RSVP

writing program has continued to be used by more faculty for a greater

number of students."

Summary of Effectiveness

Most ofthe studies on educational technology engaged in sumrnative

evaluation without proper formative evaluation. Consequently, the not-

so-positiVe results should not,be viewed with alarm but reflected upon

carefully. It is common knowledge that a variety of technologies is

available for communication. What is ignored, however, is that each of

the technologies has developed a quality and character of its own.

Flexibility and selectivity are the cornerstones for buildirg a technology-

based instructional wpm .21

am Flexibility provides various avenues for

learning The student population is as heterogeneous as the nation's

pdople;thiffpriorleathing-arid-exPectationsvaryikdiitheit thaTitteris--

'tics. What one can learn from an ITV, another might learn equally well, if

not better, from print materials. Although.group-based delivery systems

.generally do not cater to the individual student's needs, the potential to

meet these learning preferences by virtue nf the use of multi-media

adaptations exists.

Each medium has its strengths and weaknesses. From the learners'

perspectives, the medii can arouse their einOtionalinvolvement; pace

their efforts, transmit information, highlight significant ideas, illustrate

abstract concepts, clarify complex themes, stimulate thinking, foster

problem-solving skills, and provide feedback. Selectivity means selecting

a purpose for learning and selecting the medium that best matches the

purpose for a particular student.

Endurance

Which of these techniques will endure in the future? In answering this

question, we can present some speculations and forecasting. Christopher

Dede,22 professor at the University of Houston, Texas, and President of

the Education Section of the World Future Society, claims (in fact

recommends) that the following avenues should be explored: 4) home

TV, 2) portable _computers, 3) home terminals hooked to large

computers, 4) videodiscs and personal compuers, 5) electroniccommuni-

cation and information processing.

Future Survey, a publication of the World Future Society, provides us

some forecasti that are also worthy of ourconsideration. For instance, in

the November, 1980 issue,23 we fmd the following projections frail the

.review of the most recent books: 1) Compiners will become dramatically

smaller, the amount of information they can hold will continue to

146

136 Evalitating the Use

increase, and costs will decline. In the early 1980's, computers will

become the leading industry in the world. 2) Bookswill be compressed

into chip form, with the new computerized version of a book available at

something like 204, as raw material and distribution costs reduce

sensationally with miniaturiz The long-term future will be

dominated by the evolutio of machine intelligence to the Ultra-

Intelligent Machine: a comp ter programmed to perform anyintellectual

activity at least marginally better than man. 4) By the end of 1981, three

incompatible videodisc systems will be battling for a U.S. consumer

market that promises to outstrip the $65 billion annual color TV

business. The array of incompatible players Will slow the market down at

first But eventually, coupled with computer poOier, videodiscs promise

to change the way that employees are trained, equipment is maintained,

students are taught, and products are sold. 5) The convergence of the

telephone, video, and print indsutries is now at hand, bringing changes,

dismptions, threats, and opportunities to all of the major participants in

these industries. Key.catalysts in this convergence include the develop-

ment-vf-Viewdatrandother-tteliffolVeritiedgrovithin--eige-TV

-services, and partial deregulation of the telephone and cable TV

industries.

With all these exuberadt projections, we need.to remember that the

traditional classroom instruction and fixed time frame for assessment

have prevailed in higher education. Beyondthe chalkboard, the overhead

projector is more often used in the classroom than all the other visual

equipment A classic example of "old habitsdie hard': is the Dvorak vs.

Qwerty typewriter keyboards. Despite the fact that the rearrangement of

the keys in the Dvorak keyboard reduced training time by half and

increased typing speed by 60 percent, the standard Qwerty keyboard has

persisted because of tradition.

, "CONCLUSION

The major decision of new technology in education will be shaped by

economic, social, and political factors. However, thebenefits of changes

tan be enhanced through careful attention to desirable faculty roles,

student preparation, and more humane applications of technology.

Technology is neVer independent of people. In fact, it is worthy of our

concern only because it touches our lives Ls we create, understand, and

use it. As we enter the 80's we are fortunate that the research Of the 60's

and 70's has given us the realization thit the chip arid the transistor are

no more than physical objects until their properties are realized by one or

more human beings. Therefore, a true study of technology is the study of

its relationship with those who create it and use. 124

As writers in this field note, the technology is moving ahead quickly

with or without the planning of the educational community. Immediate

action in planning f6r the future appears to be a general recommendation.

147

Evaluating the Use '137

If, in our preoccupation with itjqorclay responsiblities, we fail to

reanhize the pervasive impact oftechnoligihl revolution and actively

plan for its-proper Utilization in education, we will be neglecting our

mission to shape the society whichdepends on quality outcomes from its

educational system. It is a mind-boggling challenge. As we have stated

elsewhere, "Those educators who have a vision beyond the learning

environment of today, a receptive attitude toward change, and a

pioneering spirit to persevere will have the privilege of shaping and

controlling the technological inn6yations in education for inspirational

and imaginative forms of learning. Conversely, fear, insecurity and

anxiety will prevail for those Who choOse to dismiss the waves of the

fu 5 (p: 80).-

REFERENCES:

I. Alderman. D.L, Appel, LR.,ina Murphy, R.T. "PLATO AND TICCIT: AN

Evaluation of CAI in the Community College," Educational Technology, April

1978, pp. 40-45. LT and Madams, G.F. Handbook on Formative and

Summative EvaTuation-qrSlitarerit-Lidiftirtg;-Neve--York:ApicGraW=Hill-

Company, 1971, pp. 61-86.

3. Ali, D.H. "Does Education Want What Technology Can Deliver?" in Computers

and Communications-Implicationsfor Education (Eds) Seidel, R.J. and Rubin;

M.L, New York: Academic Pmss Inc., 1977.

4. Molnar, A.R. "Viable Goals for New Educational Technology Efforts in Science

Education," Edicatiorial Technology, September 1975, pp. 16-22.

5. Munshi, KS. Telecourses: Reflections '80, Washington, D.C.: Corporation for

Public,Broadcasting, 1980.

6. Kressel, M. (Ed) Adult Learning and Public Broadcasting, Washington, D.C.:

American Association of Communityand Junior Colleges, 1980.

7. World Markets for Electronic Data Processing EquiPment, New Jersey:(the

American Federation of Information Processing Societies, 1971.

8. Johnson, J.W. "Getting fromHeretoThere: The Status of Instructional Computing in

Higher Edueation," Technobgical Horizons in Education Journal, December

1980, pp. 48-53, 57.

9. Chu, G.C. and Schramm, W. Learning from Television: What the Research Says.

Stanfoni, California: Institute for Communications Rematch, 1967.

10. -Dubrm, R. and Hadley, RA. The Medium May Be Related tothe Message College

Instruction by TY. Eugene: University of Oregon Press, 1969.

11. Jamison, D., Suppea, P., aml Wells, S. "The Effectivenessof Alternative Instxuctional

Media: A Survey," Review ofEducational Research, 1974, 44: pp. 1-68.

12. Lipson, J. "Technology and Adult Education: A Report on the University of Mid-

America Experiment," Technological Horizons in Education Journal, September

1977, pp. 36-38.

13. Zinn, K.L "Instructional Uses of Computers in Higher Education," in The Fourth

Inventory qf Compufers in Higher:Education: An Intetpretive Report, Princeton,

New Jersey: EDUCDM, 1979.

14. Jamison, D. et aL, Op. cit. 0

15. Kearaley, G.P. "Sonic Conceptual Issues In Computer-Assisted Instruction,"

Journal of Computer-BasedInstruction, August 1977, 4: pp.'8-16.

16. State of Florida. More Hands for Teachers, Report of theCommissioner's Advisory

- Committee on .Instructional Computing. Department of Education, Tallahassee,

February 1980.

17. Keasley, G.P. "Sane Conceptual Issues in Computer-Assisted Insuuction."

Journal of Compiger-Based Instruction, August 1977, 4: pp. 8-16.

148 if

138 Evaluating the Use

.18. Cross, P.K. "What WoulsdHappen if ...?" A paperpresented at the conference of

the League fee Inrielation in the Community College, Newport Beach, California,

Match 1979.

19. McMahon, H.F., Anderson, LS.A., and Anderson, T.H. The Cornputer in the

Management of Open Learning Systems, Report of the Council for Educational

Technology, United Kingdom, 1979.

20. Anandam, K., Eisel, E., and Kotler, L "Effectiveness of a Computer-Based

Feedback System for WritirVJournal ofComputer:Based Instructionp 1980,6: pp.

125-133,

21. Kelly., J.T. and Anandam, K. "Communicating with Distant Learners," in Using

Mate Media for Learn* (Ed) Yarrington, IL Washington, D.C.: American

Association of Community and Junior Colleges, 1979, pp. 71-80.

22. Dale, C.J. "EducationalTechnology: The Next Ten Years,"Instructional Innovator,

March 1980, pp. 17-23.

23. Marien, M. (Ed) Future Suivey, Wa:ihington, D.C.: World Future Society,

November 1980.

24. Meals, D.W. "Strategiesfor Human Resource Development Supporting Technology

Transfer," Journal of EducationalTechnology Systems, 1980, 8: pp. 343-354.

25. Kelly, J.T. and Anandam, K. Op. cit.

.149

tr\

c:14.

c, Managing Technohnical Change in the .

Deis Public Schools_

Nolan Estes

The Universityof Texas at Austin

Austin, Texas

ihettle of this-paper strongly suggests that there may have been,

something magic aboutthe'teCiiniiiiigiCal Chiiiges

.theDallas achools (hereafter, DISD) during the 1970's. Grantetthat

many technological changes did occur is -indréated by at -least the

following hard evidence, DISD, as much as- any urban school system:

has more micro-computers in operation

has produced more original computerized curricula courseware

(Math, reading, bilingual)

, has operationalized aflexible system for delivering state of the art

instruetional television

has integrate& large third generation computer information

systems for administrative support with main frame instructional

surort and with mini-computers, and

has operationalized a total media instructioruil Stipoort systrA -

mom; others too r.umerous to mention here.

'This-paper focuses onaome of these suceesses with special mention

regarding the processes which work...NI-is well as the failures whiCh

sparked ideas for new technological change,thrusts. Of necessity, the

order of presentation herein is somewhat atuned to the chronology of the

1975-80 period and the generalizations which are:thought to beuseful in

the 1980's maybe tempered with impending techkologice, educational

and political changes which cannot be fully identified and assessed at this

- iime.However, suffice it to say thatlechnological change in the schools

was, and is, facilitated directly in proportion to which problems ire

anticipated and solved efficiently and effectiyely. Problf4n areas which

impact technological change include but arnot te&toz",,,

1. Political

139 .15a

140 Managing Change-Dallas

2. Fiscal

3. Technical

4. Instructional

5. Policy, Board and administrative

6. Managerial/administrative

These will be .dealt with here in turn, with emphasis on the human

relationships that are needed to facilitate the desired changes.

Political Context

first, consider the political context which is imperative. In 1915,

DallAs was searching for a solution to its desegregation problems.

"Quality Education" was the mission and taxpayers as well as educators

were ready to "buy into" technology as one strategy to attain that desired

quality. The organized education profession posed no major obstacles

once it understood that technology would not replace teachers but rather

would complement and extend their competencies. The student readiness

for new technology was exceptionallyhigh; they were searching for new

avenues of expressionmagnet schools, computers and ETV were

already among their expectations.

DISD had a favorable political climate for technological change and

this greatly facilitated the technological improvements enumerated

earlier. No doubt, the poli6cal cliniate of the 1980's will be substantially

different and should be assessed carefully and thoughtfully as new

changes are planned. Among the things which will need to be addressed

are:

students will be, accustomed to computer chip applications

through toys, games and the like. They should be'readier" for

technology.

many intelligent parents and citizens will be using micro-

processors in home and work and demand this and other

technology in their schools.

,the organized education profession will have a larger and louaer

voice in educational methodologysometimes for, sometimes

against technological change.'

Fiscal M atters

And now to fiscal matters which affect technological change, let's

review the DISD story. During 1973=79 particularly,, DISD had some

limited local, state and federal resources above those needed to maintain

i minimum education program. The local Board appointed funds to

suppOrt a small cadre of technology development personnel

programmers, analysts, systems planners end others. This local support,

coupled with an aggressive search for outside funds (state and federal)

enabledthe District to amass a technology development effort calculated

'to make a difference. It did, and the results are impressive! However,

i 5 I.

Managing Change-Dallas 141

-those in the 1980's who expect to mount such an effort be aware of or

atuned to:the taxpayer's dollar is buying less-and less,

technology start-up costs ire escalating eve% though the tech-

nologies are improving by leaps and bounds,k

labor intensive education's days or years may be numberedrand

the watchword of the 1980's will be "productivity" and the

asseisment guide will be student addevement

All is not amiss here; it may very well be that the micro-computer and

other new technologies will soon have their fmest day in court..

Technical .

And now for the third area of problems in technological changes, the

technical. Someone said that "the worse thing that can happen usually

does." This is especially true when new technologies are introduced

before they have been bebugged. DI SD had numerous Successes and

failures here. Among the successes were the excellent technicians who

were already aboard with several person-years of experience inworking

with educators. Another success was the technology development

protocol and process already in place. Among the failures were several

administrative and instructional support computer programs which were

not cost-effective (they tied up the computer main frame so that no other

users could obtain access). Altogether, a great deal was learned from

these successes' and failures, notably:

the Most valuable resource in technology change is trained

technicians,

, technicians need to have and/or develop ability to interact and

communicate vith educators, parents and students,

be absolutely certain that new technology hardware and software

are restricted to pilot test settings until thoroughly debugged and

evaluated,

ospecify the technology development protocol and adhere strictly

to this plan,

don't buy any technological "pig in a poke" just to be counted

iniong the "in" group, and

encourage staff technicians to assess continuously the state of the

art technology .developments.

Educational/Instructional

'No doubt, -there are other technical problems which will emerge;

however, let's review some of the educational and instructional problem

-areas. In DISD we were fortunate to have already developed a

curriculum framework in 1975, a "Baseline Curriculuin," before we,

entered substantially into technology curriculum applications develop-

, ment. this is highly essential. A great resource brought forward by this

152

4.,

142 Managing Change-Dadas

activity was the corps of principals, teachers and parents who had

participated. Also, a better defmition Of what the District expected of

students in each grade and subject area emerged. Much later, as we

understood the sytemitic process for computerizing these curricula, we

realized that the two development processes are complementarythe

computer analysis of curriculum content tended to validate the efficacy

of the prior curriculum decisions.

Instructional problems do not end with curriculum decisions being

made, rather they just begin. It is in the implementation of curriculum

through technology applications that the knotty problems emerged.

Again, it is highly essential that the new technology works without a

glitch or hitch. Listed below are some of the strengths and/or problem

areas to address:

i. curriculum developers, especially curriculum writers, consultants

and supervisors need to know and/or be thoroughly trained

regarding the potential and limitations of-the new technology

being utilized,

retain new technology based instruction in tightly managed and

controlled pilot test settings until it is sufficiently refmed to be

reasonably successful with users throughout the district. Use two

or more cycles of pilot testing and refining as necessary.

at an early stage of the new technology development process

begin to bring in the ultimate users (teachers, principals, parents

and students) for orientation to the new technology and feedback

to the initial developers. This helps train the users while keeping

the developers honest and on-target,

conduct continuous product evaluation and cost-effectiveness

studies of the new techndlogy bgfore it is released for widespread

dissemination. Remember, the goal should be to increase

productivity while simultaneously reducing costs, and

always specify Avhat is to be taught in the beginning, then, and

only then, specify how technology may aid the teaching of that

content. Later in the development process, the "how to" step

mai, be .expected to cause changes in the original curriculum

decisions.

Policy/Administrative

And now, let's examine the fifth area of concern affecting technological

change, that of Board and Administrative policy. We could have

discussed this area first, however, policies tend to focus on the four areas

of concern already addressed and therefore, they were presented for

background information. In DISD, we fortunately entered into major

new technological changes bydemonstrating to the Board that technology

was the only way to supply information the Board needed for making

informed decisions. This included a comprehensive computerized data

1 53

Managing Change:Dallas 143

base for each of school finance, teacher personnel, student personnel,

school faciliteis and later purchasing. Once the Board was committed to

its own information needs, the general policy framework was established

and it was easy to extend these policies to instructional needs and to the

schools. Some general administrative policies and regulations emerged

as the administration saw the benefits which technology could bring;

however, a few such administrator negotiations emerged only after

various departments became convinced that hand processing was an

artifact of the horse and buggy days.and that the computer's day had

arrived. Some guidelines for developing Board and administrative

policies which will facilitate technological changes include:

focus Board policies on the broad arena ofwhat needs to`be done;

administrative policies or regulations on the-how it is to be done,

address the Board's needs in policies first, the administration's

needs later,-

introduce the Board to new technology by demonstration (not

telling about); provide hands-on experience wherever practicable,

update Board policies periodically to encompass new technolo-

gies which may require such modifications, and

cause the Board to reference each future action to a previously

adopted.policy.

Management

Lastly, this presentation would be remiss without proper reference to

the management and administration of technological change. If one

accepts management as "causing desirable eyents and activities to

happen," then the role of management, and therefore, the administration,

is critical in the change process. In DISD, we established the administra-

tive position that the management of technological change was one of the

primary missions of administration. The administrative team concept of

leadership, including all levels of administrators, was thoroughly in-

doctrinated with this administrative position. We literally "lived with"

new technological applications as they emerged and made them an

integral part of our daily lives. We lived and breathed computerized class

scheduling, grade reporting, attendance accounting, fiscal accounting,

student assessment, teacher personnel records and others too numerous

to mention. Out of this effort grew a great deal of management expertise

which can be couched in the following suggestions:

administration at all levels must demonstrate reliance on and

confidence in new technologies,

each administrator must "get dirty with the data out with the

troops," as technological changes Are implemented,

complex technological changes require new management 15ro-

cesses in order to coordinate the efforts of various departments

and to monitor and assess continuously the effects of the

1 5

144 Managing Change-Dallas

changes, and

the management of technological change may very well be the

most effective strategy available to administration for improving

schooling and schools.

v--Ire

(1.C\1

Managing Technological Change in

Montrmery County, Maryland

Homer Elseroad

Consultant

ljamsville, Mar)land

INTRODUCTION

Over the past fifteen years several applications of computer technology

to edueation have been implemented in the Montgothery County Public

Schools. My task, for this meeting has been toreview that experience to

find what lessons we can glean from it that might guide our efforts at

implementing technolog;cal change in education in the future.

Fifteen years ago this selcocil system leased a small computer. It was

operated by a staff of nineteen. This staff, organizationally placed in the

finance department, supported certain fmancial functions. Their reportt

were used by central office administrators and auditors. The restof the

several thousand staff menbers in theschool system were unawake of and

unaffected by these computer applications. Now the school system has

outgrown its 371-58 computeroperated full time 24 hours per day. There

are 128 central office staff members working on computerapplications.

They collect data from and provide services anti reports to virtually every

central office. The computer is also used in loccl school application such

as scheduling attendance, control of school funds, and reporting pupil

progress. Instructional uses of computers include computer assisted

instruction (CAI), computer 'Managed instruction (CMI), teaching of

computer literacy and computer operation, and terminals or small

computers placed in individual schools for a range of scfiool administra-

tion and instruction uses. Thus, today I estimate that 3,000 staff

members in the school system offices and 182 schools are using

computers directly for part of their work. All 12,000 employees, state

and federal officials and Montgomery County citizens are directly

affected by computer applications because of the services and reports

now provided with computer technology.

156

145

146 Managing Change-Montgomery County

Planning/Managing Change

Change in eduation comes slowly and sometimes painfully. If real

change is to occur it must be planned and managed with a keen

awareness of the behavior of staffand the public, both affected by the

contemplated changes.

In preparing for my paper, I reviewed documents and interviewed

people directly involved in developing and implementing applications of

computer technology in education in Montgomery Countyover the past

fifteen yews. Let me describe briefly four of the major events that

influenced these developments.

Task Force Appointed

In 1965 a Board ofEducation appointed task force studied education

application of computer technology. Fourteen County residents with

professional experience and knowledge in computer technology studied

what *as happening inother places, examined cost effectivenestof using

computer technology for administrative and management functions,

identified new services thatcomputer technology could provide,evaluated

the worth of those services, and studied the cost of different computer

configurations,

This task force metfrequently with the Board of Education for public

discussion. Interim reports were provided for staffand public study. The

fmal report of the task force laid out a master plan for development of

computer applications in the school system.

Through this process staff, the Board and interested citizens became

knoWledgeable about applications of computer technology to education.

The long range plan provided a basis for implementation recommenda-

tions for Board action.

R/D Project in Instruction

A second major step in the evolving use of computer technology in

education in MontgomeryCounty was a six year research and develop-

ment project in computer assisted instruction (CAI) and computer

managed instruction (CMI). This project, which began in July 1968,

responded to four concerns of the Board of Education and various citizen

groups. Those concerns were:

1) Disappointing levels of pupil achievement in computation skills.

With "new math" pupils were doing exceptionally well in math

concepts, but drill had largely disappeared from books and

teacher practice. Mastery of computational skills had declined

2) Special education. Special education was expanding. Handi-

-- capped children and youth formerly not in public schools were

being enrolled A deeply felt unwillingness toaccept the low level

of progress and achievement experienced by many special

157

'Managing Change-Montgomery County 147

education pupils prompted a search for better teaching methods

for this population.

3) Greater individualization of instruction. Ten years of progress in

reducing class size and emphasizing individualizing ofinstruction

had not made much difference. The quest for better ways to

individualize instruction and unlock pupils from progress by

time blocks continued.

4) Search for economies. In a effort to off-set the high cost of

reducing class size, various methods were sought to give teachers

support and assistance. If non-teaching duties and routinetasks,

that consumed teacher time and energy cduld be handled in

another way, could teachers then successfully teach larger

classes?

During this same period of time certain other events were occurring

which ultimately helped determine the strategy to be used by the school

system in addressing the four concerns cited above. Those other events

were:1) Title III of ESEA enacted in 1965 provided money for research

and innovation.

2) IBM was interested in field testing its newly developed 1500

series computer.

3) Following the 1965 Task Force Report there was a receptive

climate for consideration of the use of computer technology in

instruction.

Given these circumstances, it's not surprising that the idea evolved

that the four education concerns cited above might beaddressed through

CAI. A search of the literature revealed considerableevidence that such

an approach held promise. Staff papers were prepared suggesting CAP

programs that might bc implemented. These were discussed at Board

meetings and given wide public distribution. As support developed and

with Board approval, a proposal was submitted to the Title III office and

negotiation begun with IBM.

Program and funding approvals were received, detailed plans de-

veloped, and the research and development projeCt started.

Its purposes were to:

1) Develop and test CAL instruction materials to be used in several

aspects of the instructional program including: basic skills in

math, math for retarded adolescents, individualizing instruction,

and increased teacher efficiency.

2) Develop staff capability for effective use of CAI.

3) Identify and validate effective application ofCAI.

Actual instruction was conducted by teachers in the four CAI schools.

A project staff of twelve prepared instructional materials, wrote computer

programs, operated the computer, trained classroom teachers, helped

with evaluation, proposed and developed additional CAI applications,

158

148 Managing Change-Montgomery County

reported on the project, and maintained communications with board,

staff and citizens. This staffdeveloped a high level of expertise, excellent

morale, good rapport with school staffand earned the respect of school

officials, board members and interested citizens.

By the middle of the sixth year research and development phase, 16

modular instructional packages had been developed. Programs included

elementary arithmetic-diagnostic and instructional, junior high arithmetic-

diagnostic and drill, special education-arithmetic, and senior high

algebra I and II, and geometry. Insubsequent years a range of additional

packages were developed from grade one phonics to elementary

language arts to high school mechanicaldrawing, chemistry and French.

During this same period computer literacy and vocational data

processing were taught- in many high schools. Computer assisted

counseling began. A Penn State University graduate course in early

identification was used extensively in teacher training.

Evaluating Researrh Results

Research results were used to help guide program development.

41/2.chievernent gains for pupils and attitudes of pupils and teachers were

very positive for most programs. Where this was not so, programs were

modified or dropped. Generally, research results showed significantly

greater achievement gains by CAI pupils over non-CAI pupils in

elementary arithmetic. Special education results were the most dramatic.

Teachers were able to provide more individualized instruction with

computer support and CAI .geometry classes with 40 percent more

pupils, did as well as smaller non-CAI classes.

A CAI Project Advisory Council composed of representatives from

the computer and instruction departments, CAI schools and interestid

citizens played a significant role in coordinating this work among

departments and school's. It also designed strategies for frequent Board

and citizen reports and discussions throughout the life of the project. A

reservoir of public and staff support resulted.

Developing a Model MIS

A third major event that influenced the development of computer

technologyjn education in Montgomery County was ajoint MCPS-IBM

Task Force to develop a model Comprehensive Educational Managerial

Information System for a school district. This task force brought

computer and education experts together for two years of work. Their

model consisted of seven subsystems: Finance, Personnel, Pupil,

Facilities, Material, CAI and CMI. With the benefit of this "model" a

master plan for a total Information System for Montgomery County

Schools was adopted by the Board. Organizational and equipment

changes wyre made to facilitate implementation of the master plan. A

Users Council composed of the five Associate Superintendents in the

5- 9

Managing Change-Montgomery County 149

school system met regularly to decide on priorities for subsystem

applicition development and to assure good cooperation and coordination

across departmentsa condition of utmost importance to success.

Institutionalizing CAI and CMI

The fourth major event was-the institutionalizing of the CAI and CMI

applications which flowed from the six year (1968-1974) research and

developthent project. This occurred in two phases. First, in 1974 the

hard wire, limited capacity, 1500 computer was discontinued and all

adMinistrative and instructional applications were brought together info

a large computer operating with a common data base. Atthe same time,

the Board adopted an implementation plan for moving CAI and CMI

providing for moving programs into 13 elementary and 7 secondary

schools in 1974-75. The second implementation phase adopted in 1975

called_for variations of CMr application for math instruction in all

elementary schools, By 1979-80 this program, known as Instructional

SysteM in Math (ISM), was in place in 77 schools.

Recommendations

Are there any lessons to be learned; generalizations to be made from

this fifteen years of expereince that might help point the way for

successful application of computer technology in the future? I think so.

Of course the applications may be quite different, but the management

strategies for accomplishing change may not be. Some of those strategies

I think are:

1. Efforts to make changes In curriculum and instruction priorities .

should grow out of real problems that have been identified

through research, analysis, opinion polling and other, reliable

techniques for collecting and evaluating data. Changes that

produce visible relief to these well defmed problems are likely to

maintain the kind of support necessary to sustain them.

2. Have written objectives to be achieved by proposed changes.

These objectives should be simply stated so they are under-

standable and meaningful to the average staff person and

parent. They should be achievable. Nothh2gis more damaging

to effecting long term change than making overly ambitious

claims and then trying to explain away why they were not

achieved; objective setting should be both long and short range.

When short range objectives represent measurable increments

of Progress and when evaluation data shows that those objectives

are being 2chieved, confidence builds in both the managers of

the process and the practices being implemented.

3. Research proposed changes to determine if they will in fact

achieve the objectives. Search the literature for good data mi

1.6 0

150 Managing Change-Montgomery County

relevant research and experience elsewhere. Change in educa-

tion, especially change as complex as melding computer

technology and education, is expensive and draining of staff

energy "and time. It should not be undertaken unless there is

powerful evidence to show that it is very likely to be successful.

4. Prepare a comprehensive plan for building understanding and

for introduction and management of the change. It's best to have

a broad base of participation in preparing this plan. This step is

especially critical when applying computer technology to

education. People are reluctant to give up their paper records.

Teachers, who typically work alone, must learn to function as

part of a team. All must acquire some degree of computer

literacy. Training is required. Constant capacitytime, access,

and prograMming must be built into the plan. Management

procedures need to assure prompt resolution of disputes.

5. Too often efforts to change education have failed because they

were sustained by one dynamic person and when that person

left, or condifence in that individual eroded, the program -

collapsed. Applications of computer technology in education

require major changes in staffbehaviors and usually cost extra

start-up money. They won't Succeed unless there is understanding

and.commitment by staff and citizens. Take time to write up the

plan. Meet with staff and interested citizens. Make sure the

Board really believes in the undertaking. Involve staff and

citizenslike Montgomery County's CAI Advisory

Committeein guiding the new procedures. Keep a constant

flow of information goingto staff and citizens. TheirSupport will

atrophy if it is not nurtured through the years of planning,

introduction and institutionalization.

6. Project cost realistically and report regularly on actual expendi-

tures. Distrust will develop if administrators are forever

explaining why new programs cost more than was prpjected.

Cost effectivéhess is an increasingly significant factor in

education. Unless a proposed educational change has real long-

term potential for saving money or increasing learning, it should

not be undertaken.

7. Provide the management support system necessary to maintain

the program. This is especially important in applying computer

technology to education. In Montgomery County The Users

Councils of the five associate superintendents which controlled

allocation of computer time was critical. At one point, 90

percent of computer time during the work day was required to

support CAI/CMI. Without this high level decision making

authority, that would not have happened. Administrative tasks

that have deadlines, like getting checks out, will pre-empt

Managing Change-Monigomery Counly 151

computer time unless there is authority to control and allocate it.

8. Training, where computer applications are involved, requires

special attention. 'For many the change will require an entirely

new way of thinking and working. The technology is mysterious

to most people. Giving up the security of old systems whether

files of hard copy documents or the use of text book and paper

and pencil learning activities comes hard. Thus, training must

also help people cope with the personal behavior changes they

face.

9. Staff the nes;qechnology application to education with a leader

knowledgeabl8 in both fields, and who is also a good manager,

teacher and motivator and has the respect of colleagues. Any

change designed to be instittitionalized should not be staffed in

start-up phases with only "super people." Such practice may

lead to disappointment when the application is extended to the

regular staff.

10. Begin any change in instruction or management procedures in a

research mode. ewcumulate and evaluate data to determine

how well tJplan is working. Make changes as necessary-Ito

accompIijjanned activities.

11. Report tdiscuss progress several times per year. Relate

progress to short and long term objectives established-in the

master plan. Parents and staff are especially concerned where

computer applications involve pupils and instruction.

12. Move through planned steps to full implementation. Each step

should be manageable. Progress should move forward boldly

with constant momentum, but never more in any one year than

can be well staffed, supported and Managed.

SUMMARY

In summary, the most significant observation to be made in looking

back over 15 years of applications of coMputer technology to education

in one school system is that it evolved in a rather orderly, rational way

with each new step building upon the expanded knowledge base and

successes of earlier steps. The technology is ever changing. Specific

applications to education therefore, will be different tomorrow than they

were yesterday. The process, however, of effecting change for greater

economy and/or effectiveness through deliberate steps that are attainable,

well planned and well managed is still sound and still applicable.

162

M3naging Technology 'Change

"MEcC: A Management History'

reN

cr% John E. Haugo

CD President, Edusystems Incorporated

c\J St. Paul, Minnesota

(NJ

L.L.1 INTRODUCTION

The Minnesota EducationalComputing Consortium (MECC). is an

organization created by the four pcblic educational system: htMindesota

to coordinate and provide compter services to students, teaehers and

educational administratorsthroughout the state. MECC draws upon the

resources of member systems and 75 professional staff in providing the

overall review of computingplans and budgets; a statewide instnictional

timesharing system; the support for microcomputers purchased through

a state contract; the development of regionally:based management

information systems; andsupport to a variety of special projects utilizing

computers.

MECC transcends the various organizational levels of education,

serving elementary, secondozy, vocationakechnics4 and higher educa-

tional institutions. MECC is organized under the I oint 'Powers Lay, a

'statute which permits governmental units to form art organization which

cooperalively exercisesthe powers common ta each of the entities

forming th. organization: In the case of MECC, the entities who formed

the consortium in 1973 are: the.Minnesota State University System (7

camputm), the Minnesota Community College System(18 campuses),

the University of Minnesota(5 campuses), the State Department of

Education (433 school districts), and the State Department ofMtninii:

tration. The latter agency serves as a member because its statutoty

authority relative to the State Univeraity and C unity College

Systems.

MECC has the dual 'roles of coordination and service. In its

coordination role, it maintains a long range master plan and a biennial

plan for educational computing in the state, and reviews and assists

institutions in developing theirannual computer plans. In its service role,

16 3 ,152

Managing Change-MECC 153

'MECC operates 'a Statewide timesharing network, develops and im-

plements computer-based,mantgement informatioe systems, acts as a

broker (or sirrilar SerViCCII from- member institutions, supports the

acquisition aed operationof Microcomputers, andcontracti for computer

tqiiipment that can be used by its members.

Governance, of MECC

MECC is goVerned by a sixteen-member Board of Direet;rs. The

State Board of Education appoints six members tb theBoard representing

"eleeientary, secondary, and vocational education. The three systems of

higher education each appoint two Board members. These members

include high ivel administrators and governing board members. The

Commissioner ofAdministation appoints one member and the Governor

ippoints -three Meliiberi to the Baia Tradilionally; one. of _the

Governoes sPpointees has been from the private college sector. The

Boantef Directori establishes overall policy and governs the operation

of the ivnsortium.

The consortium alsohas an advisory structure consisting of a Planning

and Budgeting Committee and a Facilities, and Services Review

Committee. The latier group is responsible forieview of all proposals for

compute? services. Additionally, there are a- number of standing user

idvisory committees, and periodic ad,boc tatik forces.

.(+-

Funding

Funding for MECC his come pritearily from state sources. Almost all

of the budget is either appropriated to the four edecstional systems or

comes from the school districts. MECC signs an annual agreement with

the *cationsl systems to provide specificservices-The leyel of servicbs

snr1 amount of the contract arefixed prior to the system'sfiinding reqUest

tO the legislature. This type of agreementprovides around eighty percent.,

of MECC's total budget requirements_ MECC- Also provides instrub- -

Willa time-sharing services to the independent school districts. , These

are billed to the school districts at a fixed annual user chargeper,teiminal

access. This source of fielding represents slightly less tllin twenty.

percent of MECC's total bpsiget:.Pther support for special projetts

comes from sources external to the State.

Planning ,

Each membei of,MECC is responsible for its own operational plan.

For the seven regions this includes the installation of computing

equipment uncler the master contract The mEcc staff works closely

with the members'.ataffs in the vlevelopment of these plans.

Beginning in Febtesry before each Iienniatsession ol the legislature,

the members assess their needs and work interactively with ,theMECC

staff to develop plani:hicli fall within the master plan for the State. It is

1 6 4

154 Managing Change-MECC

intended that die two staffs can igree on an operational plan for thenext

biennium before the members' staff takes takes its recommendations to

its advisory committees. The members present their plans to their own

advisory groups before they are officially transmitted to MECC. The

MECC staff receives the plan as recommended by the members:.

advisory grdup. They review .this verSion of the plan and make

recominefidations -to-the Facilities and Services Review Committee.

This standing-committee consists of a technically qualified peer group.

After the review by the MECCstaff and the Facilities Committee, the plan

is transmitted with recOmmendation to the mgcc Board of Directors

for final approNial.

S ervices

MECC is divided into three operating divisions. The Instructional

Services Division manages and operates the mgcc Timeshare System

(MTS), a Control Data CYBER 73 with 425 user ports. At present,

approximately 2,000 MTS computer terminals are located across the

state in most public schools, all community colleges and pithlic

uniirersities, and many of Minnesota's private schools. MECC also

supports the acquisition, installation, an'd software support for approxi-

mately 2000

,Apple II microcomputers. User Services personnel serve

the users at all levels by conducting workshops, producing curriculum

materials, training teachers and teaching courses on instructional

compuing. They also make available written materials ranging from

periodic newsletters to curriculum .guides that can be used to help

implement computer use in the classroom. A large multiplexing

communications netCyork provides the means by which users access the,

MTS computer. The computer has a progam library of over 950

timeshare and microcomputer programs that supplements curriculaat

the elementary, secondary and college levels. Progranlls in the library

have been developed and/or contributed by MECC staff and -users.

The Management Information Services Division performs tasks

related td the development and imPlementation ofmanagement informa-

tion or administrative data processing service; for elementary, secondary

and vocational school districts. The servicesare provided through seven

regionally-based service- centers located throughout the state. Compre-

hensive and flexible software haibeen developed and is being supported

and maintained to scuPport the school district manager-nen:, data

processing, and reporting needs in the areas of personnel, finance,

student and instructional management. This Software operates on

Burroughs B6800 series computers.

The Special Projects Division initiates, implements, facilitates, and

manages a wide range of activities related td the use of computers in

education. In carrying out Its responsibility for project development,

Special Projects staff become involved in activities ranging from the

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Managing Change-MECC 155

initial exploration of a potential computer use to the implementation of

,major outside funded prcdects. iteseatch projects designed to explore a

wide range of hypotheses related to computer use in education are

conducted by the Division. Primary support for recent research lips come

from the National Stience Foundation and- the National Institute of

Education.

Progress Towards Goals

When MECC was established in 1973, a number of goals were

identified for the Organization. The foremost goals and related MECC

accomplishments are:

1. To achieve economy ofscale in computer hardware utilization

and acquisition: There are a number of examples regarding the

attainment of this goal. Perhaps the most significant economies

have been gained in the acquisition of Management Information

Services (MIS) host computers for the Elementary.Secondary

Vocational (ESV) regional processing centers. To date, seven

major host computer systems with total monthly costs of approxi-

mately $140,000 have been acquired at a 40 percent discount

through a state master contract established by MECC. Addi-

tionally, various terminals and over 2,000 microcomputers have

been acquired thmugh state contracts. In addition to price breaks

associated with these acquisitions, the compatibility of equipment

and time savings associated with procurement have Also benefited

the state. In terms of the economy of use, the MIS systems as well

as the MIS host computer all achieve high utilization and are

permitting significant savings to users.

2. To achieve cost-effective.communications networking: MECO

and its member systems currently provide instructional ume-

sharing service to all the higher education institutions and 350

school districts throughout the state. The annual cost of this

network is approximately a million afid a halfdollars. Because of

the economies ofjoint use of the telecommunications systems as

.well as the optimization of the configuration, it is estimated that

this cost is Oproximately one-third of what it woukl have been

had the network been established independent of the MECC

planning,fictivity. Similar economies are also realized through

the regionally-based MIS telecoMmunications networks.

3. To minimize system design-and development costs: There-are

two major developments Which have helped minimize the costs

associated with computers. The first is the statewide system

development and support-of the elementary, secondary, voca-

tional information system (ESV-IS). The software is being

implemented at the regional ESV service, centers. The second

major savings in software has been with the MIS system where

156 ,Managing Change-MEG-6

over 900 instructional cfmputer programs are part of timesharing

and microcomputer libraries. They have been jointly developed

and made accessible for all users throughout the state.

4. To share expertise andsuccessful applications: Many computer

programs, systems, triming materials, and usage models have

been adapted .from Major service centers that existed prior to

MECC. Most notable among these are the TIES regional center,

the University of Minnegota MERITS5sYStem, and theSouthern

Minnesota School Computer Project based at Mankato State

University. It is difficult to quantify in terms of dollars the

attainments related to this goal. Additionally, there has been a

significant amount of"cross-fertilization" among various educa-

tional useis be,cause of participation in MECC services and

advisory activities.

5. To assure uniformity and compatibility of data: The develop-

ment and use of standard software utilized by all regional ESV

centers is the most significantexample of attainment of this goal.

The information reported to, local school districts, regional-

service units, state and federal government are uniform in terms

of definition and compatible terms of the mode in which the

data tare transmitted. The higher education institutions have

consolidated their administrative data processing or MIS services

on major computers and as such have also achieved significant

uniformity and compatibility of data.

6. To facilitate training ofeducators in regard to educational

computing: In regard to instructional computing, over 500

workshops arid presentations are made annuallS, throughout the

state. School and college users are typically visited on an annual

basis to promote use of the computer as an effective instructional

tool. A significant amount of training related to the MI'Ssystem

has also been conducted by MECCMECC staff' has worked

closely with higher education faculty in deVelopingtheir cur'riculum

course materials related to instructional and MIS computing

services.

Management and Governance Problems

Inherent in the establishment of any organization are a number of

economic, political, and technical problems. MECC, because of its

unique nature as a statewide computer Service organization, has

.encountered its share. The following include some of the problems that

have been encountered by the organization during its first seven years of

existence:

1. "Turf'concerns: At the time MECC was established, the larger

educational entities had the most on-going computing activity.

They had the least to gain from a statewide cooperative

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Managing Change-MECC 157

computing activity. The maiority of the political probjems which

MECC has had to deal with were because of the reluctance of the

existing providers of computing services to participate in de-

velopments which were beneficial to the state as a whole. In

addition, a number of newly created computer services groups

have had difficulty identifying their role and, as such, have not

always recognized the significance of the roles of MECC and the

member systems.

2. Rejection oforiginal MTS host computer Because of a series of

technical and political considerations, the original host computer

used for the support of the statewide timesharing netWork did not

meet acceptance requirements. This failure caused considerable

concern among users, staff, and the legislature. Fortunately, the

replacement system was installed with a minimal amount of

problems and the network is nationally recognized for both the

quality and quantity of services.

3. Overlapping governance structures: Along with the problems

associated with role delineation is the fact that there currently are

a number of governing boards with authority related to educa-

tional computing which include: the MECC Board, the member

systems' governing Wards, regional governing boards, and local

school district boards. Although there is rationale for the

existence of each of these boards, the fact is that many

governance issues are dealt with in a cumbersome, time con-

suming Manner because of the number and, in some cases,

overlap of responsibility of these boards in regard to educational

computing.

4. MECC review and services responsibilities: At times, concern

has been raised about MECC's responsibility for coordination

planning on one hand, and the.provision of services, on the other.

Where MECC itself is one alternative as a provider ofservices, it

has been felt that its review authority is somewhat inappropriate.

The Board has chose to deal with this by having, separate

advisory structures, namely, the Facilitiei and Services Review

Committee and the Planning and Budgeting Council, to advise

the Board on matters related to its regulatory and serVices roles.

It is also felt that because of the composition of the Board (high

level administrators and lay representatives), it is in a position to

thake decisions regarding a potential area of conflict

5. Uniqueness of the orgaaization: Although it is true that there are

regional and educational system cooperatives throughout the

nation, there is no other state that has a statewide educational

computing services cooperative for alr levels of education. As

such, many of the problems that are encountered byMECC are

unique and there are no other models to follow. This fact has

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158 Managing Change-MECC

made the management tasks of the MECC Board and staff

challenging. Hopefully, it will enable MECC to serve as a

-prototype statewide computing services cooperative.

6. Difficulty with administrativeprocedures: When MECC was

initially established, they had adopted administrative personnel,

accounting, payroll, etc. from the state and/or University of

Minnesota. Legislation passed in the 1977 session required that

IttECC become a part of State Civil Service. Because of the

uniqueness of the organization, the high demand for data

processing staff, and the need for_ flexibility because of changing

annual goals, many frustrations in the administrative operations

of MECC have been realized by staff Problems associated with

cumbersome administrative procedures have impacted the timely

completion of some of its annual objectives.

.0MMARY

It can be said that MECC has met primary goals and that it has been

successful in terms of the overall purposes for which it was created. It

should be pointed out, however, that this particular, approach to

statewide coordination and delivery of services worked in Minnesota in a

given point in time. It sould not be assumed that the WC C modelwould

work for other states with different fmancial, political, and geographic

considerations. Also, rapidly changing computer technology will require

that the MECC services model, as well as other cooperative computing

centers, be reevaluated periodically.

Most of the problems that MECC has encountered have not been

economic or technical, they have been political or human problems. As

many individuals or organizations are involved in a cooperative decision

process, it follows that conflicting interests sometimes affect decision

making processes. Hopefully, MECC has achieved a balance of power,

so to speak, in the manner in which decisions are made. If there is any

one area in terms of governance that could be improved, it would be in the

streamlining of the accountability to the rest of the state government.

In summary, it slems that the need for cooperatively produced,

specialized educational services is going to increase at the same time that

enrollment and funds for education decrease. Hopefully, MECC will

continue to provide the means by which one type of educational service,

educational computing, can be eiTectively made available to educators in

Minnesota.

1 63

re\reN

Managing thePevelopment of the Public

Telecommunications Center,

C\J Spokane, Washington

LU Wolter Schoor

General Manager, KSPS-TV

Spokane, Washington

INTRODUCTION

The plain and simple fact is the Public Telecommunications Center

began with two people struggling to- fmd a solution to an inherited

problem. The two people were the Director of Engineering and myself,

General Manager of KSPS-TV, a public television stationlicensed to the

public schools of Spokane. The problem was to fmd a way to deliver

instructional television programs to junior and senior high school

classrooms. As manager of KS PS-TV and a school district employee, I

was taking a great amount of criticism from teachers and administrators

of junior and senior high schools over the station's "inability" to deliver

any services to grades 7 through 12. In contrast, kindergarten through 6th

grade classes were utilizing the over-the-air chiumel nicely.

Responding to this problem, the KSPS-TV engineering department

designed a closed-circuit cable system to interconnect all of the buildings

in the Spokane schools. Just as the finishing estimates and design work

were being completed, an announcement was made that the city council

was going to consider an "emergency ordinance" to establish a cable

franchise.

One must keep in mind that in 1971 cable franchising was less

competitive and less politically oriented..The city council realized that it

wu not going to be able to "give the franchise" away. Commercial

4, television stations, local business leaders, and public broadcasters

(KSPS7TV) requested that the cable issue be turned over to a committee

of interested citizens. This committee would study the cable question and

produce a reasonable set of specifications for potential cable bidders.

Preparing for Cable

I was appointed by the Superintendent of SchOols to represent School

159 .170

160 Spokane, Washington

District 81 and KSPS-TV in those discussions. During 1972, meetings

to develop cable specifications were regular and well publicized. It is

interesting to note that only one of the institutions of higher. education

attended any of these meetings or showed any particular interest in cable.

It is important to focus briefly on this point because some of the higher

educational institutions felt that Spokane Schools and KSPS-TV

dominated educational channel capacitylater this attitude was a major

management problem to overcome. After a year, the specifications were

ready. The cable companies prepared proposals and the selection

process began. (Having now lived on both sides ofthefranchising fence, I

have seen some educational institutions shy away from the selection

process apparently-because of its political nature. Other institutions

openly and wholeheartedly embrace the process (not a particular

company) and they will, in the long run, be the winner.)

After Cox Cable was awarded the Spokane franchise, the higher

educational institutions became fully aware of the progress that had been

made in the educational arena by KSPS-TV and the public schools.

These institutions began to get into the actsome through resentment

and others through enthusiasm. The city council had already begun

pressuring educational entities to cooperate, essentially saying, "Get

your act together or forget it. We will not include you at all if you can't

agree." At that time cable companies had to have letters of compliance

fro'm the FCC before corstruction could be started. And, because

Spokane was the first system to request five educational channels, it was

necessary for all the educational parties to work together to show the

FCC that five channels could be programmed effectively.

Utilization Clause

A portion of the Spokane cable ordinance deals with this issue of

utilization; it was called the "use it or lose it clause."

Excerpt from eity of Spokane cable ordinance:

That a grantee shall reserve an initial five (5) channels, or such

number as the F.C.C. shall allow, solely for education on a

development basis. Upon completion ofthe basic trunk line, if it is

found that 80% of the week days from September through May, both

months inclusive, during any consecutive three (3) hour period for six (6)

consecutive weeks, the number of these channels may be reduced to

the extent necessary to meet this less than 80% level of usage. If it is

also found that 80% of these channels are being used 80% of the week

days from September through May, both months inclusive, during any

consecutive three (3) hour period for six (6) weeks, additional channels

may be requested to meet this more than 80% level of usage. These

channels will all remain available to the schools without charge for a

period of five (5) years beginningfrom the completion of the basic trunk

line of the system, provided, however, that said channels shall be

furnished without charge subsequent to-said five-year period if F.C.C.

rules and regulations allow.

1 7i

Spokane, Washington 161

With the utilization clause, the city council pressure for cooperation,

and all of our- collective educational reputations on the line, it became

evident that a cooperative venture was the proper way to proceed. The

fortunate circumstances of having a strong public TV station licensed to a

public school district with well over 10 years of television experience,

carried the group along for the first few years while the cable system was

being constructed. In addition, there was .considerable television interest

at one of the community colleges and one private four-yearinstitution. In-

the early stage of the Spokane system between 1973 and-1975; KSPS-

TV personnel abandoned the plans for a closed Circuit system since cable

was imminent.

Implementing Action Plan

I unofficially assumed management of the Spokane consortium to

begin to put into action what we had promised. The plan of action

involved managing two distinct developing programs:

One program involved designing a total public telecommunica-

tions center, including equipment acquisition.

The other program involved the ifse of cable in the stcondary

schools of Spokane. Let's discuss the secondary schools and

cable first.

The Spokane secondary school program had two beginning objectives:

1. Cite enthusiasm among secondary people (i.e., teachers and

nts where there was little.

2. Develop a step-by-step construction program which included

bot.'i hardware and software in eachjunior and senior high school.

Spokane schools were fortunate to have educators and aeuninistrators

who were interested and willing to saörifice time to start the program

planning process. The pilot prOject, funded in part by the Corporation for

Public Broadcasting, began in the part of town where cable was first

initiated. The project grew from four schools during the 1976-1977

school year, to eight schools during the 1977-1978 school year, and then

eventually to all 13 secondary schools in 1978-1979.

The management of the Spokane project meant balancing software

acquisition and production with hardware acquisition and installation.

Many l`chicken or egg" decisions threw the balance of progress one way

or the other. Using any television in a school district requires making

programming decisions, but using cable televiskin requires making

programming, equipment and facility decisions.

Almost every decision is going to cost money in both the short and long

term. Television software and hardware both have very short lifetimes

and are reoccurring expenses. Very few school administrators know that

or want to admit it.

The first step is to clearly identify how cable in the classroom will be

used:

172

162 Spokane,' Washington

_1. Transmitting prerecorded sequential TV programs for student

use.

2. Nonzoqucntial Listractiov iv classroom.

3. Teacher training programs.

4. Locally produced outreach programs to dm community.

.5. Additional training opportunities for students.

The first two priorities were to deliver educational programs to the

classroom. All the other uses together would not equal 10 percent of this.

The second decision was a plan to equip classrooms and buildings

properly so cable could be received ineach classroom. We knew thatwas

going to require a sizable capital expenditure. And, we knew that the

school administration and the School Board were going to need some

options. More importantly, we knew above all that nothing was going to

happen all at once.

Establishing Capital Expenditures

In order to document a detailed capital expenditure program, we had

to establish:

1. What the total package should be.

2. The timing of the project.

3. How many dollars would need to be spent to accomplish the task.

4. What would the acquisition ofthis type of equipment mean to the

day to day operating expenses.

5. How would equipment be replaced as it wore out.

6. What were the'Sources of funds for the immediate expenditures.

7. What were the long run sources of funds for maintenance and

replacement.

There were several unique elements,-ntend with in the cise of

capital expenditures for cable and the c assroom:

All students and teachers need to be treated similarly as fast as

possible. Any long term (more than 3 years) proposal would

never fly.

Inflation being what it is, the quicker the better.

If however all the hardware is installed and software is not ready

there will be charges of misuse of dollars for "unused toys."

We would have to proceed quickly on a broad basis to assure

"something for everyone" or we would lack the support necessary

to acquire administrative and board approval.

A total plant design was worked out. The ultimate goal was to:

Wire every full-time teaching station in the Spokane School

District

Place a color, wall-mounted or otherwise permanent TV set at

each teaching station.

Provide each building withone channel "internal" closed circuit.

system.

1 73

Spokane, Washington 163

Build a headend distribution cen r with:

AFTD C ovhaekinvtord

- 5 modulators

- 7 time base correctors

A routing switcher capable of simu eously:

- Feeding all five channels

Dubbing at least 2 separate progr

- Recording at least 4 incoming sign s i.e., upstream from

various studios throughout the syste ,from Westar and

Satcom satellites, from channel 7 mas r control, or studio

production

A computer capable of a:

- Library function, including program right end dates, etc.

- Machine control function

- Programming function

Once that plan was put in place, putting the sequen e together was a

matter of finding possible sources of funding and defining a time schedule

for the entire project.

Planning Options

What follows are planning options presented at regular intervals to the

administration and board. These options provided both groups not only

with close control of the progress dcthe system but also required them to

become involved and interested in how the project was moving.

Recommendations for the cable television program for 1980-el and

1981-82 include:

Recommendation *1: Television Sets and Wiring of School Buildings

Each of the following three proposals contain_ the recornmendatfons;

however, the implementation schedule varies which affects the expendi-

ture required.

Proposal *1 (Spring 1980)

Purchase TV sets to serve 65% of all secondary school

teaching stations-100 sets @ $550 = $ 55,000

Purchase TV sets to serve 90% of all elementary school

teaching stations-483 @ $550 = 265,650

Wire all classrooms in all schools-462 @ $250 115,500

$435,150

AdvantagesTV set prices are now lower then any time before this,

and lower than they will probably be next year.A

bulk buy should save money.

The television sets and wiring can be used now.

The price to wire all schools at once, especially

during the summer, will be better.

174

164 Spokane, Washington

Disadvantages$436,150 is a large expenditure for one year.

Pruposal *2. (Sprint,. _1980_

Purchase TV sets to Serve 60% of all secondary school

_teaching stations-45 sets @ $550 = $ 24,750

purchase TV sets to serve 90% of all elementary school

teaching stations-483 @ $550 =265,650

$290,400

(Fall/Winter 1980)

Wire classrooms at Adams, Franklin,'Hamblen, $115,000

Indian Trail,Logan, Madison, Pratt and 32,450

Linwood-172@ $250 $147,950

AdvantagesTV set prices are low now.

The TV sets can used now.

We have reduced out per-year expenditure re-

quirement.

DisadvantagesSome schools need wiring now.

Wiring would have to be done during school time.

Proposal *3 (1980-81)

Purchase TV sets to serve 60% of all school

classrooms-310 @ $550 $170,500

Wire classrooms at Adams, Franklin, Hamblen, Indian Trail,

Logan, Madison, Pratt and Linwood-172 @ $250 =-- 43,000

$213,500

(1981-82)

Purchase 218 TV sets to bring all elementary classrooms

to 90% = $119,900

Wire remaining schools-290 rooms @ $250 = 72,500

$192,400

AdvantagesTV sets Would be improved at all levels.

Schools with impaired receptionwould be helped.

The expenditure is divided over a two-year period.

DisadvantagesIt will cost more in the long run.

Recommendation *2: Closed Circuit Television

No decisions should be made regarding secondary school use of

originating equipment and the intern program until the comprehensive

study now under way is completedby the Basic Education Department,

in cooperation with KSPS-TV, I.M.C., and Vocational Education.

When this study is completed, May 1, 1980, consideration will have to

be given to the recommendations.

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Spokane, Washington 165

Recommendation *3: Maintenance

icsps-!rv personnel continue to provide maintenance on district

television equipment

Recommendation #4: Play-Back Units at School

'In March of 1979, equipment was installed in all secondary schools to

provide a basic one channel of local school playback capability This is

working very well. Many requests have been received for additional

pieces of equipment such as cameras and switchers to improve school

production .of television programs.

It is recommended that the single channel concept be continued for

school playback capability. It is further recommended that no decision be

made regarding purchases of additional cameras, tape recorders and

other equipment until the Basic Education report (see Recommendation

*2) is completed.

The district purchased three portable color camera VTEcombinations

for schools to be used on a check-out basis from KSPS-TV. The

equipment has just arrived and is being checked out to schools. The

results of this experiment will be reflected in the comprehensive report

Seed Money

The most obvious problem was an initial large amount of money

would be necessary to put togetlblpet;,the headend origination center. This

was not something that could done on a piecemeal basis.

Cox Cable construction plans also had to be taken into consideration.

We requested that Cox exceed their original channel capacity commit-

ment and install seven-mile institutional cable from the Public Tele-

communications Center to the Cox Master Terminal Center. Frankly,

the Cox construction schedule gave us the necessary excuse to sequence

our purchases and thus give the financing of the prqect breathing room.

Fortunately a small demonstration program, the Telecommunication

Demonstration Grant Program administered by Ann Erdman, was

available through the Office of Education, Health, Education and

Welfare. The maximum amount supposedly available for any particular

demonstration was to be no more than $50,000.

The timing of the grant requested, the grant maximum, and a more

clearly defined cable construction schedule made it all the more

necessary to get the total educational community better organized.

Designing a Total Public Communications Center

ihe loosely knit consortium hid been meeting only occasionally since

the outset of the construction. No* that a significant portion of the

system was built and cable connection penetration had reached a large

176

166 Spokane, Washington

enough level, colleges were starting to think in terms of delivery of

instructional materiallo subscriber's homes.

The next stepthe most difficuk of the entire processwas convincing

all of the colleges that a cohsortium was a much more effective and

efficient way to operate a cable origilation center. -

With convincing the colleges accomplished, the consortium put

collective strength and clout behind the' grant request to the Tele-

communications Demonstration GrarkProgram. The grant request was

for $169,000 rather dun $50,000, with 13 institutions co-signing the

request. The result was a successful $169,000 grant to equip the

origination center for use by all the institutions. The grant forced the issue

of establishing long term goals ofthe consortium and devising a method

qf financing the long term Operatingcosts. The consortium or C.A .B.LE:

(Cable Advisory Board for Learning and Education) clearly defined

these goals:

1. Work as the main organization representing all levels of public

and private education and the public to establish guidelines for

access to educational channels authorized by the City of

Spokane and operated by the franshisee of the city-authorized

CATV system;

2. Act as a "clearing house" for all educational constithencies to

reduce Wasteful duplication of effort andresources in providing

programming for the CATV system;

3. Encourage cooperation and sharing of resources among board-

represented institutions and districts and other educational

constituencies;

4. Help members impress theirown administrations.with the many

advantages inherent in thoroughly-planned, constructive use of

CATV channels; and --

5. Communicate to the community at Nrge the educitional and

public affairs potential of CATV and to encourage their

judicious use of available channels.

6. Develop specific programs, courses, workshops, seminars

and/or other software to be presentedon the CATV educational

channels by Board-represented members, other educational/

instructional groups and organizations, and/or individuals, or

any cooperative agreements among these constituencies;

7. Establish policy guidelines for priorities in the processing of all

applications for access and use of the CATV channels set aside

for educational development;

8. Develop specific recommendations, including suggested fees,

when applicable, for the use of TV production facilities by

Board representatives and the public;

9. Establish a procedure for consideringall applications for access

and to include in such procedure some mithod of appeal to

1 7 7

Spokane, Washington 167

,thase applicants who think their material warrants higher

priority or whose request has been rejected; A

10. Develop a "Procedural Guideline and TV Production and

Preparation Recommendations" for all prospective users of the

CATV educational channels; and

11. Through the medium of the Board established by this Agree-

ment, seek cooperative agreements .with other institutions,

consortia and public agencies in order to further the objectives

of the Member institutions.

In addition, the agreement established a managing institution to

operate the center ahd maintain the equipment and provide administrative

and paVroll structure. The agreement al,so outlined some general-policies

that helped maintain a degree of professionalism and program continuity

concerriing Use of all the channels fOr education. (Copies ofthe complete

agreement can be obtained -by writing Walter Schaar, Director of

Education and Information Services, Cox Cable Communications, Inc.)

With the advent of the consortium agreement and the establishment of

KSPS-TV/Schooi-District 81 as the managing institution, the major

hurdles to organization were over. As of June, 1980, the managing

institution is School District 81. The center einploys a manager, two full-

time operatOra, one schedu1m, and uses at least one half perion for

/maintenance froM the KSPS-TV engineering stafr.

,The general manager of KSPS-TV is the chief executive officer of the

operation. The director of telecommunications of KSPS-TV is

sponsible f9r the maintenance acd equipment replacement procedures

for the center.

At this siage of the development, the center is just entoringinto itsfirst

pure operational year. However, operations are running so smoothlythat

organizations who are members of the consortium bvtAte.physically

outside of the francliise- 'area are accessing funds to interconnect

ffiernselves with microwave on a two-way basis. Figure 1-shoWS those

interconnecting institutions with it dotted line interconnected.

.° ':-.Cox Cable and the Ctmsortium have akso devslopedi.the upstream

§apacity of Spokane's 35-channel systems so that 4. channels can be fed

-siMultaneously up td the Public Telecommunications Center. This

illoWs for two-way.use between institutions.

146i4o1ement of Center

'e management of the total center is now divided into two distinet

,elements. First, is the ongoing operations including ectimating yearly

usagefand fees to be charged to cover thosefiours of use. Those estimates

t ,mdst not only cover the hourly operating costs but also take into account

-,.egilipment replacement: And secondly, encouraging all Consortium

;...,-members to develop original programs.

'The Consortium nOw operates much like a board of directors, electing

173

411,

168 Spoiane, Washingion

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a chairmen- who -is responsible for bringing the directors together to

Conduct business. He or she also is the chieflialson with the manager of

the Managing institution. The Consortium manager and the CEO of the

managmg institution cooperate in the selection of personnel for the

Cellar. The Consortium, tO this point, does not deal with either *grain

production or acquisition as a group. Each institutiori is responsible to

their own. The cable manager, howeyer does eupply each member

institution with, pmgrain source liiforination and 41 _responsible for

seeking new fundingsairces -for programs. At the present tithe -the

Consortium Ihurds only the operation of the telecoMmunications center.

----;

.1(9

Spokane, Washington 10

The cable Consortium has generated a high degree of cooperation. The

two-year and foUr-year schools using telecouises have:

Started to schedule in such a way toallow steady progress by a

TV student.

Hastened the establishment of credit transfers.

Eliminated almost all duplication of programs.

In addition, all members of the Consortium have started sharing

equipment for special needs. When the final agreethent was signed in

June, 1980; a survey was taken to seejust what we had Managed to

interconnect For a community of approximately 280,0001people, the

resulti ót ihat survey were staggering:

two 40' X 50' fully equipped studios

four 30' X 40' fully equipped studios

one 35' X 80' fully equipped. studio

three instructional media centers at two 4-year institutions

and one, two-year institution

10' Salor studio cameras $45,000 to $120,000

.14 ENG cameras $18,000 to $43,000

-Over 200 .W VTR's

twelve 2" Quad VTR's

six post production studios

And, the managers of this mass quantity of equipment and facilities

meet once a month and willingly loan to other institutions.

Several members of the Consortium are in the TV production and

technician training business. SpokaneSchools/KSPS-TV have an aotive

high school intern program. Spokane Falls Community College his a

well-established broadcast curriculum and GonzagaEastem

Washingiqn University and Washington State University all have four-

Year programs in broadcasting. One of the goals of the Consertium is to

sequence these educational programs sp a young person could graduate

from collegewith 6 to 8 years of both academic and hands-on experience.

The management of the Consortiumactivities are really shared by the

Consortium chairman,- the manager ofthe managing institutiOn, and the

cable manager, who is hired by the first two. In contrast, the management

of the use of cable by Spokane publicschools is quite a different process

and involves a geater number of people.

The manager of the public TV station is responsible for the use of cable

by Spokane public schools. The manager of KSPS-TV sets aSide all the'

operational aspects of the center and is heavily involved in programming,

production, acquisitiori, utilization, andmaintenance, and operation of

that equipment used .solely 13j, School District 81 personnel.

Prc ;ram Content

Program content is decided by the inatructional department. The

instructional television coordinator reports to the superintendent of

180

170 Spokane, Washi4ton

instructiOn for coMent and to the general manager for logistic support

.i.e., production, proinotion, etc. Maintenance of the TV sets and interior

wiring of the schools is under the direction of the TV station engineering

department, with help from the school district physical plantdepartment.

This team of 21/2 people is responsible for 1,500 colorTV sets, twenty

3/4" VTR's and all the building and construction equipment in 13

secondary schools and 38 elementary schools. This cost had to be

projected in the original total plan as additional operation costs above

and beyond the TV station maintenance. And,production of any kind

whether it be in studio or done with remote truck on ENG including all

post production editing is coordinated by the operational manager.

Each of these three department heads are responsible for developing

estimated budgets on a year-by-year basis. The total operating budget of

the use of the cable origination center by School District 81 and the

exclusive costs of schoolprogramming, production, and maintenance are

combined by the general manager and shown as a separate accounting

progam in the total KSPS-TV operating budget.

SUMMARY

The manager of KSPS-TV is the center of focus for the TV station and

the entire telecommunications center. It is pethaps this that,has allowed

the center to acquire its unique nature.

Through the years of good faith in negotiating, all of the educational

institutions in the area are convinced that the Public Telecommunica-

tion Center and an organization like C.A.B.L.E. is the most logical,

effective, and efficient way to use multi-channel cable.

18i

The Consortium Approach:

Preserving Colle-ge-Decision=iMaking

Pik

Philip C. Dolce

Director, Center for Public MediciProgromming

Bergen Comihunity CoIlge

--Paromus, New Jersey

INTRODUCTION

The subject of this book, technology and education, is most timely for

it implies a partnerihip between a series of sophisticated methodologies

and those established institutions charged with fulfilling the nation's

formal instructional mission. The major question today is not the..

acceptance of technology, but rather its organized and systematized use

in education.. Even the . most elementary textbook will reveal that

organization and system (with the political and economic poWer which

naturally flows from it) are as important as the machines in the actual

application of any technology.

A case in point is the use of media-based instruction in higher

education. In an earlier era, advocates of this methodology were usually

forced to deal -with such issues as the mere acceptance of the notion of

media-based instruction; proving that this methodology was as valid as

more traditional methods of instruction; and refuting the notion that

teachers wouldIose their jobs or suffer a reduction in function or prestige

tgt* if this technology were:accepted.

While some of these questions linger on, there is no doubt that our

major focus now must be concentrated not on acceptance but on

organized use. To be specific, what role will established institutions of

higher education have in employing nrss media instruction and howyill

.ck these institutions assist in the future direction of the entire field. These

questions are based on an assumption that colleges and universitiet

should have a substantial role in determining any matter pertaining to

higher education. However, this assumption is not shared universally.

Robert L. Hilliard, who is presently on leave as chief of the Educational

Broadcasting Branch of the Federal Communications Commission, is

171 182

172 The Consortium Approach

one of a number of individuals who have advocated an Open University

for America. However, he believes that the administration of an Open

University "should not be in the hands of such traditional institutions as

existing colleges and universities w,hich,on the whole, haye done little to

show that they understand the relationship between media and

education."

Master Plans

In general, institutions of higher education have suffered a loss-of

power and prestige for the last ten or fifteen years. In the 1960's, master

plans for higher education were rapidly put in place so that by 1970

virtually no state was without one. Under such master plans, decision-

making power over such issues as admissions, budgets, tuition, and

programs were removed from local control and placed in the hands of

state officials. Reduced enrollments, combined withincreased questions

about the relationship between higher education and potential employ-

ment opportunities, contributed to a decline in prestige for institutions of

higher learning. Ernest L. Boyer, Jr., President of the Carnegie

Foundation, recently stated that "there is evidence abroad that the

nation's colleges and universities are no longer the creative institutions

they could be. They are tired, livingon the intellectual legacy of the past."

Media-Based Instruction

Such attitudes and criticisms, no doubt, will affect organizational plans

for media-based instruction. There is a tendencY to believe that

established institutions cannot support the implementation of new

concepts arid that an idea cannot be fostered unless it is nurtured in.an

entirely different organizational structure. This has been reinforced by

the fact that some of the most active opposition to media-based

instruction in particular, and technology in general, was found on college

campuses. It also is true that tradition and democratic participation

usually slow down the centralized direction, efficiency, and speed under

which new techniques can be deployed. While all of these statements

have some basis in reality, they tend to ignore the remarkably adaptive

nature of American higher education in general and the history of media-

based instruction in particular.

Despite its technological base, media-based instruction in the United

States is not a centralized movement. Instead, the strength of the

movement was marked by voluntary local and regional efforts of

institutions of higher education located in different parts of the country.

One of the major reasons decision-inaking power was left tojndividual

*colleges is that most state educational master plans ignored this field

entirely. Similarly, those who controlled the nationwide radio and

television network delivery systems were not overly concerned-about

attemOing to organize what appeared to be such a marginal market.

18 3

The Consortium Approach 173

Therefore, unlike the British Open University or even elementary

education in this country, media-based instruction struggled to find its

own organizational base.

In a number of areas around the country, media-based instruction was

quitely fostered along naturarand rational lines of development. In many

cases, institutions of higher education banded together to form

constituency-based consortia which then utilized available technological

delivery systems. Such an approach superseded local, county and in

some cases state boundaries. Each region, therefore, was self-defined by

the forces of geography, technology, and voluntary institutional alliance.

These consortia served a number of functions. They allowed colleges

to pool resources and expertise while derivingcost-sharing benefits for

the leasing and administration of media-based instructional material.

Consortia provided a forum for democratic participation in decision-

making and an organization for mutual support. They served as a bridge

between two-year and four-year public and private colleges, thus

reducing competition and resolving issues of territoriality. Membership

in such organizations gave colleges the flexibility of participating in some

projects but not in others without the threat of total exclusion. In many

cases, the voluntary and gradual development of media-based instruction

reduced ,the fear of technology on college campuses. It allowed

institutions of higher learning to adjust their programs and procedures to

accommodate the new technology.

Consortia

Consortia also enabled colleges to rationalize technological delivery

systems which not only cross traditional college boundaries_but political

ones as weli. This, of course, encouraged local commercial, cable and

public television stations to provide broadcast time which would not have

been forthcoming otherwise. As Elton Rule, President of.ABC, noted:

The consortiuM concept not only enables broadcasters to respond

more effectively to the zducational needs of the communities, but helps

us to allocate the fmite amount of time. we have to offer on a more

equitable basis for all.

Regional consortia, therefore, have successfidly demonstrated an

ability to merge educational autonomy with a technological base which

can serve all its members. Thomas W. Hobbs, of Seminole Community

College, might have been describing most of these organizations when he

stated that the Florida Consortium "was 'designed to meet the needs of

the individual colleges and was not superimposed upon the system at the

state level."

The lack of imposed structure and uniformity allowed for wide

experimentation to improve the learning experience of students who

utilized media-based instruction. The absence of bureaucratic rules

fostered innovation and imagination on local college campuses to recruit

1'8 4

174 The Consortium Approach

and then service "nontraditional" students. These efforts were en-

couraged and enhanced by consortia activities. A series of recent

seminars entitled "Working with Telecourses," sponsored by the

National Association of Educational Broadcasters (NAEB), found a

consistent belief that consortium activities fostered better services to

students.

The importance of regional consortia cannot be overstated. They

represent the grassroots movement that characterize media-based

instruction in this country. Today, there are over a dozen major consortia

in the United States. No two of these consortia are exactly alike.

Examples of various types of regional consortia include:

The Capital Area Higher Education Mass Media Council

The Capitol Area Higher Education Mass Media Council is a newly

formed organization whichrepresents the interests of eleven two-year

and four-year public and prii,ate instinitions of higher learning in

Virginia, Maryland, and the Districtof Columbia. The Council seeks

to act as a systematic liaison with public and commercial broadcasters,

cable companies, and radio stations. WETA and WVET and the

Consortiuth for Continuing Education of Northern Virginia already

are working with CAHEMIK.

The Tri-State College Consortium

The Tri-State Consortium, (soon to be renamed the Eastern Educa-

tional Consortium), was founded in 1973 and consisted of twelve

colleges working with one PBS station. Today the organization is the

second largest media-based consortiumin the United States with fifty-

five two-year and four-year public and private colleges in New York,

Connecticut, New Jersey, and parts of Pennsylvania and Delaware.

Its unique organizational configuration is due to long-standing historic

trends in higher education and the overlap of technological delivery

systems. The consortium has reached the limits of its geographic

service area and currently works cooperatively with commercial

television (ABC affiliates in New York and Philadelphia, and WOR),

public television (New Jersey Public Television and members of the

New York network of PBS stations), and cable television (over 20

companies' including UA Columbia, Cablevision, Suburban Cable,

etc.). The Consortium offers four telecourses a year and provides

video duplication and other support services to members.

The Southern California Consortium

The Southern California Consortium for Community College

Television, a cooperative liaison of 34 Community colleges and six

counties in the Los Angeles area, was formed in 1970 as an

185

The Consortium Approach 175

organization dedicated to the.production and distribution of college-

credit courses via broadcast television. Two hundred seventyLfive

thousand students have enrolled in courses that the Consortium has

offered. Currently ten broadcast television stations are involved in this

effort: major network affiliates (ABC, CBS, NBC), independent

broadcasters, and both community-based and college-licensed public

television stations. At least 25 courses are offered for credit each year.

Courses produced by the consortium are marketed nationally.

The Florida State Consortium

The Florida Community College Radio and Television Consortium

was formed in 1973: to provide channels for users of media-based

instructional programs; to share ideas, experiences, and costs; and to

reduce the costs incurred by individual institutions in the use of

television-based instruction. The state of Florida is broken up into six

regions based on broadcast signal coverage areas. The courses offered

vary within the legion.

It is true that active opposition to media-based instruction was most

vocal on college campuses. However, we should also recognize that

whatever success this field has enjoyed has been due to the innovative

role certain individual colleges (such as Coast, Dallas, Chicago, Miami-

Dade and the University of Maryland) have played. It is also due to the

strong efforts of regional consortia including those previously mentioned

plus others that come to mind, such as The University of Mid-America

and the Appalachian regional consortium. Not surprisingly, many of the

innovative colleges cited above also belong to regional consortia which

service their geographic areas. Success in this field has been substantial

since approximately 500,000 students annually enroll in organized

instructional experiences designed for delivery by mass media.

These results were achieved within an organizational plan which has

been naturally emerging for almost a decade and is rooted in the full

participation of existing institutions of higher .education. The AACJC

Mass Media Task Force has strenuously encouraged national co-

operation, but recognized that the strength of media-based instruction

"lies in the optimal use of local distribution outlets and provision of

services tailored to the needs of local learners."

Organizational Alternatives

Due to the current level of success of media-based instruction, new

opportunities have emerged for massive funding and national distribution

of material. There is a defmite feeling that we are on the brink of a

tremendous breakthrough in the use of technology. This has naturally led

to discussions about the organization or rather the reorganization of the

field. Perhaps state or federal officials should be charged with the

responsibilities of implementing mass-media instruction? Perhaps a

s 6

176 The Consortium Approach

series of experimental colleges should be entrusted with responsibilities

for serving student needs or a national university should be established?

Perhaps the delivery of all Ostructional material should be funneled

through one agency to maiiaie impact? Such ideas deserve careful

consideration.

Hopefully, we also will carefully consider the successful pattern of

development which has emerged over the last decade. This pattern has

united innovation with tradition by preserving the decision-making

power of existing institutions of higher learning through constituency-

- based regional consortia. National programs, including technologically-

based ones, do not necessarily imply the need for a highly centralized

decision-making apparatus, especially in America. Professional planners

have long recognized that a regional approach to certain crucial public

policy Matters is highly desirable, especially if they transcend political

boundaries. For instance, housing, transportation, and open space

utilization were all considered to be the responsibility of local and state

officials. Yet these officials could not cope with such problems which

extended beyond their jurisdiction because of natural geographic and

technological factors. A frequently used alternative was to impose

tiniform national solutions to offset local and state parochialism.

However, many federal officials have come to recognize that highly

centralized decision-making employs a strategy which completely

disregards established practices and traditions. In addition, national

decision-making also fails to recognize local and regional differences and

imposes a uniformity of practice which cannot be sustained in certain

geographic regions. Most importantly, such actions usually fail to builda

consensus based on meaningful participation of representative institutions.

Therefore, the federal government has tried to counteract these negative

effects by establishing regional planning authorities which transcend

local political boundaries, but recognize the natural and historicforces

which helped to shape a geographic area. Interestingly, media-based

consortia have acted in much the same way as regional planning

agencies.

A common sense solution is to build on the organization pattern which

has already .emerged. The idea of preserving the college's decision-

making power in media-based instruction should not be viewed as a gift

to institutions of higher education. In fact, jt was their work and that of

their voluntary organizations which gave life to this field. Regional

consortia have already begun to cooperate ona number of issues and this

effort should be encouraged. It is not too difficult to iniagine that this

dialogue might lead to a national association of consortia. Such an'

organization would help determine those issues which traverse the entire

countiy. Thus local, regional and national concerns wouldbe accounted

for in an organizational pattern based on the real participation of

-institutions of higher learning. In order to insure this organizational

54 7

7he Consortium Approach 177

pattern, regional consortia have and will continue to assume the

following responsibilities:

I ) To provide an administrative framework that permitsdemocratic

participation from its membership while also providing a strong

regional voice for higher edw:dion:

2) To provide support services to member colleges.

3) To assure that all technological delivery systems (public and

commercial broadcast, cable, radio, newspapers and self-paced

home study) are open and available to its membership.

4) To pool fmancial resources to make media-based instruction cost

efficient,

5) To pool expertise and experience to Continually improve the

state of media-based instruction.

6) To work collectively with other regional consortia in order to

effectively influence and develop national policy on tele-

communications.

7) To encourage the development of similar regional groups in

areas of the country where they do not presently exist, in order to

insure that all geographic areas receive constituency-based

direction and are fairly represented in national decision-making.

SUMMARY

Educational technology necessarily involves a concept of partnership.

Those who control the means of mass distribution on a local or regional

level such as cable companies, radio and television stations (both

commercial and public), as well as newspapers always have been

essential to the success of the field. These long-standing partnerihips

between colleges and local stations are beginning to be formalized in

consortia arrangements. Similarly, state educational authorities and

regional planning agencies have an important role to play in the

utilization of educational technology. T'..7.; diverse interests of so many

groups can only be accommodated in a regional configuration in which

all have a strong sense of responsibility.

Mass media is only one aspect of the technological revolution whIch

will impact on higher education. The home computer, the video disc,

teletext, and other microelectronic methodobgies are rapidly gaining

attention. We will soombe facing the same problems of their organized

and systematized use. It is evident that the academic community mustbe

heavily involvE0 in these activities. Individually, colleges are not strong

enough to control or even influence this movement. On the other hand, a

national organization which claims to represent the interests of all

institutions of higher education cannot provide access for meaningful

participation by its membership. However, the collective strength of

regional consortia combines the power of a national organization with the

full participation inherent in local assemblies. In addition, consortia

could expand their role to include many different types of technologies.

Thus, these., organizations should evolve into regional learning centgs

within easy access of member colleges.

188

178 The Cons() lium Approach

Too often technology has been associated closely with efficiency and

0centralized direction in its brganized use. Older organizational concepts

such as voluntarism, tradition, local control, and participation are

thought to undermine the effectiveness of technology. Such an approach

confuses means with ends and gives technology a life of its own. In

reality, technology should provide a service to help improve the human

condition. This service is enriched rather i.han limited by the full

participation of those institutionsalready entrusted with the educational

destiny of the nation.

189

Accreditation and Technology Issues

JenvW.Miller

Director, Division of Academic Affairs

qnd lnsiNtional Relations

American council on Education

Washington, D.C.

INTRODucTIoN

Accreditation issues raised by the use of educational technology are

not substantially different from those raised during the decade of the

seventies by the nontraditional education movement.* Simply put, with

the coming of nontraditional pducation, of which instruction by tech-

.nology is a part, judgmenta about quality now have to be made on the

basii of considerations that go beyond educational and decision-making

processes, educational resources, and qualifications of faculty to focus

More on educational outcomes.

The nontraditional educational movement pit accreditaticgtmto a role

th at it has not historically savored. The accreditation frati ity through

the years has preferred to emphasize the improvenient of quality fiinction

of Accreditation over providing assurances about the validity of creden-

tials awarded by colleges and universities. This latter function of

accreditation embodies the consumer protection concern that4came to

the fore in the early seventies and which now may be receding as the

primary raison d'etre.of accreditation.

In elaborating these points, it is necessary to review some key

historical aspects of accreditation and some of its fundamental assp-

tions: Only then can the accreditation issues raised by nontraditional

education be understood.

Meaning of Accreditation

Acciedited status awarded by a recognized accrediting agency is a

For Purpoees _of this presentation, instruction by technology is referred to Ls

nontraditionarethcation.

179 19 0

180 Accreditation

public expression of confidence in the expertise and integrity of the

accredited institution 'in meetingthe-minimum standards of educational

quality. But that status meant many thingt to many people.

its most common meaning to the public at large, although rarely lever

itated so _directly or franldy by an accrediting agency, hinges on the

question of Whether the degree or course credits earned at the institution

in question are any good. How does the degree compare in the

marketplace with degrees conferred by other institutions? Will it be

4plued and rewarded by employers and other educational institutions?

QUeStiOILS regarding the validity of recognition conferred for educa-

tional accomplishment by an educational institution stem from the uses

of educational CredeAtials in our society. Credentials is a broadly used

term, Often expressed in common parlance as he or she "has the

credentials for the job." Ile speaker of such a phrase most often is

referring to formal recognition of educational accomplishment conferred

'by an accredited institution, although successful work experience is

sometimes a factor. The frequency with which the reference is made

points up the central role of credentials in a complex, highly mobile,and

technological society. Firms, clients, or patients in need of esoteric

services, when left solely to their own devices, are often unable or

unWilling to make judgments about the qualifications of a person to do a

competent job: Formal Credeetialing, therefore; becomes ail important

social service and is likely:to besomeeven more important as society and

the economy becomes tnore complex and specialized. Thus, the validity

of educational credentials, or educational standards as some might

prefer, will likely .be a continuing public concern. Tq emphasize a point

Made earlier, accreditation will likely remain important in assuring the

validity of degiees and other recognition, such as course credits,

conferred by educational institutions:

Accreditation Considerations

With particular reference to the validity of recognition for educational

accomplishment, accreditation has sought to assure the following: ( I)

that there is a faculty that is expert in the requisite fields of knowledge

and skills, (2) that the facility has defined the requirements for the award

of the degree, (3) thafthe faculty has determined how these requirements

can be met by the student seeking to qualify, and (4) that reliable and

valid processes are in place and used to test the knowledge and to

measure the skills certified by the degree. if such stepsliave been taken,

there should be a high correlation between the award and the competence

of the holder.

Before the days of nontraditional education life was much more simple

for the accreditation community. The evidence it required in order to

make a public expression of confidence in an institution was more straight-

forward Azcrediting concerns were manifested differently by the

191

Accreditation 181

several agencies in the way they wrote,Their standards. Generally and

somewhat over simplified here for purposes of brevity, the standards,

however stated, dealt with the following concerns: qualifications of the

faculty; resources available to the faculty and student body(classrooms,

laboratories, lihpry); proper decision-making processes `and organiza-

tional consideration; essential to support the educational process; and

qualifications of stUdents admitted to undertake study. Edudational

outcomes that speak to the validity of the degrees awarded, while not

ignored, were not the focus of the accreditation. To a very,great extent,

accreditation twined satisfactory educational outcomes dell the othir

considerations were met. And those easumptions hr.:i a great deal of

validity.

Accreditors lives bebame a great dee more complicated with the

advent of nontraditional education. Interest in nontraditionaladnation .

was accompained by a movement to accelerate the practices and to

improve the piocedbres by .which educational-institutions could, with

confidence and validity, award credit for learning that was achieved

outaide the formal sponsorship of accredited colleges and universities.

All the traditional benchmarks on which accreditation has relied for so

long were not as sacrosanct now, if indeed they were validconsiderations

al all.It was in the seventies that the term "educational outcomes" came to

the fore not onlY for curriculum designers but also for accreditors.

Fducational proofs:, organizational structure, resourceileobviously

still important to a quality educational experiencewere nonetheless

becoming loss critical benchmarks to support the accreditationdecision.

Accreditation still tilts ia the direction ofits traditional considerations

but it has made great strides philosophically aid technically in accommO-

dating the nontraditional educational movement. But withthat desirable

shift,* accreditation has fueled its critics, 'a substantial body of which has

always been around to yelp at the heels of the accreditors but few of

whom offer constructive suggestions.fO'r improvement Many critics say

accreditation has gone too far 31 aCcomModating nootradOonal educa-

tional approaches and as ai ,rult educational standards in the great

majority of institutions are sliming.

Many astute educational 'lenders agree the standards are slipping. But

to blame it all on nontraditional'education goes firbeyond reasonThere

is as much evidence of educadonal malpractice in the traditional

classroom on the traditional camput using traditional faculty And

traditional methods as there is in the nontraditional sector. Thvachool

board which announced that it would administer a basic test to

prospective teachers to assure they could handle the language atthe 10th

"trade level said a greatdeal about standards in the traditional classroom.

Those prospective teacher hireswere not likely to have been enrolled in a

-nontraditional English composition, course or to have been taught

192

182 Accreditation

Eng lig: composition by the school of education,to cite another whipping

boy.

Role of Faculty

The gatekeeper of standards for studentaccomplishment is the testing

and certification function of faculty, whether it be traditional or

nontraditional education. Expert judgment, given the nature of the

educational process and the limitations ofeducation measurement, is

essential. And the greatest critical mass of expert judgment resides in a

qualified faculty.

How a qualified faculty spends its time may shift substantially as it

becomes more involved in nontraditional education. Faculty traditionally

have performed these tasks: course and curriculum design, instnicting,

testing and certifying counseling, and, in some cases, research. With

nontraditional education approaches, faculty may need to spend more

time testing and evaluating learning (including that attained outside

institutional sponsorship), certifying, and counseling students on ways to

achieve their educational objectives through nontraditional means.

The major* of faculty, many believe, are uncomfortable with their

teiting and certifying responsibilities. Although always a critically

important responsibility in terms of the student interests and welfare, and

the maintenance of academic standards, few faculty have been formally

trained in this highly complex function. They are most comfortable in

carrying out the testing and certifying responsibility when they also have

first-hand knowledge of and aie in control of the subjectmattes materials

in which the student is being tested and accomplishments certified.

In dealing with accreditation issues relevant to edutationaltechnology,

it is important to mention two Other forms of "accreditation" which are

known by other terms so as not to confuse them with the activities of

accrediting agencies. The two are course equivalency evaluations and

standardized testing.

The American Council on Education has since 1945 evaluated formal

military training using teams of faculty from accreditedinstitutions who

teach comparable subject matter on their home campuses, to establish a

formal military course's credit equivalency in the college curriculum.

These judgments rendered by faculty under guidelines and procedures

approved by the Council become ACE's creditrecommendations. This

process was extended in 1975 to courses .offered by business and

industry. The recommendations, accepted by the majority &colleges

and universities, are a useful and valid means of providing recognition for

learning attained in such settings. In this manner, students can combine

such learning with further study at colleges anduniversities to achieve

their educational otjective, usually a degree.

The Educational Testing Service and the College Entrance Examina-

tion Board have for several years combined their resources to make

1 3

Accreditation 183

available the College Level Examination Program. A high percentage of

institutions use the examinations to evaluate learning attained in a

variety of ways and apply the satisfactomresults of such testing towards

degree requirements.

To return to an earlier point, a key consideration in both the ACE

programs and the ETS-College Board effort is the useof faculty experts

in making the evaluative judgments and in designing and reviewing the

examinations.

What is the significance of the above background for accredation

issues in educational technology? What lessons can be learned by

educational technology from the nontraditional education movement?

Several are .suggested:

I. Credentialing and accreditation issues are inseparable. The

major concern of accrediting should address the question of

whether the recognition conferreda degree, certificate, or

course creditsactually are a proxy for validated learning.

2. If the educational outcomes of instruction by educational*

technology are intended to be credit applicable towards a deree,

testing and certification should go hand-in-hand with course and

curriculum design. This involves qualified faculty.

3. Assuming not all instruction available through educational

technology will be sponsored by colleges and universities,

thought should be given to adapting the ACE credit equivalency

recommendation process or the CLEP model to help the learners

achieve recognition by accredited colleges and universities. Even

in cases where it is sponsored by an institution but it is also open

broadcast some may participate who later want to earn credit

4. The beneficial aspects of formal recognition for learning shoUld

not be overlooked. Degiees, and even course credits, are a social

accolade for learning which motivate people to learn. Testing and

grading are also important because many learners want to be

assured they. have accomplished something worthwhile.

SUMMARY

In summary, the use of qualified faculty in making educational policy

for instructional technology ,and in testing and certifying learning

outcomes is essential. Given proper attention to that concern, there

Should be no other insurmountable accreditation issues.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Andrews, G.J.,A sussing Nontraditional Education,4 Volumes, Washington, D.C.:

Council on Postsecondary Accreditation, 1979.

2. Miller, JW. and Mills, Olive,. Credentialing Educational Accomplishment,

Washington, D.C.: American Council on Education, 1978.

194

r.4

C7N S. A. Guralnick

Illinois Institute of Technology

Chicago, Illinois

Deploying Educational Technology

at an Independent, Urban Institution

L.L1 INTRODUCTION

As I'm sure you are all well aware, educational technology is, fronta

purely institutional point of view, a means to an end not an end in itself. It

is, therefore crucially important to a successful deployment of a new

technology to carefully define the institution'sgoals as well as to carefully

investigate the merits of various strattgies and tactics to achieve these

goals. In this paper I shall firstoutline some of the issues that must be

faced and effectvely dealt with to successfully accomplish the rather

large sof& changes thst are inevitably associated with the institute-wide

deployment of educational technology. Second, I shall describe the

deployment-of an interactive, instructionaltelevision system at Illinois

Institute of Technology in Chicagoas a case study. Third, and last, I shall

briefly touch upon some of the aspects of financing the interactive,

instructional television network at

Related Issues

or the purpose of this paper, I shall define educational technology as

ke) any hardware and/or software system delivering instructional material

Ch. which is capable of general deploymentthroughout the entire institution.

The forces that are driving most colleges and universities to at least

consider the employment ofnew technologies are thoee which insistently

demand greater effectiveness as well u greater efficiency. Educational

ptechnology does offer the promise that greater effectiveness and greater

efficiencies can be achieved. The realization of this promise, however,

requires careful attention to a series of issues that may be grouped under

,L1 the rubrics: goals, strategies and tactics. The isxues that I believe are of

greatest significance are treated as a list of questions in the next three

segments of this paper.

1 9,0 184

Deploying at an Urban Institution 185

Goals

I. What is the mission of your college or university?

2. What kinds of students do you now attract?

3. What lemds of students do you wisk to attract that you are not

now attracting?

4. What kinds of programs and courses do you nOw offer?

5. What lemds of programs and courses do you wish to offer that

you are not now offering?

6. What constituencies other than students do you now serve?

7. What constituencies other than your students do you wish to

serve that you are not now serving?

8. What are your current sources of revenue?

9. Are there sources of revenue that you wish to tap that you do not

now ha41 access to?

10: Do you wish to improve the, quality of the learning opportunities

that you now providet

11. Ale there external constituencies of your institution (alumni,

local residents, local businesses, local industrial corporations,

etc.) that dernand new or expanded services? If so, what

individuals and groups comprise these constituencies and whet

new or expanded services do they require?

Strategies

Strategies are long-term courses of action designed to accomplish one

or more goals.

I. What is the best way or -ways- that your services can be

improved and/or expanded?

2. Is educational technology to be used to expand your mission, to

expand your constituency and/or to improve the quality of the

learning opportunities offered to your current students?

3. What changes or innovations do you wish to introduce soon, in

the next three to five years and in the uext five to.ten years?

,4. What opportunities exist that may lead .to success in a new

venture that will require substantial outlays of capital and

substantial institutional change?

5. What barriers exist that may 'impede or preclude success in

deploying educational technology?

6. What innovations are required at your institution to successfully

deploy educational technology?

7. What organizational, structural or process changes are required

in your organization to successfully deploy educational

technology?

8. What specific forces exist in the external environment of your

Anstitution..that Are spurring_ you on to deploy educational

technology?

19"6

186 Deploying at an-Urban Institution

9. What specific forces exist in the external environment of your

institution that may lead to a successful deployment of educa-

tional technology?

10. What specific forces exist in the external environment of your

institution that may seriously impede or even preclude the

achievement of your goals in deploying educational technology?

11. In what ways does the type of external environment (i.e., urban,

suburban or rural) in whichyour institution is located influence

your programs and services?

12, Is-your institution committed to a mission to provide life-long

learning opportunities for adult learners?

13. Are there demographic, economic, social and/or political

trends developing in the external environment of your institution

that will cause significant impacts upon the demand for its

services? In what ways are demands for your institution's

services likely to change in the years ahead?

Tactics

Tactics are specific action steps designed to support one or ,more

strategies.

1. What is the.appropriate educationaltechnology or technologies

needed to accomplish your goals?

2. How will the benefits of deploying educational technology be

measured?

3. Are the improvements that will result from deploying educa-

tional technology client-centered, producer-centered or both

client- and producer-centered?

4. Who will actually benefit from the deployment of educational

technology and who will pay for the actual costs incurred?

5. Who willpeiceive that benefits will accrue from the deployment

of educational technology?

6. Who will actually be sUbstantially impacted because of the

depleyment of educational technology?

7. Who will perceive the occurrence of substantial impacts

because of the employment of educational technologies?

8. What opportunities exist for your institution to obtain the

necessary capital funds?

9. Can your institution accommodate whatever increases in

annual costs may be necessary to keep the educational

technology in operation at a satisfactory level?

10. Are you seeking to reduce overall annual operating costs at your

institution by means of the deployment of' educational tech-

nology? If so, what are the specific cost savings that you wish to

achieve?

11. What individuals and/orgroups ought to be consulted at your

197

Deploying at an _Urban Institution 187

institution to implement an orderly process to change? Are

there any issues that 'will be raised by these -individuals or

groups that will impede or prevent the changes that are

necessary to achieve success?

12. How long is the consultation process likely to last before all of

the necessary actions can be taken? -

13. What educational technology products are available today?

What products are likely to reach the market place in the next

three to five years? What products are likely to reach the market

place in the next five to ten years?

14. What criteria will be used to make a choice among various

competitive eduational technology systems or products? What

individual or group will make this choice? What individual or

group will Nivel° live with this choice after it has been made?

15. Granted that it is quite likely that there is relatively little

experience with the large-scale deployment of educational

technology at your institution, how will you assess the risks

involved in undertaking such a venture?

16. How will tile producers be motivated and trained to provide

their services via the new technology?

17. How will the clients be motivated and trained to use or accept

ohe new technology?

18. What is the timetable-to achieve-paybackof the-initial-capital

investment? How realistic is this timetable? .

INTERACTIVEIN UCTIONAL TELEVISION AT IIT

Consideration of some o all of the issues raised in the previous section

of this paper is, of course, an on-going process which probably occurs

sporadically, if not continuously, at most universities. It would be far

beyond the scope of this paper to describe in detail all of the

considerations that led to the ultimate decision to install an interactive

instructional television network at IIT. For the purposes of this paper,

therefore, I shall summarize the background to the decision-making

process and describe some of the features ofthe system actually installed.

Mission

Illinois Institute of Technology is a private, non-sectarian, co-

educational, urban university dedicated to supporting nuional goals

through education and research for leadership Lq programs that are

problem-solving in character, decision-making in purpose, and socially

and economically responsible. IIT's educational programs encompass

the following pathways to professional leadership: Architecture,

Business Administration, City and Regional Planning, Design,

Engineering Law, Pre-medicine and Health-related Sciences, the

Biological, Computer Mathematical and Physical Sciences,

193

188 Deploying at an Urban Institution

Psychology, Public Administration and the Social Sciences. UT is a

PhD: degree granting research university affiliated with two other

powerful research organizations, the IIT Research Institute and the

Institute of Gas Technology. The combined annual research volume

in engineering and science of the entire IIT Center is very close to

$100,000,000 per annum. It is the purpose of IIT to providethe

educational and basic research activities which link and complement

the activities of all three affiliated organizations.

Beyond its commitment to providing education for full-time under-

graduate and graduate students because ofits-urban location, lIT is

committed to providing significant educational opportunities for part-

time students who are interested in working toward an undergraduate

or graduate degree. Specifically, IIT is committed to providing

continuing education programs for locally employed professionals in

the principal fields represented at the university.

Goals

The current enrollment pattern at IIT is shown on Table 1. As may be

observed from this Table, IIT isa relatively small school and it intends

to stay that way even though some growth in the size of the student

population is desirable. The longterm enrollment goals Of the Institute

are shown in Table 2 which indicateq a total enrollment of 6,000 FTE

students. Were ye to achieve this goal, the current physical plant

would, in our opinion, be utilized at an optimum level. IIT is,

therefore, seeking an additional 600 FTE students consisting of

widergraduates and graduate students.

Table 1Current Enrollment ( E)*

UNDERGRADUATES

Full-Time 3,037

Part-Time 461

All UG

GRADUATES

Full-Time 506

Part-Time 528

All Grad

LAW Full-Time 606

Part-Time 185

All LaW

All Students

* Fall 1980

199

,498

1,034

791

5,323

Deploying at an Urban Institution 189

Table 2Overall Enrollment Goals (FTE)

UNDERGRADUATES

Full-Time 3,400

Part-Time 550

All UG 3,950

GRADUATES

SS Full-Time 600.

Part-Time 700

Ali Grad 1,300

IAW Full-Time 550

Part-Time 200

All Law 750

All Students 6,000

Location.

IIT is located in the heart of Chicago, three miles' south ohm Citi's

center. The significant vital statistics of the Chicago area are:

1. Population

There are approximately 2.9 million residents in the city, 5.2

million in Cook County and 7.049 million in the greater

metropolitan (5 county) area. The estimated resident labor

force is 3 A56 million and 3.8 million residents are classified as

suburban. An estimated 19 percent of the U.S. population lives

within a 300 mile radius of the city.

2. Industry

It is estimated that 53 million tons of manufactured goods

are shipped from Chicago yearly. Themetropolitan area is a

leader in the production Of steel,metal plates, bars, sods and

structural shapes, food products, metal furniture, mattresses,

envelopes, boxes, inorganic chemicals sOap, paint, gaskets,

.cans, screws, bolts, saws, barrets. machine tools, blowers,

switchgear, locomotives and otherrailroad equipment, heavy

machinery, surgical appliances, fully assembled automobiles,

electrical equipment, eleatronic components, consumer

electronic goods and ldtchen appliances. It is the second

largest center in the nation of consulting firms specializingin

architecture and engineering:Moreover,it is among the three

or four largest centers for the delivery of health care in the

nation. There are two national research laboratories in

Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory and Fermilab, the

200

190 Deploying at an Urban Institution

National Accelerator Laboratory. Beyond these federal

research centers, there are a number of significant in-

dependent research laboratories as well as industrial research

centers. Chicago produces a gross metropolitan product of $97

billion, 4.6 percent of the GNP. Moreover, it contributes $1

billion annually to the nation's positive balance of trade.

3. Commerce'

There are 14,400 manufacturers in Chicago the total of

whose sales exceed $76 billion; 57,000 retaiierS the total of

whose sales exceed $28 billion; 13,000 wholesalers the total

of whose sales exceed $43 billion; and 56,000 service

establishments do a $6.4 -billion in business. Average

personal income per household is $28,700.

4. Construction

There has been $7.1 billion in industrial construction since

1965; $17 billion in residential construction; and $8 billion in

commercial construction.

5. Educational Institutions

There are 39 institutions of higher education within a 50

mile radius of the city, 69 within a 100 mile radius and 164

within the State of Illinois. The senior institutions within a 50

mile radius of the city are the University of Chicago, Illinois

Institute of Technology, Loyola University, Northwestern

University and the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle.

Opkortunity

There are probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 60,000

to 70,000 persons in the greater Chicago urban area who are

practitioners of one of te professions represented in the educa-

tional programs of ITT. Perhaps as many as half of the total

number of such individuals are interested in taking advantage of

opportunities for continuing professional development. That is,

there are probably at least 30,000 to 35,000 individuals in the

greater Chicago area who would be interested in continuing their

own professional development provided that a suitable educa-

tional delivery system could be deployed. Such a systern would

attract a substantial number of users if and only if it were

convenient, of high quality and it minimized time away from the

job or from normal leisure time activites. The interactive instruc-

tional television system is an educational delivery system which is

capable of delivering normal university instructional material

directly to the workplace without incurring long hours ot

commuting between job site and campus. Moreover, interactive

instructional television makes it possible for employed pro-

fessionals to gain acces s. to university instructional material

2 Oi

Deploying at an Urban Institution 191

offered at any time during the day rather than only during evening

hours.

The System

IITIV. is an educational delivery system that uses four special

frequency television channels combined with telephone audio links to

bring regular university classroom instruction to the workplace. The

special frequencies are assigned for Instructional Television Fixed

Service (ITFS) in each city by the Federal Communications

Commission. From studio clagsrooms on campus, video and voice

signals are beamed fourteen hours each workingday via microwave to

the top of the 110-story Sears Building* three miles away wherej,Irs

own transnlitters broadcast signals which cad be received anywhere

within an area bounded by a circle of 50 mile radius centered at the

Sears Building.

-On a continuing b is, employed professiOnals (or their companies,

if a tuition reimburs ment program exists) are charged the same tuition

as on-campus students. An additional gliding scale service charge for

courier service and other administrative costs is based on course

enrollment, rang.mg downward from an amount equal to 100 percent of

thettiitbn charge for a single student-course enrollment to a minimum

of 20 percent of tuition when more than SO student-course enrollments

at it single site occur.

Talk-back system costs are paid by the company at whibh the

receiving station is located. These consist of regular telephone line

charges plus a monthly rental fee for the auto-dial telephone.

There is a one-time capital investwnt to be made by each

participating company for a microwave antenna and tower, signal

o3nverter, television monitor and telephone talk-back connection that

ranges between $5,000 and $10,000 depending on the distance of the

receiving site from the Sears Building. In addition, each participating

company is expecied to provide' the services of an official representative

for several hours per month to serve as liaison between the firms and

IIT.The IIT/V system went" on the air" in the fall semester of the 1976-

77 academic year enrolling 105 students at twelve remote sites. This

past fall 536 students were enrolled at nineteen remote sites...The

current list of participating organizations is shown on Table 3.

IIT/V students may enroll in one or more of approximately sixty

regular IIT courses per semester broadcast live from the IIT campus.

These courses are chosen from the regular Schedule of Courses to

make it possible for employed enffmeers, computer scientists and

business managers to obtain all the coursework necessary to fulfill the

This 1,454 & high building is the world's tallest.

202

192 Deploying at an Urban Institution

graduate course requirements for the master's degree in their respective

fields entirely by means of courses delivered via IIT/V to the job site.

Beyond normal university come material the IIT/V system is used

to deliver short-course and special seminar material to nterested

professionals- and to company management at the job site.

Table 3IIT/V Participating Organizations

American CaxiCompany

Research CentCr

433 Northwest Highway

Barrington, Illinois 60010

Andrei; Cotporation

10500 West 153rd Street

Orland Park, Illinois 60462

Argonne Natio,lal Laboratory'

9700 South Cass Airenue

Argonne, Illinois 60439

Bell LabOratories

Naperville & Warrenville Rd.

Naiierville, Illinois 60140

Caterpillar Tractor Company

P.O. Box 348

Aurora, Illinois 60507

CPC International, Inc.

Moffett Technical Center

Box 345

Argo, Illinois 60501

A. Finkl & Sons

2011 North Southport Avenue

Chicago, Illinois 60614

GTE Automatic Electric

400 North Wolf Road

Northlake, Illinois 60164

Honeywell, Inc. =

1500 Dundee Road

Arlington Heights, Illinois 60004

Inemational Harvester Company

Science .8c Technology

16 W. 260 83rd Street

Hinsdale, Illinois 60521

203

MCC Powers

2942 MacArthur Boulevard

NorthbroolkIllinois 60062

Midwest Industrial Management

Association

9845 West Roosevelt Road

Weitchester, Iljinois 60153

Motorola Communicationi

Group '..

.1301 East Algonquin Road

Schaumburg, Illinois 60172

New Trier Central

3013 Illinois 'Road

Wilmette, Illinois 60093

North Central College

30 North Brainard

Naperville, Illinois 60540

Northrop Corporation'

600 Hicks Road

Rolling Meadows, Illinois 60008

Teletype Corporation

5555 West Touhy Avenue

Skokie, Illinois 60076

Western Electric Co., Inc.

ao Bell Laboratories (Lisle)

Naperville, Illinois 60439

Zer.ith Radio Corporation

1000 MilwaukeeAvenue

Glenview, Illinois 60025

Deploying at an Urban Institution 193

Table 4IIT/V Capital Equipment-Expenditures

Summer '76Initial Installation

3/5/76* R F System $54,693.00

2/2/76 ITT Classroom Equipment 86,780.00

5/20/76 Remote Site Equipment 25,167.00

1/22/76 Videotaping Facility 10,668.00

3/1/76 Master Contiol Console 6,744.00

2/26176 Overflow Classrooms 3,477.00

7/7/76 Spare Equipment 11,783.00

6/7/76 R F SyMem 518.00 $199,830.00

Winter '77Spring '78-Retrofit and Additional Channels

12/12/77

11/22/77

Dec. '77

1/5/78

Cqnsoles and Master

Control for 2

Additional Channels

Auditoria Fittings

Transmitters-2

Studio Transnkission

$.120,500.00*

35,000 00*

34,000.00

Links 52,000.00

FAICEE Combiner

12/26/78 Electronic Equipment

Public Access Sites

Summer '77 North Central College

Installation

fall '79 North Central College

Filter Network

'Fall '78 MIMA Installation

Fall 10 New Trier East Installation

Spring '81 New Trier West

Installation

$3,700.00

1,500.00*

4,060.00

1,800.00*

6,020.00*

$241,500.00

$2,800.00

$ 17,080.00

Studio 6

&unmet-80 Cameras, Controllers

and Cabling $ 28,000.00.

TOTAL S489,210.000*

* InCludes all associated labor coats of installation.

204

194 Deploying at an Urban Institution

FINANCING IIT's SYSTEM

Capital-EquipMent Costs

The costs of acquiring ind installing all f the capital equipment of

_the IIT/V system is shown in Table 4. The funds needed to meet these

costs were "borroweirliolif eadoViiierit fund (i.o., the fletible

funds functioning as endowment) of the university on -the under-

standing that restoration of all such borrowings would be made from

the tuition revenues generated by the system after a operating costs

were deducted. It was of course, recognizedfrom the outset that tuition

revenues during the first two or three years of operation of the system

would fall short of covering the annual operating costs.

Tabl,e,5 shows the enrollment in and the financing of IIT/V. Line 1

Table 5Enrollment in and Financing of IIT/Y

Years from

Start 123456

Academic Year 1976-77 1977-78 1978-79 1979-80 1980-81 1981-82*

1. Course Enroll-

ments 201 255 488 743 1,141 1,369

2. Student Credit

Hours 603 765 1,464 2,229 3,423 4,107

3. Hourly Tuition

Rate, 100.00 110.00 110.00 123.00 143.00 157.00

4. Tuition Income, 60,300 84,150 161,040 274,167 489,489 644,799

S. Admin. Ex-

pense, 100,000 100,180 172,540 203,840 240,400 269,248

6. Seed Funds

film Opera-

ting Budget, 39,700 16,030 11,500

7. Funds Avail-

able for Pay-

back of

Capital Inveqt-

ment,

kAccumulated

70,337 249,089 375,551

Funds Avail-

able for Pay-

back of Invest-

ment, 694,997

* Estimates

41- f

Deploying at an Urban Ir.aitution 195

shows that a seven-fold growth in course enrollments occurred from

the first year through the fifth year of operations. Line 6 indicates the

amount of seed funds needed to cover the shortfall in tuition revenue

below the cost of operations (line 5). This shortfall occurred only

during the first three years of operation and totaled $67,230. If a 20

percent growth in enrollment occurs during the 1981-82 academic

year, then line 7 shows the excess oftuition income over administrative

expense (line 5) available to pay back to the endowment the costs of

acquiring the capital equipment. In fact, line 8 shows that the total funds

accumulated beyond admipistrative costs are expected to be approx-

imately $695,000 at the close of the 1981-82 academic year. This sum

considerably exceeds the sum of capital costs and seed money (i.e.

$489,210+$67,230=$556,440) that have been expended on the system

during its first five years of operation. Hence it may be concluded that

on, purely fmancial grounds alone, the system is a sound investment of

the. portion of the university's endowment resources. Moreover, it

appears quite likely that this investment will continue to return hand-

some dividends in the years to come.

CONCLUSIONS

This paper has treated some of the general issues associated with the,

institut.,-wide deployment of educational technology, it has described the

essential features of IIT/V as well as the way in which it was fmanced in ,

the hope that this case study would serve as an example that would

stimulate analogous development elsewhere. I hasten to add, however,

that each of the 3,000 institutions of higher education in the United

States is in many ways unique. Hence, each must examine- its own

unique environment, opportunities and constraints to determine whether

and what kinds of educational technology should be deployed. It is the

thesis of this paper that when educational technology is properly

perceived as a powerful means to achieve well-defined educational goals

then real-opportunities exist to improve services and to attain greater

levels of effectiveness and efficiency. Experience at IIT suggests that this

thesis may indeed be true at other urban universities.

2 0.6

The Central Educational Network's

PostsecOndary SeMce

Card A. koffamus

Central Educational Network

C:=) Chkago, Illinois

r\I

Li./ INTRODUCTION

No one Wfil deny that many colleges ire experiencing a declining

enrollment of 18-22 year old students. No one paying their heating or gas

bills wiN deny that energy costs are increasing and the end is not in sight

The* energy costs are also having an effect on the -educational

inatinitionit yo one will deny that tuition costs will continue to rise. In

addition to tete events, We are also being tjld that financial support from

govefidnent and private sources is decreasing. All of these events will

have an affeet on the adult learner and the educational institutions, but

there is another side of tbis coin, Withour rapid technological advances

AineriCa, our information systems will double every eight years'. Think

about ft. These sane adults will need a continual updating of information

arid upgrading of skills to keep Pace with this new technology. There are

adults in and out of the work force. They will need to learn how this

technology' Will affect their jobs and lifes4des and then meet those

changes without fear. Edwation entities have a tremendous responsiblity

to these learners, and must take the leadership in this life-long learning

ProPets.

They willhe teaching an older, adult learner rather than the traditional

18-22 year old and they will have to adapt to that fact People within a

given community need education at basically five different levels:

(1) Basic education

(2) Occupational education

(3) Occupational upgrading

(4) Job changes

(5) Leisure skills

Within these levels therpore millions of adults who will need life-long

learning programs that are meaningful to them and available at their

20 196

Central Educational Network 197

convenience. Looking at statistics we would have to concede that higher

education needs to improve in this area. According to the American

Association for Higher Education a majority of adult learners are getting

their education outside college and university settings. Fifty-eight

million, four hundred thousand adults each year are involved in some

form of organized education, while only1 2.4 million of theni are colleges

and universities. PrOgrams offered by business, government agencies,

professional organizations, telecommunications field and other organi-

zations are educating five times as many adults_ as are higher education

institutions. The financial resources devoted to this enterprise are

staggering. I! is estimated by the American Society for Training and

Development (AS7D) that American business, alone, devotes $40

billion annually to employee educatipn exclusive of college programs.

Clearly new fields, a wider array of resources, such .as television and

radio, need to be employed by higher education in order to involve a new

adult learning clientele into their program.

Meeting Adult Learners' Needs

The challenge to meet the needs of the adults who want and need to

learn more is great but we have never shied away from a challenge. In

fact;history has shown that when the challenges were greatest we exerted

our best efforts and overcame the problems.

Because the task is formidable, meeting the nee& oi adult learners in

this decade cannot be done by colleges and universities alone. There

must be a unifledefort where we can capitalize on all of the resources we

have to meet the diversification of the learners' needs in our communities.

It is here where I believe telecommunications can work with colleies and

uniVersities in providing an educational alternative to meet some of

those learners' needs. It not only can, but we have shown in our service

that it does.

The Central Educational Network's belief and commitment to this

concept is what began the first postsecondary telecommunications

service in the country. CEN's Postsecondary Education Council was

formed iii October, 1979 to meet these needs. The Council consists of

postsecondary institutions and broadcasting entities. It is important to

remember this point. ,

During the past fifteen months, states interested in postsecondary

telecommunications as an alternative to reaching the adult learner, were

asked to form their own poetsecondary state councils. These state

councils are composed of, but notlimited to, members from two and four

year private ,and public colleges and universities, pu6lic broadcasters,

and vocational/technical institutions. No two states are structured

exactly alike. (We will be publishing a report later this year on these

yarious state structure models.) Each state Set its own by-laws and

nominataione member from its state council to represent Ion the CEN

,208

198 Central Educational Network

Postsecondary Council'. You have one state one vote. The Council

meets twice a year. At the present time the following ten states have

organized themselves and are members in our Council: Illinois, Indiana,

Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, West Virgihia

and Wisconsin.

Xou will be able to see the postsecondary and broadcasting representa-

-don on the Council by each state's representative's professional title:

IllinoisDirector of Educative Services for a public broadcasting

university atation

IndianaDean of Learning Resources for Media, Indiana Univer-

sity at Bloomington

KansasDirector, Office of Instructional Media for a state university

MichiganInstructional Television Coordinator for a public

broadcasting university station .

MississippiDirector of Educative Serviccs for tht Mississippi

Educational Television Network (State System)

MissouriDean of the College of Arts and Sciences for Continuing

Education at University of MissouriSt. Louis

NebraskaDirector of Instructional Services for the Nebraska

Education TV Network (State System)

OhioExecutive Director of the Ohio Educational Broadcasting

Network Commission (State System)

West VirginiaEducative Services Coordinator for a public broad-

castng station

WisconsinDirector of Educational Services for the Wisconsin

209

Central Edueationaldsletwork 199

Educational Television and Radio Networks (State

System)

Our Postsecondary Education C3uncil is a self-supporting, self-

governing division of CEN and elects four of its members to the CEN

Board. These four members comprise the Postsecondary Executive

----Cummitterand-work-closely with-CEMs-Postsecondary Coordinator_

The Council has set its goals and these include, but are not limited to:

1) Providing services to increase the availability of quality credit

and non-credit materials to reduce costs in postsecondary

educational telecommunications.

2) Identifying problems, issues and successfUl methods related to

expanding postsecondary learning opportunities in the states

through telecommunication and

3) Sharing expertise and resources to strengthen postsecondary

education telecommunication in the states.

Individual services that are offered to the membership include, but are-

not limited to:

1) To serve as a professional resource organization and accessing

postsecondary edupational telecommunication needs and in-

tèrests of the states.

2) To identify postsecondary telecourse materials for their annual

program screening.

3) To negotiate group rentals and buys of programs for the

membership.

4) To provide scheduling and distribution of the program series.

5) To spansor an annual postsecondary professional development

workihop for the exchange of information. This year wewily be

producing an interactive teleconference from oursatellite uplink

in Lincoln, Nebraska on "Marketing Telecourses" with tDr.

Roberta Clark from Boston University.

6) To provide a monthly memo informing them on local, state,

regional and national postsecondary telecommunications a4tivi-

ties.

7) To provide a free videocassette library loan service for the

.membership.

8) To seek grants for'assistance in facilitating the above grants.

9) To coordinate other services designated by the Postsecondary

Education Council.

Costs

Costs to the membership are based on a flat fee of $3,000 assessed to

each state equally plus a graduated fee based on a scale reflecting the

state's total population. For example the statewith a total population of

5.5 million people would pay $5,750 to belong to Postsecondary

Educational Conn-CO-or ofieYelf arid-participate in the above services:

21 u

200 Central Educational Network

-StAtc-

Coweas

tousaus

STATE

I- eras

OtREENIMS

STATE

Cou WILE

Cam

PEEa

Cam 'PM.

UNECToR

'MAMA RAUM*6

SATELLITE FEED

STATE

COO Ms

CEN ROEAID

CTENTAT(VE)

SECOND frois0

(FINAL 11149

C oterg ACTS

IT;157/716'BunON

Each state council decides on how these dues are assessed and collected.

To show you the diversity ofhow the membership dues are collected here

are three examples:

In Missouri, each membership category in their state council is

assessed according to their FTE's and 100 percent participation. The

membership categories in their stite organization are:

1) University of Missouri Systems

2.) Regional Universities

3) Missouri Association of Community and Junior Colleges

4) Independent Colleges and Universities of Missouri

5) Missouri Association of Private Career Schools

In Illinoisythe state council-appliedforand received a giluiffrem the

211

Central Educational Network 201

Illinois Board of Higher Education to cover the membership fees for all

154 postsecondary institutions in Illinois.

In Mississippi, the membership dues are paid for by the Mississippi

Educational Television Authority. We saw earlier how diversified the

models of eich state council can be. Assessing of their membership fees

are also diversified.

Two rants during our first year of operation. assisted us in getting

established. A rant from the Corporation of Public Broadcasting

Education Services Department paid the membership base fee for each

state that-joined. This year they had to generate their entire dues from

their newly formed state councils. All of the ten states were able to do

this. In addition to the CPB grant the Exxon Education Foundation gave

us a grant to begin our service and our postsecondary videotape free loan

library to the members.

This year we were awarded another grant from the Exxon Education

Foundation of $38,985 for membership expansion. Specifically, the

funds are available as a 50 percent match for each new state interesred in

joining the CEN Postsecondary Education Council. States joining us

need to pay only half of their membership fees for the initial year.

Membership is open to any state.

INSTITUTIONS

(154)

liARHEKS LLO-OP

DISTRIBUTORS

CEN REPRESENTATIVE I

BY-LAWS

LOGISHCS

-I RESOURCES

TASK IFUNDINS/GRANTS

NARKET ING/RESEARCH

-1 PROMOTION/AWARENESS

-LONG RANGE PLANNING

-FZIAL PROJECTS

SUMMARY

Although we have come a long way in the past fifteen months we

realize we have a long way to go. Besides continuing to upgrade the

existing services there are several other areas that we see in our future

212

202 Central Educational Network

growth of our postsecondary council:

Delivering out most utilized telecourses via our satellite to the

users and eliminating all the tape dubbing and shipping costs.

Expanding our radio telecourse offerings to the members.

On mutual course needs, form a program consortium to get those

programs produced.

Implement, whenever needed, the new technology such as

videodisc, 1" inch videotape, direct broadcast satellites, the

teletext systems, fiber optics, etc. into our service.

On-going pr"ofessional development workshops at minimum

costs to the members. These workshops will deal withthe needs

expressed by ihe members.

Extend our telecourse programs to a broader base in the com-

munity through more inter-agency and inter-institutional

cooperation.

Expand our service to include more states.

Work with other educational and broadcasting entities to

promote the development of mare quality telecourseprogramming

in radio and television.

We realize that we are not the total answer to the solution of reaching

and teaching the adult learner, but we are confident that we can be part of

that answer. Kali the resources inour society take on part of that solution

then we will succeeds Someone once said, "We are only one, but we are

one."

4r;

21 3

Eva luating-aninstructional System

in Matheniatics

Steven M. Frankel*

Dkector, Department of Educational Accountability

Montgomery Coungy Public Schools

Rockville, Maryland

INTRODUCTION

For the past three years, the Deparnnent of EducationalAccountability

(DEA) of the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)has been

evaluating the Instructional System in Mathematics (ISM), the first of

four instructional systems planned for implementation in Montgomery

Cairn), Public Schools. When the DEA evaluation started, ISM was

already in place in 26 elementary, one middle, and six junior high

schools. It is now functioning with roughly three times as many sthools

on the system. .

While ISM was developed within MCPS to specifically meet the

needs of the system's students, it is similar in structure to many other

objectives-based, computer ,supported instructional in that it

coniists of a curriculum component, and a reporting co nt. Where

0\ it differs from many of its counterparts is that computer Support is,used

ko primarily in the assessment and reporting components, with only a

minimal portion of the actual instruction being delivered via the

computer. Similarly, the capability ofprescribing instruction based upon

the results of the assessments has not been programmed intothe system.

Thus, concePtually it is far closer to a computer managed instruction

(CMI) system than to a computer assisted instruction (CAI) system.

As is often the case in educational evaluations, the impetus for this

fq, study visa largely political. ISM had come into being as the flagship of a

M. series ofinstructiOnal innovations introduced by a new schoolsuperintenclent.

Several years later, with the superintendent and his policies coming

The opinions expressed in this papet are those of Di. Frankel and do na necessarily

reflect the opinions of other members of the school system's staff or Board of Education.

203214.

204 System in Mathematics

under increasing criticism from segments of the Board of Education, the

public, arid the school system's staff, the study was perceived by the

superintendent's supporters as a means of validating his efforts, and by

the superintendent's critics as a means of repudiating them.

The two, mods which were produced 1 2 satisfied neither soup

entirely. The evaluations identified many positive outcomes which were

--associstedwiththeuse-cif-tlie-tsttrthiuVthifactherewas a demand

among teacheis whose schools were not on the system for the ISM

curricular materials. However, they also identified severe flaws in the

manner in which it was being, implemented; documented the fact that it

'was subitantially more expensive to operate; and reported that, possibly

because of the implementation problems, no overall gains in student

achievement could be linked to use of the system.

Because studies such as this are becoming increasingly common as

school administrators and Board membersask the question, "What will

support for instructional system developmentand implementation really

buy us?" it was felt that a paper describing a generic design for such an

evaluation might be useful. If the paper can also forewarn system

sponsors of some of the questions which will be posed in a comprehensive

evaluation effort, then so much the better.

Evaluating System Components

In designing the ISM evaluation, it was decided to yeat each

component of the system individually; and in each case, to attempt to

answer the question, "Has the component delivered what was promised

for it?" In addition, wherever possible, the evaluators attempted to

contrut the outcomes of using the system component with outcomes in

other scliools using non-systemitized counterparts; and to develop

comparative cost data showing the additional resources or savings which

resulted from using the component.

The Curriculum Component

The evaluation of the curriculum component examined the manner in

which instruction was being delivered; the types of activities in which

teachers had to engage to support instruction; and the outcomes of

instruction for students. In the ISMstudy, it was fortunate that when the

study began, only about 25 percent of the schools in MCPS were using

ISM. In addition, the ISM schools had entered the system at different

points in time; this permitted comparisoni to be made betwen ISM

schools which had been using the system for one, two and three years,

and between ISM and non-ISM schools. Among the key issues which

were addressed in this component of the study, were the following:

Does use of the instructional s9stem increase the amount of

individualization in the classroom? Underlying this issue, we

are interested in whether more smalLgroup_or-individualiz

213

System in Mathematics 205

instruction was occurring and whether the activities occurring in

the classroom reflected the data on individual student progress

produced by the system. Such information was gathered by

having trained- observera sit in classrooms monitoring actual

-instruction and comparing the assignments of individual students

with:their- computer generated records.

How does ise ofthe system affeit academically engaged time?

Here, we were coneerned*th whether students using the system

appeared to be spending more-time on task; or, conversely, if

there were net losses in acidernieilly-engaged time due to

students haviiig to wait for their turn to get a conipuerterminal or

for their teacher to give them a new assignment, or to friVel back

and forth between the instructional area and the area in which'

terminals were located. Again, data such as these were gathered

by means of observers located within ISM and non-ISM

classrooms; and by means of questionnaires completed by -

teachers, aids, students, and administrators.

Does use qf the instructional system affect achievement test

scores? We approached this area with considerable caution,

since this is the single issue which school boards most often focus

upon and the media will play up. While we gathered and reported

data such as these, we also cautioned that this information should

not be riccorded inordinate weight because of factors such as

imperfect Matches between curricular content and the nationally

standardized tests; the impact of previous learning on the test

scores; and ttle ease with which individual teachers can "prep" ,

their studentifor a nationally standardized test which has been

used hi the school district for several years. Ofparticular interest,

however, were "longitudinal analyses of third vs. fifth grade

achievement test scores for ISM vs. non-ISM cohorts.

Does use of the instructional system affect achievement scores

on locally developed criterion referenced tests? Largely because

of the problems perceived with using norm referenced test scores

as dependent variables, considerable weight was given in the

evaluation to administering the ISM mastery examinations to

groups of non-ISM students as well as to groups of ISM Students.

The reasoning behind this activity was that if differences between

students using and not using the system were occurring, they

would be likely to show.up if these two groups were tested using

the materials which were part of the system itself.

Is the curriculum well organized and ',resented? Information of

this type was gathered by querying school staff members about

their satisfaction with the materials. An additional step, which we

did not do but which would be advisable, would be to have

disinterested-content-experts-examine-and-comment-upon-the

216

206 System in Mathematics

materials. In addition, a rather innovative unobtrusive Measure

was employed: having observers record the degree to which the

system's curricular materials have been "bootlegged" into

non-system schools. In our study, this was assumed to represent

the highest degree of flattery and a highly effective means of

determining,the repute in which the materials were held by the

general population of teachers and principals.

What resources are required to impleMent the system, orpermit

it tofunction effectively? In an era of shrinking resources, this has

become a paramount issue. We were interested in the costs

which were being incurred for continued system/materials

development and inservice training in attempting to determine

whether instructional delivery costs had actually increased after

the system was installed, due to increased numbers of aids being

used and/or teachers having to expend additional time for

individualized planning and/or recordkeeping in assessing the

costs for computer hardware, software, and communications;in

whether ISM was presently overtaxing the capacity of the

computer mainframe; and whether implementation of the system

in all schools could be accomplished without having to greatly

expand the present computer's capacity.

What happens to students after they have left the,grades in

which the instructional system is implemented? Since the

MCPS math program splits into different "branches" of varying

difficulty levels starting in the junior high schools, it was possible

to determine how many ISM vs. non-ISM students went.on to

take the more difficult math courses and to compare grades for

system and non-system students when they are enrolled in the

same courses. ,

t The Assessment Component

The key in many instructional systems, including ISM, is the process

by which student progress is monitoredon.a continuous basis. In ISM,

monitoring meant that teachers and students were notified when a

particular objective had been mastered. As mentioned earlier, many

other instructional systems carry the concept still further by prescribing

future assignments on the basis of performance on assessments.

In studying the assessment component of ISM, the following types of

questions were posed:

Are the assessment instruments technically adequate? Given

the 'importance of the assessment instruments to most instruc-

tional systems, it is reasonable for evaluators to expect that the

skills measured are indeed those which are taught; that there is

good agreement between performance on individual test items

21.7

System in Mathematic:. 207

and overall test performance; that alternative versions of assess-

ments are of the same difficulty level; that placement and mastery

test items are similar in difficulty for individual objectives; and

that if the system is hierarchical, there is a consistent increase in

difficulty level as students move through assessments. The

techniques by which issues such as these are addressed are well

known and generally involve administering samples of items to a

set of students, and analyzing the records of students using the

system.

Is feedback,provided to teachers and students in an efficient

manner? When students are not immediately informed of their

perfonnance on an assessment measure, or where such informa-

tion is not routinely available to teachers shortly after the student

completes an assessment, much of the potential value of an

instructional system is lost. A detailed examination of the

logistics involved in the assessment process will reveal these

types of problems. Similarly, such an examinationif supple-

mented by first hand observationwill also reveal related

problems such as delays in being able to take an assessment due

*to insufficient hardware being available or lengthy Iterminai

response time: lack of flexibility in the software which does not

permit students to attempt assessments "out-of-sequence;" and

gaps in time between when instruction in an objective end and

the assessment measure is administered.

Is the assessmeht system worth the cost involved? An issue

which should have received greater emphasis in the study was

whether the Value received from use of automated assessments,

which permitted the system to 'accept constructed responses (as

opposed to having to use a fixed multiple choice format), was

worth the additional costs involved. Delving into this issue fully

would require an analysis of capital:inVestment, startup, and

operational costs; a comparison of the reFurces required to

administer assessments with and without the computer, an

examination of the impact which the assessment process had on

available time-on-task and Aeacher preparation time; and an

assessnient of less costly alternatives for assessing students that

fell somewhere between what the system offered and was

available in non-system schools. An interesting result of these

studies was that issues such as these are now being explored by

the system developers.

The Reporting Component

The evaluation of the reporting component of an instructional system

was closely linked to the evaluation orthe assessment component.

Whereas the latter addressed how effectively the student's progress was

21 8

208 System in Mathematics

monitored, the former addressed What was done with the monitoring data

after they were collected. In evaluating this component, the following

issues were considered:

Who ILMS the Wormation which isprovided? A msjoractivity' in

this evaluation was to assemble a set of all reports generated by

the system and attempt to determine,using open-ended interviews,

the degree to which each was actually used for decisiot, Making

purposes. We were interested in determiningwhether any reports

were : a) being used for archival purposes only ("I keep it in ease

anyone asks for it");b) directed at the wrong party (principals

being provided with student level data); or c) much too detailed/

giobal for use in making instructionaldecisions. The olteetive, in

concktcting these activitiet, was to determine if the entire flow of

piper producectbyitheryitemwas truly necessary and/or being -

used-properly.

Is the qualuy and timeliness of the data superior to that

available in non-system schools? Give the emphasis on the

availability of relevant data which had been used to sell the

concept of the instructional system, it was not unreasonable to

make comparisons betwearthe quality and timeliness of data in

system and non-system schools. This was done by interviewing

staff and adniinistrators as to how certain standard types of

instructional decisions were being made; The issue of timeliness

was particularly critical since the best dadt in the world are

absolutely useless if they are received alter the relevant decisions

have had to he made.

Are the capabilities ofthereporting zystem being fully exploited?

While it is essy for system desiiners to err by providing

pracdtioners with gluts of the wrong types of data, it is equally

easy for them to not sUpply certaintyps of useft4 data which are

well within the system's potential to provide.-Information on this

topic wits gathered by interviewing teachers and administrators.

CONCLUSION

This paper has attempted to provide an overview of the breadth of

blues which a sound evaluation of an instructional system should

encompass. To keep the paper concise, thelist of issues addreised in the

study was representative, and by no means inclusive. If there is one

message to leave, it is to distrust any evaluation of an instruetional

system which is single faceted and does not go beyond reporting

differenceo in achievement testscores, or describing the manner in which

instruction is delivered.

REFERENCES:

1. Frechtling, Joy et al. An Evaluation qf the Instructional System in Mathematics:

1977-1971, Montommy County Public &boob, Department of Educational

21 9

System in Mathematics 209

Am ;notability, November, 1978.

2. Gnus, Sums et &Um/ma/fon cif the Instructional System inMathematia4 1978-

79: Comparisons down ISM and Non-ISM School, and Analyses V ci:le.:4

Inelnanants, Duartment of Educational Accountability, Montgomery

Public Schools, 1980.

.4,

.,rj4f") n

-il

A Description of the DAVID Interactive

c\I insiructional Television System and. Its

Applkation to fost High School Education

of-Deaf

L.1.1

James kvonFeldt

Instructional Television/Computer Department

Nationcilledinical-Instftutelor-the-Deat----

Rochester, New York

INTRODUCTION

The human rights movement in the United Stateshas stimulated much

sensitivity pertaining to the special needs ofhandicapped. Laws have

been passed, institutes have beed created andmuéh has already begun to

happen in our Society to implement access to the mainstream of work as

well as the larger social arena of life for handicapped persons.

The National Technical Institute for the Deaf on the camPus of

Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York is one such

institute. If I were asked to state NTID's goal I would put it this way: To

pmvide post high school deaf students with the skills, experiences and

education, to fonnulate a successfid career in a technical society?

One &the eight mission statinients whichassist NT1D in meeting its

goals consists of exploring and Creating innovative teaching/learning

40 technologies. The DAVID (Digital And Video Interactive Device)

interactive system is a product of that mission. However, before we

kbegin, let me state that this technology, lfice many before it and many

`.. more which are in the figure, are meant f- supplement the instructional

iind training experience. It was not desiiited to, norcoidd it, replace an

informed, caring teacher. Lie other technologies irr education (over-

head, video tape, blackboard, book progrnmmed instruction, etc.) the

teache?: power is enhanced and the teaching/learning process is more

efficient when it is applied appropriately.

'2 21 210

DAVID 211

Instructional Needs

Deaf students require special instructional techniques and technologies

- because of the cumulative effect of hearing deprivation in the process of

education.

"The nature of deafness limits instructional stimuli to a visual primary

input mode. Put another way, the absence of significant audio input

(resulting from severe, hearing impairment) forces the-individual to

depend upon seeing or visual stimuli almost entirely. Blind people rely

upon audio stimuli. Those who are not handicapped utilize both audio

and visual stimuli.

The significance of audio deprivation can be shown by the generally

poor language and speech characterized by the deaf population.

Unfortunately,language is basic to communication and communication

basic to learning (and socialization) and learning to career success.

Prior to the development of the DAVID system, the NTID Communi-

cation Department had developed auditory training processes utilizing

drill and practice with an audio tape system. Speech reading also requires-

much drill and practice; Iiiivevir, that firdeels requitedinstructionat

television. Both auditory and speech training demand much individual

practice by each student as well as regular classes and teacher

interaction. Lest it appear obtuse, auditory training (training in the

discriminatory use of residual hearing with the aid of amplification) has

demonstrated significant overall instructional gains through drill and

practice. Most legally deaf people have some residual hearing and can

benefit from training to use what they have. In addition to the above

stated practices, both auditory and speech training require media

overlap. Auditory training, which used audio tape only, indicated the

ideal situation would allow audio or audio with video stimuli. Skech

therapy was already utilizing video stimuli in the form of instructional

televlsion tapes, some with, and some without audio reinforcement. Both

curricula indicated strong need to control the audio and the videckstimuli,

to provide interactive learning with feedback and reinforcement, and to

provide individualized instruction.

Computer-assisted instruction at NTID (beginning in 1968 with the

IBM 1130-1500 system) hail demonstrated effectiveness in providing

individualizea instruction through drill and practice and tutorial strategies

in many diaciplines. Also, Jean McKernan Smith and Dr. vonFeldt's

preliminary research study indicated that CAI interaction could improve

the instructional gains found with the use of instrtietional television.2 The

hypotheses posed were: 1. a combination of student interaction provided

by CAI when merged with motion And/or audio would provide

significant instructional gains in Audiology and Speech Pathology, 2.

instruction which was not then possible could be explored, and 3. that

students may be able to receive additional individualized practice

222

212 DAVID

without requiring additional speech or audiology staff. Thecomparison

study was the first step in exploring these hypotheses.2 Development of

the NTID-DAVID prototype was the second step.

System Specification

A team from NTID including teachers, researchers, system specialists,

engineers, CAI specialists, TV engineers, and media specialiits assisted

in the process of defming the system specifications. The result included

feamres which addressed instruction, evaluation, lesson management

and research. The elements specified for the proposed system were:

control of audio and visual stimuli (mOtion), color, fast accessibility of

specific TV segments, quick rewind, ability to individualize, capacity for

student interaction, and data gathering capacity with abilityto summarize

and print. It was also requested that the proposed system be portable, low

cost and modularly expandable.

The first question addressed was "Is such a system feasible?" A

search showed that no system was then in existence that wouldsatisfy all

of the demands. A review of the TICCIT system revealed Many

elements but it did not proyide contml over the television-segments,wets

not low cost for a single stand alone system, and was not considered

modular in design (Hazeltine Corporation markets the TICCIT CAI

sysiom).

Extensive exploration of television, minicomputers, microcomputers,

interface systems and the instructional demands indicated that the state

of the art was such that the system could be built (1975): The task began

in Januiry 1976 to build the prototype system. t

A general summary of the instructional elements were as follows:

Audio

Control of the audio stimuli was designated as a primary need for

auditory training Use of the audio track on video tape provided the

capacity required. Speech training specified control of audio as desirable

also.

Motion-color

Speech training indicated that motion and color were primary needs in

order for the student to visualize articulatory movements. Videotape was

identified as the required media. Color enhanced reality and provided

extended motivation.

Accessibility

Drill and practice and tutorial strategies had proven effective for both

Auditory and Speech therapy at NTID. The prototype system would be

required to repeatedly play and replay segments of audio and visual

stimuli. The,stimuli were generally very short.(7 to 10 seconds long). A

22:3' e,

DAVID 2 13

video tape replay (VTR) SYstem would meet this need though extensive

modification to enable control of the tape would have to bemacre.

Fast Rewind

Data from CAI and otherinstructional research indicates that waiting

for reinforcement beiond 4 seconds results in deterioration of the

reinforcement For this reason it was specified that a seven to ten second

stimuli must be replayable in four seconds or less. Short drill And practice

stimuli are common at NTID, particularly in Auditory training

Individualization

The system must be capable of individualizing instruction to meet

specific needs of each student. For many years deaf students coming to

NTID., have shown a wide spectra of need for remediation as well as

instruction, both of which- must be met. Computer-assisted instruction

was appropriate as one component of the sysem because of its capacity of

meeting specific student instructional needs within defmed limits.

Active Learning

bats suggests a strOng correlation between active learning and

instructional gains. Interaction can occur with lesson materials and in

classes in many ways. Computer-assisted instruction provides capacity

for student participation through interrogation, quizzing, simulation, etc.,

allowing the student to communicate by way of keyboard or other device.

Data Gathering .

To individualize a student's lesson, student data must be gathered.

Based on this data, a specific program of instruction is provided.

Periodically, data is gathered to determine that the initial prescriPtion

was correct Lesson modifications are made as needed. Researchneeds

require data gathering at a different level. The capacity to identify each

stimuli and when it occurred may be important Each student's response,

time tip respond, etc., may be critical. These data must be collectable.

A combined ihstructional/research need was defined as maintaining

performance status for individual students as well as for classes. For

research purpoies, the ability to group students by various criteria of

handicap wax desirable. These research needs required a minicomputer,

disks, clock and printei.

Portability

NTID's Commitment to dissemination of curricula as well as

technology affurned the need for portability-. Also, it was envisioned that

ff a single stand alone system could be made small and portable, it would

be feasible to extend speech and auditory training into the deaf student's

school and-come environnient prior to attendance at NTID.

224

214 DAVID

Low Cost

The final criteria was that a low cost production model be feasible

based on the prototype system. The low cost model would be for

instructional use only. It would utilize existing lessons. No research or

lesson development capacities would be required. Low cost was defined

as a one year salary plus benefits of a professional Speech Therapist

(approximately $15,000.00).

This system levels were defined:

1. The instructional model (low cost).

2. The lesson development model.

3. The research model.

The system was to be designed in a modular form which would support

upgading as desired. Special attention was paid to rentability, reliability

and availability of service for the coniponents of the system.

Video Disk

Video disk technology was explored as an alternative to video tape.

Rejection of video disk at the time of the development of this project

(1965-66) occurred for the following reasons:

1. Unavailability of the video disk.

2. Very high cost of the disk prototype.

3. Very high "Cost of creating disk from existing tape or film

4. Unknown reliability.

5. Poor picture resolution (at demonstration).

6. Lesson development processes indicated that the tape system

would be critical in the lesson revision stages based on student

performance. This process also had strong economic implica-

tions which favored tape over disk.

The conclusion therefore, was to proceed utilizing state of the art 3/4"

video tape equipment for the prototype. It was also pointed out that if the

price, reliability, disk cost and serviceability of the disk system

approached that of tape then it would be feasible to interchange the tape

media for the disk. Furthermore, it was established that conversion of the

video disk system controller would be relatively simple and inexpensive.

As of this writing it appears that the feasibility of video disk (both

MCA-Phillips and Thompson CSF) is closer to reality. MCA-Phillips

provided a limited number of consumer players for sale to the general

public in the spring of 1979. These players cannot provide the random

access. The cost or these players was quoted as $700.00 each (with

rumors that they were underpriced).

The March 1979 issue of Educational and Industrial Television

announced that MCA-Phillips and General Motors Corporation had

ageed on an order for 7,000 industrial model Disco vision players. The

price per unit was placed at $2,000 to $3,000 per unit in large quantities.

`,5

DAVID

The conference on "Interactive Videodisk Technology In Education

and Training" supported by the Society For Applied Learning Tech-

nology (February 1979) displayed several Thompson-CSF videodisk

systems. These systems were built into prototype training systems by

various companies and demonstrated in the vendor area. MCA-Phillips

systems were noticeably absent. The Thompson CSF representative

suggested that their interactive disksystems would be available late 1979

and that the price per unit would be approximately $3,000.

The cost for videotape replay units (Sony and Panasonic) capable of

random. access is approximately $1,500. The tape systems, of course,

move slower to access a given TV segment but, as you will see later in this

paper, the speed is adequate for drill and practice andtutorial applications

particularly on the 1/2" systems.

Another problem that the disk systems will have to overcome is the

cot of creating disks. At this point a disk conversion fromyour existing

16mm film costs approximately $1,200 for a master (both vendors are

vague on this topic). The cost of copies from the mastervary from $10 to

$15 per 1/2 hour disk dependingon she volume ordered. In contrast, the

labor for copying a 1/2 hour video tape is approximately $6.00 (several

tape& can be copied at the same time) plus the cost of the raw tape which

is about $10 for a 1/2" tape up to $25.00 for 3/4" tape. Delivery is usually

within a week depending on the number of copies to be made.

Table 1 shows the estimated cost per tape or disk at 10, 100, 1,000,

and 10,000 copies. Ten 1/2 hour disks would cost $135.00 each. Ten 1/2"

tapes would cost $11.50 each.

Table

Estimated Cost of Duplicate Disk or Tape

Including Initial Set Up and Raw Tape or Disk

Tape Video.Disk

Number Total Cost Number Total Cost

of Units Cost Per Unit of Units Cost Per Units

10 $115.00 $1140 10 $1,350.00 $135.00

100 $1,150.00 $11.50 100 $2,700:00 $ 27.00

1,000 $ 11,5400 $11.50 POO $ 16,200.00 $ 16.20

10,000 $115,000.00 $11.50 10,000 $151,200.00 $ 15.12

Delivery of video disk copies are reported to be 4 to 6 months. The

manufacturers claim 1 month. Delivery for video tape copies is within

the week unless unusually large quantities are required.

The important fact to retain is that there are two disk systems: the

home player (S400-700) that cannot be used for interactive instruction

and the industrial system ($3,000-$5,000) which can provide interaction.

226

216 DAVID

Prototype System

The prototype computer-assisted instnuctional television system was

fully functional November 1977. Figure 1 shows the component parts.

Extensive testing. and modifications were made from July through

October 1977.

The WANG minicomputer (2200 vp, 32K) 10 mb disk, printer, clock

and keyboard were used without modification. An Intel 8080 micro-

computer (4K) was built to control the Sony 2850A video tape player

and to communicate with the WANG by way ofRS232 protocol. A time

code reader (CMX) was added to the Sony 2850A player. Electronic

integration of the Sony 2850A allowed microcomputer control by

software. Time code was placed on the 2nd audio track of the TV tape.

Each frame of television had a unique address which was then read by the

CMX reader and interpreted by the microcomputer software. The

WANG minicomputer directed the 8080 microcomputer and thus the

TV segments. The WANG System also provided the CAI lesson and

gathered data for management and research.

Videotape Recorder

Disk Memory

Keyboard

Figure 1: DAVID TB/CAI Prototype System

System Test

Testing activity was scheduled to determine if the prototype would be

able to function as designed with acceptable reliability and accuracy

under instructional use. Serious research could not begin until the system

had proved itself under use.

227

DAVID 217

Two lessons were developed specifically for the test. Two television

e-made. Tape 1 consisted of three parts to match the three

strategies used in that lesson. Part 1 was made up of episodes of Startrek

taken from the air (with permission) to augment the Startrek (gaming)

strategy. Part 2 adapted existing NT1D speech reading drill and practice

instructional television lessons. Part 3 called for the creation of a totally

new set of television stimuli in the form of over 100 ten second episodes.

These eipsodes make up the dialogue of the Job Interview (dialogue

strategy) and should be considered the first example of multi linear

branching television (DAVID TV). Television tape 2 was developed by

Dr. C. Csuri of Ohio State University and Dr. Margret Nithrow of

Gallaudet College. The content of tape 2 consisted of 3 dimensional

animated eipsodes designed to reinforce a single language concept; such

as through,over, and into. The lesson using tape 2 allowed the student to

command the frog to jump through, over or into a fence, a barn, or other

objects.

Approximately 500 people participated in testing the computer-

assisted instructional television system which became known as DAVID.

From November 1977 to late September 1978 deaf and hearing students

at all levels, housewives, teachers, professionals and non-professionals

participated in testing the system. The design features of DAVID were

tested using one or more of the following strategies: 1. gaming (Startrek),

2. drill and practice (Speech Reading), 3. dialogue (Joe Interview), and

4. student control (Frog/Language Concepts).

The system demonstrated portability on two occasions. A floppy disk

was used in place of the 10 mb disk. The DAVID system was taken to the

National Institute of Health in Washington, D.C., for one demonstration

and on another occasion was on display at H.E.W. during the 25th

celebration (also in Washington, D.C.). The entire system fit easily into

the back of a small automobile.

The cost of the NTID prototype system was approximately

$65,000.00. By January 1979 computer-assisted instructional television

systems will be available commercially for approximately 815,000.00.

A reasonable research level sysem will be available for 830,000.00.

The *most common question asked about the DAVID system is

concerned with tape transport speed and latency. Or in other words, how

long does the student have to wait to see the TV reinforcement?

There is no single answer to that question due to the variables

involved. A partial answer lies in the instruction strategy used, the

number of possible TV segment responses, the length (in seconds) of the

TV response, the positioning of episodes on the tape and the functional

speed of the access system. For example, drill and practice using existing

television taped lessons, has had very short latency (wait time). This

occurs because the TV stimuli and TV response segments are vex),

predictable. The next logical stimuli is usually very close requiring very

228

218- DAVlb

little time to position the tape. Table 2 shows latencies taken from a

student's Speech Reading drill and practice lesson. Also with drill and

practice you can expect repiats of the TV segment to occur. The latency

related to the repeat is directly proportional to the length of ,the TV

segment and the rewind speed of the video replay system. Generally

speaking, there would not be branching to a remote part of the TV tape for

a "replay."

Table 2

A Representative Sample of A Student's Latency Using An Adapted

NTID Drill and Practice Speech Reading Lesson

Sentence

Number Next Stimuli

Latency Repeat

Latency

1. 75

2. 04

3. 0

4. 04

5. 05

6. 12 4

7. 0

8. 0

9. 04

10. 05

11. 18 4

12. 04

13. 04

14. 05

15. 04

16. 17

17. 05

18. 04

19. 04

20. 06

21. 95

22. 001:

23. 06

24. 04

25. 05

Note that after completing a group,of five sentences, the progyam

randomly picks a block of five sentences. A long latency occurs at that

point as the tape moves into position. A paragraph of text on the screen

for the student tekead can mask the wait so that the student would not be

aware of the laiency. Also notice that ii takes about four seconds to

22 9

DAVID 219

rewind the stimuli for a repeat. As you can see, average latency would be

misleading. In several instances this student decided not to replay the TV

segment (sentence numbers 7, 8, 22).

The ,quiz for the same lesson (Table 3) Was designed to select seven

sentences at random from the twenty-five that were practiced. The

sentence is repeated one _time. After that no repeats are available.

Table 3

. Quiz Section Of A Representative Sample Of A

student's Latency Using An Adapted NTID

Drill And Practice Speech Reading Lesson

Sentence

Number Next Stimuli

Latency Repeat

Latency

1. 15 4

2. 75

3. 17 4

4. 64

5. 64

6. 11 5

7. 18 4

Latency,can be reduced in this section by reassembling the test items

into single blocks.

Tape design becomes More important for gaming, dialogue and

student control strategies. The first step is to plan anticipated TV stimuli,

Segments and groupings. We found that access is faster when we

duplidate segments on a tape rather than jump back and forth to one

specific TV sevnent Iftany event,,the TV flow is enhancedby putting a

response segment next to the following TV stimuli 'Segment For

example, if the TV stimult(in the Job Interview lesson) was "Are you

willing to move to the corporate headquarters?" the TV response

segment for an affinnative answer by the student would be: "That'sfine,

by the way, what hobbies are you interested in?" In this case a negative

respor. ould lead to I diaastrous effect and would tree out to a

termination of the interview unless Abe student reversed his position on

moving. But thaes a different issuein itself. As you can imagiue, i6ility to

gather data reflecting student paths becomes very important to the

process of developing efficient television tapes for the DAVID lessons.

In general, the Sony 2850A is fast enough for drill and practicc(6.5

sec. per sec. in fast forward and 14 sec:per sec. in rewind) but a faster

transport system is needed for dialogue. Table 3 shows latincies typical

of the gaming, drill and practice and dialogue.

230

220 DAVID

The data in Table1 reflects one studeni's path through the demonstra-

tion lesson. Since there are many deciiions available,, the lesson

represents a highly individualized map and would be quite different from

another student's pefformance. Many of the students stayed in the

SamilIz section rnuch longer.

In many instances -lessons can be designed-to reduce latencies to 2

seconds or less by inter4cingtext between TV segments. Inthis way the

feedback and "further instruction"masks the tape access time. When the

student hat finished reading, the,tape is in positionresdy to go.

Table 4

A Representative Sample of A Student's Letenfy Using

Various Strategies Fromthe NTID DAVID Demonstration Lesson

TV Next Segment

Segment Latencyln seconds)

Put 1 1,

Startrek Game

'''t \ 0

5. i 7

6. 43

7. 4

.8. 1

9. 12

10. '9

Part 2 11. 32 (position to section2)

Speech Reading 12. 4

Drill and Practice 13. 5

14. 6

15. 9

16. 4

17. 7

18. 6

19. 5

20. -8

21. 12

22. .7

23 6

24. 4

25. 7

26. 6

27. 5

231

Table 4 ton't

DA VID 221

Part 3 28. 30 (position to section 3)

Job-Interview 29. 12

Dialogue 30. 14

31. 16

32. 0

.33. ,5

34. 12

35. 6

36. d19

37. 7

38. 5

39. 13

40. - 19

41. 0,

-\ k 42. 12

43. ,7

44. 18

45.. 6

46. 6

C.. 13

48. 14

,'49. 0

.50. .

51. 19 -

'52. 8

53. 13

54. 7

A eclmmercially avafiable system anticipated providestape V;ansport

speech of 23 seconds oftape per second in both forwardand rewind. This

wilt be a significant improvement over the 2850A which moves tape

forWird at 6 seconds per second and rewind at 14 seconds per second.

Exploratiod of hard video OP*will occw when economically feasible;

however, it is *till coisidered imperative that lesson development be

done by way of a tape system befixe a disk systemcan be effectively

used. Also, the newer PCM*soft Nide° disk with its read/write capacity

may allow 'elimination of the tape process. These processes will be

explored when available.

On October 1, 1978, the NTlD prototy9e systad.was accepted as

meeting criteria. Soon,ifter, plans were in iction to begin exploring the

system as a research tool.

232

222 'DAVID

Current Experiments

Dr. Dona Is Dims of the NTID AudiologyDepartment is exploring the

DAVID sYStem-and its ability to help him evaluate_the effectiveness of

answer strategieg cueren-dy used to teach deaf students speech reading

Current instruction of speech reading at NTID requires a video tape

player and television set at each student station supported by answer

sheets and a teacher in the room. Three activities take place: 1) class

instruction, 2) indivilial instruction (duringpractice) and 3) independent

study (lab):

The following is a description of the deaf student's speech reading

activity en the DAVID system which is desigped to be similar to the Lab

instruction. Firit, the student is started at amultiple choice level. After he

sees a sentence spoken tn the television he, is asked to type the correct

answer from four choices. A simple, a, b, c or d task. The assignment of

level is done by the teacher and is based on extensive diagnostic data as

well as the stlident's performance in class.

The sec,?nd level of answering requires the student to type the words of

the sentence just seen into a forinat which has blanks as clues and the key

vo6bulaty word in the correct place. For example, the TV speaker has

said, "The report was filed in the top drawer." The, student is given the

following fontat to type his answer:

PLEASE TYPE THE SENTENCE:

filed

level

The third level of answer difficulty is similar to level two except that

the key word is placed to the right of the answer area; su4 as:

PLEASE TYPE THE SENTENCE

level 3 ,

(filed).

The fourth and hardest answer foimat requires the student to type the

answer into a blank area. No key wofd or clues as to the number of words

or their length is given. A blank space is provided for the student response

such as40 PLEASE TYPE THE SENTENCE. ,

level 4

Exact spelling is required; however, words out of positicn are'

2 3 :3

DA VID 223

accepted. As students practice,* the correct words are shown in their

proper position in the sentence Its feedback, such as:

PLEASg TYPE THE SENTENCE.

The report has filed on-the drawer top. (student)

The report -- filed the top drawer. (feedback)

This shows the student that he has six words correct. The feedback

becomes a strong clue. The student is given several tries with as many

repeats of the TV segment as he wants. Eventually the student gets the

sentence correct or is given the sentence word by word to type in. At that

,time, the sentence is played again but this time the audio is on and the

4ords are captioned on the screen.

A typical course consists of 150 to 175 sentences organized by

curriculum such as Engineering or Business. Key words are identified as

primary vocabulary words in the given curriculum.

,Dr. Sims' lessons are being field tested by deaf students as they are

being developed. When the lessons-are satisfactory, two strategies of

control will be added for testing: L. studentperformance control; that is, a

series of correct or wrong answers will automatically direct the student to

die next level of difficulty allowing progreSs or regression through the

fdur levels of answer formats based on the individual's performance, and

2. learner control; that iq.. the student chooses any of the four answer

forms.

SUMMARY

The needs of the deaf community require special tails to optimize the

teaching/learning process. Instructional television has had a positive

effect for teaching deaf students speech reading skills at "the Nationil

TeClmical Institute for the Deaf Auditory training has utilized pro-

gramthed instruction techniques with audio repliy technologies to

increase deaf studentS' ability to use residual hearing. Both audiology

and speech. faculty have depended upon drill and practice to teach and

iinpiove student performance. The DAVID system was designed to

assiSf the teacher by providing audio, television (in color) and an

interactive learning activity through keyboard. All of this was under

computer control. In addition, a sophisticated data gatk.ering capacity for

research at NTID was attached.

Television tapes and CAI lessons were developed to test the prototype

undeil instructional conditions. Instruaional strategies used on the tapes

were:11. gaming, 2. drill and practice, 3. dialogue, and 4. student control.

The system was accepted by NTID October 1978 after nearly one

year of testing by over 500 people. Face validity of the system was

achieVed.

The speed of the tape transport was identified to be a problem for some

-234

224 DAVID*

of the strategies used thou-0 it was adequate for drill and practice. New

techniques for developing television tapes have been developed that

maximize the access speed of the tape transport and which capitalize

upon the very promising strategy of dialogue. Existing instructional

television tapes were successfully adapted.

Innovations such .fis hard video disk and ,PCM disk with read/write

capacity will be explored when feasible.

Dr. Dinis of the NTID Audiology Department is exploring the

DAVMI system as it applies to speech reading and auditory training.

Acknowledgements

I feel it is fitting to list those whose creative contributions have assisted

in bringing the DAVID system to its current state: Dr. Barry Cronin,

chairman of the Instructional Television Department, Dr. Donald Sims

of the Audiology Department, Dr. Haiold Farneth of the Curriculum

Development D.epartment, Mr. Steve Talley of Instructional Television

and Mr. Tom Myers and Dr, Kirmitt Schroeder, consultants.

REFERENCES:

1. Sims, Donald, vonFekk, James. IL, Dowaliby, Fred L, and Hutchinson, Kathy,

"Speechreading Instniction Experimental Design Utilizing the Digital and Audio

Interacti'Ve Device (DAVID)," Repon of Fall Quarter 1978 Activities at NTID,

Interdepartmental paper, National Technical Institute for the Deaf; January, 1979.

2. Smith, Jean and vonFeldt, James R., "A Comparison of Two Media: An Examination

of Computer-Assisted Instniction and Television Instniction in Teaching Diacritical

Markings to Post Secondary Deaf Students," techniCal paper, National Institute for the

Deaf, August 1, 1977.

3. vonFeldt, James R., "An Overview of Computers in Education," technical paper,

NationsVechnical Institute for the Deaf; March 1977.

4. vonFeldt, James R., "A National Survey of the Useof Computer-Assisted Instructl

In Schools for tfie Deaf;" technical paper, National Technical Institute for the Deaf;

January 1978.

Cirre\CrCD

Seminole Community College

Working with Aventy-Seven

LU Other institutions

Thomas W. Hobbs

Seminole Community College

Sanford, Florida

INTRODUCTION

The Florida Community College System has several times served as a

model for other community college systems in the country. With the

realization that television had become one-of the dominant mediums of

mass communication -the Florida Community, College System agim

served as a Model when kbegan the development in 1973 and 1974 of

the Florida Community and Junior College Television and Radio

Consortium.

A major reason for the search for a cooperative method of organizing

the presentaticin of televised college credit courses was that of cost. With

the relatively fugh costs of acquisition and of leasing documentaries,

producing written materials, purchasing television broadcast dine,

adapting telecourses to local needs, and of assigning faculty time, it was

appaient that television created special economic problems for a single

institution.

The development of the Consortium began during the fall or1973

when Valencia Community College in cooperation with WMFE-TV,

the public television station in Orlando, agreed to broadcast the "Man

\and EnvironMent" series. Approximately three hunched students enrolled

44 for credit the first semeiter. With such an outstanding response Valencia

414

Community College, began to explore bther possibilities 'of televised

programming

44. The signal of WMFE-TV covered the service area of five central

Florida community colleges. Encouraged by the news that WMFE-T1 .

was about toincrease its signal strength five times its present power,

Brevard, Pollc, Lake-Sumter and Seminole Community Colleges joined

225 2(36

226 Seminole Community College

Valencia Community College in a Consortium. Unfortunately, the new

tower from which the greatly increased signal was to be broadcast,

collapsed during a finarstate of constniction. This resulted in two of five

colleges suffering from an almost total loss of signal in their college

districts.

It was found that both colleges, isolated by the loss of the signal from

WMFE-TV in Orlando, could receive the signal -of-WEDU-TV in

Tampa. The WED U-TV management ageed to brpadcast the "Man

and Environment" series. The broadcast by WEDUIV not only made

it possible for Polk and Lake-Sumter Community Co4eges to receive

progam signals but it also allowed for four additiRialt community

colleges to participate. Hillsborough, Manatee, Pa,sco;teernando and St.

Petersburg Community Colleges could now receive the signal and were

invited 'to join the Consortium. As .a result of these additional colleges

entering the organization, it was decided during the summer of 1974 to

form the Central Florida Television and Radio Consortium.

When the 1974 fall term was completed, the Consortium's college

credit television course enrollment was 3,294. By spring of 1975 the

list of courses being offered by member community colleges included:

"The Ascent of Man," "Dimensions In Culture," "Man and Environ-

ment, Part I and II," "As Man Behaves," and via radio, "Law I" and

"Law II." Since September 1974, more than eighteen different courses

have been offered by members ofthe Consortium (see Appendix B). The

enrollment has increased from the original 3,294 in one term to over

11,000 in one year. The total enrollment since its inception has been

more than 52,000 students.

Consortium Organization

The geat amount of interest expressed in a possible statewide

consortiu,m by non-member community colleges was such that with the

'aid of the Florida Department of Education plans were developed and

approved for a statewide Florida Community and Junior College

Television and Radio Consortium. The plan assigned each of Florida's

twenty-eight community colleges to one of six regions. Each of the

regions was centered upon, and somewhat determined by, the local

public television station's broadcast capability. Each college was to

serve the student population of its own district and would share equally

the decision making processes and in the funding of die region's

operations. Each region would choose a volunteer coordinator. These six

coordinators would, in turn, meet on a statewide basis and would choose

a chairman. This organization has functioned in such a way that the

coordinators have shared in the development of plans, progams and new

funding solutions. The plan and resulting Floridd Community and Junior

College Television and Radio Consortium was approved by the Florida

State Community College Council of Academic Affairs, the Florida

2 3 7

Seminole Community .College 227

Community College President's Council, and by the Florida Division of

Community Colleges of the State Department ofEducation during the

fall of 1974. Subsequently, all twenty7eight colleges have expressed

interest in the Consortium and have participated to some degree.

The Florida Community and,Junior College Television and Radio

Consortium at that time was unique in that it developed within the

Florida Community College System. The Consortium was designed to

meet the needs of the individual colleges and was not superimposed upon

the system at the state level. Much credit must be given to Robert

McCabe, President of Miami-Dade Community College and David

Evans, Vice-President for Campus Affairs of Valencia Community

College for providing much leadership and support.

Additional encouragement, technical and financial aid came nextfrom

the Florida Department of Education. J. Warren Binns, Administrator

of Educational Television and Radio, agreed to assist the Consortium.

This aid came in many forms but two of the more important were the

leasing by the Department ofEducation for the Consortium, the majoritY

of its teleyised courses and secondly, that it served as adubbing center for

all series offered by the Consortium. Both of these actions greatly

relieved the financial burden placed upon the Consortium's member

colleges.

Locating Materials

A problem that has often arisen for the Consortium has been that of

locating appropriate materials. Until the recent addition of such listings

as those of AACJC much of thesearch for new material was on a hit or

miss basis. Often first knowledge of the existence of a telecourse has been

gained from the varied public relations efforts of the individual producing

entities. Other sources have been the various educational television or

audio visual workshops with their displays ofequipment and materials.

The difficulty of locating a wide variety of materials has been

especially acute in the areas of high Student enrollmentsuch as the widely

found general education courses. These freshman an4 sophomore

courses acrOss the state enroll thousands of students each college term

yet there have been very few television based courses,produced to fill this

need. It is true that a number of high quality course materials such as "As

Man Behaves," "The Growing Years," "The Ascent of Man," "It's

Everybody's Business" have been produced with many colleges now

using them. Many other colleges and universities have tried to enter this

instructional area but often their efforts have centered upon the recording

of lectures and slide show presentations. While it can be said those

presenting the materials were often talented professionals in their

respective fields of academic endeavor they have often possessedlittle

knowledge of the limitations and potentials of television based instruc-

tion. Due to often poor or limited production procedures many of these

238

228 Seminole Community College

1:program series are simply not being used by the majority of colleges now

offering television based instruction. There are several reasons for this

reluctance, one of which is that oflow appeal to the student. The college

student of today is accustomed to viewing and using high quality audio

visual materials. Materials produced poorly will receive poor student

usage and will have a resulting low student enrollment. A second

problem linked to poor production, quality and style is that many

television stations today are reluctant or will refuse to use poorly

produced educational materials during prime hours due to the lack of

viewer appeal. The local stations when reviewing telecourses must also

consider the general viewing public of which the station does not with to

lose its share due to extremely poor production of some television series.

It is not that excellent instructional courses have not been produced.

One only has to view such series as "The Ascent of Man," to have the

enjoyment of factual materials being presented in an enlightening and

entertaining style. The number and variety of these courses for use in

general education has continued to be severely limited. Additional

production work needs to be undertaken in this area. It is not that it

cannot be done because such institutions as Miami-Dade Community

College, Dallas Community College and Coastline Community College

have been doing it for several years.

The television based courses offered by the Florida Community

Colleges are usually chosen on the basis of consortial agyeement. The

Florida Consortium regional representatives meet regularly to conduct

reviews of available materials and to discuss future needs. After initial

viewing by the region representative the recommended tapes are then

viewed by the faculties of the individual colleges in each region, which

then make their recommendations to the regional coordinator who then

in agreement with the other fivecoordinators recommends what the State

should lease or buy.

Adoption of Al a terials

The adaptation of a television based course is very often not as simple as

it 'may at first seem. Quite often a lengthy period of review by

instructional faculties of the course objectives and content takes place.

Occasionally questions arise as to advisability of totally adapting such a

course with all of its content andcomponents. In some instances only the

reordering of the sequence of tapes has been necessary. In a majority of

instances extensive modification of either state, regional or local

consortium professionals has hadto take place on at least one part and on

several parts of the course package.

Many of the changes have resulted when there arose differences

between the television based course materials and the local curriculum.

Other changes have occurred in efforts to modify the course so as to

lessen faculty resistance to telecourse& In one instance changes were

3 3

Seminole Community College 229

made to reflect a more local focus. The very popular series produced by

Miami-Dade Community College, Man and Environment I and II was

an excellent example of the range of adaptive changes. The series

consisted of thirty ono-half hour tapes which were equally divided

between the series' two courses. North Florida Community College at

Jacksonville believed that a more local focus to the course was needed

and so produced its own series of tapes to be used with those of Miami-

Dade Community College. Other changes involved in adopting these

two courses could be found in the Central Florida Region of the

Consortium. Here, not only were tapes reordered as to sequence there

were new study guides developed .and different textbooks chosen.

Problems of Delivery

The full potential of the Consortium proably has not been fully

realized. Several colleges have tried alternative means of reaching their

district populations. Gulf C oast Community College at Panama City has

-had to make extensive use of local commercial television cable system.

Their problem has been the lack of a strong station to servi their

population. Another example of alternate means of serving television

students is exemplified by Daytona Beach Community College which

has worked with the Volusia County School Board in using its

system. Each of these examples represents an alternative method of

reaching student populations by means other than public and commercial

television stations.

One reason for the numerous searches for alternative means of reaching

the student have been the all too often obstructive or uncooperative

attitudes of several of thelstate's public and commercial stations to the

very idea of working wittiany ofthe colleges in a constructive way. Often

the rates for air time have been placed at too high a level. Other instances

have occurred where the local stations would simply refuse or not make

time available for the telecasting of the college courses.

Perhaps one reason why the Central Florida Region 'has been so

successful in its programming ,has been because of the attitudes and

management policies of WMFE-TV toward the Coniortium. Over the

years since 1973, WMFE-TV has been an active supporter of the

Consortium's eprt. Rates for air time have been le,..pt at a reasonable

level and times for broadcast have been easily attained.

Consortium Benefits

The resulting advantages to the Consortium's individual member

colleges have been numerous. Each college has shared in the selection of

courses and has had the flexiblity of participating or not participating in

.`-any of the course arrangements. This system of cooperation has helped

all colleges in that it provided a greater sharing of expertise in such

activities as the selection of materials, the devel )pment of faculty

2 .1 u

230 Seminole Community College

workshops, study guides and other printed materials. Another advantage

of this Consortium was that no longer would any individual college have

to pay all the costs, for by cooperating, they paid an equal share of costs.

The outstanding qdality of the Florida Communty College Television

and Radio Consortium seems to be the freedom of choice allowed each

member in its participation in any activity of the Consortium. The only

limitation being that once a region has decided to offer a course all must

share in its broadcast costs. Associated with each of these decisions is the

fact they are arrived at in the local-regional level and nOt at the state level.

This has allowed each college greater latitude in controlling not only its

instructional costs but also its curriculum.

APPENDIX A

Community College

Instructiodal Television and Radio Coordinators

Jack Carroll

Director, Learning

Resources

3865 N. Wickham Rd.

Melbourne, FL 32935

IsatiC Call

Director, Learning

Resources

Broward Community

College

3501 S.W. Davie Rd.

Fort Lauderdale, Fl 33314

Sharon Mixson*

AV Coordinator

Central Florida

Community College

P.O. Box 1388

Ocala, FL-32670

William'Stabler

Director, Learning

Resources

Chipola Junior College

Marianna, FL 32446

Paul E. Novak

Media Specialist

Florida Keys

Community College

Key West, FL 33040

Charles Bond*

Dean, Learning

Resources

Gulf Coast

Commnunity College

5230 W. Highway 98

Panama, City, FL 32401

Dr. John Bouseman*

Vice President

Hillsborough

Community College

Plant City, FL 33566

Mrs. Mary Thornton

Manager, Media Services

Indian River

Community College

.3209 Virginia Ave..

Fort Pierce, FL 33450

Dr. Don Thigpen

Dean, Learning

Resources

Daytona Beach

Community College

P.O. Box 1111 -

Daytona Beach, FL 32015

Dean Ritzman

Director, Media Services

Edison Community

College

College Parkway

,Fort Myers, FL 33901

Guy Kerby*

Cablevision Coordinator

Florida Junior College

940 N. Main Si.

Jacksonville, FL 32202

Ned Glenn*

Director of the

Open College

Miami-Dade

Community College

11011 S.W. 104th St.

Miami, FL 33167

Mrs. Lu Alice Sands

Director,

Library Services

North Florida

Junior College

Turner Davis Drive

Madison, FL 32340

Hosmer Roberson

Coordinator,

Media Services

Okaloosa-Walton

Junior College

College Boulevard

Niceville, FL 32578

Semino Community College 231

Briggs

Media ecialist

ommu ity College

Le City, FL 32055

alter Allan

e-Sumter

Community College

re00 N.W. 441, South

esburg, FL 32748

Mrs. Margaret J. Lyons

AV C Department

Manatee Junior College

P.O. Box 1849

Bradenton, FL 33506

Thomas C. Rogero

Dean, Academic Affairs

St. Johns RiverJunior College

5001 St. Johns Ave.

Palatka, FL 52077

Robert N..Kreager

Director, Instructional

Development

St. Petersburg Junior College

P.O. Box 13489

St. Petersburg, FL 33733

Dr. Robert Meyer

Dean, Learning Resources

Santa Fe Community

College

P.O. Box 1530

Gainesville,, FL 32602

Dr. Thomas'Hobbs**

Chairman, Social Sciences

Seminole Community

College

Sanford, FL 32771

242

232 Seminole Community College

%O.

Milton U. Thomas

Ay Coordinator

Palm 'Beach

Junior College

4200 Congress Ave.

Lake Worth, FL 34603

Wellington Estey

Dean, Learning

Resources

Pasco- Hernando

Community College

2401 State Highway 41,

North

Dade City, FL 33525

ITV Director

Pensacola Junior College

1000 College Boulevard

Pensacola, FL 32504

* Region Coordinator

*1' Consortium Coordinator

Mrs. Leila L Sebring

Librarian

South Florida Junior College

600 W. College Drive

Avon Park, FL 33825

William Donaldson

Tallahassee Community

College

444 Appleyard Dr.

Tallahassee, FL 32304

Dr. Paul Kinser*

Community Resources

Valencia Community College

P.O. Box 3028

Orlando, FL 32802

Dr. Patricia S. Miller

Director, Learning

Resources

Polk Community College

999 Avenue H, N.E.

Winter Haven, FL 33880

APPENDIX B

Television Courses That Have Been Offered

By The Florida Television and Radio Consortium

Man and Environment I

Man and Environment IF::7"

As Man Behaves

Dimensions In Culture

Ascent of Man

Adams Chronicles

It's Everybody's Business

Writing For A Reason

Earth, Sea and Sky.

Making It Count

The Long Search

American Government

24 3

Home Gardener

Classic Theatre

Modem Math

Law I

Law II

The Age of Uncertainty

Music Appreciation

The Growing Years

Biology

Shakespeare

Personal Finance and

Money Management

The Living Environment

The Art of Being Human

CD , .

f\I .*

Bridging the. Chasm Between

L.; Telecommunications and Higher Education

C. Gregory Van Camp

General Manager, Station WWVU-TV

West Virginia University

Morgantown, West Virginia

INTRODUCTION

Several years ago, when West Virginia University's public television ,

station was in its infancy, my administrator, the provost for academic

affairs, made a statement that in many Ways characterized the 'age-old'

chasm between education and technology. The situation was this: the

television station was under a short deadline from the Federal Communi-

cations Commission to file a form wlifch Nuked the signature of the

chancellor of the West VirginiaBoard of Regents, holder of the station's

license. The university, which operates WWVU-TV for thehoard, had

an extensive, tithe-consuming revieKprooechire for an'y and ill matters

which required the chancellor's approvalcertainly too extensive and

too complex to meet the station's deadlineAn appraising the situation,

my provost said, "Greg the problem is ... in television you work by the

sweeping red hand of the clock . . . but the university works by the"

decade!" However humorous, or maybe sobering his assessment reflected

.a significant reality.

Although my illustration is a greatly exaggerated contrastthe fact is

that a chasm does exist between education andtechnology, specifically

communications techholOgy. The Width and depth ofthe chasm varies,

perhaps based upon one's own perspective. Certainly from tlie technology

side, the chasm is generally perceived as awesome. In Match, 1975, the

Advisory Council of National Organizations published a report to the

Corporation for Public Broadcasting it was entitled simply "Public

Broadcasting and Education." The first of its 11 recommendations

stated, "The CPB should intensify its efforts to bridge the triditional

chasm between broadcasting and education, building a working partner-

ship to serve their common purposes." Over the years, many similar

233 244

.234 Bridging the Chasm

recommendations, challenges, and mandates have been voiced. But the

reality is that generally each camp continues to walk along itsown side of

the chasm.

It is my purpbse hire to explore some of the reasons why this is true

butperhaps more importantly to show that the chasm does not need co be

thereat least not to the clearly-evident level that exists too extensively

throughout the United States today. Higher education and communica-

tions technology can inter-relate; however, it is going to take a major

effort, and significant changes, by leaders on both sides to make it

happen.

Basic IsSues

Let's consider the basic issues in an effort to understand the scope and

nature of the problem. My analysis shall be confined to the field of

'cornmunications technologyor telecommunications; it is Ty observa-

tion that the chasm is greater in this field than in most other areas of

technology. Most technology can be fully Controlled or managed by the

user; telecommunications, however, is different.

Telecommunications is a threat to many educators. It is not easy to

use. It requires a team of specialists to produce its software. Too

generally, educators and telecommunications people don't understand

each other. One of the reasons is that telecommunications is similar to

the educational Community in that the important work of each is pchieved

by professional peopleassuming that the telecommunicatiorls unit is

one of quality, with high standards. Each field is composed of

sophisticated, intelligent, motivated human beings. Each has pride

... and separate missions with sets of goals. However, for the educators

to use the technolognand to use it properly, individuals from these two

fields must work closelyegether. The split also becomes evident when

faculty within the same icademic diseipline reject the work of others.

Further; we see it when the academic leadershipofan institution does not

support the use of the teehnology. The communications technology itself

is not the problemthat is quite straightforviard. The technology is

merely hardware: cameras, videotape machines, cable, satellite, casettes,

fibre optics, videodiscfascinating tools, designed by people.

Examples

Consider three examples in an attempt to explore this nationwide

chasm. First, a very simplistic situation: the use of a television-based

course, produced by another university. The key work is 'another.' Here

is a well-known pattern: time and time again, faculty pm University A

reject the television materials produced by Universities B and C.

Reasons range from valid explanatiOns to obvious excuses. The fact is

the faculty from University A didn't have a role in contributing ideas into

the content. Further, within the same department of a university, a

243

Bridging the Chasm 235

television course developed by 'Prof. Smith' is equally reje'eted by his

peers.We all well know, however, that books on subjects within the same .

academic discipline are accepted and used. What ;s thedifference? Ideas

and concepts are expressed in both forms. On the one hand the book is an

integral part of the traditional system. Education developed with the

book; it has been part of higlier education for centuries. But,

televisionthat's a wholly different matter. It is a non-traditional

newcomer. It doesn't fit into I- og-standing, established academic

patterns. But perhaps most sigtificant, it is verypersonal. The communi-

cations process is one-to-e.

As a result, for these and other reasons dozens of truly outstanding

television courses receive low fo marginal acceptanceforbroad useuse

which could be beneficial to many students-Land to many colleges and

universities.

A second exampleproduction of a television-based credit course. In

this situation, a professor, the teacher-host, enters into the new

experience with the expectation that he will control the cireumstadces.

But this won't necessarily'be the case. The reasonwaiting to work With

the professor is a 'team pf television experts: an instructional specialist,

an executive pnxiucer, a pnxiucer-director, graphic artists, v'lecgraphers,

lighting people, sound specialists, .echnicianseach with a role to play,

and each in his desire to produce the highest quality poisible, may

modify, support (or even hinder) the educator. True, the professor is

responsible for the contentbut to effectively adapt it for televisjon, he

must rely upon the tetvision experts, who are also creative, irnovative,

knowledgeablepeople with ideas of their own, andconfident of their own

capabilities. There will be planning meeting, discussions, and approvaF

of major and minor matteys. The faculty member becomes caught up in

differenkechniques: formats, art work, field production, ahd other non--

traditional, new 'activities. The educator becomes a partner, howcvei

willing or unwilling, in a cornplc: situation--one which requires time,

energy, patience, and hard worle. It is my observation that the more

complex and sophistiCated tne production activity, the lower the control

by the educator. Based upon the above scenario, can you expect a rush ois

faculty members? And I haven't even mentioned the negative reinforce-

ment and criticism the professor typically receivps from his peers during

his new, sometimes traumatic experience!

Frequent Distrust

To add tri the complexity, unfortunately there isanother whole side to

the problem . .. a side of some significant magnitude. Too generally,

.television people question the motivation of some professors in their

de4re to use television. Telecommunications professionals have been

'burned' numerous times in unsavory experiences. When faculty tme

2 4

236 .Bridging the Chasm

telecommunciations for personal gainor some self-serving purpose,

the project doesn't succeed, or the end product is Of lower quality than it .

could have been. Three graphic illustrations come to mind. One deals

with the use of television as a means of proViding release time to faculty

for their own research and publishini_ . release tirne justified by the large

number of student contact hours generated. by the use videotaped

lessons, played-baa multiple times, and repeated in future semesters. A

second illuStrationthe production ofa television series as w means to

piovide a summer job for the faculty membernot produCed to meet an

institutional need. A third illustration is a common problem. A professor

secures a grant for production-of teleyision materialsbut he dbesn't

inform the telecommunicationi peoPle about the project until after he

receives the funds. Typically there is then conflict because of prior

commitments by the telecommunications unit, or the funds are inadequate

to accomplish the professor's original project. It is situations like these

.which-make the,television people rightfully suspicious of new faculty

prOjects which are brought to them. There are literally dozens of

illustrations like these from around the country.

Let's continue to explore the chasm with example number three: the

full-blown, sophisticated telecommunications center, including public

television and radio stations, as a unique entity within the university's

system. To put this unit into context, realize the relatively high level of

independence of this unitindependence from 'traditional university

patternscreated by the Feder-al Communications Commission and its

licensihg process. Sprcifically, the broadcasting staff has a truly unique

mandatea responsibility of some considerable magnitude requiring

special considerations, which may have little todo with the university,to

Which it is lif;enSed. In essence, to some major degree, the broadcasters

must operate as an entity. Further, whatever it does, its product, is fully in

the publid view. This in itself is a unique, major distinction.

Therefore, the administrator of this telecommunications unit is also,

manager of the licensed broadcast stations; he works under a split

responsibility and, sets of guidelines. He must walk the line between his

university's policies and rules ... and those of the FCC and other Federal

agenceis. To this, add the .complexities and implications of-My two

previous examplesplus a number of other pressuresand maybe you

can begin to realize the depth and width of the chasm.

Positive Relationship!Posiibilities,,

Now, with that background, let's return to my theMe: in spite ot the

problems, a positive, productive inter-relationship can exist between the

educational community and the. one of telecommunications.

True, I have painted a fairly grinypictureof the chasm. But, that chasm

can be bridged, if the parties Want it to happen. It is like a marriage. It can

workif botk partners want it. to. However, unlike a marriage, the

247

Bridging the Chasm 237

relationship of education and telecommunications is quite one-sided.

One of the parties musi try harder,'be more flexible, and make a genuine

effort to accommodat4 the other. That party is the technology partner.

WhY? *Obviously the educational institution is the majoritypartner

by many fold. Its, mandate, its size, its depth, is much broader, much

okler,.much stronger. The telecommunications unit is just one of =try

units Within the universityperhaps the youngest, the smallest, the Most

independent

There are several major reasons why the educational community is

imereated in utilizing the new communications technology: (1) financial

and enrollnient pressures on the colleges and universities and the

resultant.meed to achieve greater efficiencies and to develop new and

different student enrollments; (2) an increasing awareness by faculty in

the potential benefits of using telecommunications; (1) thedevelopment

of new easy-to-use devioes (such as the videocassette and the videodisc);

(4) a gowing sophistication of the telecommunications professionals; (5)

an increasing appreciation and acceptance Of the talents and contributions

of the telecommunications staff; and (6) a realization that the average

American is greatly influenced and affected by telecommunications as

an integral part of his or- her everyday life. American industry and the

defense e,stablishment have embraced communications technology as a

basic part of their educational and training programs. NK

Crestingi a Successful Marriage

Those are the reasons to build the bridge.

But hoW do we go about it? Previously I stated that one of the partners

had to wolic much harder to make the marriage workand so it is. The

telecommUnications people must make the major oVerture ... create the

opening .. L. provide the proper atmosphere. And if the circumstances are

to the advantage of the educators, and their use is for truly legitimate,

valid purpOses, the marriage can work.

For benefit of the marriage, there are several specific suggestions

which I offer to the varidUs.parties.

To the telecommunications administrator and the members of his

staff:

Develop, and instill in your staff an understanding of, and a

coMmitment to service on behalf of the academic community. Be

genuinely responsive to the needs of the educator*:

Create an internal system which will objectively evaluate the

Merits of accepting, or rejecting, faculty requests for service

prdiOct-§.

Maintain a high level of communicationsinternal and

externalon activities related to _academic needs and projeCts.

Open positive relationships with the other administratorswithin

the University: Work With people ins the, comptroller's office,

248

238. Bridging theChasm

purchasing, budget, personnel, physical plant. Within our

bureaucratic world, learn to work within the systems . .. and

'make the systems wolic for you.

Build a confidence in those with avhom you work. Develop

realistic, justifiable goals, budget requests, and policies.

Establish and maintain high production, technical, and opera-

tional standards.

Make it as easy as possible . . . in all ways . . . for educatort to

utilize your services.

To the university administrator, I offer the following suggestions:

If telecommunications can play a role in your institution, openly

endorse it and follow with tangible support.

Implement mechanisms, policies, aM organizational- structures

which will integrate telecommunications into the mainstream of

institutional concerns and directions.

.1 Hire a telecommunications administrator-who will lead a staff

whICh is responsive to faculty needs.

Insist that the telecommunications unit be truly high-quality,

professional in nature; if it is not, the expenditure can become a

liability insteatof an asset.

Support the telecommunications unit with adequ'ate funds for

personnel; equipment, and operations.

And to the faculty I offer these guidelines:

Enter into the telecommunications experience with a positive,

open attitude.

Be willing to learn from the team of specialists: new techniques,

ideas, capabilities of the hardware. Look upon the telecommuni-

cations staff as professional people who will help you.,

Be flexible and take full advantage of the new opportunities.

Be realistic about the outcome of the activity.

Involve-the television professionals early in your planning.

Use telecommunications only for projects which support institu-

tional and departmental goals.

Previously, I said that the maniage can work, ifthe 'Parties want it to. If

the above specific guidelines were all implemented, we would have an

educational/telecommunications utopia. But needless to say, I'm not

expecting this to happen. Short of utopia, however, I encourage

educators and telecommunications professionals to work together for the

mutual benefit of the learner. There is much to be gained.,

SUMMARY

In closing, I'll share an example of how one institution, West Virginia

University, and its telecommunications unit have built their bridge. Its

construction took many years and much hard work . .. on both sides.

Then after the bridge was in use, a new governor proposed removal of

Bridging the Chasm 239

Station WWVU-TV from the university. He suggested that. it be

transferred to the state's Educational Broadcasting Authority. To the

governor, the move seemed logical and practical. It would accomplish

the consolidation of all public television facilities under one budget and

one set of policies. However, what the governor didn't know was the deep

inter-relationship of the siption within its university. In the months which

followed, an outside consAltant was retained to assess the most desirable

'home' for WWVU-TV:In his final report, the consultant, Mr. James A.

Fellows, President of the National Association of Educational Broad-

casters, recommended that WWVU-TV remain with West Virginia

University. His six observations painted a picture of a successful,

effective, positive, on-going relationship. He identified such areas as the

university administration's support ... the station's planning activity as

part of the institution .. . successful programming . . . efficient financial

reporting... and involvement and support from the public. The governor

agreed' with the rationale.

In the years which followed, traffic increased over the bridge. Perhaps

thejnost successful activities have related to progiamming on WWVI/-

TV, which serves 29 of West Virginia's 55 counties. Since 1975, more

than 500 WVU faculty and administrators have actively participated in

production, or have worked with us in other projects. Many of the

programs have been accepted for distribution by the Public Broadcasting

Service, or have been used regionally. One instructional course is

currently being used nationally via satellite.

Another recent area of success has been faculty utilization of

.television-based credit courses. This project is now in its fifth year.

Student enrollment for the six institutions served by WWVU-TV,

showed an increase of 23 percent for the fall semester, 1980-81, over the

similar period a year ago.

Virtually every area of West Virginia University works with ' WVU-

Television' in the development of programs or in the utilization of other

services such as equipment maintenance. One of the most exciting

activities is a mutually-beneficial student intern project. Recently, the

bridge was strengthened 'further through a new relationship between the

academic senate and WWVU-TV. Now in place, and communicating

effectively, is a Faculty Television Committee ... a liaison link between

the educators and communications technology. Within the University

organization, the telecommunications unit is structured as an active part

of Academic Affairs.

On September 25, 1980, on the occasion of the dedication of West

Virginia University's new Broadcast Center, President Gene A. Budig

stated, "WWVU-ni is a vital, integral, important part of West Virginia

University."

Although there is still a great amount of work to be accomplished

particularly in the area of direct support of instructionthere is a strong

250

240 Bridging the. Chasm

foundation and the proper elements are in place to move ahead

effecitvely.

Yes, it can be accomplished. But make the bridges solid ... and wide

. . . and lasting, the design must be created with great care, and the

construction must be well supervised. Once the bridges are in place,

benefits start flowing both Ways ... but most importantly to the

institution. As we move through the new decade, and as our nation

... and higher education meet different, changing circumstances and

challenges, telecommunciations can play a siglificant, vital role.

I encourage you to build some bridges.

Curriculum's Technology Lag

(Curricula and Television Literacy)

Robert L Hilliard

Dean of Graduate Studies and Continuing Education

Emerson College

Boston, Massachusetts

INTRODUCTION

As much as I deplore the lag in the use of technology in implementing

curricula, I find even more critical and dangerous to our future the lag in

incorporating technology, particularly television, aspart of our curricula.

American education is responsible not only for a technology lag, but for a

cultural lag that threatens the very nature of our free and democratic

society by not making television an integral part of our curricula, as it is of

our everyday livescertainly as much a part of our existence as is

English composition, Algebra I and II, or a foreign language.

Let me illustrate:

When American television was young, in the 1950s, Edward R.

Murrow interviewed a teen-aged gang member indicted for the murder of

)41: another youth. Although the accused boy could neither read nor write, he

watched television a lot. He explained his act or aggression by

comparing himself with Ns favorite TV hero, the invincible "Mighty

t1/4 Mouse." He could not differentiate between the fact and the fancy of

what he viewed on television. He saw, but he could not accurately

interpret He was not only a print illiterate, he was also a television

illiterate.

In 1981 a woman goes to her physician with symptoms of breast

cancer and, despite recent alternative methods of treatment, she =elks

without question the diagnosis and prescribed mastectomy. Her principal

144 knowledge of medical doctors comes from television, where they are

gentle, altruistic, infallible, and look like Robert Young. The television

reinforcement of the image the medical professional projects for itself

252

241

242 Curriculum's Technology Lag

influences her even against her own self-interest. She is a television

illiterate.

During any political campaign a man learns about the candidates

principally horn television, where the need to get attention and make a

point in a short space of time results in the capsulizingof significant issues

into 30-second spots. He comes to conclusions and exercises his

democratic right to vote on the basis of superficialjudgments rather than

careful evalu'ation. He, too, is a television illiterate.

Most of us, in fact, are television illiterates. That is, we cannot analyze

and evaluate and come to objective conclusions about what we see and

hear on television, although many of us, because we are highly literate in

print, think we are television literates as well.

At the very least, we are sonfronted with an issue of moralitythe

morality of our being controlled without our knowledge. We need to

know what is being done to us, how it is being done, and how we can cope

with it.

Cultur,a1 Sophistication and. traditional learning are meager defenses

against media brainwashing, arelatively highly educated society of

pre-World War II Germany fo . Goebbels praised film as his most

important and SuCcessful tool in solidifyingnational support for the Nazi

program.

Those who control a country's media control its political processes.

Unless we become literate enough to understand and control the effects

of television, it will control us.

We are a society that is primarily communicated to and is learning to

,communicate by visual and aural means, rather than by print which,

'before the electronic revolution of this century, was the only mass

medium. Before television and radio we relied, for hundreds of years,

on larint as the medium through which we could communicate long-

distances and with large groups of people simultaneously. Throughout

history, totalitarian,countries, in whatever political form they existed,

have usually attempted to maintain a high rate of print illiteracy. They

have known that without the ability to communicate effectively and to

evaivate critically communications received, people were at a continuing

disadirantage in understanding theirpolitical alternatives or in organizing

to do something about them. Duringthe past several centuries, with the

invention of movable type and the growth of the printing press, print

literacy began to spread, resulting in a gradual series of political

revolutions, not the least of which was the one in this country in 1776.

As long as print was the principal inedium of sophisticated communi-

cations, the rise in literacy providedbut did not guaranteethe bases

for people-oriented governments. The development of non-print media

as significant means of communications permitted, in some countries, a

return to totalitarian control over minds and emotions, including

countries where the people's highdegree of print literacy lulled them into

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Curriculum's Technology Lag 243

the false perception that they could not be controlled through communi-

cations. Again, Germany of the 1930's is a prime example of the dangers

of such a fallacy.

Howpany hours a day do you spend reading? One? Two? Six? The

two hours a day the average American spends reading includes signs,

packages and labels, with less than half-an-hour devoted to books,

magazines and, newspapers. Compare thai with this statistic: the

television set in the average American household is on 6 hours and 20

minutes each and every day or the year. And 98 percent of the

households in the United States have at least one TV set.

The average student, by the time he or she has graduated from high

school, has spent some 10,800 hours in the classroom and over 12,000

hours in front of the-television set.

Print Illiterates are vulnerable to control by television and radio

because they cannot take advantage of the multiple-source information

and ideas that are possible in even the most repressive societies through u

underground newspapers, clandestine pamphlets and smuggled books.

Television and radio are especially powerful in developing countries,

where they are principal instruments of control of thought and feeling.

The more developed countries, however, are not immune. Even with

&or, perhaps, because ofour extensive and intensive exposure to

television, we Americans are not literate enough to immunize ourselves

objectively from its persuasive powers.

Print literates also are vulnerable to control by television and radio

because they have a false sense of secuiity about their ability to evaluate

critically and to cope with the effects of the media on them.

Authority has always recognized print as a medium requiring the

active participation of the reader, making it easier for the individual to

control, and therefore authority has tried to suppress it. On the other hand,

recognizing TV as a medium of passive participation, less easy for the

individual to control, authority has tried to encourage and then to

dominate it.

Even in a democratic society such as the United States, efforts by both

public and private sources to control television politically have sometimes

been less than subtle. Control of the purse-strings can affect media

content indirectly, if not-directly. As Erik Barnouw's book, TheSponsor,

shows, sponsors' beliefs and interests have frequently determined the

political orientation of a program, so subtly in many cases that unless you

are a television-literate you probably didn't realize how you were being

proselytized.

A decade ago a National Conference Board study of the anticipated

most significant issueeof the 1980s revealed that one important concern

of leaders in various professional areas was the possible domination of

the political process through the control of television by government or

private interests. Government documents released in 1979 confirmed

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.244 Curriculum's Technology Lag

what many people in the communications field had known in the early

1970s: the Nixon White House had attempted to use television to

forward its political purposes and to intimidate the television industry

Into restricting materials it considered politically unfavorable. Although

it did not succeed in the long run, it was not without some success in both

commercial and public television.

Communications Professor Dallas W. Smythe of Simon Frazier

University in Canada has long been in the vanguard of those who have

recognized both the potentials and the responsibilities of the mass media

in the real world. Some 20 years ago, at the height of the cold war

current events make Dr. Smythe's comments as applicable today as they

were thenhe wrote: "We know that the public is largely apathetic and

alienated from concern with the vital issue of survival. What has been the

contribution of the mass media to this apathy?. . . As Lazarsfeld and

Merton argued... the escapist nature of most of the content of the mass

media has for the citizen a 'narcotizing dysfunctional' effect."

By demanding passive response, television can neutralize people's

concerns with and participation in the social and political events of the

world, as well as being able to persuade them to take a particular stand on

something.

If we do not formally educate our people, young and oldto at least as

much competency with visual and aural media as with print media, we

will be-- we aresetting the stage for eventual control of them, ofus, by

those who control the media. :lust as a young person graduating from high

school has had twelve years of required courses in print literacy, so

should that student have had at least an equivalent education in visual

and aursl literacy, in television and radio criticism, and in the analysis

and preparation of visual and aural communications and materials. The

same holds true for college and university learning. All students in all

fields'of endeavorincluding those going into economics, engineering,

medicine, history, sociology, business, law and other professions, and

not only majors in journalism, film, television or radioshould have at

least as much exposure to visual literacy courses as they haxe to print

literacy coMposition and literature courses if they are to function in and

contribtite effectively to their society. Today, relatively few colleges

encourage for, no less offer to non-media majors such courses as

"Critical Analysis of Television and Radio," "Aesthetic§ of Mass

Medic," "Television and Society," "Writing for Television," and

"Psychology of Communications." There is a need for more basic

courses oriented to specific fields, such as "Teleyision and the Teacher,"

"Health Communications," "Broadcasting and the First Amendment,"

"Television and Human Behavior," "Television and Politics," and

"Corporate Uses of Media."

History and current events have shown us unequivocally that with few

exceptions those who control television and radio are likely to control the

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Curriculum's Technology Lag 245

political processes of any given country or Society. When a political

revolution occurs anyplace in the world today, what is first taken over?

-Not the Treasury. Not the Post Office. Not the schools or colleges. Not

the factories or department stores. Not even the printing press. But the

television and radio stations! ,

The control of the political processes of a country through the control

of televisionwhether by-a government in power or by media barons in

the private sectoris already a reality in many countries. In only a

handful of nationsours among themare television and radio insulated

to a meaningful degree from the direct control of the government. In the

United States the extent to which the people can determine the content of

television programming depends on their influence on the advertisers

who sponsor the programs and the stations that carry them (and the state

and local governments, institutions and organizations that support and

eperare public television). To what degree can we exercise such influence as

citizenz in a democratic society?

In only the rarest of 'situation, given the political systems in today's

world, is there a practical possibility that individual citizens might gain

direct Control of TV and radiothat is, for citizen groups, included

minorities and the poor as well as the elite, to own and operate their_

stations. The only citizen alternative, therefore, is to gain control of the

effects of the mediato be able to analyze objectively and evaluate

critically the content of television and radio so that it does not influence

our thinking, feelings and actions without our intelligent and informed

consent. That is what we mean by TV literacy.

Those who believe they are qualified to exercise such control must ask

themselves whether the judgments they make are based on literate,

critical, intelligent analysis and evaluation of what they see and hear, or

on untrained, even prejudicial attitudes. Just as important is the effect on

our thoughts and feelings of those things about which we make no

judgments because we do not understand enough about the media's

psychological and aesthetic impact. These materials may be, in fact, the

same kinds of things we have little problem making judgments about

when we see them in print because we have had enough education in

reading, writing and literature to be print-literates. Many of us who are

print-literates wrongly assume that we are television literates as well.

Both the problem and the solution lie in our educational system.

Traditionally, we require formal preparation of all of our citizenry in print

literacy. Almost without exception, graduates of secondary schools in

this country have had 12 years of courses in composition, literature and

other subjects that generally come under the heading of English, to

enable them to communicate in print and to have some critical facility in

evaluating print communications. Almost every college graduate has had

at least an additional two years of required courses in print-competency.

Yet, few elementary and secondary schools of colleges and universities

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246 Curriciihan's Technology Lag

require even onecourse in visual and aural literacy despite the fact that

for some years past and from today on almost every human being has

spent and will spend most of his or her communicating hours with visual

and aural rather than printpaterials.

Although the titles mayseem Speciplized, such a curriculum would riot

be designed to produce media specialists. It would do forour understand--

ing Of the mass media what requitedbasic courses in history, mathematics,

the physical and social sciences and, of course, English, do forus in those

fields: provide us with a general understanding of those subject areas and

make us less vulnerable to misinterpretation- and manipulation when we

encounter them in our everyday, if not professional, lives. We should not

have to Wait, either, for the training of a new generation beforewe begin to

On control over the effects of television and other mass media.

Continuing education programs for adults should include opportunities

for TV literacy proficiency. The concept of "lifelong reaming" has had

strong national support. One of the recommendations that came out of

both the Federal Interagency Committee on Education's conferences on

education and technology in 1979 and 1980, and which was endorsed by

all federal agencies with educational responsibilities stated:

Etuny citizen should haveaccess to the highest quality communications,

iniormaiion and knowledge resources and should be provided with the

opportunity tor developing competencies in print literacy, electronic'

literacy, computer literacy, and telecommunications literacy.

In this respect, at least, our frequengy foot-dragemg federal bureaucracy

is far ahead of our educational establishment.

Those who are concerned about our national TV illiteracyand want to

do something about it will not have an easy road. It means changing

education. It means convincing school boards and superintendents and

principals and teachers and trustees and professors and students and

citizens. It means more than talking about it. It is easy to get agreement

when only words are at issue. It is exceedingly more difficult when action

is required and political control of a people is the prize. As Bernard Shaw

said of Savanarola: whenthe hitter told the ladies ofFlorence to destroy

their jewels and finery as a step toward a better, moral life, they hailed

him as a Saint; but when he actually induced them to do it, they burned

him at the stake as a public nuisance.

The same people who would make their educational institutions the

best schools or colleges of the 19th century are likely to object

strenuously to the introduction of mass media coursesas an eSsential part

of the curriculum. But, just as the monks with the mortarboards and

gowns who railed against the intrusion of mass-produced books into their

monopoly of all the world's knowledge had to adjust to people's desires

for uncensored learning, so will those who now are fearM of the

peOple's right to learn how to cope with perhaps a less obvious, but more

insidious, kind of censorship and control.

Curriculum's Technology Lag 247

If our educational institutions truly want- to educate people to

participate as thinking, contributing, competent human beings in a free,

democratic societyand that is what educational institutions tellus they

want to dothen they must introduce curricula that will graduate people

who arc visual and aural as well as print literates.

I am aware that there is some question as to whether we now are

turning, out even print literates. Perhaps part of the problem is that we

have created a schizophrenia in learning we have been concentrating

almost completely on print and have been unsuccessful inall media areas

because the real world in which the student lives and operates is

principally a visual and aural one.

If we believe in the desirability of a society governed by the educated

will of the people, we will have to take action, perhaps as saints perceived

as public nuisances, that will make us all literate enough to evaluate

critically and, therefore, better able to control the effectsof television. If

we do not, we can be certain that television eventually will control us.

'The American Open University

One Answer to- the Technology and

guniCulum Lag"

Don Mdlell

University of Nid-Americo

Lincoln, Nebroslo

INTRODUCTION

Despite the broad reach of distance education programs, across the

United States, there is still a need to reach millions of unserved or

underserved learnersthe problem is one of scope. And despite the fact

that existing institutions do serve some "distance" learners through their

extension services, the very structure of the institutions keep them from

embracing new, innovative methods of educating adult's.

Demands for educating adults are increasingby women re-entering

the work force,. by the military, by minorities, by industry and tabor.

People are looking at their lives and seeking education that will aid them

in a mid-career change, in upward mobility, in continuing education, orin

simply learning for learning's sake.

The key to educational opportunity for adult learners, most of whom

are pakt-time students, is that the education be on their own terms. But

these students face situational, psychologicil, and institutional barriers.

The barriers generally include residency requirements, unavailability of

programs at times and locations desired by the student, limited credit

\awarded for learning gained from experience, limited credit awarded for

\No "testing out" or credit by examination, non-transferability of credits

between institutions, lack of support services, bureaucracy of admissions

and record-keeping systems, and a refusal by institutions to utilize

technnioa in teaching-

To overcome these barriers, the University of Mid-America proposes

ik the creation of a nationwide American Open University (AOU), aimed

at the part-time adult student. It will be an independent, accredited

institution with its own Board, faculty and administration. And it will

have regional centers across the country, which will monitor satellite

study centers.

25' 248

The American Open University 249

Scope of AOU

The American Open University will produce and acquire courses, and

offer instruction via a, variety of delivery systems, ranging from inde-

pendent study to technology-based instruction. It will grant unlimited

credit, after testing, for learning gained through experience, and will

accept transfer credit from accredited institutions. The AOU will

provide a Variety of tests for competemies, and counseling services will

be-available by telephone, by interactive computer, and in person at the

study centers. In addition, it will create a credit registry where agtudent

anywhere in the country can "bank" or accumulate his or her credits, and

will, on demand, provide training and continuing education progiams. It

will also build in evaluation and research, which will relate to all phases

of the operationcourses, curriculum, governance, operations, ad-

missions, etc

Since technology can improve and expand educatic -" levels and

increase the cost-effectiveness of education, ttie Ma., will utilize ,

technology wherever it is appropriatebroadcast and cable_television,

audio (broadcast and cassettes), videocassettes, satellite transmission,

the picture phone, the videodisc, the computn, and any other techno-

logical innovations that will help reach the student with quality

instruction.

Of particular importance to the AOU is computer-based instruction.

In today's society, one must be "computer literate" to survive. The AOU

will use computers in administration; in tutoring, testing, and scoring in

the credit registry; in evaluation and assessment; and in the delivery of

courses, with the eventtial capability of offering an entire degree through

computer-assisted instruction.

Proposed Curriculum

Finally, the AOU's curriculumthe curriculumplan is 6uilt now on

assumptions that later may change after experience is gaitied, but rOr now

we assume the following. The AOU will make available a full curriculum

of instruction for each degree program. The first two degrees wil be

Bachelor's Degyees in Arts and Sciences and in Business. Each

bachelor's degree program will require 120 credit hours, with an area of

concentration and with evidence of a broad education. Later degrees will

include Communirtiom and Technology, masters programs and

noncredit courses.

AOU course offerings will be a mix of courses produced by the AOU

and courses acquired elsewhere. After six years, the AOU intends to

offer 312 credit hours of instruction, With 72 hours produced by the

AOU and 240 hours acquired from other producers:.

A typical Arts and Science course will be computer-managed, with a

media component; and a typical 3 hour course will include 15 lessons of

260

-250 .0-The American Open University

-independent study materials, with textbook and study guide; a set of 6

audiocassettes; and 2 optional computer-based or television-6ased

programs available at a study center. The AOU later intends- to

experiment with offering 6-credit-hour coutses.

.The average cost of an AOU-developed course will be $45,000, while

the average.cost of acquired course will be$40,000. Courses will require

revision or replacement in 6-7 years, with revision costs to be half the

-development cost.

The key to the AOU's curriculum development will be its faculty. A

team approach will be used, and the faculty will decide curriculum issues.

SUMMARY

Aitually, there is nothingnew in the American Open University. Each

of the concepts is found in place in various segments of the -higher

education system. But the effort to reach adult students is fragmented and

isolated. Our plan is to bring together all those concepts within the

framework of a single institution.

The goals and objectives are much the sathe as held by., other

institutions of higher learning. Yet this institution will he responsive to

adult part-tinie students; it will be learner based, rather than institution

-based. It will; of course have high civality offerings, and it also will be

cost-effective. The AOU will not lose humanihteraction, but it may not

be in the traditional form -of lectures and face-to-face meetings. The

telephone, the comp,titer, and the mail may become the substitutes. But it

will have human involvement andit will be humane.

We hope, as the AOU seeks toovercome the barriers of the part-time

adult learner, that it can earn the respect of the existing institutions. The'

AOU would like to become partners in the enterprise, to work together

on contract, thrOugh articulation arrangements, etc., hOth with 4-year

and 2-year institutions. We are not competing with them; we will

Supplement their progams and eventually provide more students for the

existing system, even as the American Open University grows to a

projected student body of 50,000 in five years.

The need and demand, are evident; the technology is available;

experiments to datehave succeeded; we have the ability. Itislime to

create the American Open University.

2 61

Using TV to Teach High Order

Thinking Skills

M. Virginia Diggy

College of Education

University of Lowell

Lowell, Massachusetts

INTRODUCTION

The professiOnal literature of the last two years abounds with

references to cognition, problem solving, concept development, associa-

tive thinking, critical thinking, reasoning, productive thinking, and

creative thinking.

Those who know the theories of learning and cognition fields will

recognize, however, that this attention to the higher cider of skills is a

renewal of interest. James, Tfiorndike, Thurstone, "Gagne, Piaget,

Russell, GetzelS, Covington, Bruner, Salomon and many others have

devoted their professional lives to research and the development of

hypotheses about the components of thinking and what skills are

necessary to -solVe probleins creatively.

What are the "higher order skills?" There is probably not much

,disagreement that they include inquiry, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

Theories of learning, in the majority, hold that knowledge that is

organized and related is better learned and retained than knowledge that

is specific and isolated. Curricula organized sround scope and sequence

are designed to Provide the"organization" and the order that seem to be

necessary for niost pir.,Pie to ase these learning tools critically and

creatively. There are always hidden agenda in instructionalmaterialsa

master plan of what ought tobe.introduced first, reviewed, and reapplied.

Sometimes the sequence and the application are too subtle to be

identified by the learner, he doesn't recognize that he is thelearner and

that he does have command of the information. Sometimes the

provisions for application are artificial and seem unreal, andthe learner is

reasonably sure that he will never have an opportunity to use this

information and that no one else will use it either. What the student needs

251

252 High Order Think(ng Skills

is evidence that he can do something with the knowledge he has acquired.

that he can apply the information to new situations and problems. He

expects to be able to selectan appropriate technique for attacking a new

problem and to use his information ffacts and concepts) to solve it. The

capacity to do this is frequently called reasoning or critical thinking, but

regardless of its name, it provides the learner with a solid feeling of being

in control, Of having a handle on his world, of being able to solve a

problem.

Television as a Medium

And why would we want to try to teach these components of thinking

via television?

First, it is necessary to look at television as a medium for instruction

rather than entertainmentin other words, to indicate why television is

for learning.

Television is a powerful motivatorit provides the viewer with direct

contact, it can span history, it can pick out a wee piece of history or theory

or aand turn it around in the camera's eye much as a gemologist would

turn a diamond as he searched for quality or for flaws, it brings directly to

the viewer the hustle and bustle of a city, the sights and sounds or the

tranquility of hundreds of acres of farmland in a country or the sight of

tears, pain, Poverty or joy, warmth, friendship. It can pace the learner, it

can challenge, it can comfort, it can capitalize on the receptivity of most

young people to the "visual" and to the "aural," it can put the

viewer/learner in the center of a problem and give him some analytical

tools and suggestions ta solve the problem It can make review (often

boring in other media but always necessary) interesting andstimulating

because it can help to apply newly acquired skills in wholly different

content and context yet help the "skill" to stick right out at the learner.

An. instructional television program represents hundreds of hours of

planning, of research, of organization and conversion of ideas to

practical segments of instruction.

It maintains a steady enthusiasm and efficiency unlike the human who

may present a super lesson, wisely planned and executed once a day but

whose energies are drained and whose capacity to sustain that quality

level of "super" is eroded by interruption and other responsibilities.

Cost Effective

Television gives the best bargain -for one's investmentit is cast

effectivebut though cost effectiveness and efficiency are not only buzz

words but popular concepts, it is the quality of instruction which

television can bring which is so vital. There simply is no substitute for

quality jnstruction.

In 1974-75 I had the rich professional experience of preparing a

prospectus for an instructional television series dincerned with skills

263

High Order Milking Skills 253

essential for learning. In the course of thinking about the task and fmally

writing about it, I spent hours researching and discussing with colleagues

the critical components of essential skills for learninginquiring,

analyzing, synthesizing, seeking alternatives, and creative problem

solving, indeedreasoning and thinking.

There were many professional colleagues who questioned my sanity,

since those components are alleged to be handled best by a teacher face -

to face with a student.

I was proposing that television could help in the task because it could

prdifide a variety of strategies for introducing or reviewing, enhancing

and extending the higher order of skills or reasoning and thinking,

problem solving, synthesis, evaluation, "creative thinking."

Television, I argued, could help kids to "see" these components being

usedthey could, in fact, be a part of the solution of real problems

because the thinking process related to the solution could be visualized

and an assortment of more complex problems requiring increased

reasoning talent could readily be provided.

Instructional Design

Froin that paper and subsequent years of inquiry into "thinking" an

instructional design emeriod. I had thetremendous good fortune to work

with two of the most intellectually capable people I knowDr. Jerry

Brown and Dr. Priscilla Denby who served as the major instructional

designers for the series, "ThinkAbout," prepared for the consortium of

41 State Departments of Education and instructional television agencies

in the Unied States and Canada under the direction of the Agency for

Instructional Television.

The design of "ThinkAbout" had some tenets or "underpinning"

statements by which we all "lived" as we worked on the development of

the series.

Two basic guidelines were: (1) skills, whatever they are, require

constant use to keep them operative, and (2) the more practically and

realistically and the more often a skill is properly applied in a variety of

contexts by the student, the more likely it will actuallybelong to him 'and

be his to use for a lifetime.

We assumed this posture about "acquiring" skills. The term "acquire"

means to "gain by any means, usually by one's own exertions. . . or, to

get as one's own." As indicated earlier, one of the reasons why students

fail to identify basic skills instruction as useful and necessary for them

(and theret4e to profit from it) is that the instruction frequently conveys

the idea that the skills have no real, everyday value. Students think that it

is merely the teacher who has decided that these skills are necessary, so I

continued to press the point"If the emphasis is on 'acquiring' skills, the

total_design of the series will have to assume a posture of involving the

student so that through his own participation he will acquire, as his own,

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254 High Order Thinking Skills

the skills essential to learning."

And some "concomitant concerns" we hoped to address via the

seriesa sort- of hidden agendawerethe concomitant !earnings

which are avaLble to children whenInstruction is carefully planned and

when full advantage is taken of the opPortunities to point out relationships

are many.

Accordingly, as the instructional design team for the project prepared

materials, we were especially dware of additional purposes to:

help students to recognize that "learning" is an appealing

adventure

attract and sustain the student's interest in learning

assist the student to identify the learning style which seems to fit

him best

assist the student to realize how one learns and why some parts of

the learning process have been assigned to the school

help the student to appreciate why the skill is essential

assist the student to become capable of self-diagnosis of his level

of performance in the essential skills.

Throughout the series, whenever possible, through the content

selected to present the skills essential to learning, the design team made

every effort to include reference to the following:

learning to make good choices and good decisions and acting in

ways commensurate with those decisions are persistent goals

observation is an important learning tool

expressing one's thoughts and feelings well is productive

reading can produce personal enjoyment

style and taste can be developed

aesthetics and values are an integral part of learning

clarity and precision in speaking and writing are a courtesy to

one's reader or listener

memorizing some items one needs regularly is a legitimate activity

non-verbal communication skills are essential

visual literacy, the ability to recognize and draw information from

sources other than print, is an essential skill

problem solving skins apply to almost everything one is called

upon to do.

As Dr. Brown and Dr. Denby worked on the design, the interdisciplinary

character of the series was very evident because we were,using the same

processes for attacking and solving a problem in a math context as in a

discussion about energy conservation.

Later, as scripts were written, the very skillful pattern of " layering" in

all the disciplines and the components of problemsolving evolved by Dr.

.Brown, became the interdisciplinary backbone of the series.

High Order Thinking Skills 255

Clusters

After months of study, it was necessary to" anchor" some components

of reasoning and thinking which we hoped would be the core of the series.

They were organized in Clusters:

"Finding Alternatives"

"Estimating and Approximating"

"Giving and Getting Meaning"

"Collecting Information"

"ClassifYing" -

"Finding Patterns"

"Generalizing"

"Sequencing & Scheduling"

"Using Criteria"

"Reshaping Information"

"Judging Information"

"Communicating Effectively"

"Solving Problems"

The clusters were further developed to permit various strategies for

achieving the purpose of the cluster.

A sample of a cluster and its "parts" is:

Solving Problems

Solving one problem may create another

The amount of time given to,thinking about a problem

before acting should vary with the importance of the

problem and the amount of time ravailable

Solving a problern often involves a risk

Solving problems requires persistence

Let's take a quick look, at the "intro" information in the Teacher's

Guideto this cluster.

"Cluster Goal"

To helf, students:

Decide how much time So give to thinking about (or trying to

solve) a problem.

Realize that risk-taking is part of problem-solving, and that one

must decide upon how much risk one wants to accept when

preparinge plan to solve a problem.

Accept failures in problem-solvinglearn from them, and persist.

"About Solving Problems" ,

`ThinkAbout' programs have presented many different problems,

and all of them have been approached in a thoughtful way by on-

screen charicters. Repeatedly, real-life ten-to-twelve-year-olds have

had opportunities to observe and discuss how their on-screen

266

256 High-Order Thinking Skills

counterparts try to solve problems and how, in most cases, they

succeed.

By now students may agree that:

A planned approach to solving problems is usually preferable to

an unplanned approach.

It is important to have alternatives.

There seldom is "one best" way to solve-a problem.

This cluster introduces four additional ideas about solving

problems. In solving a problem one must be aware that other

problems may be created. The amount of time devoted to thinking

about a problem (or trying to solve it) must "fit" the problem and the

situation. Risk-taking is-an inherent part of problem-solving and

must be considered when weighing alternatives. Failures can be

expected in problem-solving persistence and willingness to learn

from past mistakes are crucial.

These are important ideas. It is easy to assume that a carefully

thought out plan cannot fail, to become discouraged if it does, to

reject the value of a thoughtful approadh, and to ask, Why bother? A

planned approach to problem-solving is not a guarantee for success

on the first try, or ever. Rather, a planned approachoffers people the

best chance of eventually finding a solution. It is a way; it is not an

end. By integrating the ideas in these four programs with the ideas of

other programs, students will have powerful gdides to use in tackling

problems, in school or out. They will be `ThinkAbouters:

Each program of the sixty has its own story line which intrigues the

students and virtually wraps around them so that they become involved

in solving problems or finding patterns.

SUMMARY

After a year of use, the cumulative effect of working with the series

seems to be that students are looking more carefully at the route to

solutions for problems. After the second year, we'll know more, of

course. Our goal has been to help the students get handles on their own

worldsolving problems requires persistence!

Reasoning, thinking, and all those othercomponents seem, indeed, to

be being taught via television. -

Solving problems requires a risk, too, and we took it!

REFERENCE

1. Teacher's Guide to THINKABOUT, a video series for fifth and sixth grades in the

Skills Essential to Learning, pp. 78 & 79, Bloomington, In. Agency for Instructional

Television, 1979.

Computers and Curriculum

Promises and Problems

Robert M. Caldwell

School of Allied Health Science

Untversky of TexasDallas

Dallas, Texas

The Need for Technology-Assisted Instruction

A complex tangle of problems has led educators to seek new ways to

improve learning, particularly in the basic skills. The causes for these

problems are extensive and complicated and will require continued

research and experimentatiod before we fmd the proper technologies and

their application to solve them.

Declining Test Scores

While the exact causes remain unknown, there has been a step*

decline in SAT scores, in achievement test scores, -and in numbers of

students who perform at grade level or above. In urban recruitment areas,

for example, the armed forces rejects over 40 percent of those seeking to

enlist because of illiteracy.5 In an attempt to reverse this trend, thirty-

seven states have adopted some form of competency testing while others

have explored the use of various forms of technology to help insure

\I mastery of basic skills.

Declining Enrollments

10. Failure to master basic academic skills had led many students to drop

out of school. In New York city alone over 40 percent of public school

Nstudents drop out to seek manual labor or vocational training.1 Most end

up unemployed or ivorking at menial jobs.

In addition, schools are losing students at a stettcly rate. The percent of

students between the ages of 15 and 19 will decline from 20.6 in te80 co

(44 16.8 in 1990. This will result in many school facilities closing lind will

create a need for fewer teachers. However, even with fewer students

enrolling, the cost of educating them will continue to rise. As a result,

2-6-8

257

258 Compute's and Curriculum

school officials will be IllAh'ing to find more efficient means to educate

learners with fewer and fewer resources.

Decline in Available Talent Pool

A meaningful consequence of declining enrollments and a steady

decline in achievement is a critical shortage of individuals trained in skills

needed-for high technology industries. Not only will there be fewer

college graduates by 1990 but few of them will be trained in the skills

related to science and high technology. The number of college graduates

in engineering has risen from 37.8 percent in 1960 to 54.6 percent in

1980. The number of graduates in the social sciences; however, has risen

in the same period from 31.5 percent to 211.0 percent. This represents a

percent increase of 669 percent in social science graduates opposed to

only a 44 percent increase in engineering graduates.

The impact of these statistics on the future of technology development

in the United States is significant. UNESCO figures (Table 1) for 1980

show the United States far behind other countries.

Table 1: B.S. Degrees in Engineering in Nine Countries

Total Engineering %

Bulgaria 14,661 5,880 40.4

Czechoslovakia 22,306 7,212 32.3

East Germany 43,205 17,356 40.1

Hungary 11,768, 5,535 ' 47.0

Poland 26,578 10,9", 41.0

Romania 30,839 12,2160 39.7

West Germany 60,436 22,400 37.1

Japan 315,122 65,422 20.7

U.S. 949,000 54,600 5.8

In short, our educational problems have reached critical proportions,

particularly if the United States expects to maintain leadership in the

high technology industries. As a result, industry, businessand education

have looked to the promise offered by the magnificent technology

currently available for solutions to the urgent problems facing them.

The Promise of Technology-Assisted Instruction

The benefits of increased achievement and heightened student interest

which can be derived from technology-assisted instruction, particularly

instruction which is under direct computer control, have been well

documented in the professional literature.2 There is little need to reiterate

269

Computers and Curriculum 259-

the conclusions detailed there. However, some discussion is appropriate

concerning the promise technology offers for improving instruction

-and broadening our alternatives for instructional delivery.

The Bitefitsfor Instruction

I. Distributed and Distance Training: The cost of high quality

training goes up each year. Large corporations which maintain offices in

vide ly disparate areas of the country and the world are fmding it

increasingly more difficult to maintain quality training programs,

particularly in high technology industries where the technology changes

rapidly and profoundly. Costs related to transportation, housing, per

diem and lost work opportunities became significant over time. Training

which can be distributed across many locations and delivered to remote

job sites can contribute significantly to savings in training costs.

2. Individualization: Computer systems make individualized in-

struction possible in ways few other media can. Because of their highly

adaptive and responsive natures, computer systems allow instmction

take into account each learner response and adapt the amount and extent

of instmction to the individual needs of each learner. The computer can

employ self-pacing and individual branching to the extent that a learner

can select his/her own pathway through course material. Also, computers

can perform diagnostic inventories which can identify individual skill

deficiencies. This information can then be used to place students exactly

within the curriculum and to direct them to the instructional material

- most appropriate to their needs.

3. Modularization: Curricula designed for delivery through computer

systems can be easily modularized,into small, easily mastered units and

structured in coherent hierarchies so that learners progress through

learning expereinces in a sequential fashion or at least in a sequence

determined by each individual response history. rn this way, curriculum

materials can specifically address each necessary skill in a defmed

content area in a manner that does not leave topics unattended or require

extensive instruction in any skill that has been already mastered.

Instruction presented in small, well defined units is less overwhelming

than large blocks of material and promotes success. The steady

"mastery" of each discrete unit,, then, reduces frustration and helps

learners- gain confidence about their ability to learn.

4. Multisensory Format Computer systems have for some time

offered a wide range of media integrated under computer control to

produce a multisensory presentation of material. Many computer

systems, including microcomputers, can present material through slides,

audio, video tape and video dislc. Many of these media can be randomly

accessed by the computer so that students can hear or see portions of a

presentation several times in a remedial segment. In addition, some

computers can display sophisticated graphics and animation on the CRT

270

260 Computers and Curriculum

itself and offer touch sensitive response. This feature is particularly

useful in training where instrumentation is being taught (e.g., pilot

training, equipment operation). Touch sensitive screens allow learners to

touch switches, buttons and levers in a manner which closely approximates

a real situation.

5. Tireless Repetition and Reinforcement: Many skills requite

repetition and reinforcement before they are fully mastered. Foreign

language, complex vocabulary, terms and other content which can only

be acquired by commitment to memory can be presented tirelessly and

with infmite patience by a computer. Also, computers can structure

repetitive tasks and patterned reinforcement into carefully planned

sequences which adapt to the individual learner's responses and which

take into account entry behavior. This is done automatically and

efficiently in a way that would not only be imssible for a teacher to do

but inefficient.

6. High Transportability and Flexibility: The introduction of micro-

computer systems has added a new dimension to computer-based and

technology-assisted learning. The highly transportablenature of micro-

computers allows educators most of the benefits described above in

almost any location where there is an electrical outlet. Microcomputers

can be used as stand-alone systems or can be networked together to offer

many of the same advantages of record keeping, diagnosis, and prescrip-

tion offered by larger systems. Microcomputers can also be tied to main

frame computers by using modems and used as terminals to access large

data bases.

The benefits cited hero are but a few of the many ways computers can

be used to expand the educational alternatives currently available to

schools at all levels of education and training. Obviously, the ultimate

benefit is in increased achievement and greater efficiency in learning.

Many studies are available which detail instructional gains derived from

computer-based programs. A recent one serves as a good illustration of

how achievement can be increased dramatically using computer-based

instniction.

Two projects which used the Basic Skills Learning System delivered

on PLATO demonstrated significant gains in reading in Maryland and

Minnesota.5 A summary of the results obtained at an adult learning

center in Baltimore, Maryland, are summarized in Table 2.

In summary, the potential for using various forms of technology,

particularly computer-based media, offers excellent potential for im-

proving instructional alternatives and opportunities.

Cost Benefit

In addition to substantial benefits which can be obtained instructionally,

computers and computers interfaced with other technologies can have a

number of advantages for reducing the cost of instruction. One example

;2 7 1.

Computeri and Curriculum 261

Table 2: Achievement Gains, Adult Learning Center,

Baltimore, Maryland, February-June, 1978

Expected School

Number of Average Time On Average Grade Time for Similar

Students System/Student Level Gain Growth

24 15 In. 0.8 grades 120. hrs.

Two prcjects in Minnesota also compared the computer-based Basic

Skills Learning System with traditional educational programs. Each site

included approximately twenty students and utilized data collected

between February and June, 1978. Table 3 reports the grade level gains

for the two Minnesota sites.

Table 3: Comparison of Basic Skills Learning System and

Traditional Program at Two Minnesota Sites

Average Time On Basic Skills

Site System/Student Learning System Traditional

Stillwater Prison

Stillwater,

Minnesota 15 hrs. 1.6 grade gain* 0.0 grade gain

Fair Break (Adult

Basic Educa-

tion Center)

St. Paul,

Minnesota 11 hrs. 1.8 grade gain* 0.0 grade gain

Statistically significant gain.

Adult learners using the Basic Skills Learning System to improve reading

skills averaged a 1.12 grade level gain in reading achievement after an

average instructional time of 13.0 hours. Further analysis of the data

reveals that an average learning time required to generate a 1.0 grade

level gain would require 18.34 hours of computer-based readinginstruc-

tion. A more detailed analysis of this data is offered in Rizzaand Walker-

Hunter (1978).

cited earlier is the tremendous cost savings which can be accruedusing,

technology in training. Other cost benefits are also possible:

1. Declining Cost of Hardware: Computer systems continue to

become less expensive as new technologies emerge. As these systems get

less expensive, their instructional potential seems to rise proportionally.

2 72

262 Computers and Curriculum

One computer industry spokesman remarked recently that if the

automobile industry had advanced at the same rate as the computer

industry, a Rolls Royce Would currently cost $74! Recent developments

in microcomputer technology have slashed the cost of delivering

computer-based instruction. Highly sophisticated systems which teach

using graphics, animation and speech output can be purchased for under

$3,000 and some less flexible units can be purchased for under $500.

Computers remain one of the few products which get increasingly better

but continues to cost less.

2. Savings from LowerAttrition: Most urban schools have a severe

problem with attrition. Unmotivated students do not attend classes or

drop out at an early age. As mentioned earlier, the dropout rate in New

York City alone is 40 Tercent. Use of computer-based education,

however, has begun to alleviate a portion of the problem by introducinga

novel, individualized approach to education which has resulted in

dramatic reductions in attrition. In studies done in Ontario, Canada, and

Baltimore, Maryland, for example, attrition went from 60 percent to 5

percent using computer-based programs. In a study done with 700

students in Washington, D.C. schools, lower attrition° resulted in a

$30,790 saving in tax dollars. If this figure were projected across 24,000

students, it would result in a Cost Product Index savings equal to

$9,600,000!1

Non-Traditional Education

Advancing technology will produce many far-reaching benefits in the

future, particularly with regard to non-traditional forms of education.

Instruction will be available in the not too distant future in the home, at

work and remote locations, such as military installations, ships, sue-

marines, and at sites where traditional communications media are

unavailable. Cable television, for example, will hot only bring innovative

programs intp the home, but will also allow access to large data bases,

many of which will allow interaction with the home television.

Television and video disk linked with computer systenis will allow a

level of interaction never before possible. Hoine viewers will be able to

view many events from several different angles. Each viewing angle will

be chosen by the viewer using a .control called a "joy stick." Instant

replays from any angle ofyour choice will be common in the very near

future.

These innovations, along with satellite communication, fiber optics

and a whole range of technological advances, will revolutionize learning

as we know it today. There is little doubt, of course, that central to the

operation and control of these technologies will be low cost,.powerful

computer systems.

2 73

Proolems Related to the Use of Computers in Education

kack of Adequthe Courseware

Even though educators have beenexploring the uses of computers to

deliver and manage instruction since theearly sixties, the development of

courseware (i.e., programs which interactively inslruct learners) remains

*rather inexact science. Most attempts at delivering a lesson through a

computeilystem to date endup looldng like someone's lecture notes,

.printed on a cattxcie ray tube. The result for the learner is usually a rather

dry presentation- of material which does not need a sophisticated

computer system to merely present text and ask questions. Lessons of

this type cheat the learner in two Ways:-.first, lectures are usually better

delivered by their authors; the pacing, intonation, histrionics and gestures

supplied by the human teaOher can add significantly to the effectiveness

of-cOmmunicating ideas. By the same token, the computer.possesses

many capabilities for certian kinds of instruction that make it a unique

*livery system. If we fail to design lessons which ue the graphics,

animation, color and interactive,- capabilities of the coMputer, we _are

denyinglearneis learning experiences whichmiOt be of greaf, benefit to

frctheM: Simulations and legons which call for testing -solutions to

problems and reteiVillg-feiidback immediately come to mind as types of

instrUction- which are better adapted to computer delivery than to

,Aeacher-led presentations.

In summary, much of what is delivered on computer systems today

fails to use the computer medium effectively, The 'computer is a new

medium which requires careful study afid erperimentatioh. Before the

printing press, novels, magazines, textbooks and many-Other forms of

print media did not exist. In fact, one of fhe earliest novelts,lPamela jwas

written and ,published by Samuel Richardson, a printer who became

tamiliarwith the taste and thePemands of the readingpublic. Hensed th;

medium of print to introduce what has become a piimary-k:urce of

entertainment ana.learning. The computer stands today as our modern

dityp#isting" press; it is a medium which challenges our imaginations to

use44,OWer for improving our iiatterns ofthought .find for improving our

problemsolving abilities. We inust seek imaginative ways to use this

new'Meffitun so that we derive maximuth benefit from its capabilities.

0,4041! pevelopment ,

istinfoitinniely much of the interactive courseware called for above i:;

lt presem expensive to develop and time consuming. to produce.

Ingiyiduais)Who are part of the growing software cottage industryhave

-paidu.d.edAlolated lessons and courses for the more popular micro-

coni*terS'such as TRS-80, Apple and Commbdore PET; but these

ii4e4is are scattered, vary wildly in quality, and generally represent a

xlis6rganized attempt at developing instructional materials.

Computers and Cutriculum 263-

264 Computers and Curriculum

Many . publishers 'have -beffn reluctant to assume readership in

courseware developtent because of the risk of extensive initial costs

weighted against an uncertain markOplace with a Medium they don't

quite understana yet:Some publishers haye taken significantstrides in

this area, however, and have either produced computer-based materials

or will-withinthe year, ControlData alretdy has extensive course and

lesson offerings over their PLATO network. Hazeltine, Houghton

Mifflin and Computer Courseware Corporation alsb offer extensive

Programs in reading mathematics, and language arts. Curriculum of

various types for delivery oumicrocomputers is currently.or will soon be

*available from Miliken SRA, Milton Bradley, Randoni House, Scott,

Foresinan and others.3

Major costs for producing courseware are tied to programming4and

designing instruction to use the unique capabilities of particular comPuter

'systems. These cosia become significant because of differences which

exist between'the te,hnology of various computer systems. Publishers

wrio want to address the total education market are forced to develop

materials for several computers simultaneously which can double and

even triple development costs. For this reason, some publishers have

dedicated themselves to developing One machine exclusively in the

hope that the curriculum materials will become an-incentive to buy a

particulal. computer. It remains to be ieen Which strategy will yield the

highest paya .4

R4id .Technological Chanfe

P'ut very simply, technology changes sb quickly that itis becoming

increasingly more difficult to design instruction for existing hardware.

This has caused many publishers and 'software producers to hesitate in

their plans to produce curriculum materials to be delivered through

computers and, more specifically, microcomputers. In the end this could

result in a never ending cycle of delays waiting for thevery newest

breakthrough in technologjr. Many publishers, for example, are now

waiting for the most recent developments in video disks, a technology

which is 2-5 years away from widespread practical usc.

A partial solution to this dilemma is to develop good interactive

instructional designs and apply them to new technologies as thcy

develop. In this way, the new technologies will enhance the instruction

-rather than completely reshaping it. Developingcurriculum independent

of specific technology should be a prime precept in instructional designif

we.are to avoid the pitfalls ofchanging technology and incompatibility of

hardware. We must decide what humans do best and what machines do

best and begin to develop instructional systems which can be easily

adapted as new technology emerges. Marshall McCluhan wrote, "We

shape the media, and they in turn shape" us.'As we shape instructional

programs.which employ interactive principles toward developinghigher

(4) It.1f

Compilers and Curriculum 265

level cognitive skills and higher order learning strategies, we will also

begin to shape the technologies we will need to facilitate this instruction.

The. Case Against Technology

One of the biggeXt Obstacles to developing technology-based learning

systems is overconiing the many "myths" which surround the use of

technology hi the traditionally human enterprise of education. Clearly,

the nature of the educational enterprise ischangpand1n a world where

computers are clearly more accurate "memoriz ,st begin to

help learners acquircl nev- skills and new ideas which will help dispell

some of these myths.

Myth *1. Computers will dehumanize the learning process: Oppo-

sition to tcchnologyhas always been with us. Antitechnologists such as

JacqUes Ellul as early as 1954 depicted individuals as helpless slaves to

technology, driven% hy necessity to perform repetitive and dull work

which they detest These critics see technologyas a force which cuts man

off from the natural World and therefore spoils the quality of his life. This

argument is a very old one hut will reach an inevitable resolution. In

Culture and Commitment Margaret Mead points out that any new

technology has the effect of.creating an irrevocable change in a farniliar

'environment.9 This Change, however, produces a self-awareness among

the members of the affected society to the extent that they realize

eventually that they Can make a contribution to that changed society in a

new way. Educatorsare slowly gaining thin new self-awareness but need

education and guidance. The result will be the development of a

computer literacy which will in turn enable wide adoPtion of computers

in many varied uses:.

In The meantime; educators must be educated about technology and

come to realize that a fear of technology, thus an avoidance ofit, can

leave its develOpment to an elite class of technocrats who, by possessing

specialized knowledge which is crucial to our survival prospects, can

defranchise the Mules. It is important then to understand the control

technological innovation so that itcan be used for its maximum benefit

A further point to be made here is that research on computer based

instruction- shows nb evidence that instruction delivered through a

computer systerns -dehumanizes instruction. In fact, most all studies

show exactly the opposite. In a Study by Feldman and Sears students

using computer based instruction claimed a distinct preference for the

computer oyer their hUman teachers.' Their consensus opinion was that:

(1) Computer histrtiction was "private," i.e., one could fail without

fear of ridicule or embarrassment from other classmate's or the teacher.

(2`j %Computers untiring and therefore infinitely Oben:: Learners

min try as often as they must to immix skills or concePta.

(3) Computers are Completely unbiased and nonjudgmental. 'They

are incapable of puttingatudents through the untold "put downs," insults,

276

266 Computers and Curriculum

and o her ego damaging biases which human teachers can and often ds

inflict on children on a daily basis. Computers can also deliver

persOnalized feedback, positive reinforcement and many other "warm

fuzzies" which many burnt out teachers tend to forget or ignore.

In several instances students have broken into schools after hours not

to vandalize and destroy but to play math games and run programs of

their own design.7 In cases where students have vandalized schools, they

have left computer terminals and equipment virtually untouched and

undamaged. These incidents are not mentioned here to imply that a

machine can do more for a child than a sensitive, caring teacher, but these

incidents are becoming less unusual as use of computers becomes more

widespread and they do indicate the potential computers have for making

learning meaningful and impostant to learners.

Myth *2. Computers Will Replav Teachers:At the hearings before'

the United States House of Representatives Subcommittee on Science

and Technology held April 2-3, 1980, Maxine Rociroff, Vice President

for .Planning and Research for the Corporation of Public Broadcasfing

testified that the primary reason why teachers will not accept computers

is that education is essentially a labor intensive endeavor, therefore,

educators will not readily need or adopt a laborsaving device. Contrary

to this point of view, there are at least five (5) reasons why teachers will

accept computers and begin to legitimize their use:

A. In some areas of instruction intensive labor-saving is badly

needed. Much of what many teachers do now is repetitive and boring drill

which requires learners to provide ritualistic responses to see how much

information they can store. This is one of the least effective uses of a

teacher's time, especially when computers can present drill with infmite

patience and perfect redundance. Computers can implement precise

reinforcement schedules which are generated from exact diagnosis of

learner response rate and achievement.

To some extent, then:computers, can replace teachers but only to the

degree that they free teachers to do what teachers should be doing:

developing in students learning strategies associated with high order

thinking by creating real problems to solve. Computers can release

teachers from drilling useless information into the heads of learners and

concentrate their effbrts on helping students learn how to challenge what

we accepras facts, to assemble data into theories, and test them in a

process of real intellectual inquiry.

B. There is a crucial shortage of teachers in mathematics and science.

In the Dallas Independent School District, for example, over 200

positions are vacant in the areas of math and science. Well developed

courseware for computers can help relieve this situation temporarily and

provide good, interactive instruction in math skills on an individualized

basis and continue to do so even when the shortage is rectified. On a more

long-term basis, computer -skills in the mathematics and sciences are

Computers and Curriculum 267

critical; computers are and will continue to get extensive use in these

MSS.C. Computers can serve as diagnosticpartners in classrooms that test

learners and print out detailed programs of study which are keyed to

existing materials and resources within the classroom or school district.

They can continue to update these programs as students make progress

through them. Management systems such as these will be essential in

states where programs of competency testing are mandated and where

Public Law 94-142 is implemented properly. Thecomputer holds great

potential for performing the complex diagnosis and generation of

individual educational programs that will demanded in these situations.

D. Education faces increasing costs in salaries, buildingcosts, books,

materials, equipment and so on:- Administrators and school board

members are seeking help on how to reduce expenses. Many school

officials are already looking to microcomputers as a means of increasing

student-teacher ratios without a loss in achievement. They literally are

trying to use computers to replace teachers,- but there are some fatal flaws

in the logic they use to do it. Teachers should not be replaced by

computers for the reasons mentioned, but computers can be used for a

variety of functions which will help cut costs in the following ways:

I. Computers can do many of the administrative duties now

performed by many teacher aides. This could mean a considerable

savings in the number of aides hired or retained by a school district.

2. Teacher's time can be used more efficiently thus eliminating

the possibility of adding additional -acuity.

E. The Society of the future will require a set of skills that are not, for

the most part, being taught in schools today. Teachers as well as students ,

will have to acquire new skills in order to cope with rapidly changing

technolOgies and the impact they will have on our lives.

In summary, then, it seems safe to say that computers will not replace

teachers but will probably take away much of the drudgery now

associated with drill, record keeping, grade reporting and free them to

make the use of the teacher's time more efficient and therefore more

productive:

Myth *3. Technology Has Not Fulfilled Its Promise: Of all themyths

surrounding thiuse of computers to deliver instruction, one of the most

prominent is the belief that technology has failed to meet its promise.

This belief is usually predicated upon a variety of bad experiences,

especially with computer systems. These experience. can be grouped

into the following categories:

Cost: Since few educators have very much practicalknowledge about

computers, they rely huvily on manufacturer representatives for

information. As a result, many computer systems are pUrchased which

either far exceed user needs or which do not meet educational needs at

. all. As the tourchasers become -more knowledgeable about the system

2 7.8

268 Compiaers and Curriculum

they have purchased and discover what the machine can or cannot do,

they become resentful or hostile. By the same token, many educators

reject very effective systems because of their high cost. This is regrettable

because the eeal losers in this situation are students who could potentially

profit immensely from sophisticated computer equipment.

This process is currently repeating itself as educators begin to consider

microcomputers. ToO often these machines are purchased solely

because oflow cost without any regard for function, available software or

courseware, or how they will fit into an overall program of study. If this

trend is to be reversed, educational institutions must begin to formulate

institutional policies which defme how computers will be used and what

problems they will solve.

Unfair Comparisons with Other Media: Too often computers are

compared unfairly with other delivery systems. For example, computers

have been subjected to various studies which compare their effectiveness

with lectures, programmed instruction, and a variety of other mediated

instruction. The result is that the computer-assisted instruction is

found to be less effective or, more often, less cost-effective. The fallacy in

these comparisons is that the media are usually compared instead of the

instructional programs which are being delivered.

In a classic faux pas of this type, Educational Testing Service

conducted a study which compared the use of the Control Data PLATO

system and TICCIT in community colleges. One of the conclusions of

this study was that PLATO had "no significant impact on achievement

for community college students... " while TICCIT resulted in improved

student achievement.6 Themajor weakness in this study is the generali-

zation made to.computer systems rather than to the courseware delivered

through those systems. While the implied conclusion here is that

TICCIT is a better teaching system than PLATO, the only valid

conclusion that can be reached is that the TICCIT courseware was more

effective than that offered on the PLATO systemfor that population.

There was no mention made in the study regarding the curriculum

objectives that were addressed, the subjects that were taught, or the

instructional strategy employed in the instructional program. The only

conclusion implied was that one computer system was better than

another one. In short, the study attempted to compare delivery system,

i.e., the computer systems but based the evaluation on the effectiveness

of the curriculum being delivered. Such a conclusion is analogous to

concluding that books are a poor teaching medium based on a study of

dull, poorly written volumes which dealt with esoteric topics.

Unfortunately, many educators are making decisions about computers

as instructional delivery systems on just such specious information. Far

too many of these "Horse race" studies exist (which system is better?). If

researchers want to compare delivery systems, common criteria should

be established as a basis of study; the same holds true for comparing

Computers and Curriculum 269

curricula.-However, a comparison of curricula should never be used to

draw conclusions about deliwery. In addition, caution must be exercised

when comparing computer-based instruction with other technology-

based systems such as educational television, programmed learning and

self-paced learning. Each of these media possesses unique features and

capabilities which make it appropriate for delivering instruction. It is

critical that these features be taken into account when comparing

instructional media.'

Poorly Designed Courseware: This is the single greatest problem

related to the disenchantment with computer-based education

because of poorly designed courseware. To a large extent this criticism is

warranted because many computer-delivered lessons fail to:4

I.Shape learner behavior toward specific learning outcomes.

2. Use the interactive capability of the computer system.

3; Use graphics, color, animation or sound to its best instructional

advantage.

4. Make imaginative use of the capabilities of the computer system,

e.g., branching, menus to solicit student choice and options, and

reinforeement.schedules.

5. Employ a variety of teaching strategies such as drill, tutorial,

simulation and games.

Most computer-based lessons simply attempt to make the instruction a

computer-delivered lecture and fill the monitor with text. This type of

presentation is usually followed by some rather unchallenging multiple

choice questions which, when taken together, have little more effect than

a self-test at the end of a printed learning module or textbook chapter.

Since this type of lesson has predominated computer-based curricula for

so long, educators have tended to accept this inefficient use of computer-

based instruction as the norm and therefore reject CBE as a whole as an

ineffective, high-priced fad.

In summary, if technolou has failed to fulfill its potential for delivering

instruction, it is because few attempts have been made to use its full

potential. Computers and other technology are tools which must be used

creatively and imaginatively. They ere new media whose capabilities are

not fully understood. We must, however, attempt to use them,in ways

that will take full advantage of their potential and give us maximum cost

benefit.

Lack of Knowledge and Awareness About Computers and

What They Can Do: The fmal problem related to the effective

implementation of computers as instructicnal tools is a general lack of

knowledge about what they can do and how they work. Until programs of

computer awareness (knowing generally what makes computers work,

what they can do and how they can be used) and computer literacy

(learning to communicate with a computer using computer languages

written in code) are made widely available to educators, they will resist

270 Computers and Curriculum

t,he unknown. Few individuals are able to use tools of which they have

little knowledge and even less use. Educators must be taught about

computers with computer systems and shown the great potential these

instruments have for helping solve the multitude of problems facing

education today.

SUMMARY

In conclusion, it would be safe to say that technology, particularly the

computer and computers interfaced with other media, will continue to

have a significant impact on the way education will be conducted in the

future. Its capacity for both delivering and managing instruction offers

enormous potential for widening the possibilities for fasteirmore efficient

course delivery in the years to come. As we better understand the

problems which are currently retarding progress toward fulfilling this

potential, we will be better able to design and deliver exciting, interactive

learning to locations almost anywhere in the world.

REFERENCES:

I. Braun, L. "Computers in Learning Environments: An Imperative for the 1980's,"

BYTE, Ju1y,,1980.

2. Caldwell, R.M. "Evaluation of a Program of C omputer-Assisted Reading Instruction

for Semi-literate Adolescents," Paper presented at the American Educational

Research Association annual meeting, Chicago, March, 1974.

3. Caldwell, R.M."C omputers and Computer Courseware: New Directions for Helping

Children Learn," Children in Contemporary Society, Spring, 1981, 14, I.

4. Caldwell, R.M. "Guidelines for Developing Basic Skills Instructional Materials for

Use with Microcomputer Technology, Educational Technology, October, 1980, 20,

10.

5. Caldwell, R.M. and Rizza, P.J., Jr. "A Computer-Based System of Reading

Instruction for Adult Non-Readers," AEDS Journal, Summer, 1979, 12, 4.

6. Educational Testing Service, "Computers ire Fun, but cin They Teach," ETS

Developments, Princeton: Educational Testing Service, 25, 4, 1979.

7. Fanning, Patricia, "Stealing Knowkdge," The National Observer, May 8, 1918.

8. Feldman, D.H. and Sears, P.G. "Effects of Computer-Assisted Instruction on

Children's Behavior," Educational Technology, 10, 11-14, 1970.

9. Mead, M. Culture and Commitment: The New Relationship Between the Genera-

tions in the 1970's, New York: Anchor Books, 1978.

10. Rizza, P.J., Jr. and Walker-Hunter, P. The Basic Skills Learning System: An

Evaluation Report on Field Testi Conducted from January I, 1978 toJuly I, 1978.

Summary Report. Minneapolis: Control Data Corporation, 1978.

2 8i

cza HoW Can We Best Produce Courseware?

Howard Hitchens

Association for Educational Communliations

and Technology

Washington, D.C.

It is interesting that in the context of a publication on educational

technology we should be discussing the production of"courseware." The

concentration on sophisticated video and microcomputer apparatus and

techniques for education is an appropriate focus for the use of such a

term. Incidentally, a traditional audiovisual leader argued eloquently

several years ago for the adoption of this term to applyto all instructional

materials.

In searching for a working defmition of the term "courseware," Ifound

to defmitions in AECT's Educational Technology: A Glossary of

Terms.

1. In computer assisted instruction (CAI), the actual instruction

including both content and techniqueinstalled in a CAI system.

Coursewarelis different from software in that the software is the

actual machme language which directs the computer operation.

2. As a generic term, any instructional _materials, particularly items

which must be used with equipment

These defmitions, of course, fit neatly for our purposes today. We are -

concerned with video programs and the instructional content of micro-

computer and similar devices. I shall address myself to two major

I\ questions in these short remarks. First, what are the possible models of

production of instructional materials for the sophisticated electronic

systems with which we ae concerned? Second, how can we get the costs

underwritten?

Models of Production

Independent Industry

The history of the growth of instructional materials for the educational

system indicates a long standing dependence on an audiovisual industry

ki4 that grew wiih the advent of the motion picture, closely linked to the

hardware industrythe developers of motion picture projectors. The

more recent history has seen the growth of an independent film

production industry for education, represented nationally by a trade

271 282

272 Courseware

organization called The Association of Media Producers. The premise

on which that small industry was built is that instructional filniszould be

made and sold profitably to education. Throughout the history of that

part of the industry, the producer and distributor of educational films has

been laced with the paradoxical situation of desiring to make a film that

will have the greatest instructional effectiveness on,the one hand; and on

the other, keeping the instructional content and approach general enough

tO insure that sales will .not be inhibited because it isn't applicable to

enough of the thousands of school systems in the country, As a result of

this situation, the industry has found some rough going in the past few

years.

Consortia

As the cost of instructional materials have escalated and the scope of

the materials increased to include entire courses of study; we have cast

about for a better way to capitalize the high production costs and to

develop an efficient distribution system. As I result, various consortia of

educational institutions have been created. This is a reasonable solution

that ia still being explored. Many examples are around us. I'm sure most

of you are familiar with The Ascent ofMan and Man A Course of Study

series.

Another kind of consortium is the University, of Mid-America

arrangement whereby the higher education institutions in seven states in

the Mid-west pool their resources in order to produce and make available

continuing education courses for the citizenry in those states. In addition,

instructional television consortia have existed in northern and southern

California for some years, and have enabled the production of comp'ete

instructional, sequences on a more cost effective basis. These consortia

have been cOmbinations of cooperative ventdres of not-for-profit educa-

tional agencies for the most part.

Non:Profit Agencies

There is a different kind of agency that has grown in the past few years.

The most prominent one that produces materials uniquely for instruction

and with a broad base of substance is the agency for instructional

television. The secret to its success is the securing of cooperation and

fmancial commitments from state education departments ancIprovinciii

departments (in the case of Canada) for each production. The kodu ct ii

each case is a complete series of programs which are arranged in whitt we

generally are used to thinking of as courses. I submit that this is a very

successful venture in that it is providing a generally recogniied service for

the educational community and it is cost effective in its procedures.

Computer Manufacturing Companies

I mentioned earlier that for years we depended on the hardware

283

Courseware 273

manufacturers to generate a certain amount of courseware to go with

their film projectors. This same dependence is &curing at present in the

cast of microcomputer. For example, the Apple H provides an Apple II

software directory of games, demonstrations and utility programs.

However, we are seeing some programs and some courseware being

developed independently of the hardware itself for use with any

hardware. Creative Computing Press of Morristown, New Jersey, has

two books entitled One Hundred Two Basic Games and More Basic

Computer Games published for use with computers that employ the

basic language. There is a book of programs for the TRS-80 and there is a

book published by Adam Osborne Associates of Berkeley, California,

entitled Some Common Basic Programs. Those programs are available

also on cassette for the PET and the TRS-80 microcomputers.

Other Production Schemes

Two other production mechanisms are worthy of mention. A recent

project entitled "Schoddisc" has been undertaken jointly by The

National Education Association and the American Broadcasting

Corporation. This is an extremely important development because it

intends to place complete instructional sequences into the schools at a,

very low cost and in a very highly usable form for the pioneer videodisc.

The initial pilot sequences have been tested and the full production of

eight hours of instructional programrriing on videodisc for the schools is

under way. This is being underwritten by ABC and NEA and will be

made available at a minimal cost, approximately $1500.00 per school,

during the 1981-1982 school year. I want to bring it to your attention

because it is a prime example in which the private sector (for whatever

purposes of its own) and the major teachers' union in the country are

cooperating to provide instructional materials for the schools.

A second project which I would like to bring to your attention is the

project by National Public Radio to market instructi..nal courses based

on the radio programs which it has developed over extended periods of

time. The project is moving to the point now that the public offerings will

be announced in the ne'k few weeks. In this instance, public support for

radio broadcasting will result in the accumulation of enough resources to

make available courseware deveioped to meet a variety of curricular

purposes. The programs have been paid for and are'being repackaged

and made available as a venture which should be self-sustaining in the

next few years.

Underwrking Costs

Let's turn to ways in which sufficient funds can be accumulated for the

underwriting of the extremely high costs of developing courseware.

Traditionally, we have looked to the federal government in its categorical

programs to provide us with money for courseware. The Emergency

284

274 Courseware

School Assistance Act has a specific title within it for the production of

educational television programming to a:ssist the large urban school

systems in dealing with the problems of inner city learners. The

Department of Education has provided most of the funding for the

Children's Television Workshop to develop the well-known Sesame

Street and Electric Company sequences. The National lastitute of

Education has funded the operation of the University ofMid-America in

order to insure that the consortium could demonstrate its ability to

service the needs of continuing education in tii,e Midwest.

A second source of funds to meet the underwriting costs of

courseware has traditionally been foundations of various Winds. The

Ford Foundation has provided funds along withother agencies in several

instances to develop the necessary capital. I'm sure many of you are

familiar with some of the activities of the Markel Foundation and others

in this area.

As I mentioned above, however, the most interesting and resourceful

accumulation of films recently has been the development of various

consortia for co-productiop. The Agency for InstructionalTelevision has

a successful enterprise here, as does The University Consortium

which has produced Man A Course of Study and The Ascent ofMan and

many other instructional courses. I have not yet seen any consortia

developed which has been able to capitalize on the development of

courseware for microcomputers across the board.

At the moment, we are largely dependent on the hardware industry in

the microcomputing world to provide courseware for us. However, that

is changing and there are several publications which could be perused for

an update on what is available from the privat sector in the way of

courseware for microcomputers.Creative Computing, Personal Com-

puting and Microcomputing magazines.all reviewcommercial programs

as they are introduced. Most of those sources are listed in AECT's

publication, Guide to Microcomputers, by Franz Frederick.

CONCLUSION

So, how can we best produce courseware for the video and micro-

computing evolution? I suspect that my answer has to be that the

consortium route is probably best for video-oriented materials in the

form of coursewre and that for the moment we will probably have to

depend on the hardware industry in microcomputing to assist us until we

can get a courseware creation cadre built of such a size that the needs of

edcuation can be served independently.

2 3

How Can We Best Produce Courseware?

(The Process of

Courseware Development)

Peter J. Rizzo, Jr.

Senior Erational Consultant

Contra Data Corporation

Minneapolis, Minnesota

INTRODUCTION

The process of curricul

evolution. Originally info

instructors to their students

of education was centered

learning process depended

the initiative of the learner.

of the lecture notes were tr

This allowed for wider-s

continuous learning. This

instructor and the textbook

the student's responsibili

lectures and reading the

development has had a history of slow

ation was transmitted from highly-educated

ia lectures and handwritten notes. Thiktype

und the instructor and the success of the

ntirely upon the talents of the instructor or

ith the invention of the printing press many

formed into support materials for students.

read distribution of ideas and for more

type of learning was centered upon the

the main sources of infortation and it was

to acquire the information by attending

xt. More recently with the introduction of

multimedia materials as support to the learning process, the student has

been allowed to experience a Wider range of stimulus. Many

educationally-meariingful çxperiences were filmed, photographed, or

diagrammed and used by he instructor during the lecture as support

materials. Sometirrles the multimedia materials were presented to the

student in an indivadualizqd mode as the actual learning activity. This

was the firstostep toward naking the learning Axperience less teacher

dependent and more stud nt centered. Now, with the introduction of

computers into educations the concept of a stildent-centered learning

environment has become reality. The computers can deliver instruction

to the students indepen ently of the instructor and the student can

progress at his or her ow pace commensurate with their abilities. This

type of education constjtutes a drastic shift away from the passive

275 r)

276 'Courseware Development

instructor-centered transmission, f the information to the more active

process of the student interac 'On with a dynamic learning experience

controlled by a computer: .

Accompanying the evo/tution of education from a singular-source,

lecture-centered envirorent to a multimedia, interactive, computer-

based environment has been the tremendous increase in the need to have

un7(

quality courseware terials available. To produce a set of lecture notes

was a relative ly-s le task for a well-educated professor, particularly in

his field of expert*. To develop a textbook was far more extensive an

effort, because iny different instructors with various learning strategies

would be ex cted to use the same textbook to teach in different

locations. Th9fefore, the textbook had to be comprehensive, informative,

accurate, anf above all accepted by the teaching profession. To develop

multimedi aterials involving slides, audiotapes, videotapes, filmstrips,

graphs, c arts and a multitude of other embodiments, required a

significanily-higher level of effort in the initial development stage than

did the textbook. Multimedia development requires that many simula-

tions be structured for photographing, professional actors be contracted

for audiotape recording, and photographers be employed. To developa

computer-based education curriculum is possibly the most compre-

hensive and sophisticated activity that curriculum developers have

faced. This usually inVolves large scale activity in the form of compre-

hensive curriculum definition, computer programs at different levels for a

variety of users, and sophisticated testing and routing routines to afford

flexibility and individualization of instruction. iki an example of the

amount of effort it takes to develop computer-based education materials,

one only has to look at the small number of curriculum packages which

are currently available using computer support folloWing 'massive

financial investments on the part of the government, the computer and

publishing vendors, and the educational users. To develop a quality

computer-based education environment you r.eed to have well coordina-

ted, comprehensive and systematic curricu!dM offerings. To assume that

a teacher can develop a high quality computer-based education offering

in his or her spare time is equivalent to asking teachers to write theirown

textbooks, script and record their own multimedia materials, stage and

deliver their own television shows, and develop and analyze their own

standardized tests. Perhaps with the introduction of the micro-computer

into the classroom as a stand-alone deiivery system, one might be fooled

into thinkiiig that with a little bit of effort you could write your own

courseware for delivery on that systeth. i However, this is analogous to

giving a teacher a blank book and a typewriter and expecting him to write

his own text. ,

In order to understand the complexities of courseware development

for computer-based education delivery, it might help to examine the

similarities and the differences between the traditional teacher/textbook

Courseware Developmept 277'

orientation to instruction and the computer-based education delivery. In

terms of content coverage of a course, both the teacher/text and CBE

approaches must present the materils coinpletely and comprehensively,

Objectives and goals must be stated anddetailed background information

must be developed. However, the CBE, approach requires additional

effort in the number of test items developed, the extensiveness of,case

studies delivered, the variety of alternative approaches presented and

subsequent content expansion, and the amount of analysis given to the

student upon demand. Specifically, the amount of pre-determined

feedback is a major requirement. The instructional approach used in

delivering educatipn with teacher/text as well asCBE approaches can be

discovery, exposition, inquiry, etc. The major difference between the two

deliverY systems is the amount of iMeeae,tion required in the CBE

This necessitates *a flexible curriculuM, arid increases the variety of

responses,in the material. The complexity of the development process

increases as the interactive nature of the components increases. Both

teacher/text and CBE approaches requite valid test items to be

developed for examining achievement and attitudinal changes. The

difference is in the number of test items which must be generated for CBE

delivilry and the complex testing strategies which .are available under

computer control (i.e., tailor testing, mastery testing, variable criteria

testing). Finally, with respect to the pace and flow of the curriculum

otTering, the major difference between the two approaches is that CBE

instruction is generally self-paced. This requires that extensive branching

schemas be well thought out in advance and that repetition ard review for

remedial education be allowed.

The difference between the teacher/text and the CBE deliveryrequire

more comprehensive and extensive development efforts to be undertaken

for quality CBE courseware. There seems to be a need, then, for a

systematic approach for courseware develoPmentbecause of the number

of factors. Most of these factors directly influence the costof development

and subsequent cost of delivery. Because CBE coursewarede elc,pment

is quite time consuming, involves the use of and, therefore, the cost of

terminals and computer technolog md requires a wider variety of

people with different skills to be coorcuriated in a team in order to develop

a comprehensive program, the cost of development is very high. Even

though the coinputer terminal offers the capability of quick and

instantaneous revision, the actual cost for makingreVisions is-quite high.

Most of these costs are a result of the amount of time it takes to gather

accurate and appropriate data as to the type, scope and depth of the

revisions necessary and the athount of time and effort required by

development people to make the revisions which are recommended.

Certainly specific criteria must.be established early on to identify the

type of changes which will be tolerated andthe type of performance which

will be achieved. The cost of implementing a computer-based education

278 Courseware Development

currictium involves the cost of support people and the cost of the

computer terminals and technology itself. While these costs continue to

come down on a year-by-year basis, certainly they are substantial

enough to require that the paducts be of quality nature and reliable

stature. Finally, the cost Of failure ofa CBE courseware offering is rather

llrge. It may involve the changing from one entire CBE system to

another system which is a large fmancial decision. In some cases there

may be no alternative program to rely upon, in whichcase failure of the

courseware to deliver the recommended achievement level means failure

of education. It may mean wasted development-and revision dollars,as

well as a tremendous waste in implementation costs to deliver a program

which is ineffective. In many communities, businesses, and other

educational institutions, computer-based education has only one chance

to make a first and last impression and failure of the system to perform

can mean failure of the community to avail itself of the new technology.

In order to guarantee the favorable use of computer-based education

technology in the learning process it is imperative that high-quality,

comprehensive curriculum materials be developed. These materials can

only be developed through a systematic approach to courseware

development similar to the one that follows in the next section.

SYSTEMS APPROACH TO

COURSEWARE DEVELOPMENT

The development of courseware materials js a complicated actiyity.

The need for a systematic approach to the development of courseware

material was presented in the first section of this paper. The systems

approach model which follows in this section is one which separates out

the six major phases of courseware development into specific well-

related steps and identifies sequences of activities designed to, solve

educational prOblems and achieve instructional goals. This system may

be employed by an individual, a small team, or a large courseware

development group. Regardless of the specific team structure for the

courseware development effort, each step of this systematic model

should be followed to increase the likelihood of a quality product. The

systems approach for developing instructional materials consists of six

phases: analysis, design, development, formative evaluation, implemen-

tation, and summative evaluation. (See Figure 1.) These six phases are

designed to build upon one another to/generate instructional material

which is integrated, efficient, and above all effective. In order to more

fully illustrate this process, each of the phases will be expanded and

illustrated by examples from the Basic Skills Learning System, a CBE

curriculum designed to teach functional literacy.

Phase I: Analysis

The first step in any courseware development process must be to

28 9

Courseware Development 279

FORMATIVE

EVALUATION IMPLEMENTATION

SUMMATIVE

DEVELOPMENT

DESIGN

Figure 1: The development pnxess

determine the scope and the nature of the initructional mateiials required

to satisfy the given set of educational needs. The analysis phase consists

of four tasks. The rust task is to define the learning requirements; the

second is to define the instructional program; the third is to survey

existing courses; and the fourth is to plan the design and development

effort.

Defining Learning Requirements

Learning requirements are identified by: 1) analyzing learning needs;

2) defining needs and constraints; and 3) analyzing the target population.

For example, consider the fact that 25 million Americans are designated

as functionally illiterate. The impact of having this large a section of our

population remain functionally illiterate is economically staggering.

Most of these individuals do not participate in the production or the

servicing of goods and are veiy often a drain upon, rather than a

contributor to, the national wealth. To date many curriculum efforts have

been made to train and retrain these individuals into productive members

dthe society. Most of these efforts have failed due to the dependency on

quality instructors which are not readily available, the inconsistency of

materials which vaiy drastically depending on location and instructor,

and the ability to motivate the target population to participate in arid,

290

280 Courseware Development,

more importantly, remain in thiliainingprogram being offered. How can

computer-based education be employedto address functional literacy at

the national level?

The first step is to analyze the educational needs. In this step,

discrepancies between the desired performance and the actual capabilities

are identified. For example, suppose the desired performance for these

adults Li to read and compute at an eighth grade level so they can enter

into vocational trainingprograms which will allow them to enter the work

force. However, most of these individuals do not possess these skills. An

analysis of the requirements of the vocational programs and the

population capabilities will identify the discrepancies. Another important

result of analysis of the educational needs is the analysis of the

consequences of the performance discrepancy. In other words, what will

happen Wait people in-this pOpulation and the country in general ifthe

problem-is allowed to continue?

The second step_is. to defme needs and constraints. The needs analysis

indicates which specific task must be learned in order to reach the desired

performance. These tasks form the basis for instruction. The defmition of

constraints indicates the restrictions that affect the delivery of the

instruction. The availability of funds, time, qualified staff, and the

delivery environments are some of the constraints.

The third step in defming the educational requirements is to analyze

the target population, the students for whom the instruction will be

prepared. Student characteristics such as geographic focation, age,

ability, need for motivation, present skill level, and the number of

students are important considerations in the preparation of instructionai

materials.

Defining the educational requirements means determining a dis-

crepancy between actual and desired performance, identifying the skills

or information needed to resolve the discrepancy problem, and deter-

mining factors such as constraints or student characteristics that will

affect the solution of the performance problem. In the case of the

t; functional illiteracy problem, it was determined through the defming of

educational requirements *that the majority of the population had literacy

and computational skills well below the level needed to enter vocitional

training programs, that the skills of reading and computation were

essential to their succesS invocational training, that many opportunities

woutd be available for vocational training if these students could function

atan eighth grade level in both reading and mathematics skills, and that

this population consisted of a low-motivated group which had experienced

many failures through the traditional method of education. It was also

identified that many of the individuals in the targerpopulation possessed

some, but not all, of the necessary skills and that a program which was

able to place individuals into the proper learning sequence and give

students credit for already-acquired skills would be most efficient and

most acceptable to this population.

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Courseware Development 281

Defining the Instructional Program

In this step, curriculum and course goals that define the scope and the

purpose of the instruction are documented. The major tasks and topicsto

be included in the instructional progam are defmed with specific

requirements concerning media and expected performance levels. The

overall curriculum structure and the inter-relationships of the course and

sub-course components are specified. Furthermore, the specific routing

requirements and constraints are documented and the type ofplacement

and assessment strategy is determined in general terms for the overall

curriculum.

The do&imentation of thisstep results in a generalcourse specification

document which is intendedto solve the instrwAional problem within the

identified constraints. This document should include: overall course

length, structure, and proportions presented by the allowable media; a

description of the target populationand its present level ofperformance;

definition of file constraints plac51 on the instructional delivery system;

and the goals and topics to be covered. This document forms the

preliminary basis from which the design phase proceeds.

In the case of the functional illiteracy problem, a document was

generated which identifiedthe need for a three-part curriculum called the

Basic Skills Learning System. The first course is the Basic Skills reading

course which addresses the main topics of vocabulary development,

literal, interpreted and evaluated comprehension. The basic language

skills curriculum addresses the topics of gyammar, writing mechanics,

and syntax topics. The basil math skills curriculum covers the topics of

- whole number operations, basic number ideas, fractions and decimals,

geometry and measurement, and ratio and proportion. The target

population. was described as being between the third grade and the

seventh grade levels as measured by the Adult Basic Learning Exam

(ABLE). The purpose of the curriculuni was identifiedas a CBE offering

designed to enable functionally-illiterate adults, representing a wide

range of abilities, goals and problems, to achieve an eighth gade

equivalency education in the reading, language and mathematics skills.

Survey Existing Courses

Identifying existingcourses and comparing them with needs are the wo

steps in the survey of courses. Before time and money are expended to

develop a new courSe, existing courses are identified and analyzed for

applicability to the training need. If an existing course appears to meet

the needs and fulfills required quality standards, it is considered for use in

either its present or a modified form.

In the case of Basic Skills Learning System, after an extensive survey

of courseware materials used in basic education programs, two curriculum

efforts were identified as having specific appropriateness. The first was

21 2

282 Courseware Development

the Individual Learning for Adults (ILA) reading curriculum which was

offered by Research for Better Schools in Philadelphia. This curriculum

was in a paper-and-pencil, individualized, performance-based format

and was being delivered with realtive success to the target population.

The second curriculum identified was the Middle School Mathematics

Learning System (MSMLS) under development by Dr. Ralph T.

Helmer at the Pennsylvania State University. This was a computer-

based basic mathematics skills curriculum which was being developed

for children. These two curriculum efforts served as the fundamental

cornerstones to the specification of the design for the Basic Skills

Learning System. Indeed, entire sections of each,of the curricula were

adopted, modified and implemented in theBasiceSkills Learning System._

Plan Design and Development Effort

At this point there are three alternatives. The first is toproceed directly

to the design of the instructional program. The second, given the

availability of existing courses, is to go directly to the evaluation of those

courses. Third, it may be desirable to discontinue the courseware'

development effort if costs and other associated parameters become

prohibitive.

In the case ofB asic skills, a decision was made to acquire the rights to

the two stated curricula and proceed in a total redesign and redevelop-

ment of a new computer-based education product based on the

fundamental structure and design of these two curricula.

Phase II: Design

The purpose of the design phase is to prepare a detailed plan for the

course. The information gathered,in the analysis phase forms the basis

for the designed plan. The basic tasks performed during this phase are:1)

perform instructional task analysis; 2) specify instructional objectives; 3)

defme entry behaviors; 4) group and sequence objectives; 5) specify

learning activities; 6) specify assessment system; and 7) specify

evaluation system.

Pelform Instructional Task Analysis

In this step, the course goals are analyzed to determine the.skills and

knowledge that are necessary for the performance of the tasks within

each goal. Each individual task is then analysed to determine sub-tasks

and how they fit together into the task. The result of this step is a

hierarchically-arranged learning map, a visual representation of how the

tasks and sub-tasks relate to each other within the overall goals.

In the case of the Basic Skills Learning System, specific objectives

were identified. These objectives were grouped together in clusters for

Which specific learning activities were developed; these clusters were

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Courseware Development 283

grouPed into bundles where retention testing and review was provided;

and these bundles were grouped into strands which represented threads

of common content.

Speci0 Instructional Objectives

The task and sub-tasks on a learning map form the basis from which

instructional objectives are written. Each objective describesa desired

performance or behavior, the conditions under which the performanceor

behavior will be observed, and the criteria for acceptable performance.

An example of such an objective from the Basic Skills Math

curriculum is: "Given a three-digit number and a two-digit number where

regrouping only from tens to hundreds is necessary to find the

difference, the learner will be able to find the difference. The criteria for

mastery will be four out of five." An example from the Baskc Skills

Reading curriculum is: "Given a selection and its main idea, the learner

will be able to identify specific details in the selection and support of the

main idea. Mastery criteria is three out of four." An objective from the

Basic Skills.Language curriculum is: "Given a series of adjectives, each

in the positive degree of comparison, the learner will be able to select the

correct word used to form the comparative and superlative degrees.

Mastery criteria is three out of four."

Define Entry Behaviors

After the instructional objectives have been completed, entry behaviors

must be defined. In this step, entry behaviors are defined and thoroughly

analyzed. In the development of courseware the specified entry behavior

marks the minimal level of competence required for a student to enter the

curriculum. These minimum entry behaviors must be examined and if

students do not possess the minimum behaviors, they should not be

allowed to enter the program without acquiring these skills. It is essential

that the curriculum succeed or fail on its own merits rather than failing

because the students entering the program were beneath the minimal

level of competence for the curriculum.

In the case of Basic Skills, if students tested lower than the third grade

reading level on the ABLE test, they were referred to a low-level

remedial program delivered by an instructor to raise their skills to a

minimum level. Due to the very nature of the curriculum being delivered

on-a-computertenninalithe-students had-to-be able to read at a third

grade level in order to follow the directions and participate in the

program.

Group and Sequence Objectives

In this step, objectives are arranged in groups that are logically related

in terms of instructional purposes. The objectives are then sequenced so

that the ordered relationships indicated in the learning map are

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284 Courseware Development

preserved. This step assures that learning will progress logically and

efficiently throughout the hierarchy of the content domain.

In the case of Basic Skills, the mastery learning model was employed

and specific pre-requisite objectives were identified for tvery higher level

objective and students were not allowed to proceed to the higher level

skill until mastery was demonstrated on lower level pre-requisite skills.

Retention was checked at periodic intervals to assure that lower level

skills were, indeed, learned and retained.

Specifi Learning Activities

When each group of objectives has been identified, learning activities

can be deterMined. Learning activities are small segnents of instructional

materials that correspond to one or more objectives in a particular group.

In the specification of learning activities, three tasks must be performed:

1) select media; 2) select instructional strategy; and 3) identify content.

Media (text, audiotapes, videotapes, computer-based instruction, and so

forth) are selected for each learning activity on the basis of appropriate-

ness and instructional strategy. Instructional strategy determines the

teaching approach for presenting concepts, soliciting interaction,

providing feedback, and so on. The content specific to each learning

activity is also identified.

The Basic Skills program effectively addresses the problem of a

diverse and discouraged student population through well-defined

curriculum which is: individualized, diagnostic and prescriptive, objective-

based, based on mastery learning models, modular in structure, and

multisensory in format. Specific media was determined for different

components of the curriculum. A series of motivational audiovisual

products presents an overview Of the curriculum and describes the

instructional activities in the curriculum. The purpose of the audiovisual

activities is to act as an advanced organizer and motivator for the student.

Each new skill is presented in the form of a tutorial lesson on the PLATO

terminal, followed by a drill and practice activity on the PLATO

terminal, accompanied by an "off-line" exercise application in a

workbook and a mastery test delivered on the PLATO terminal.

Speci67 Assessment System

The means by which learning performance is measured and reported is

specified in this step. The use ofpre-test, progress checks, and post-test is

defmed. A plan may be presented for administering, scoring, and using

test results.

In the case of Basic Skills, and effort was made to allow the student

freedom within a structured curriculum. Two kinds of controls were

established. 1) Router Control: The system's router makes available to

the student the most appropriate cluster within a given strand. After

mastery of this cluster has been demonstrated, the next cluster in the

2 '9

Courseware Development 285

strand is made available to the student. Only one cluster per strand is

available at one time; the student must demonstrate mastery of this

cluster before continuing to the next. 2) Student Control: Within reason,

the student is allowed to determine which strand to work on, and within

the prescribed cluster for the strand, which type of instructional activity to

work on. For example, a student may choose to work on the multiplication

strand of the math curriculum. The router makes available to the student

the most appropriate cluster within the multiplication strand. The student

may then choose to work on the tutorial, the drill and practice, the off-line

. workbook, or any other instructional activity within the prescribed

cluster. The students are also allowed to access their individual profile

which allows them to see their progress graphically in each of the three

curriculum areas. .

Specf& Evaluation System

In this step, a plan is prepared to outline the strategy for validating the

instructional materials in the evaluation phase. The plan details the

arrangements that pertain to student groups, sample sizes of groups, and

data analysis requirements. The nature of the evaluation will determine

the time required to complete the course, the attitudes expressed by the

students, and the student performance: This is an absolutely critical

stage. In order for any CBE curriculum to be accepted on a large scale, a

thorough evaluation of that curriculum must be performed. Specific

criteria for success must be outlined and the development team must

know what criteria will be used to evaluate their work.

In the case of tne Basic Skills Laming System, the evaluation criteria

was specified as achieveinent on a standardized exam such as the ABLE

test, length of time in- the training program as measured by student

contact time and length of time in the class, student attitude, and attrition

rate of the students within the program. In most cases, the Basic Skills

Learning System has demOnstrated a remarkable achievement rate in a

very short period of time, and has been able to retain the students in the

program with a high level of motivation.

Phase HI: Development

During the development phase, all initial drafts of instructional

materials and tests specified by analysis and design phases are prepared.

Test items, text materials, computer-based learning activities, and

audiovisual scripts are developed in this phase. The documents prepared

and the design specified how to: 1) prepare individual lesson designs; 2)

construct test items and tests; 3) develop individual lessons; and 4)

review and edit after this process is complete.

Prepare Individual Lesson Designs

Lesson designs are prepared for each learning activity. A lesson design

I) 01 r,

if., 0

286 Courseware Development .

included identificatiOn of the activity and the objectives to which it

corresponds; the general media strategy for that activity; a detaileu

statement of the content and instructional approach; and flow charts of

the lesson structure, as appropriate. The approval of the designer and

subject matter expert is required before each lesson design is finalized.

Construct Test Items and Tests

Test item construction is based on the outcome of the assessment

system and its specifications. After the individual items have been

prepared and reviewed, they are assembled and entered into the testing-

management system.

Development of Individual Lessons

Individual lessons are text, audiovisual, or compter-assisted learning 4

activities. Individual lesson designs are used to draft texts; to design,

develop and program computer-based learning activities; and to draft

audiovisual scripts.

Reviews

At this point the development process of all the materials are in the

form of drafts. All draft materials are reviewed by the subject matter

expert for content integrity and the designer for instructional adequacy.

After the materials have been approved by both the subject matter expert

and the designer, the editor assigned to the team reviews the materials for

fmal draft. Documentation products of the development phase are the

CBE learning lesson designs and the draft of materials for the entire

course.

In the case of the Basic Skills Learning System, the development

phase produced over 1,000 lessons in the form of tutorials, drill and

practice activities, mastery tests, and off-line exercises and applications.

In addition, there were 14 videotapes and 12 student booldets containing

over 293 sets of exercises. The development phase also produced a

sophisticated student routing system which allows for pre-test, post-test

and retention testing, generates a student profile, and allows for

placement of the student within the curriculum.

Phase IV: Formative Evaluation

The purpose of the formative evaluation phase is to try out and revise

the course materials based upon actual student use data. During this

phase the following tasks are performed: 1) conduct one-on-one tryout of

draft materials and revise materials; 2) cdbduct small group pilot tests

and revise materials; and 3) edit and produce the course.

Conduct One-on-One

The one-on-one tryout of the draft of each learning activity, is

Courseware Development 287

conducted by the team with at least one student who represents the target

population. While this may appear to be a small saniple size, at least 50

percent of all errors are identified at this time through this very simple

process. After the one-on-one tryout, the designer, developer, and editors

Make-the necessary revisions and assemble the materials for the pilot

class.

Conduct Small Group Pilot

During this step, a small group that represents the target population

tries the course. In this pilot test, of course, the conditions of the

environment in which the course will actually be used are simulated.

'Various evaluation instruments are used to gather data and the course is

evaluated in terms of effectiveness based on the sepcific criteria identified

in the design document. Problems identified in the imall group pilot tests

are analyzed and appropriate corrections or modifications are made.

Edit and Produce

A technical and mechanical review is performed on all computer-

based learning activities and fmal editing is performed on all text and

audiovisual materials. The final edit ensures completeness and appropri-

ateness of all materials and the course is ready for reproduction and

distribution.

The Basic Skills Learning System went though an extensive formative

evaluation-phase. The_curriculumwas &livered at an adult learning

center in a major urban area. Substantial data was collected if

and analysis of that data was used to improve the curriculum materials

and the curriculum structure.

Phase V: Implementation

During the implementation phase, all instructional materials are

reproduced and distributed to a select number of sites. The course is

actually used with the target population in the intended environment.

While the course is being used withAhe intended population, data is

collected on student performance and attitude. Information is also

recorded about the students' performance after they coinplete the course.

The Basic Skills-Learning System wasimplemented in several sites

representing a cross-section of the target p*ulation. The curriculum was

delivered at an adult learning center in a major urban area, at a

correctional facility, at a military base, and at an urban city high school.

As a result of the analysis of the data collected, several instructional

materials were revised, some new materials were added, some were

deleted, more instructor/teacher options were incorporated into the

routing-system, and more flexibility was built into the entire system to

allow for teacher involvement.

2 9 8

288 , Courseware Development

hase-VI: Summative Evaluation

Evaluation in this phase is of the summative nature. It is intended to

measure the effectiveness of the course involving the educational

problem identified in the analysis phase. In this phase, data gathered

during field use of the course is analyzed and summarized. This data is

.the basis for a report containing recommendations for course and

delivery system modifications. Finally, a decision based on these

recommendations is made. If minor modifications are to be made,

corrections follow the course maintenance procedure. Usually these

corrections do not interrupt, the operation of the course. However, if

major problems are identified it may be necessary to go back to the

analysis phase to identify the source of the problem and take corrective

action!"

---SUmmative evaluation was conducted on the Basic Skills curriculum

across a number of different sites. The results indicated that the Basic

Skills Learning System achieved its objective of teaching functionally-

illiterate adults to read and compute at the equivalency of an eighth grade

level. In addition, a large number of the participants in these programs

have successfully entered vocational training programs. Furthermore,

the attrition rate for the Basic Skills offerings has, been significantly lower

than tradition9Imethods, which indicates that the materials are meaning-

ful-and motivational to the participants.

CONCLUSION

It Itas been demonstrated in this paper that curriculum development is

evolving dramatically in complexity, particularly with the influx of the

computer into the educational process. As Heimer and Rizza noted (2),

"The construction of substantive, high-quality: computer-delivered

courseware is a complicated and many-faceted task that can be done

successfully only by employing sophisticated systems approaches." A

particular system approach for courseware development has been

represented in this paper and examples of each of tne phases have been

specified. The dilemma for the 1980's is how to supped the necessary

courseware development activities to produce high-quality, cost-effective

curriculum offerings. The cost of courseware development is substantial;

the number of resources both human apd technological are many; the

time required for the development process is long: and the process which

must be followed to produce a quality product is extremely complex and

sophisticated. We know how curriculum development should be done;

but,we haven't figured out how to fund it and staff for it. If the school

systems and universities, the federal government, and private industry do

not take an aggressive and cooperative stance on curriculum development,

ihe country will be plagued by individuals writing bits and pieces of

courseware which in most cases will not be quality and wili not be

C'ourseware Development 289'

used. The question of how to develop courseware can be answered. The

question of who should do the deeloping -and how it should be funded

remains to be answered.

REFERENCES:

-1. Courseware Development Process, Control Data Corporation, 1979.

2. R.T. Heimer and PJ. Rizza, Jr., "Some Basic l'rinciples for the Design/

Development of Courses to be Delivered by Computers," paper submitted

to the 3rd World Conference on Computers in Education, Lausanne,,

Switzerland, July 1981.

3. JJ. Pirschbuhl, "The Design of Computer Programs for Use in Elementary

and Secondary Schools," proceeding of the 3rd International Learning

Congress and Exposition, Volume I, Society of Applied Learning Tedh-

nology, February 1980, Virginia.

4. P.J. Rizza, Jr., "Curriculum Development" (Workshop), annual conference

of National Association of Users of Computers to Assist Learning

(NAUCAL), Dearborn, Michigan, November 1977.

5. R.M: Caldwell, PJ. Rizza, Jr., "A Computer-Based System of Reading instruction

for Adult Non-Readers," AEDS Journa4 Vol. 12, No. 4, Summer 1979, pp. 155.

6. R.J. Seidel, "It's 1980: Do You KnowWhere Ygur Computer Is?PhiDelta Kappa'',

VoL 61, pp. 418-484, March 1980.

7. J.E. Searles, P.J. Rizz a, Jr., "Cultural Diffusion of- Educational Technology,"

Education Technology, November 1976, pp. 45-48.

8. J.H. Poore, J.E. Qualls, B.L. Brown, "FSU PLATO 7?rojectBasic Skills and Math

for Florida High Schools" (Final Report), published by Florida State University

Computing Center, Tallahassee, Flor;da, July 1979.

3 u ,rd

Technology and Humanism=

Are They Compatible?

Edward A. Friedman

Dean of the College

,Stevens Institute of Technology

Hoboken, New Jersey

c\Jmi INTRODUCTION

Many references have been made in this book to "technological

LLI illiteracy as a banier to the acceptance of technology in education. I wish

rto address the concept of technological illiteracy as well as focus on a

barrier that has received little attention:Illetechnological anxiety. I

will proceed by first discussing some oServations of technology by

humanists, followed by comments about the nature &technology. After

providing a case study that illustrates technological anxiety and resistance

to the introduction of technology in education, I will conclude with a

discussion of some recent programs for the development of technological

literacy.

Those of us who participated in the conference were probably

convinced ihat we are pursuing a humanistic goal. We believe

educators we can apPly technology to education for the enhancement of

individual growth and development. While we may sce a liberating

. potential for technology there are many who view technology as limiting.

Technology to them is associated with war, dissonance and constraints.

It is seen as a 'force that thwarts humanistic aspirations of peace,

_4s harmony Ind freedom.

Visual StatementsTechnology and Humanism

ConceptS of tichnology and humanism are difficult to :place in

Sk. perspective, I will begin by sharing some visual statements withyou

about technology -and humanism. Artists have distilled some impbrtant

notions for Os. For example, "Bus Driver," by George Segal, presents a

rather stark representation of man in his technological world. The

painting, "Big Julie" by Fernand Leger shows the human form and a

301 290

Technology and Humanism 291

technol4cal forrri intertwined with each taking on some aspects of the

other. Should we view this as a sign of hope that technology can enter into

aesthetic expression or a dark portent that even the most sublime of

human visions will be invaded and degraded by an unfeeling technology?

In "Propellers," again by Leger, we see a clear glorification of

technology through a brilliant aesthetic transformation.

A Calder sculpture of bird "Le Coq de Sache," shows that in the hands of

a genius, conceptions of nature, itself can be enhanced by adopting a

technological point of view. A Calder stabile called "Portrait of a Young

Man" reveals artistic grace andr-form through a construction that

simultaneously. exudcs the essence of mechanical engineering. Calder

was, in fact, a Mechanical Engineer who graduated from Stevens

Institute of Technology in 1919. The relationship between his education

as an engineer and his creativity as an artist has received only limited

'attention.

While Calder demonstrates the role of technology in the creation of

art, Joseph Stella's paintinptitled "Brooklyn Bridge," done in 1917,

reveals the role of technology as a source of inspiration to the artist The

Brooklyn Bridge as an aesthetic object and as a technological triumph

that opened new vistas for man when it was completed in 1883 has

sparked many creative fires in literature as well as art.

A profound statement about technology was made by Allan Rubin, a

young New York City painter whose work is titled "Canyons." Here the

man-made technological world stands in juxtaposition to the Grand

Canyon. Allan Rubin stated that contemporary man's enviromnent

existsits origins whether in nature or in technology are somewhat

irrelevantit all impinges upon the senses and there is grandeur

everywhere. Some may want to run from such a conception, but our earth

is small. Some may wish to reject various aspects of technology but no

man can escape the physical presence of technology. Satellites are

among the stars and electromagentic radiation is carrying information

and images everywhere. The question is not whether we are for or against

technology but how we adjust our lives to a world in which the heavens

send us both acid rain and new knowledge. We can't return to caves;

rather we must face the formidable task of trying to absorb the benefits of

technology while protecting ourselves against its dangers.

Editorial Attacks

An incredible attack on technology in education took place this past

Fall in the "New York Times." On October 21st an innocent news

article described the use of computerized systems by the Library of

Clarkson College in Potsdam, New York. The head of the Library, Dr.

Grattidge, was quoted as saying that:

"Education is basically an information transfer process."

While the use of data bases, television and microfiche were described,

302

292 Technology and Humanism

the President of Clarkson was also quoted in the article as stating that

these innovations were intended to supplement the tools of learning not

destroy them. Here "the tools of learning" meant books.

The Times then launched a barrage of criticism upon the Clarkson

project. An editorial5 on October 27th accused Clarkson ofbeing against

humanistic qualities in education. President Robert Plane pointed out in

an eloquent letter to the editor6 that the:

44. ..use 'Of The computer provides students With more of the, most

precious commoditytime; time for the rest of their education, timeto

communicate with peers and faculty, time to think and contemplate,

time to enjoy the physical world about them, and yes, time to read

books. Even the most enthusiastic computeruser doesn't want to read

"Moby Dick" or the "Rubaiyat" on a video display terminal."

Following President Plane's letter, on November 9th, two big league

hitters of the Times both pounded Clarkson: Russell Baker and

Ada Louise Huxtable. Russell Baker, in a sardonic column7 entitled

"Terminal Education" tried to sound the death knell for technology in

education. Referring to the librarian's quote he wrote:

"Informationtransfer process incQed. Education is not likea decal to

be slipped off a piece of stiff paper and pasted to the back of the skull.

The point of education is to awaken innocent minds to a suspicion of

inform ation."

He went on to state learning to doubt is best done:

"... in the grass, under the elm, where someone has gone to read a book,

subject to the random events of nature."

Since television sets cannot be plugged into tree trunks, educational

technology would lead to sterile learning as viewers watched their

screens in environments where in Mr. Baker's words"No trees grow

and no apples fall." If meant as humor, it is caustic humor indeed.

Technology is vulnerable to the myth of HAL that it will embrace an

extreme form to limit, rather than to liberate, humanity. Those espousing

technology in education must be wary of being transformed into

caricatures in the mind's eye of their public.

The attack of Ada Louise Hustable springs from deeper roots akin to

those that motivated Faulkner. Ms. Huxtable usually writes about

architecture. Her attack upon Clarkson was based upon the existence of

the ominous educational pursuits in the library. Since the Gothic design

of the Yale library is inspirational, Ms. Huxtable decided that she would

compare Yale's Sterling Memorial Library with Clarkson's new Educa-

tional Resource Center. In her column8 of Architectural criticism she

wrote:

"Any similarity between the Sterling Library and the Clarkson

beyond the fact that they are both educational buildings devoted to the

storage and dissemination of knowledgewould be rejected even if it

existed."

She leaves no room for doubt about which building and style is

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Technology and Humanism 293

preferablejet she goes on to admit that she has no knowledge of the

Clarkson Center. She draws definitive conclusions (in reference to the

'Clarkson Center) propelled by pure reason as follows:

"I have not seen this self-service library of tomorrow devoted to data

retrieval rather than holistic humanity, but I asiume that stylistically it

is also a model of the future that its designers envision."

A poor concept then guarantees incompatibility with satisfactory

Architecture. It is as if a Crusader denouricechhe-nesthetics- of -alt-

Moeciffes because-they were founded upon a false premise!

Ms. Huxtt NC damns modern forces of technology in both Architecture

ind in Education because of the Technological Fallacy which she

asserts:"... leads to unreal, naive or arrogant expectations... It is Clarkson's

extension of the Technological Fallacy to defme education as

information transfer that is so disturbing..."

What gives rise to attacks such as these? In my view both Baker and

Huxtable fear quantitative style overpowering and suppressing qualitative

aspects of life. The tripwire that sets off apparent dissonance between

technology and humanism is the fear that mathematical man will seek

unconditional surrender from verbal man with the suppression of

impressionistic, subjective and poetic sensibilities. Advocates of tech-

nology in education are not declaring war on the humanities and arts, but

we should remember that in a world of limited rekurces, satellite

communication systems and computer assisted instruction may in fact

absorb funds that are needed for verdant campuses, art studios ind books

with leather bindings.

LiteratureTechnology and Humanism

These various perspectives on technology and its relationship to man.

and society have parallels in literature as well as in a vast outpouring of social

commentary. One view of technology by a twentieth century Noble

Laureate, author William Faulkner, is worth citing. In1954 anItalian

airline on its fourth attempt at an instrument guided landing, at what is

now Kennedy Airport, fell short of the runway in a fatal crash. Faulkner

saw the pilot as a victim of the "Cult of theMachine." Conjecturing that

the pilot's past experience slititild have led him to Mistrust the

instruments, he wrote that the pilot:

. was the victim not even of the failed instruments but victim of the

mystical, unquestioning almost religious awe and veneration in

which our culture-has-trained-us -to,hold gadgets. . . .

He dared not so flout and affront, even with his own life too at

stake, our cultural postulate or the Lifallibility of machines,

instruments, gadgetsa Power more ruthless even than the old

Hebrew concept of its God, sinCe ours is not even jealous and

vengeful, caring nothing about individuals."

294 Technology and Humanism

Somehow Faulkner was able to accept the technology of air travel but

drew a line at automated landing. Technology that clearly expanded

man's horizons and that was familiar could be accepted as good. New

technology that was unfamiliar, that seemed to place man in a dependent,

depersonalized position deserved only denunciation. Whowould suggest

today that astronauts reject computer control of their trajectories in space

because it was in conflict with their "Seat of the Pants" instincts?

What Faulkner overlooked is that technology is created by man and is

intended for man. While science strives to understand the natural world,

technology is part of a social process that strives to modi& the

environment in response to human need. Technology might be defmed as

both the systems and objects or artifacts thatare citated using knowledge

from the physical and social worlds. These systems and artifacts always

have a purpose which is to affect the activities and organization of

society.

Technology's Role in Society

In order to explore the role of technology in our society it is necessary

to have some understanding of the essential featuresof technology.2 It is

not simply applied science nor is it random gadgetmaking. Technology

seeks to solve problems using current methods and knowledge. The

objects of technology do not exist in isolation. Often these complex

systems must be evaluated and decisions made with incomplete

information. Engineering and medicine are among the few professions

that incorporate uncertainty and ambiguity into everyday practice.

While science seeks to understand, technology is action-oriented. Such

actions entail risks. These risks must be weighed against the possible

benefits. The risk of all alternative solutions must be weighed. This

process necessarily includes the alternative of not taking action.

When technology is seen as part of a social process it is obvious that

there can be both "good" and "bad", technology. Mindless gadget

making reflects the social process not the intrinsic attributes of the

technology. It is difficult for many humanists to see technology in

perspectiveit is strange. Fears that technical creations will overwhelm

their makers generates an underlying level ofanxiety, if not hostility, that

is difficult to dispel. How quick we are to accept the image of HAL, the

master computer in the space vehicle of the film "2001 "3 as the

archtypical technological monster of our age. HAL tries to assume

control over the crew in an unparalleled display of technological

arrogance. -

Let me extend the basic description oftechnology making note of a

concept-of anthropology. Central to one anthropoligical view of man is

the notion of man as creatorhomo faber, man the maker. Modern

technology is an extension of the first chipping of stone tools or the

casting of metal objects. Technology is as derivative from the crafts as are

Technology and .Humanism 295

the fme arts. Painters and sculptors have carried forward the aesthetic

aspects of the craftswhile technologists have carried forward the

utilitarian.

In the context of this book we must examine the tension between

Humanism and the Technology that arises ineducation. Some critics of

educational technology fear that weyill be carried'by our instrumentation

along paths that we do not want. Perhaps the Mystique of a "cultural

postulate of the infallibility of machines!' could-iodeed-trap.us into the

cult ofthe machine. Another ominous possibility would be the creation of

a HAL-like teaching computer that outwits OUP progamming skills-and

begins to assert its authority as chiefpedagogue. Ifwe are practicing good

technology, then we are using technology to solve problems that arise out

of important social needs. Poor technology would tiave us force

technology upon society simply because it exists. Such aimless use of

technology for its own sake is the essence of the gadetry that Faulkner

attacked. Another potential pitfall would be to employ technology for a

useful purpose that was undermined by faulty impletnentation. These are

some of the challenges presented by HAL and his Imborn descendents.

In addition to these real pitfalls for technology ineducation, there are

also unexpected pitfalls arising from a climate of opitlion that could block

paths of potential progress. Technological backlash is always lurkingjust

beneath the surface.

A Competition for Resources 0

It is in these threats to the quality of life and leariiing that incompat-

ibility of technological and humanism may lie. I do no t. believe that it is a

conflict of fundamental values but rather a compefition for resources.

Will the acquisition of computer assisted instru6tion, for example,

preclude support for strong interpersonal learning? My hope is that

technology in education will reduce costs in some iareas so that more

intensive human contact can be encouraged elseWhere. Perhaps an

expansion of computer assisted instruction, videodisc and the like will

provide cost effective teaching for facts and techniques. The savings in

time and in expense could be used to enhance arid promote the free

exchange of ideas under trees, in gothic libraries, or even in Bauhaus-

inspired learning centers.

Part of the problem we have in evaluating these apparent conflicts

between technology and humanism arise because of limited perspective

and outright confusion regarding technology. Technology is distinct from

science but thiS distinction is rarely perceived. While scientists abound in

educational &dies, engineers, who promote technology, are generally

isolated in professional schools dealing with professional pursuits. I wish

to report that some promising changes.are.taking place. During the past

eighteen months a new organization,-The Council for the Understanding

of Technology in Human Affairs, or CUTHA for short, has recieved

296 Technology and Humanism

strong national support and encouragement. It is a group that includes

both engineers and humanists. It has grown out of an effort by about

thirty engineering colleges to provide education in technology for liberal

arts students. These educational initiatives have been well received8 and

there seems to be a rapidly growing interest in expansion of such

programs at liberal arts colleges that have had no previous connection

with technology. I believe that a greater appreciation will be developing

nationally concerning the content and nature of technology. As these and

similar efforts develop, the apparent incompatibilities between tech-

nology and humanism will be somewhat dispelled. What is more

important is that we will need all the wisdom that we can muster in order

to deal ably with real conflicts over limited resources. Our society on this

fmite earth must understand more about both technology and humanism

than ever before.

REFERENCES:

1. William Faulkner, Letter to Editor, New York Times, December 26, 1954, Section

IV, page 6.

2. Edward A. Friedman, Engineering Education, December, 1980, pp. 211-216,

"Technology as an Academic Discipline."

3. "2001; A Space Odyssey" by Arthur C. Clarke, New American Library, 1968, New

York. Based on a Screenplay by Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke.

4. New York Times, October 21, 1980, Section "C", page 1.

5. Editorial, New York Times, October 27, 1980, Section "A", page 22.

6. Robert Plane, Letter to Editor,New York Times, November 5, 1980, Section "A",

page 30.

7. Russell Baker, New York Times, November 9, 1980, Section VI, page 29.

8. Ada Louise Huxtable, New York Times, November 9, 1980, Section II, page 33.

New Directions for Training Technology

D:Retchers

U.S. Army Research Institute

Washington, D.C.

INTRODUCTION

Military triining basis:a:1i I-roes:1g tirr, Isirig attention recently, and

-this trend is expected to corifinuelcir...,tles2tiour reasons. First, the

zquality of entry level miatpowevlai ieen,4 _..,1-0...sing substantially. lathe

last ten years, college entry SchOlnsth,.. Aptitude Test scores have

declined about 5 percent in matheniatier4achievement and 11 percent in

verbal achievement. The decline is uniform across the country; it is

unrelated to economic, race, or geogaphicbackground. Moreover, it has

occurred during a time in which the proportion of our Gross National

Product allocated to education has more than doubled. This increased

investment has been almost entirely in traditional instructional tech-

nology. The lack of return may indicate, as Heuston has argued, that

traditional instuctional technology has matured to apoint of diminishing

returns.4 The only way to increase the productivityof current education

and training institutions may be to develop new technological tools and

have them incorporated in these institutions. That the productivity of

these, institutions must be increased seems self-evident In an era of

increasing technological complexity, the proportion of individuals with

Nhigh proficiency and basic skills needs torise,_ not fall or remain level.

NI Second, the quantity of manpower available for entry is severely

-decreasing. Despite the well publicizedproblems the Services have been

experiencing in manning their forces andmaintaining their material, they

have been drawing from the litrgest pool in history. At present about

44 4,250,000 people are entering the job market each year, by 1990 the

number will drop to 3,150,000. These numbers argue poorly for both

quantity and quality of people available for military service. As Tucker

L4 has suggested, it appears unlikely the ourcturent difficultieS in attracting

The opinions, views, and conclusions expressed in this paper are those of tbe aisthor and

do not, represent official policies of the United States Department of Defense,

291_ 1-

298 New Directions

sufficient numbers of lower ability personnel to the Services will

worsenthe sjtuation is bad,but it is not likely to get worse.I0 However,

the ability of the. Services to compete favorably with industry and

universities for high ability personnel wili rapidly diminish, increasing the

scarcity of these people as the need for them increases.

Third, the density of equipment has been increasing dramatically in

the last 10 years. To take an example from the Army, there is now almost

one "system" per person. There is one wheeled vehicle for every four

people in the Army, one tracked vehicle for every 20 people, one radio

for every six people, etc. Supplying adequate numbers of people to

operate and maintain thesesystems is, needless tosay, a challenge for the

Army, and the challenge is similar although not quite so severe for the

Navy and the Air Force.

Fourth, the costs of training are increasing steadily. The Department

of Defense will expend over $8.7B on formal residential training in FY

1981, of which almost $3.8B will be spent on post-recruit specialized

skill training. These figures do not include on-the-job training, factory

training for new systems, "team" training, or field exercises. In. addition

to increased expenditures for salaries and benefits, the majorcontributor

to these increases is the cost of equipment to be used in "hands-on"

training.

These problems are viewed as harbingers of what is to come in

industrial training. Industry may well be able to compete favorably with

the military for high quality people, but this advantage is likely to be far

outweighed by the problethsindustry shares with Defense. The problems

of manpower quality and quantity, the increasingly equipment-intensive

character of entry-level jobs, and the costs of training and training

equipment are just as problematical for industry as they are for the

military. Further it should be noted that on almost any scale, industrial

training is a major undertaking. Estimated expenditures for industrial

training in the United States range from $25B to SI 00B a year. To some

extent, then, the problems of training and training technology are

genuinely national problems.

Seeking New Solutions

In any event, there is substantial reason for government and industry

planners to seek new technological solutions for the demands and

concomitant problems posed by current and projected trainiug require-

ments. Technological opportunities are abundant and include computer

speech input and output, artificial intelligence, low-cost high-resolution

computer graphics, videodiscs, micmdoniputers, and high density storage.

These opportunities have yielded a variety of new applications possi-

bilities for training and these are the focus of the remainder of this paper.

Most of the new training technologies listed here are based on systems

developments that haveoccurred independent oftraining and education

New Directions 299

requirements. It should be emphasized that the real opportunities for

sustaining and improving human performance are the "functionalities,"

or capabilities based on these system- developments, not the develop-

ments, themselves. The appearance of any new functionality is unpredic-

table and dependent on breakthroughs inimagination and technological

creativity.---This- process is neither trivial nor one that follows autolhati-

cally from new technological opportunities. These functionalities most

directly determine the new training technologies that must find their

place within the full suite of opportunities available for improving system

performance.

On the basis of the problems listed earlier, it is possible to specify at

least in part the kind of training technology the future and the present

demand. This technology must be accessible, accessed, relevant and

intelligent.

1. The technology must be delivered to and available at job sites. In

military training, as in industry and elsewhere, there is a tendency to

abrogate responsibility at the school4house door. Stated more directly,

there is an assumption that when a student leaves residential mining, the

job is done. This is not a productive point of view for at least the following

reasons: ( 1) real expertise requires an amount of experience and practice

that is completely impracticable in residential training; (2) much skill

growth occurs at job sites, not just in residential schools; (3) current

problems assure that less training will be accomplished in schools, and

less well prepared people will appear at job sites; (4) declines in

manpower. quantity will mean that fewer people will have to perform a

wider variety of jobs.

2. In addition to being accessible, the technology must be accessed or,

in short, :it must be used. Education and training are gradually shifting

from a teacher-centered orientation to a student-centered orientation.

This trend is particularly important in induStrial and military training

where manpower shortages will permit less and less use of expert human

instructors. Students are increasingly expected to be self-initiating, self-

motivating, self-pacing, self-assessing, and generally, self-reliant. The

ptoductivity of students, rather than the productivity. of instructors, is

becoming the focus, in evaluating the successbt and efficiency of

instruction. As a consequence, technOlogy must be adapted and designed

to help students meet goals of productivity rather than be grafted on

instructor-centered systems poorly prepared and little motivated to use

it.

3. The technology must be relevant This is certainly an obvious

goal, but one difficult to attain in practice. Unlike accessibility (it is either

there or absent) and usuage (it is either used or not) which are easy to

measure,-relevance is difficultto establish in practice. If training is to be

relevant, it must be like the job. This means that we must either provide

practice on doing the job itself under precisely accurate job conditions

300 New Directions

i.e., the student is doing the job and nothing elseor we must turn to

some degree or another of simulation with its benefits of economy

visibility, reproductibility, and safety.

4. Thetechnology must be intelligent This is-rcontroversial

However, if the new training technology is going to be used successfully

at job sites, isolated and distant from subject matter experts and qualified

instructors, then it must incorporate in itself some of the qualities and

capabilities of expert job performers and tutorsan Aristotle for every

Alexander as Suppes and Morningstar intimated.8 Inpassing, it should

be noted that no distinction is intended between "intelligently" designed

and "unintelligently" designed training systcms. Intelligent training

systems may be as unintelligently designed as any others. Rather, the

development of these systems is Viewed as a specific effort to apply

artificial intelligence techniques to CBI in the sense of informadon

structure oriented (ISO) approaches discussed and advocated by

Carbonell who contrasted ISO efforts with ad hoc frame oriented

approaches based on techniques of programmed inStruction.2

New Training Technologies

In searching for ideas, "technical approaches" to meet these goals of

accessibility, use, relevance, and intelligence, we have pursued devel-

opment of the following new training technologies:

Interactive Movies

One of the problems with training in which demonstrations of skilled

performance play a large part is that essential components of .the

demonstrations are, simply, invisible to viewers. This problem is

solved to a major extent by interactive movies. These movies, which are

based on microprocessor controlled videodisc technology, allow the

viewer control over such aspects of viewing as perspective (front, side,

above, below, etc.), speed (fast, slow, still frame, reverse), detail

(panning and zooming), abstraction (photographs, video sequences, line

drawing animations), plot (different actions at different choice points

yiekling different results), and simultaneous action (gauge readings,

actions by other team members).

Surrogate Travel

Surrogate travel forms a new approach to locale familiarization and low

cost trainers. Under microprocessor control, the user accesses different

sections_ of_ a videodisc, simulating movement over selected paths of

travel. Unlike a travel movie, the user is able to both choose the path and

control the speed of advance through one area using simple controls.

When he-comes to an intersection, he can turn left, turn right, proceed

ahead, or go back all under joystick control. He can travel along a path

--looking either to theleft; to the right, or to the rear as well as straight

3 11

New Directions 301

aheadThe videodisc frames the viewer sees originate as filmed views to what

one wouldactually see in the area. To allow coverage of very large areas,

the frames are taken at periodic intervals that may range from every foot

inside a building, to efeiY ten feettlown a city street, to hundreds of feet in

sk large open area (e.g., a harbor). The rate of frame playback, which is the

number of times each video frame is displayed before the next frame is

shown, determines the apparent Speed of travel. Free choice in what

mutes may be taken is obtained by fihning all possible paths in the area as

well as all possible tums through all intersections.

Microtravel

One promising aspect of combined surrogate travel and interactive

movies is microtravel. This capability provides interactive surrogate

travel in places where people cannot go. One example of this is

microtravel throughout a jeep engine while it is running.

Virtual Team Trainer

Many tasks are performed in teams or crews where communications and

timing of actons are of critical importance. However, training of this sort.

is too rarely provided because of difficufties in bringing together all

members of a crew at one location to use expensive equipment that is

often required for more directly mission-oriented activity. This problem

is exacerbated by the fact that frequently only 1-2 members of the mew are

the focus of the training, other members are required only as support for

the activity. Within the current state-of-the-art it is possible to assemble a

computer-based team trainer that is vOice interactive for some class of

-highly stereotyped messages using a vocabulary of not more than 2000

words and jut ir Capable of assuming the role of any or all but one

member of the crew or team being trained. As the state-of-the-art

continues to progress rapidly, less message stereotyphtg, larger vocabularies,

and more complex\ roles will be possible.

Automated Authonng

Current estimates of the amount of time required to prepare one hour of

computer program that: ( a) obtains information about a subject area

limited amounts of computer-based instniction can be generated by a

compuer- program that: ( a) obtains information about a subject area

through computer-initiated inquiry of computer-naive subject matter

experts and/or printed reference materials; (b) constructs an adequate

knowledge representation of the stibject area despite coltradictory

and/or missing information; (c).generite instructional items, sequences,

and simulations for individualized training. Such -a system can now be

built using non-exotic represeMation such as production systems, existing

natural language capabilities, and emerging notions of meta-knowledge.3

34-2

302 New Directions

Optimized Instruction

Much training requires memorization of relatively discrete items of

information. Substantial efficiencies in training are achieved when

student time devoted to this activity is minimized and gaming aspects are

maximized. The combination of quantitative models of learning, optimal

control theory and computer-based instruction has substantially reduced

student learning time over all other procedures evaluated.1 These results

have occurred despite incorporation of quite imptecise parameter

estimation and memory modeling techniques. Both of these have been

dramatically improved in the last several years. Precision of parameter

estimation alone has been improved by nuke than 60 percent through

application of Tukey's one degree of freedom model.7

Electronic Libraries

Electronic libraries in the form of Spatial Data Management Systems

(SDMS) provide students and instructors access to an assortment of

multi-source and multi-media information.5 Users literally "fly over"

information and select what they want by simply pointing. Spatiality is

used to cluster materials so that different information spaces represent

different concepts, instructional topics, and asstssment procedures. For

the instructor, the SDMS provides ready access to material which-might

otherwise be unaccessible. Instructors can access the SDMS to create

their own information spaces (i.e., courses or lectures) and subsequently

present such materials to large audiences in single locations via large

screen television projection or to multiple locations through cable or

satellite distribution systems. Studentscan independently use the SDMS

for self-paced instruction by either working through previously designed

information spaces or by browsing on their own. When students and

instructors are in remote locations, offsite instruction is facilitated by

linking two or more SDMSs together using regular telephone lines. In this

manner, a student or instructor can fly the other to a topic of interest,

sharing at geographically remote sites a large library of information.

Low-Cost Portable simulators

Videodisc technology has been used to produce low-cost visual simu-

lators. An example of this is the development ofa tank gunnery trainer.'

In this low-cost trainer, a gunner is taught to locate track, and fire at

enemy tanks. Instructional sequences consisting of bOth the visuals seen

by the gunner and the constantly changing problem information needed

tO provide instructional feedback are accessed from a videodisc. The

videodisc provides rapid access to a wide variety of problem sets as well

as high fidelity display of what is normally seen by tank gunners. The

trainers can be linked together to provide intra-tank training, for fank

crews, or inter-tank training for tank platoons. Shoot-offs:and "quick-

fire" exercises are presented to increase motivation. All sighting devices

31 3

New Direcdons 303

and sight reticles are included in the trainer. Computer graphics overlaid

on the:t video sequences are used to show trajectory and burst-on-target

information. Daytime, nighttime, smoke, and dust sequences are all

included The device captures the entertainment of arcade games in a job-

rele7ant training activity.

These new developements all meet to one degree or another the need

for .training technology that is accessible, accessed, relevant, and

intelligent.- The list is necessarily incomplete and the full set of

possibilities should grow substantially over the next several years. As

new training media, these developments add power and flexibility to our

ability to bring people rapidly up to levels of performance and skill

mastery required by jobs in the military and industry. 'However, the end

goal of this activity is only indirectly the improvement of training, the

principal benefit is, br should be enhanced systems performance.

Specific training developments and training technology in general must be

fitted into the full spectrum ofalternatives available for improving system

performance. This consideration leads most directly to a mildly novel

approach to training technology development. There are at least four

aspects of this new approach Worth noting.

1. People are assumed to be part of the system. Especially in training

where we tend to discuss systems such as airplanes, shipsjeeps, and

rAdios, it is easy to assume that performance, effectiveness, and

"readiness" begin and end with hardware reliability and Availability.

This assumption is, of course, false. People design these systems, they

maintain them, operate them, and deploy them. People are an integral patt

of every system. Solutions to the problem of increasing Performance,

effectiveness, and readiness so often sought by industry and the military

in.improved hardviare, may in many cases, be more appropriately

obtained from any cost/effective point of view by improvements in

human performance directly sought through training. Training technology

is being increasingly viewed as at least one engineering solution to system

performance problems.

2. Coming from the othlr side of the issue, training technology is

developed for a reason. It is properly viewed as a solution to a system

problem. The goal of training research and development is not improved.

'training it is improved system, performance. The criteria for effective-

ness in training technology should not concern end-of-course performance

so much as skilled performance on thitijob whether or not the training

has contributed in a positive fashipn to effecth ness, and system

performance. Probably, we have lost sight of this perspective because it is

difficult in practice to implementitlhas been easier to examine courses

and end-of-course performance measuresbut times are now more

difficult and these measures, which typically yield miniscule correlations

with job performance measures, no longer suffice. They/are particularly

inappropriate when we find ourselves outside of the residential "course"

314

304 New Directions

paradigm and must evaluate, the efficacy of job site training.

3. We are escaping the information theory metaphor for training.

Contemporary advancas win psychology are reminding us that human

cognition is an overwhelmingly active, constructive process. in training,

,as in all communication, we are snot simply -shipping chunks of

..,.k..infohnation across a channel to be gliled intact on a blank slate:Instead,

what we seem to do is pass cues for sensory simulation that are built up

by- the-receiver, Memory -itself appears to-be reconstructive, or re-

creative, rather than reproductive. We do not simply dredge up items for

ricAll, we reconstruct. them. We do not teach in the sense of dumping

whole chunks of information into students heads. Rather we are creating

envikriments in WhiCh, to greater or lesser degrees, students learn. It is

far ihore efficient for people to be doing something in a learning .

environment th

-an simply'receiving information. This is particularly true

oftithe febally unskilled Ropulations- from-which- we- must draw our

electronics technicians,tydraulics.repaimien, and avignics technicians

hence die emphasis on intelligent simulatiThis. that are accessible atjob

sites: The further training is removed freavlob relevant activity, the less

effective it is. This is noilsrignore the issue.o4ost. We need to.lmow.

what amount of training effectiveness is purchased by a unit of cost in

designing training technology. -7\-:'

4. We-must learn to.view-training as a subsystem., Inteltependency

abounds in Ellis business. Manpower, persame1, and training Fequirements

depend on lhardware requirements and vice veisa;, training simulator .

requirements depend on the ftill training systems designed and vice versa;

training depends on selection and classification, selection and classifica-

tion on training-job design on training, ft:lining on job design, job-design

on supply, supply on job design, etc. An adequate analysis capability

depends onan integrated apprcach to all these components. We need a

"capping" technology so that vie can at last make thesileadeoffs explicit

if not optimal. It goes without saying that such a technology is presently

absent.

SUMMARY

It can be argued that little in this approach is truly novel. However, the

tendency among developers of instruCtional technology to pursue

technological opportunities with little regard for how their products fit

within the hill spectrum of instructional possibilities has been long noted

and frequently lamented. That instructional technologists are mit only

'considering the role their products should play among all instructional

possibilities but also beginning to consider instruction itself as just one of

several alternatives for increasing systems productivity may come as

something of a shock to those long used to the foibles of instructional

technologists. In retrospect, however, this trend seems not entirely odd.

After all, in the broadest sense 'technology' refers to any systematic

New Directions 305

treatment. It matt be that instructional technologists, despite their prior

predilectiqns, are among those best equipped to deal with these larger

issues of instruction.

REFERENCES:-

Attineon, R.C. Ingredienti for a Theoiy ofInstruction.American Psychologist, 1972,

27, w.-921-931. .

2. Carbone11,1.1C Al in CAI: An artificial intelligenceapproach to computer-assisted

instruction. IEEE Transactions on Man-Machine-Systems, 1970, II, pp. 190-

202.

3. Davis; R. Applications of Meta-knowledge to the Construction. Maintenance, and

Use of Large Knowledge Bases. (Memo HPP-76-7). Stanford, CA: Stanford

Computer Science Depaitment, Stanford University, 1976.

4. Houston, D.H. Testimony before the subcommittee on Science, Research,, and

Technology, 2-3 April, 1980.1n,1trfirmation Technology in Edication . Washington,

D.C.: U.S. Gpvernment Printing Office, 1980.

5. Levin, S. Video Disc Based Spatial Data Management In Proceedings of the AF1PS

1980 Office Automation Conference. Washington,D.C.: American Federation of

Information Processing Societies, Inc. 1980.

6. Olsen, J.B.; Bunderson, C.V.; and Gibbons, A.S. Learners and Learning System

Productivity (Technical Report DIS-3). Orem, U.T.: Learning Design Laboratories,

WICAT, Inc., 1980,

7. Paulson, JA. A Transformation Yieldingon Additive Representation of Data in A

Two-Way Array (Technical Report 80-1). Portland,OR:Department of Psychology,

Portland State University, 1980.

8. Suppes, P. and Morinptar, M. Computer-Assisted Instruction. Science, 1969, /66,

pp. 343-350.

9. Thomas, J.0.; Madni, A.;.and Weltmani: G. Systems Requirements Analysis and

Prototype Design of a Low-Cost Portable Simulator for Pedbrmance Training

(Anaus1Tochnical Report PATR-1085-80-2). Wocdland Hills, CA: Perceptronics,

Inc., 1980.

10. Tucker, A. Training and EducationPolicy, Issues, and Procurement Trends. In,

Conference Proceedings for NewDirections in Training Systems and Technology.

Los Angeles, CA: AIAA Conferences, 1980.

316, ,

The Influence of instructional

Technology on Educaticin:

Certainties and Possibilities

Christopher Dede

CO University of Houston/Clear Lake

Houston, Texas

Cr%

c\I INTRODUCTION

C=I .c

When applied to education, the new informationtechnologies (ships,

fiber optics, direct satellite reception, artificial intelligence, videodisk,

etc.) are blely to reshape both the delivery systems used to convey

instruction and the subject matter of the traditional curriculum.-Potential

consumers of new educational technologies include very young children,

students at every level of formal education, recipients of industrial or

professional training, the aged, adults engaged in non-formal learning

activitiesin short, virtually everyone in the society. Thus, the size,

method of operation, and content of education may alter dramatically.

Such a major shift would create numerous educational, social, and

ethical consequences: some intended, some not. Research in the field of

technology assessments has indicated that theanintended, second-order

effects of a technological innovation on society are frequently more

influential, long-term, than its direct and deliberate effects. (For

example, in many crowded metropolitan areas one can travel by car no

faster thaaby horsethe greater speed of the automobile has been lost

through congestionbut automotive pollution andpetroleunisvailability

remain as maior societal concerns.) Thus, attempting toanticipate all the

hiely implications of a technological advance may be well worth doing,

u seemingly minor changes in themethod of implementing a technology

may have major long-term.oSnsequenct ,, and some technologies may

cause such high eventual coats to society that the short-term benefits they

offer are not worth acquiring.

Effects of technological innovation can be divided into two categories:

outcomes likelY regardless of method ofimplementation, and outcomes

highly contingent on the particular implementation strategy. This article

317 306

The Influence on Education 307

will provide brief illustrative lists of both types of effects. The former set

of consequences can be used to calculate the overall costs/ benefits of

using a given technology; the latter analysis can help to determine the

best approach for introducing the technology into educational practice.

Relatively Certain Effects of Instructional Technology

(One cautionary note: future researchers tend to use "short-term" and

"long-term" on a more sweeping scale than generally practiced. For the

purposes of this discussion, "short-term" will refer to effects within a

three to ten year time scale; "long-term" will indicate consequences

which may take several decades to appear fully.)

Short-Term Implications

1) a larger proportion of the society will have access to instruction,

opening up new markets for schools and increasing the overall

literacy of citizens.

2) high initial investments in development and delivery systems will be

followed by an overall reduction in the daily operating costs of

schooling. This will help to alleviate the funding problems of the

labor-intensive education sector.

3), to realize these savings, large numbers of instructional devices must

be sold and software for these will have to be centrally produced. This

will increase curricular quality overall, but will erode local control,

reduce individual teacher initiative, and necessitate rigorous quality

control for error and bias. Revision of content or approach as better

instructiOnal strategies are evolved will be difficult and expensive.

4) massive changes will be needed in both pre-service and in-service

teacher training to enable instructors to do maintenance, programming,

diagnosis, evaluation, and remediation using educational technology.

The personality types attracted to teaching. the salaries needed to

retain high quality personnel, and the intellectual demands of the

profession all will change. M many (or more) educational jobs will

exist as at present; but a considerable number of these positions will

be supported by an expanded clientele for educational services and

will be located outside the school system in industries, communities,

,and_the,rnedia.

Long-TermImplications

1) "education" (multiple right answer subject matter) will be differenti-

ated from "training" (limited range of right answer subject matter).

Education will be done by people in schools (or their future

equivalent); training will be delivered by instructional technology in

extra-school settings. Most instruction will be a carefully orchestrated

mixture with training initially dominating. then education added in

ever increasing amounts. The present curriculum may be taught in a

31 8

308 The Influence on Education

third of the time it takes currently (especially where training is

predominant, as in the early primary grades).

2) a new definition of "intelligence" (the cognitive skills we most value)

will gradually emerge. Memory and lower order cognitive skills will

be increasingly deemphasized; instruction will focus on building

proficiency and analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

3) a higher overall rate of societal change will develop, both in

technological innovation and in social invention. A better under-

standing by citizens of the strengths and weaknesses of technology,

continual adult resocialization, and an increasing homogenization of

different nations and Cultures will be factors which instructional

technology contributes to this trend. However, the values ofWestern

Society msy remain relatively similar to todayfor better or for

worseas educational technology may well be viewed more as a goal-

attaining mechanism than as a tool for evolving iew values.

4) a fundamentally different mode of teaching/learning will evolve. At

minimum, this new paradigm will include:

a centralization of curriculum development and financing

approaches

a decentralization of the learning environment into homes,

communities, and industries

a decentralization and infonnalization ofthe educational experience

new types of government regulations to allow educators to

interface with public utilities as communications channels

a privatization of the educational enterprise, as information

technology vendors get involved

new types of diagnostic, assessment, and evaluation strategies in

response to larger grading pools and altered definitions of learner

effectiveness

new "machine-coupled" teaching strategies

new administrative networks, with the erosion of many middle

management positions as increased information transfer becomes

possible without intermediary functionaries

new types of people attracted to the various educational pro-

fessions, with different skills and salary requirements and

a revolution in the process and content of teacher training/

certification

In brief, sweeping changes in iioles and relationships will occur for

parents, teachers, administrator:3, industries, publishers, media, and

government

Possible Effects Dependent on Implementation Strategy

A variety of plausible alternative scenarios can be constructed for the

emergence of information technology as a major educational tool. One

metaphor used by future researchers is to view the finure as a "tree."

313

The Ireuence oirEdardlion-309-

We stand on the trunk of the tree ( the present) looking upward toward the

branches (the major likely alternative futures). Each step we take up the

trunk toward the branches (each decision we make in the present) chops

off a branch (greatly reduces the probability of a cluster of alternative

futures). By the time we reach the brancheswhen the future becomes

the present all the branches are gone but one (the new trunk), and a new

set Of alternative futures stretches upward.

Who the major actors are in implementing information technologies in

education and how these actors interrelate will be crucial determining

factors in which alternative future emerges into reality. In the United

States, some major potential "players" are the equipment vendors, the

media, the textbook publishers, the federal government, the formal

educational establishinent (teachers, administrators, state school officers),

and the individuals knowledgeable in software production (i. e., 'artificial

intelligence experts, television directors). Space does not permit v'

explication of short-term plausible alternative implementation scenari6s,

but a few illustrative generalizations can be made about potential effects

highly contingent on the implementation strategy which emerges.

Loss of Affect?

One open issue will be the extent to which human interaction is

reduced in the learning process. If machines are simply substituted for

people without compensatory shifts in the human teaching that remains,

personal contact and the affective skills learned through modeling others'

behavior will be partially lost In a world daily growing more impersonal,

the retention of large amounts of human interchange in learning seems

important, both for socialization purposes and to enhance quality of life.

Some degree of person-to-person interchange can be incorporated into

instructional programming if new types of communications skills are

developed that allow being person-oriented and- affective even when

interacting via the computer or television. After all, this is what an adept

media personality is able to accomplish; studying these figures- may

reveal how sociability, social presence, and affect can be incorporated

into machine-mediated communication. Certainly, people have adapted

to using letters and telephones without completely losing the human

touch; training via these new technologies could also become more

personal if tome thought is given to development

Even With- affectively-oriented programining, hOWOver, important

amounta of human contact will be lost unless time spent with human

instructors is more intensely person-centered in compensation. At

present, as the number of students per classroom increases, the human

element in teaching is b.ling eroded even without the intrusion of

machines. Some of the financial savings derived from technological

innovation could be used to reduce class sizes for human instructors.

Revision of current teaching practice to take advantage of recent findings

3 z 0

310 The Alluence on Education

in social and humanistic psychology would also allow intensification of

personal contact. Such a thrust should be a major component of,any

technological implementation policy.

Inequities?

A second" opeli isSue will be the equity (or inequity) with which the

advantages of the instructional technologies lire distributed to learners

across the nation. In the United States, several decades of work to

equalize educational opportunity and (to some extent) educational

achievement may be lost if a laissez faire approach is adopted to

dissemination of these new devices. The aged, the handicapped, the

poor, and minority groups all could benefit greatly from access to

instructional technology, but do not have the finandial resources to

compete with the affluent as potential client6le.

Market forces,_ if the- sole criterion-forimplementation strategy, will

dictate that the educational hardware and softwareproduced be designed

for the needs of the largest and richest body ofconsumers: the middle and

upper class majority culture. Not only will less fortunate groups lack the

capital to invest in purchasing equipment and programs, but also the

materiali developed may well be directed toward a different cultural

background and different educational needs. Two levels of schooling

could easily emerge in a society: one geared to students who have

instructional technologies available in the home and school, another

relying solely on traditional methods of teaching. Given the potential

these technologies have for improving the educationalprocess, the latter

group of students would-be plided in an intrinsically inferior-portion.

Moreover, early childhood experience with instructional technology

may Create an advantage that a deprived individual can never overcome

as in adult Learning computer programming, for example, is somewhat

similar to learning a second language: easy when young,-far more difficult

when older. The disadvantages to society of having a two tier system- of

educationwith its loss of available human potentialwould be

profound.

On the other hand, if equal access to high quality instructional

technologies designed to meet the needs of diverse groups were

guaranteed, educational discrimination and inequality in society might

be reduced more quickly than at present As the economic situation of

educatiorLworsens, _poor_ and minoritritudents - are-the-first-to -suffer,

these technologies -could alleviate-that problem. -Some of-the causes of

unequal achievement may be related to. a small range of teaching

strategies hying to service a broad spectrum oflearning styles; through

indivichialization, technology could reverse that situation. By extending

communication networks across cultures, classes, and generations,

instructional technologies could improve the integration of the elderly,

minorities, the poor, and the handicapped into Society.

32i

The Influence on Education 311

A subsidized and organized process of technological implementation

will be necessary if equity is to be helped, rather than hindered, by these

new devices. Incentives must be provided to manufacturers to produce

software for different need§ and cultural backgrounds; many schooling

systems will require additional funds to purchase equipment and

programs; parents will need training to help them maximize their

children's benefit from exposure to these machines. For both ethical and

economic reasons, society would be wise to invest some resources in

improving the training of all its citizens, but the choice to proceed With

this type of implementation must be made quickly before laissez faire

marketing begins.

AKnowledge Coordination Sector?

A third open-ended issue will be whether a knowledge coordination

sector is deliberately created as a method for national strategic planning.

At present, knowledge is produced and disseminated in most societies in

a relatively haphazard manner, with no overall perspective on what types

of ideas and skills are needed or how these can best be created in the

population. If information is to be the key economic resources of the

fuSure, research and development its major means of production, and

%human capital its ultimate source, then a society would be well advised to

attempt maximizing all these factors through some form of central

coordination. The information technologies, properly implemented,

offer a powerful means for achieving this end.

Such a knowledge coordination sector would have several functions:

anticipating societal needs for knowledge

developing in educational institutions the capacity for training

appropriate levels of human resources

assessing the capability of current institutional mechanisms to

generate needed knowledge and augmenting this ability where

necessary

organizing the dissemination to citizens of vital knowledge so that

it is fully utilized

This type of systematic approach would represent a commitment to

education in its broadest sense as a fundamental reconstructive force for

society.

The information technologies, once established in a nationwide in-

_structional network, would make.sucka lcnowledge,coordination sector

feasible. The economic advantagesand the general improvement in the

quality of life made possible by a more literate citizenryseem to justify

the effort involved in implementing this type of national stritegic

planning. Should this be a goal of the society, the initial implementation

ot instructional technology would have to be organized so as to facilitate

the formation of this knowledge production and dissemination system.

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312 The Influence on Education

CONCLUSION

Decisions made today, often without thinking about long-range

implications, will be very powerful in shaping our future options. On

balance, given the relatively certain effects of implementing instructional

technology, how muCh do we wish to incorporate these devices into

education? What changes in the rest of the social structure are needed to

maximize the berefits and minimize the negative consequences of such a

shift? Are we capable of avoiding the deleterious outcomes discussed

above by choosing approPriate approaches to implementation?

The world is facing a period in education comparable to the

introduction of the printing press five hundred years ago. In converting to

the use of books, people confronted problems similar to those discussed

here: a potential loss of the human factor, the necessity for a new

educational model; career shifts, massive needs for capitalinvestment,

equity issues, etc. Although decades passed before books were used to

their full instructional potential, the shift to the printed word for

information dissemination ultimately did result in progress, increased

learning, and exciting new frontiers for education. Given a comparable

opportunity, will we successfully rise to the challenge?

323

0%CD

(V.1

Looking to the Future:

What Business Are We In?

Elizabeth L Young

Public Service Satellite Consortium

Washington, D.C.

IN7RODUCTION

As we continue to share our experiences and look toward the future, I

suspect that we are all a bit frustrated. Frustrated because we see so

clearly how technology can be used to aid in the educational process and

yet we also have experienced some barriers to its adoption. We may

know what works, but how do we persuade administrators, indeed entire

bureaucracies, that mediated instruction can be effective and economical.

As we contemplate how to get from where we are today: blowing some of

what can be done, to where we want to be: integration of media and

technology into the learning process, we may want to step back a moment

to focus not only on the specifics of the adoption process but on a prior

question: What business are we in?

Why should we ask this question? Let us look at the perceptions about

the roles of various institutions in the educational process. Those roles

are increasingly overlapping, and it is not easy today to say, " a college or

university does this and only this, while a library does something entirely

different" There is and will be competition in this "information society."

More importantly, there is and will be competition in the arena of

imparting knowledge. Focusing on how best to use technology is starting

with the wrong end of the telescope. We cannot ask about strategies until

to we have clearly in mind what goals those strategies support. And the

question about specific goals must be preceded by the question I have

_already...introduced: Whalbusinfts areAve.in?

For example, it is probably not going to be enough in future years to

say simply that we are in the business of educating people, because a

great many other organizations and institutions are getting into that

business, too.-Perhaps we want to say we are providing a certain type of

44 education to a certain clientele with specific intended outcomes. The

more ptecise the definition, the better able we are to set precise goals and

arrange strategies. .

313 324

314 The Future

Need for Assessment

At this point I must recall for you the classic business school story

about the need to ask the right question. It seems there was a group of

bright young scientists who had invented a superlative type of drill. They

immediately captured a share of the market, and their drill sold well:But,

after a time, their product sales hit a plateau, and they wanted to expand

the product line. So, they began asking each other, "what other kinds of

drills do people need?" Then, after awhile, they turned the question

around and asked, "what kinds of holes do people want?".That was a.

question that required research, and when their investigation was

complete, they began a whole new product lineof tools other than

drillsto thee the demand for holes.

We need to assess 'our environment. We need to review who the

"competition" is, what our resources are to accomplish our goals, what

our organizational strengths and weaknesses are. Even whenwe fmd out

what kind of "holes" people want, there are still questions about how to

address that need. So, too, there are unanswered questions in the

educational marketplace. And we should have no shame about using

such terms as "business" and "marketplace." For it we do not run our

educational organizations as businesses, asking strategic questions and

doing strategib planning, we will surely fail, or at best, succeed by

accident.

Let me turn now to an overview of the changing roles of institutions

and especially of mediated education.

The Public Service Satellite Consortium, which has over 100

memhers representing many aspects of the public service community,

has recently been concentrating on services to libraries. We have done so

because some of our library members, like the American Library

Association, have brought us to the understanding that libraries in the

future are going to view themselves as broadly based centers for

information exchange and mediated learning. Libraries are becoming

centers for data exchange, for the production of programs on local cable

systems, and they can act as repositories not only of books but of video

tapes and cassettes and video discs. Of Ihe more than 4,000 cable

systems operating today in this country, most have "local access"

channels, and in an increasing number of commuaities, a local library

may serve as the "head end" to program that_ channel. ,It..is..not

unreasonable to suppose that within the next twenty years,- many

libraries will have satellite receiving (and perhaps transmitting).facilities

and will be part of an intricate network for the exchange ofall kinds of

information in all kinds of format, whether data, audio or video. Also,

libraries N.riew themselves as community centers andwill be encouraging

broad use of their materials by a large cross-section of the public. Clearly,

then, libraries can become centers for learning.

1) 0

The Future 315

Museums, too, can serve some of these functions and while currently

not as far along in their vision or their planning, they have the potential to

interconnect with each other to become "nodes" on the learning network.

Home media centers will also grow rapidily since the cost of

technology will be reasonable and the availability of programming will

increase. For example, by the year 2000, many homes will be wired for

two-way, interactive cable that will deliver not only entertainment and

educational programming but such serVices as hoine 'banking and

shopping and fire alarm protection. Homes will be interconnected with

libraries and other data banks, and the telephone coupled with a display

screen will serve as the "computer." If a company called Satellite

Television Corporation has its way, many homes will be able to receive

progamming directly from communications satellites via small roof-top

antennas. Several channels of programming will be available and

educational programssome even designed for relatively small, discrete

audienceswill be featured. Additionally, most homes will have a video

cassette player. The home library of discs and cassettes will include

programs borrowed from the library, perhaps from the educational

institution, and programs owned by the family. They will be accessed for

branched, interactive learning. All this will be in addition to conventional

radio, television and print media in use in the home.

Planning Expansion of "Markets"

As educational institutions take stock of these future scenarios, they

must begin to plan to expand their markets and offerings. While we

should never-use technology for its own sake, it can become a tool to

reach newlearners. Just to focus for a moment on some examples and to

mention the technology with which the PSSC deals most regularly,

communciation satellite§ can be accessed by colleges and universities for

a number of purposes.

First, by erecting a satellite earth station on your campus, you have

access to new services. The PSSC has a number of members, including

the American Dietetic Association, the American Library Association,

and the American Hospital Msociation, that frequently arrange satellite

transmissions of seminars.; teleconferences, continuing professional

education and other types of programs. What is usually transmitted via

the satellite is one-way television, with interaction made possible by

returnaudio circuits. Such two-way transmissions become cost-effective

when they not only replace travel but enable far more people to join in the

session or meeting. Your own faculty and students can take advantage of

such program offerings. Your administrators can use the ability of the

satellite to establish "ad hoc" networks for teleconferencing on a regional

or national or even international basis.

But if you can use satellite transmissions on the campus for the benefit

of the academic community, you can also begin to envision the satellite

326

316 The Future

earth station as a community resource. Let's take a concrete example.

PSSC has coordinated several satellite seminars for the American

Dietetic Association in which their intent was to provide briefings for

their members all over the country. Ifyour campus acted as the receiving

site for the satellite-fed program, dieticians from various parts of your city

could coine to campus to participate in the interactive telecast. You might

want to offer this service in conjunction with your continuing education

division. Regardless of howyou open the dodor, the satellite earth station

in your quadrangle would enable you to extend the campus to the

--ctiinmunity-in-a_very tangible way.

The third possibility is for your institution to become a provider of-

services and information. Whether it's legal seininars -from your -law

school or coverage of your winning basketball team's home gathes, there

is probably a market for whatyour institution has to offer. The best thing

about the communications satellite is that it is "distance insensitive." In

other words, a satellite has a national coverage area, and it does not cost

any more in terms of time or money or -energy to send a signal from

Minneapolis to Los Angeles than itdoes fromMinneapolis to Madison.

If you have a service or a program that can be marketed to a national

constituency, you now have the necessary delivery system.

Guiding Prescriptibns

Assuming that you have asked and answered the question about what

busindis you would like to be in andthat you have assessed the market for

your services and the tools available, I would like to suggkt several

guiding prescriptions for the activities you will undertake.

First, we must speed up the process of media literacy. By this, I mean

that we need to be concerned not only that our young people learn how to

create with and speak the language of technology but that we learn also.

Fear and bias among educators and administrators is chiefly responsible

for the lack of innovation with media in education today.

Secondly, we must change the decision-making environment to

accommodate new technologies when appropriate. It will not do to reject

technology "because we cannot afford it." Inat least some instances, we

cannot afford not to use it. Those who understandits potential must serve

as the "change agents" to bring about adoption. Entrenchedbureaucratic

decision makers will not take kindly to being told there is a new way to do

thingseven if that way can ultimately be cost beneficial. Therefore, we

must devise persuasive arguments and strategies to get mediated learning

off to a good start.

Thfrdly, we must become more entrepreneurial as educators. If we

'know there is an adult, non-traditional audience out there, interested in

-certain kinds of credit and non-creditcourses, it behooves us to find ways

to reach that audience. Call it marketing, or service, or outreach, it

involves expanding our horizons and our services in a way that will make

32.7

77se Future 317

them self-sustaining as well as useful.

Finally, traditional educatiomil institutions, whether at the elementary/

secondary or other levels, must become more interactive with institations

in the community that also offer Mediated information and instruction. If

the local public library is seeldng to 'reach idult learners, also, find a way

to cooPerate and enhance efforts. I am not suggesting an acquiescence to

competition but zither a healthy attitude of"comboe forces" where and

when practical.

SUMMARY

As we-view our future service and business options, we can only be

certain that the faiure will be dynamic and that therewill likelY be more

variables to consider than even our most coraprehensive scenarios

suggest Each time we think we have'pushed development and innovation

to the limits, we are wrong. BM even acknowledging uncertainty, we can

take.the broad view that the edticational institution of todayoan be mom

than the nerve center of its own tightly-knit community. It can in the not

too distant ftitUre be the nerve center (or one of many cooperativenodes

on a nerve network) for the world, the world of information, of human,

interaction, of knowledge transfer. In short, the custodian of the &true.

Ed220916.tif Emerson Satellite Radio 848L ED220916

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