Introduction
In a rapidly changing technological world the educational needs of all persons are paramount, especially the new demand for lifelong learning. The U.S. college population is becoming older, increasingly involved in part-time rather than full-time instruction, financially unable to study in residence, and seeking flexibility and convenience in college course offerings. Only 35% of currently enrolled students across the nation are below the age of 25! Today students receive their education on three kinds of "campuses": a residential college community, electronic, and continuing education and training provided by employers and community organizations (Educom, 1997).Many factors influence the growth of the "electronic" campus, but the most important are (a) the need to continue to receive education and training, (b) a significant increase in one-parent families, and (c) the need to remain in a full-time job. If students must attend campus during the day or evenings, they incur additional problems of getting release from jobs, paying for child care, and related complications. Similarly, universities have an increased need for campus security, wider student services and counseling, and the need to employ more faculty to offer a wider range of courses. In a recent study reported to me by Larry Daniel of the University of North Texas, a major need for distance education in that state is to serve married women who have young children at home and who are unable to attend courses on campus.
Shea (1997) reports that universities are entering an era of major uncertainty and dislocation, and a major threat is that students will increasingly ask "what am I paying for?" What students (consumers) want from their institutions and professors will force institutions and programs to adapt or go out of business. If universities do not "get on the bandwagon," private groups will "co-opt the process" and control the industry by offering alternate avenues to higher education. In short, the new technology may undermine much of what people in higher education think they do best.
According to the Alabama Commission on Higher Education (ACHE), Alabama invests less on higher education than a decade ago but the level of funding provided to Alabama higher education has been below the southern region for years. Financial pressure will continue to be a problem for Alabama institutions, a situation that may be worsened by two court cases, Title VI and equity funding, that will reduce available funding further. More students are attending Alabama colleges and universities than 10 years ago. Consequently, the state is educating more students with fewer resources. An increasing percentage (now 35 percent) are 25 years old or older. However, with declining off-campus sites, Alabama institutions are not meeting the changing needs of an aging population.
The number of off-campus sites declined significantly since 1993, indicated by 99 percent of credit hour production for being on-campus. Part-time students, though not a majority of enrollment in Alabama, have increased over the last eight years. Currently, part-time students represent over one-third of the students in the higher education system. In Alabama, out-of-state students are declining, a trend likely to continue as the impact of Act 96-663 is felt; passed during the 1996 legislative session, it requires charging a nonresident tuition at least twice the resident tuition.
With less public investment in higher education, Alabama students and their families are paying more for higher education; public university tuition costs have increased almost fivefold. Even with tuition assistance, it is difficult to attract full-time graduate students to campus because students cannot afford to leave jobs and they have pressing family responsibilities.
There is declining public support and limits on revenues from tuition. Universities are required to increase tuition and fees, but for the last decade there has been insufficient funding, requiring cutbacks, pro ration, and other measures to deal with fiscal shortages. There have been early retirements, "freezes" on new hires, and "caps" to reduce student enrollments to match perceived levels of faculty resources. The educational delivery system appears to be due for restructuring, in the same manner and for the same reasons that have recently transformed businesses around the world, by increasing educational
productivity and efficiency.There are undoubtedly many potential students we who will never seen on some campuses because of economic and distance barriers to their enrollment. They will attend campuses near them, although they might prefer to be enrolled at other universities.
.
The congressionally appointed National Commission on Responsibilities for Financing Postsecondary Education in a 100-page report, "Making College Affordable Again," noted that college costs "now rank as the second-largest cost of family life, after the purchase of a home," but costs continue to rise unabated. College costs increased 234% from 1980 to 1994, nearly three times the median household income, and more than three times the cost of living (Source: General Accounting Office). Over the last decade, costs have risen at twice the rate of inflation, and since 1992, the cost of attending a public university has risen 25%. With disposable personal income up only 18%, students and parents rely more on student loans (Source: The College Board, Washington, D.C.). At public colleges, 50 percent of full-time students receive financial aid; at private colleges, 80 percent receive assistance; 33 percent of all part-time students receive financial aid (Source: Association of American Universities). For the 1996-97 school year, the cost of a four-year Private College (resident) was $20,361; a four-year Public University (resident) cost was $9,649 (Source: College Entrance Examination Board). Many students begin their professional careers facing huge debts to repay college loans.If technological applications can be effective in teaching and learning, they may be used to reduce college instructional costs and extend other benefits that are currently unavailable on many campuses. This brings "pedagogical" assumptions into question. Is the instructor's job primarily to lecture? Should the instructor be more than a presenter of information? While K-12 education has sustained the brunt of criticism about education in the United States, there is dissatisfaction with college teaching. In response, most universities have some kind of "Center for Teaching Excellence" that offer workshops and "teaching tips" to volunteer professors on how to improve their lectures . Many distance education programs offer credit-bearing courses in offices, the factory floor, submarines, malls, hotel rooms, and the home, all of them with direct interactions. The learning experiences and convenience of instruction become more important than the traditional indicators of quality, such as the size of the library, number of volumes in the library, need for new facilities, not to mention parking.
The technological revolution is exposing the artificial dividing line between work and learning, and pointing out the possibilities for learning to occur almost anywhere. However, we have to be careful about which technologies we use.
We cannot rely upon synchronous technology to reduce costs (two-way interactive video, one-way video with two-way audio, and closed-circuit, and satellite)--because it requires the professor and students to meet at a particular time and location, and it only marginally increases the number of students who may participate. It will not reduce the costs. Other than using presentation graphics, instructors do not act much differently than in a conventional classroom. Remote sites typically require the presence of a monitor and/or a technician. As a result, the expense increases because of the necessity for redundant equipment at all sites and additional costs, such as uplinking, salaries of non-instructional personnel, and so forth. As a rule of thumb, anything that requires television production facilities is extremely expensive and must have large numbers to recover costs.In the asynchronous method of distance education, especially delivery on the WorldWideWeb (WWW), the instructor and students are not required to have real-time contact on a regular basis or meet in a particular location. If managed properly, many more students can be served with the same number of instructors or fewer. The asynchronous course allows access at the student's convenience, or on demand. It is not time and location dependent, as in a traditional class. It is possible to develop an electronic analog of distributed classes, similar to those on campus, that have lectures, recitations, student study groups, research, and all the other elements of a traditional class. The difference is that the emphasis is placed on learning rather than on time (i.e., class time in a particular location and time determined by semesters).
Anyone with access to the WWW in a lab, dormitory, home, office, or any other location can learn and earn college credits. Most of the technology is commonly available and affordable. To accomplish this, the following steps could occur:
The asynchronous model is potentially more cost effective than traditional instruction, because the professor is able to serve more students. Faculty time will change, moving to advanced preparation of activities and facilitation, rather than presentation. The asynchronous model permits a realignment of the budget to support faculty resources with technology, rather than attempting to expand faculty resources to meet load demands created by the conventional organizational pattern (professors X time slots X seats). This reduces the physical demands and costs associated with classroom and lab use. There is no need for special equipment, studios, support personnel, or real-time transmission of lectures originating from campus. E-mail, groupware, and electronic bulletin boards provide convenient ways to collaborate and move files back and forth over distance. Presentation of course content can be done by means of "streaming video and audio," print, and computer files, which may be accessed in real-time or downloaded.
- Lecture material must be compressed and transformed into multimedia presentations and web-based streaming video.
- Materials must be available on the Internet for students to use around the clock, in classrooms, labs, homes, or dormitories.
- Instructors should be available online (asynchronously) and for videoconferencing or chat (synchronously) for appointed activities and special problem sessions.
- Students should have electronic access to each other for course-related discussions and problem solving.
While there have been distance education courses, few programs have reported on the uses of technology for residential students as an alternative to traditional instruction.Types of Technologically Delivered Instruction.
Synchronous and Asynchronous Methods. The technologies used in synchronous delivery include two-way interactive video (compressed or full-motion), one-way video with two-way audio, audioconferencing, and audiographic conferencing, and may include electronic white boards. Radio, television, IITS, closed-circuit, satellite, and computer-based delivery may be used, where the instructor and students are in real-time contact at an appointed time. Class sessions require students to be at a particular location at a specific time, which is ordinarily three hours a week for 15 weeks. Depending upon the technology involved, there may be point-to-point and point-to-multipoint connections. In most respects, the classroom structure and routines are similar to a conventional classroom, with the instructor treating persons at remote sites as if they are members of a large class in a lecture hall. In fact, other than using presentation graphics, instructors do not act much differently than in a conventional classroom. Students on-site or at a remote site are expected to listen, take notes, and answer questions if asked.
It is common to also employ telephone, fax, surface mail, and e-mail for transferring assignments and completed work. Remote sites typically require the presence of a monitor and/or a technician. As a result, the expense increases because of the necessity of equipment at all sites and additional costs, such as uplinking, salaries of non-instructional personnel, and so forth. As a rule of thumb, anything that requires television production facilities is extremely expensive and must have large numbers, point-to-multipoint, to recover costs.
In the asynchronous method of distance education, the instructor and students are not required to have real-time contact on a regular basis. Asynchronous means that access to any remote resource is at the student's convenience, or on demand. It is not time and location dependent, as in a traditional class. It is possible to develop an electronic analog of distributed classes, similar to those on campus, that have lectures, recitations, student study groups, research, and all the other elements of a traditional class. Students in these distributed classes, however, will access university resources, and other resources available on the Internet, and interact asynchronously, more or less at their own convenience. The difference is that the emphasis is placed on "fixed content" rather than on "fixed time."
In an asynchronous model there are no class sessions, although there may be occasional or scheduled meetings for specific purposes. Students study independently and in virtual groups, electronically. As conceived in this model, virtually all contact will be by means of computer technology. File sharing, downloading, chat, and e-mail would be used for access to "lectures," assignments, transfer of reports, library, other on-line resources, and communication.
Technical support is not required at each location. There is also no need for related equipment at each remote site, such as fax machines, telephone, photocopiers, satellite receivers, and so forth, paid for by the institution. Most of the technology is commonly available and affordable. While IITS and satellite instruction requires expensive commercial equipment, the asynchronous model will focus on the use of personal computers and public domain or off-the-shelf software.
Cost Effectiveness. The asynchronous model permits a realignment of the budget to support faculty resources with technology, and reduces the physical demands and costs associated with classroom and lab use. The expense of an asynchronous model will be significantly less than other forms of distance education because there is no need for special equipment, studios, support personnel, or real-time transmission of lectures originating from campus.
E-mail, groupware, and bulletin boards provide convenient ways to collaborate and move files back and forth over distance. Presentation of course content can be done by means of "streaming video and audio," print, and computer files, which may be accessed in real-time or downloaded. However, the course may be augmented in others ways, including the use of videotapes or CD-ROM's.
It is possible to develop effective electronic applications of instruction with (1) students on or near a campus, (2) those living within commuting distance, and (3) those at great distances from campus, including overseas. The revolutionary advances in technology, economic realities, and needs of students clearly indicate that we should employ distance education methodologies. An institution use distance education to increase the quality and efficiency of academic programs, and improve cost-savings and revenue.
The WorldWide Web (WWW) has revolutionized speed and access to information. As network bandwidths and modem speeds increase, it will become possible to run distributed object-oriented multimedia applications over networks using a variety of geographically dispersed sources of data and information. Point-to-point videoconferencing technology will sustain a virtual classroom, enabling courses to occur without regard to location or space or number of students.
Inadequacies of Conventional Instruction
It is risky business to directly confront convention. Therefore, advocates of distance education and technological innovations justify their work as an alternative in the face of time, distance, and economic barriers. It is becoming easier to argue that technology opens the doors of the university to a wider audience, provides options for non-traditional students, and extends services to populations that would otherwise not be able to attend classes on campus. However, some have had the courage to criticize traditional methodologies. Oblinger (1995) made the following observations about college teaching:
Approximately 80% of teaching is in the form of lecture. Unfortunately, the abundance of lectures does not equate with it being the most effective learning modality for all students. Much of classroom teaching is based on faculty presentation of information to a group of students who are then responsible for demonstrating that they have accumulated it. Significant interaction is lacking in most lectures. Research on classroom activity shows that, irrespective of class size, interactions between faculty and students are limited to a few individuals. In classes under 40 students, four or five students dominate the interactions. In classes over 40 students, the number of students who interact is even smaller. In a fifty-minute lecture period, questions and interaction comprises less than five minutes, on average. Only 19% of students have asked a teacher for advice after class. Only one-third of students leave lecture with most of the information "units" recorded. Quality of Instruction While Oblinger and a few others may point out the deficiencies of academia, the culture of the university has remained relatively unchanged since the Middle Ages. It is implicit in the culture that the existing system is the standard against which any innovation must be judged. The first response when faculty consider a technological innovation is to challenge the "quality" of technologically delivered instruction. The common concern is some expression about inadequate student-teacher interaction (Clark, 1993), although inadequate student-teacher interaction in lecture classes is a common problem (Oblinger, 1995). Professors criticize technology for being too impersonal, a threat to instructional quality, and filled with hidden costs. Of course, the implication is that high quality instruction is provided in the lecture hall, where students receive necessary and indispensable guidance and supervision from their eager professors. While high quality instruction and intense faculty interaction with students is largely mythical, this is the world view held by most professors and many students but not supported by research.
Questions about quality include the following, many of which are rarely asked about lecture classes:
Many classroom teachers and professors rarely use any form of media including overhead transparencies, models, tapes, videos, or pictures in books and magazines (Heinich, Molenda, & Russell 1989). Having little interest or experience with technology, a professor is likely to be threatened by technologies. Clark (1993) measured faculty attitudes toward distance education and specific media used in distance education. Among Clark's findings were:Can instruction be effective if there is no direct contact with the professor in class? Are the learning outcomes comparable? What are the study habits of learners? What are the interactions between preferred learning styles and attitudes of learners with various demographic factors (e.g., age, sex, geographic location, sex, income)? What is the relationship between the use of technologies and learning strategies such as deep/surface processing? What is the inter-relationship between learners, subject-matter and technology? What barriers inhibit learning? Effectiveness of Distance Education. Distance education is any formal method of educating people who are physically not on campus and unable to attend conventional classes. In any type of distance education, students engage in some form of communication with an instructor who conducts and supervises the learner. There are many ways to classify distance education according to the type of technology used. For purposes of our discussion, there are three types: (a) correspondence courses (including mailing videotapes), (b) synchronous methods, and (c) asynchronous methods. Technically, a correspondence course may be thought of as asynchronous, but it is clearly different from other forms of distance education that rely on computer technology.University faculty who were slightly positive about the concept of distance education were more negative about their personal use of distance education. Faculty who were more familiar with distance education were more receptive. Faculty were more positive toward telecourses and video conferencing, but less positive toward correspondence and audio conferencing. Respondents expressed the typical concerns about quality. The preponderance of research shows that distance education programs produce learning outcomes and achievement equal to face-to-face instruction (e.g., Russell, 1997; Moore & Thompson, 1990; Kendall & Oaks, 1992; Beare, 1989; and McCleary & Egan, 1989). Russell (1997) reviewed 218 research reports spanning a half century between 1947 and 1997, ranging from radio to various electronic variations, and reported that the experimental group was equivalent to the traditional group in each instance. There is overwhelming evidence that technologically delivered instruction--synchronous (.e.g. radio, television) and asynchronous (i.e., film, videotape, screen-cam lectures, CD ROM's, web-based instruction)--is equivalent to traditional instruction, using student achievement as the outcome measure, and there is often more student-teacher interaction.
Of greater significance is that in specific applications, learning outcomes of distance education may be markedly superior to those of the traditional classroom environment due to advantages that cannot be obtained through traditional means. Computer-delivered instruction can furnish students with far greater interaction than is possible in a large classroom or a small class where lecture is the chief means of interaction. It is worth questioning whether typical classroom instruction should be considered ideal. Indeed, there are many ways to improve the classroom lecture or didactic method, combining the distance education media with traditional classes. Nonetheless, distance education is equal to conventional instruction, although conventional instruction is far from perfect.
Advocates of technology have a different world view. Jeffries (1997) reports that some investigators believe that "distance" (and the technology which accompanies it) is an incidental consideration and not a "defining criterion" for education. Put into a constructivist context, the distance educator is likely to accept the principle that a learner may learn without being in the same room as the instructor. In fact, the actual presentations of faculty in classrooms may often be unrelated to test performance, which is more likely to be determined by printed matter used in the course. In fact, it can be shown that students and instructors actually have more frequent and direct communication via technology than they do in a lecture class.
As Jeffries notes, "educational change is technically simple and socially complex." While visionary and charismatic leaders can induce change by means of effective leadership and appropriate rewards, acceptance of distance technology in higher education at most institutions is likely to be determined by market forces rather than faculty acceptance or leadership. Colleges and universities unable to compete for students in traditional classes may be forced to use technology or close their doors. This will be increasingly true of graduate programs, particularly in professional schools. There are many entire masters degrees in engineering and business, totally online, that did not exist a few years ago, and it will not be long before education has such offerings.
Qualities of web-based and technologically delivered instruction
Whether in a distance education class or in a traditional lecture hall, instruction--not the medium--is key to effective learning (Clark, 1991). However, the medium of technology offers qualities that are comparable to the amenities offered in lecture halls and many that are not available to the seat-bound student in the classroom:
Although the instructor may require certain deadlines, the students are responsible for organizing themselves and meeting requirements. Research has shown in the Open University that students must be responsible, motivated, and able to manage their time wisely. Typically, one would expect this of graduate students. The use of deadlines is often sufficient to stimulate productivity. The computing technology used in asynchronous learning can easily track the progress of each individual student. This information can be used by the instructor to advise and guide the student appropriately. And finally, aspects of the technology can provide assistance to students. Assistance should be more readily available to those who require it, surpassing that available in conventional instruction and office hours. It is also reasonable to expect that faculty time will change, moving to advanced preparation of activities and facilitation, rather than presenting.Class "lectures" will be available as compressed video clips and print files on the website. Contact will be made via file transfer, e-mail, and Internet using CUSeeMe software. The Class syllabus, reports, student project notes, and other relevant information will be shared through the Internet using the World-Wide Web. E-mail and mailing lists will be used extensively for communications between the teaching staff and students. These communications will be automatically archived and organized, along with the class syllabus, past student reports, and electronic notebooks. Depending on the course, students will work independently or in virtual teams on projects. A class information system will exist, based on the World-Wide Web. The quality of audio and video over the Internet is usually approximate to that experienced with ISDN (Integrated Systems Digital Network). If full motion, NTSC quality video is compressed to the quality currently found on the typical video conferencing system, a one hour class can be downloaded over the Internet in from 1 minute to over 95 minutes depending on network load and configuration. The storage required would be about 70 Mbytes. This is a "worst case" scenario, and it is not imagined that much of the course will be created in "talking head" format, so that most video segments would be especially developed for certain content. Other files, including graphics, text, audio, and assignments, in addition to course readings, will complete the course delivery.
While there is no need to have full-motion video for an entire class, especially if computer software and learning activities are designed for students to preclude the need for "lecture," it is possible to accomplish real-time play-back. However, the importance of asynchronous learning is that students will have greater variability and independent selection, so there will be little need to have real-time transmissions.
It must be remembered, too, that if adequate graphics and materials are available, audio has been found to be far more important than video in distance learning. While it would also be possible to provide students with videotapes of lectures, a well-designed course that is project-based and designed for individualized learning will not require significant amounts of video.
Lesson Format. Each lesson will be designed, beginning with outcomes, how the outcomes will be measured, and the support that will permit learners to meet expectations. This is superior to many lecture classes because the information is "out there" for anyone to examine, rather than private, behind closed classroom doors. The lesson will be structured around text and graphics files to be downloaded. These files will contain the material which would ordinarily be handed out in class, including the syllabus, readings, assignments, activities, notes, and so forth. In addition, anything that might be presented on an overhead would be developed as a graphic. The size and number of such files would vary.
Communication between the student and the instructor, and between the student and other students will also be done asynchronously. Use of POP mail on Netscape enables students to have asynchronous interaction with the professor and other students. Students will access these instructional applications via the Internet. Information sets will include course notes, reference materials, and exams.
A second application could be an electronic bulletin board application to support asynchronous discussions among students and faculty. A permanent record of all student-faculty interaction could be kept and analyzed.
The instructor could maintain office hours for real-time, one-on-one discussions with students as required. These sessions may be by electronic document conferencing (on-line help), telephone conversations, or both.
Assessment. While it is well known that distance education is equally effective as conventional instruction, use of this particular method of asynchronous learning should be evaluated carefully. It is fully anticipated that students will perform adequately, but there may be important aspects of the course that need to be improved, elaborated, or replaced.
Objective Quality. This is assessed by analyzing written test scores of students and interviews (oral exams) which are given to a subset of students.
Subjective Quality. This is assessed by interviews, questionnaires, and observations.
Cost/Benefit. This is assessed in terms of cost-effectiveness, from both the standpoint of the university and the student.
Duration. The duration will be usually be one semester. In time it could be possible to have a "rolling" semester to enable students to complete courses more quickly, rather than observing the traditional semester.
For further information about online delivery systems and web-based development, see two articles by your professors:
Future Applications Some wit is supposed to have said, "The trouble with our times is that the future is not what it used to be."
This is certainly true. In the past, when there was little change from one generation to the next, the future seemed rather predictable. Many schools are expanding their technology capabilities to allow students and teachers access to online computer programs and worldwide resources for research and reference, including audio, video, and text. While we are far from a "bookless curriculum" in our schools, it is evident that students will increasingly use multimedia-educational materials and Internet resources. As the Internet has gained in popularity and public awareness, so have the fears and anxieties of parents and educators about children's use of the Internet, helped along by sensational stories in newspapers, magazines, and television news.Marshall McLuhan proposed in the 1960s in his book, Understanding Media, that the media is the message. Now everyone understands what he meant. Alvin Toffler has shown in his books, The Third Wave and Future Shock, that information technology and computers represent a major historical shift for civilization, equal in significance to the agricultural and industrial ages. The media culture is now unavoidable.
Both in college and in K-12 schools there is a need for delivery of asyncrhonous instruction. In the original "Nation at Risk" report of 1983, mention was made about the need to improve access of secondary students to computers. Since then there has been growth from a number of grassroots movements in technology to widespread use of computers in schools. There have been many articles about "schools of the future" based on technological applications. Demands on schools are numerous and increasing: evaluation, supervision, increased basic skills, decentralization, staff development, testing, improved achievement, thinking skills, better science and mathematics curricula, parental relations, drug and alcohol abuse prevention programs, sex education, AIDS education, educational technology, counseling, ESL and minority programs, special education and gifted program, at-risk program, and others. With record-level retirements of teachers and administrators in the next decade, and a predicted shortage of teachers, it may be essential for technology to play a more prominent role in providing instruction in the place of teachers who may not be there in sufficient numbers with basic competence to teach America's students.
References
Beaudoin, M. (1990). The instructor's changing role in distance education. The American Journal of Distance Education, 4 (2), 21-29.
Beare, P.L. (1989). The comparative effectiveness of videotape, audiotape, and telelecture. The American Journal of Distance Education, (3) 2, 57-66.
Brock, D. (1987). ...And six to grow on. The American Journal of Distance Education, 1 (2), 34-43.
Chung, J. (1991). Televised teaching effectiveness: Two case studies. Educational Technology, 31(1), 41-47.
Clark, R., Evaluating Distance Learning Technology. Prepared for the Office of Technology Assessment. U. S. Congress,
Washington, D. C., May 1990.Clark, R.E. (1991). When researchers swim upstream: Reflections on an unpopular argument about learning from media. Educational Technology Research and Development, Feb. 1991, 34-40.
Clark, T. (1993). Attitudes of higher education faculty toward distance education: A national survey. The American Journal of Distance Education, 7 (2), 19-31.
Dede, C. J. (1990). The evolution of distance learning: Technology-mediated interactive learning. Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 22(3), 247-264.
Educom. (1997). The "virtual university" invitational symposium: Pre-symposium paper. http://www.educom.edu/program/ nlii/meetings/orleans97/virtualU.html.
Elson, J., The Campus Of The Future, Time. April 13, 1992.
Ely, D.P. (1990). Conditions that facilitate the implementation of educational technology innovations. Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 23 (2), 298-305.
Evans, R.I. (1970). Resistance to innovation in higher education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Fullan, M. (1991). The new meaning of educational change. New York: Teachers College Press.
Heinich, R., Molenda, M. & Russell, J. (1993). Instructional media and the new technologies of instruction (4th ed.). New York, NY: Macmillan.
Jeffries, M. (1997). Research in Distance Education. Indiana University. http://www.ind.net/IPSE/fdhandbook/resrch.
htmlKeegan, D. (1990). The foundations of distance education. New York: St. Martins Press.
Kendall, J.R., M. Oaks, Evaluation of Perceived Teaching Effectiveness: Course Delivery via Interactive Video Technology
versus Traditional Classroom Methods, The Journal of Continuing Higher Education, Fall, 1992.Mark, M. (1990). The differentiation of institutional structures and effectiveness in distance education programs. In M. Moore (Ed.), Contemporary Issues in American Distance Education. Elmsford, NY: Pergamon Press.
McCleary, I.D., & Egan, M.W. (1989). Program design and evaluation: Two-way interactive television. The American Journal of Distance Education, 3 (1), 50-60.
Moore, M.G. & Thompson, M.M., with Quigley, A.B., Clark, G.C., & Goff, G.G. (1990). The effects of distance learning: A summary of the literature. Research Monograph No. 2. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University, American Center for the Study of Distance Education. (ED 330 321)
Moore, M.G. (1990). Background and overview of contemporary American distance education. In M. Moore (Ed.), Contemporary Issues in American Distance Education. Elmsford, NY: Pergamon Press.
Oblinger, D.G. (1995). Educational Alternatives Based on Communication, Collaboration and Computers. IBM Corporation.
Russell, T. Director Office of Instructional Telecommunications North Carolina State University Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.A.
Shea, J. (1997). Conference addresses issues of concern in higher education. http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/features/1994/110394/edconf.html.