Copyright 1997 CAUSE. From CAUSE/EFFECT Volume 20, Number 2, Summer 1997, pp. 61-63. Permission to copy or disseminate all or part of this material is granted provided that the copies are not made or distributed for commercial advantage, the CAUSE copyright and its date appear, and notice is given that copying is by permission of CAUSE, the association for managing and using information resources in higher education. To disseminate otherwise, or to republish, requires written permission. For further information, contact Julia Rudy at CAUSE, 4840 Pearl East Circle, Suite 302E, Boulder, CO 80301 USA; 303-939-0308; e-mail: [email protected]
by Andrew C. Lawlor and Jeanne Rodier Weber
This article provides the history and goals of a distance-learning demonstration project at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, as well as technical considerations, coordination activities, and instructional issues faced by the faculty. The experience gained through the initial project enabled the University to later offer credit-bearing courses on a regular basis via video conferencing.
As a part of the mission of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (SSHE), its fourteen member institutions were given an opportunity to explore the practicality of using distance education to deliver instruction to remote areas of the state, and to jump-start a sustained effort in rural education.
In December of 1994, the SSHE published a request for proposals to provide grants for demonstration projects around the state during the following spring semester. Edinboro University collaborated on a proposal with sister institution Clarion University and the Warren/Forest Higher Education Council to provide a series of continuing education seminars to nurses in Warren County, where there was no institution of higher education.
The Professional Nursing Series was a logical application, since both Edinboro and Clarion Universities have departments of nursing and serve a large rural geographic area in Northwest Pennsylvania. In this region many nurses staff hospitals, clinics, home health agencies, long-term care facilities, doctors' offices, and public health departments. Access to continuing education offerings is difficult because of the need to travel long distances, usually over secondary roads. Yet emerging health-related information, new health care technology and delivery systems, and the need for continuing education credits to keep certifications in force require nurses to participate in continuing education.
The overall goals of the project were to deliver educational programming to a location that traditionally has had difficulty accessing higher education, to try out the process of video conferencing as a practical solution to distance education, to train faculty and build interest and enthusiasm for distance education, and to experiment with adapting materials and methodology to accommodate video conferencing.
Since Clarion University had already begun experimenting with video conferencing technology, Edinboro University was able to quickly respond to this need without having to test and evaluate equipment. The proposal was funded by the SSHE for the lease of PictureTel video conferencing equipment for the Edinboro and Warren sites during the months of March, April, and May of 1995 for the demonstration project. The grant also paid for the installation of video conferencing lines in an instructional building and covered the cost of monthly line charges and per-minute charges when a call was established.
Video conferencing, which provides two-way interaction via a television screen between parties at two different locations, has recently become more available due to decreasing costs of the technology and the telephone network infrastructure needed to support it.
What is needed for a video conferencing program? While both desktop and group models are available, Edinboro chose the group arrangement. In this configuration, each unit contains a television monitor, a video camera (usually attached to the top of the monitor), a "black box" containing the compression and digital/analog equipment, a telecommunications network interface, and a keypad for controlling the unit. A document camera, while optional, provides for the transmission of document images and other objects and also acts as a transmittable writing board.
Along with equipment, the appropriate telecommunications network connection is required. By using the local phone company for this service, connections can be made all over the world by dialing, as you would a conventional telephone, with other video conferencing units around the block or around the world.
One difference between regular television broadcasts and video conferencing is the quality of the image. Unless a high-speed connection is purchased (which is usually out of the realm of possibility for many higher education institutions, due to high costs) and the networking equipment procured to handle the high speeds, the image quality is inferior to broadcast TV, especially when displaying motion. Video conferencing is possible due to the conversion of the analog video signal into digital bits of information, compressed to send over the line quickly enough for the audio and video to keep in synchronization. This process leaves the image, especially those portions that have movement, somewhat blurred. Once the image stops moving, however, it becomes more clearly defined. While one might assume this would have a negative effect on student learning, studies have found that participants quickly adapt to the image.
Sound and time delay are two other aspects of video conferencing that are different from broadcast video. While, as noted, the audio and video are in synch with each other, a time delay of approximately four-tenths of a second occurs between the time one person speaks and when a person at the other end hears and sees the action. This delay, while disconcerting at first, also becomes manageable and is quickly assimilated by the participants. Sound quality itself is very high and tends to help compensate for the lack of video image quality.
Coordinating the development and delivery of continuing education offerings via distance education technology, while not difficult, was time consuming and occasionally frustrating, particularly considering a short timeline of approximately two months from notice of funding to anticipated program delivery. Expert support from the universities' technicians removed a great deal of the concern that would normally accompany a first attempt involving new technology. Technical support was provided in both telecommunications and video production areas. Support from the University's telecommunications staff enabled contact with the local phone company for both installation of switched 56KB data lines (ISDN was not available in our area) and troubleshooting once the lines were installed. The vendor also provided training and support to the Edinboro staff, which greatly eased the initial installation and use of the equipment.
Edinboro University's TV and Media Services group assisted with the audio and video components of the project. While it was originally expected that lighting and sound control would be necessary (and for this reason, the site selected at Edinboro was the university television studio), University participants were pleased to learn that normal room lighting and audio conditions were not only acceptable but preferred, as the equipment is designed for such environments. Another area of concern was the ongoing monitoring and operation of the equipment. Were technical staff members required to be present on a constant basis? For the demonstration project, it was determined that such monitoring was beneficial, and while the instructors became familiar with the operation of such features as zoom control, camera selection, and the document camera manipulation, a technical person was positioned in the wings to assist, should the instructor need help.
After the demonstration project, it was decided to train student workers to provide basic operation and troubleshooting, as the courses tend to be conducted in the evening, when regular staff are not generally available. The remote end should also have a counterpart, in the event that the equipment requires adjusting or restarting. This technology, like personal computers, has been designed for non-technical operation ("for the masses") and therefore the additional expense and drain on professional staff should not be necessary.
Armstrong and Sherwood, in their article, "Site Coordinators: A Critical Component in Providing Quality Nursing Education at Distance Sites,"1 detailed the extensive role of the site coordinator. Site coordinators from the Nursing Departments at Edinboro and Clarion Universities and the Warren-Forest Higher Education Council played crucial roles in making the Professional Nursing Series a reality. They met to organize course content, faculty, scheduling, and the application processes needed to obtain the Pennsylvania Nurses Association's (PNA) approval to award continuing education credits to course participants. Based on the site coordinators' knowledge of the expertise available within the respective faculties and the needs of nurses in the Warren-Forest area, an initial list of possible topics and presenters was identified, as well as a ten-week schedule of two-hour offerings during the spring of 1995.
Site coordinators from the universities then expanded the list of possible topics with the assistance of the respective faculties, and sent the lists to the site coordinator at the Warren-Forest Higher Education Council. She met with local nursing contacts to select those topics which were felt to best serve the needs of nurses at the remote site. The university coordinators then alerted faculty to the chosen topics.
Faculty developed their own content outlines, which were submitted to the PNA with necessary cover materials organized and developed by the respective university site coordinators as part of PNA's application process. The submission and subsequent approval by PNA was used as a marketing tool to attract students. Information was also sent to Edinboro University's Continuing Education department for creation of a brochure to advertise the offerings and to later assist with registering students.
Some of the faculty, support staff, and administrative personnel participated in a workshop at Clarion University to learn about the new technology, and local workshops were also held to teach each presenter about operating the equipment and other issues related to program delivery. Other issues covered included preparation of camera-ready visuals to augment audio content, adaptation of teaching styles for effective interactive delivery, and discussion of options should equipment failure occur during the presentation.
Because of the possibility of loss of the audio, visual, or total contact with participants at the remote site, as well as to enhance their presentations, presenters developed comprehensive packets for participants, including detailed content outlines, extensive bibliographic references, other supportive materials, and evaluation forms. The packets also included information about the universities' other nursing degree programs and a flier publicizing other offerings in the Professional Nursing Series. The packets were delivered (prior to the presentations) to the remote site coordinator, who managed registration and the classroom environment and sent completed evaluation materials and attendance documentation to the university coordinators.
Creating rich faculty-student interactions via interactive television was as much of a concern of faculty as it would be in face-to-face contact in the traditional classroom. One of the most useful strategies proved to be mapping students by name on a seating plan as they introduced themselves from the remote site. This allowed faculty to address students by name.
Seeking interaction early in the program by eliciting participants' reasons for attending and their past experiences with the topic being presented engaged and relaxed participants, and dispelled the prevalent feeling that they were talking with an appliance! The strength of interaction as an aid in the instructional process was cited by Catherine Fulford and Shuqiang Zhang2 as a critical predictor of satisfaction in distance education.
Adapting printed materials such as conventional overheads and handouts for the document camera was another concern of faculty. To be intelligible at the remote site, print must be large and clear, with no more than six "bullets" or items per page.
Photographic images must be exceptionally clear and not overly complex. The use of videotapes purchased for classroom use becomes complex; it is often a violation of copyright law to project these same videotapes over interactive television lines without permission of the holder of the copyright. Since our timeline did not allow for obtaining this permission, no excerpts from videotapes were incorporated in any of the presentations. Later courses sometimes used a technique whereby two valid copies, one at each location, were played simultaneously, thereby avoiding the copyright issue.
Participants were asked to evaluate each offering according to several criteria including quality of content, relevance of content to program objectives, and effectiveness of teaching methods. All participants evaluated each criterion for each of the offerings in the range of 45 on a five-point Likert scale (five was "strongly agree").
The experience of participants, coordinators, faculty, and technical staff indicated that the expansion of distance education at Edinboro University is not only viable, but provides a means to reach potential students who otherwise could not attend college due to time and distance constraints. It was for these reasons that Edinboro University purchased the PictureTel equipment it leased for the initial demonstration nursing education project and began offering credit-bearing courses leading to a bachelor's degree at the Warren site.
With this initial success, Edinboro University has since provided seven full-scale, three-credit courses over three semesters using interactive video conferencing. With each occurrence, more is learned about effective teaching and management of this medium, enabling us to continue striving to provide the best educational experience for students in nearby rural communities.
2 Catherine P. Fulford and Shuqiang Zhang, "Perceptions of Interaction: The Critical Predictor in Distance Education," The American Journal of Distance Education 7:3 (1993): 8-20.
Dr. Andrew C. Lawlor ([email protected]) is Associate Vice President for Technology and Communications at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. He is responsible for planning and implementing programs and systems that meet the information and educational technology needs of the University.
Dr. Jeanne R. Weber ([email protected]) is a tenured associate professor of nursing, with credentials in community nursing, psychiatric nursing, and adolescent needs, and is currently completing a nurse practitioner program at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center.
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