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Distributed Learning Moves from Satellite to the Web

In the old days, students living in remote areas had to drive long hours to attend classes in Chico. Then through satellite transmission, students could watch classes in their hometowns at the local library or a community college.

Cris Guenter, Education, and other faculty members are using on-line distributed education and serving distance learners more efficiently. "Many of the students live more than 100 miles from campus," Guenter explains. "They are grateful for the opportunity to take courses on-line, and the technology has eliminated four hours of driving to and from campus."

Through new technologies, students post assignments on-line that can include drawings, photos, illustrations, audio files, PowerPoint slide shows, and Web pages for peer and faculty review. Using both WebCT and Horizon Live, Guenter takes her class on a virtual field trip to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Students meet on-line for a live broadcast and can see, hear, and type in messages and questions to Guenter through live video. Other home pages and links can be brought up on students' screens.

By this time next year, CSU, Chico will be delivering distributed education to regularly enrolled students over the Internet instead of using the current satellite technology. To ease this transition, Academic Resources is introducing a new synchronous Internet technology that combines live, streaming video with the ability to make available information to the Web browser on a student's machine.

In the distance learning context, this new technology will allow faculty to

• Deliver live instruction to any student, anywhere, who has at least a 28.8 modem connection
• Share live text chat during class, as well as private messages between faculty and students
• Poll students in "real-time" ( Am I going too fast for you?)
• "Project" course materials (slides, images, photographs) to students live on-line.
• "Push" Web pages to a student's Web browser during class
• View archives of live courses

More and more faculty are discovering increased efficiency and accountability through WebCT course tools. On-line discussions, electronic syllabi, immediately-corrected quizzes, efficient grading, attendance, and record keeping, can be incorporated into WebCT for total Web-based courses, either distance learning or to supplement traditional classroom teaching.

WebCT use is growing:

• Faculty have developed 387 WebCT courses, and active courses number 183 this semester.
• The Technology and Learning Program has incorporated new curricula into the workshop series by adding a sixth workshop and rearranging some of the modules. To see a current on-line description of the new workshops visit http://www.csuchico.edu/tlp/webct/course_desc.html.
• TLP will convert to the greatly improved WebCT version 3.0 this summer. Faculty will be offered orientation to the new interface.}Bill Post, Academic Resources, and Vicky Banes, Information Resources