Decision-Making About Telecommunications

As technology becomes more affordable and widespread, many educational institutions are moving towards incorporating educational technologies in their curricula. A study done by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in 1995 found that one-third of higher education institutions offered courses at a distance using telecommunications, while another third of the schools hoped to offer those types of courses by 1998 (Lewis, Alexander & Farris, 1997, p. 5). This move towards technology can be greeted by faculty and students with enthusiasm or skepticism. In her study of community college professors, Parisot (1997) conceptualized a framework to aid in consensus building in the move towards implementing telecommunications in education. The four main areas of this framework are: acknowledgment, the need to acknowledge change towards telecommunications; awareness, an examination of the impact of the move; acculturation, the adoption of new teaching methodologies; and affirmation, the declaration by the institution of the value of telecommunications.

In determining the need to move to telecommunications, managers must acknowledge the reasons they are considering the move. Schools may be encouraged to provide distance education because of a documented need, such as expanding curricular offerings to high school students (Shull, 1997) or providing continuing education for primary and secondary teachers. They may see an opportunity to expand their client base by making courses accessible to adult learners who work full-time or to students in remote areas. Schools may also receive a governmental mandate or grant to provide certain opportunities in community colleges or high school courses. Some schools, such as ISIM University, have been created in response to the virtual classroom and have few or no facilities and provide only distance education. The Colorado Electronic Community College was developed as a virtual college to work in conjunction with other schools in its system in order to provide educational opportunities to citizens in remote locations of the state.

After making the decision to enter telecommunications, institutions should be certain that the programs align with the mission of the school, and they must commit resources to the program. This awareness phase can encompass not only budgetary and human resource concerns, but also an examination of existing technologies and faculty development programs. One way to approach this phase of decision-making is to form committees to perform the actual planning functions. Brody (1995, Chapter 2) recommends developing an advisory committee which has members from all work groups impacted by developing a telecommunications plan. In a school district, the advisory committee would encompass administrators, technology coordinators, teachers, learners and members of the larger community, such as parents. Subcommittees could include an administrative group, an instructional applications group, and a small steering committee.

In the acculturation phase, institutions must be certain to address clearly how courses will be created and utilized. Sometimes these new programs are seen as being 'handled' in a particular department and sometimes the entire school is moving towards this goal. Clearly stated goals and objectives, with a predetermined measurement phase, empower the school to move forward in the implementation of the desired programs. Moore and Kearsley (1996, p. 104-107) suggest that designing a distance education course is a team effort. Depending on the expected use and cost of the course one of two models should be used. The Author-Editor model consists of as few as two individuals. One member is the content expert and the other interested in the instructional design of the course. This model is used in low-budget situations or for a short-term projects. The other model, Course Team model, consists of 20 or more people working to design and produce a course. Used for high-budget and long-term courses, this model usually takes one to two years todevelop an entire course to ensure that it meets the specific objectives for which it was intended.

Once new programs are in place, the administration must affirm the role of the programs and the values of the programs, both intrinsic and extrinsic. Support from upper management enables practitioners to set personal goals and allocate personal resources. In order to minimize problems and maintain a supportive relationship with students and instructors, clear and timely communication is essential. Ensuring that the instructors are aware of what activities are expected of them, the level of performance required, and support services available are important aspects for administrators to maintain an effective program. A list of key resource people and program policies and procedures on how lessons are to be received and returned should be given to the staff in clear written form (Houdek, 1990).

Implementation of Telecommunications Courses

In the decision to adopt telecommunications, schools may enter the media through a pilot project that involves only specific courses or programs, or they may create entire degree programs. Schools approach curriculum changes in different ways. Some layer technology on top of their industrial age school, while others create new models of teaching. In the first instance, courses will go through continuous permutations as learners and instructors adapt their learning and teaching styles to the new media. Concerns and stumbling blocks in this method include adapting telecommunications to traditional semester schedules, developing familiarity with software, creating reasonable expectations of both learners and instructors, and assessing learner outcomes. In other cases, schools may create entire degree programs to be taught at a distance. In this model, traditional semester schedules may become irrelevant, programs may be self-paced or cohort paced, and students may be differently motivated to complete the program. Concerns in this scenario include 'residency requirements' at some schools, questions of academic integrity of students, and providing support services to distant students (Duning, Van Kekerix, & Zaborowski, 1993; Morris, 1996).

Infrastructure and Technical Support

In a rapidly expanding market, choices change daily and some technologies may quickly become obsolete. Managers must determine what resources exist for faculty and students, including internet access, computer labs, and software. While managers do not have to be technical experts, they are responsible for leading discussions, appointing committee members and reporting to the chief executive officers of the organization. After implementation of the new curricula, students and faculty should clearly understand the types of technical support available and how they may access this support. Students can be located anywhere; in remote situations they could be at home or at a university center. An example of a program that is high-tech, but uses free or inexpensive shareware for all classes is the Texas Tech University, College of Engineering Distance Ed Masters Program (http://aln.coe.ttu.edu/).

In most on-line courses, the student would likely be responsible for providing their own access and hardware, but in a synchronous video conferencing setting, the school would likely be responsible for the set up and operation of both remote and local equipment. Bosold (1996) reported that changes in high school graduation requirements in Texas have caused a closer look at telecommunications courses. He noted that the increase in required classes has both spurred interest in increasing the use of telecommunications while causing concern that there may not be enough time in a day to help students learn to use the telecommunications.

Moore and Kearsley offer suggestions for administrators who want to support good distance teaching.

Hire support personnel to provide assistance with instructional design and the installation, operation, or maintenance of equipment.

Establish a faculty development laboratory to provide a place to try and practice with technology.

Provide administrative support for distance education efforts.

Be sensitive to faculty's needs for incentives and recognition for distance teaching efforts.

Provide faculty training, not only in the use of the technology involved but also in presentation and participation (1996, p. 151).
 

Training for Instructors

Providing training for faculty is paramount in achieving excellence in education. Some faculty may find the task of transferring their curricula to telecommunications a daunting task while others eagerly adapt to technologies. In his survey of college faculty who do not use distance education technologies, Northrup (1997) attempted to measure the perceptions of these faculty and their resistance or acceptance of distance education. He identified faculty training and institutional support as the two largest areas of concern from the faculty. Also, in contrast to other research, 85% of the respondents in this study felt their courses would be suitable for distance learning. Northrup also noted that gender, age, field of study and field of degree of the faculty did not influence the perceptions of faculty. In a similar study of secondary teachers, Abou-Daga and Huba (1997) noted that teachers were more likely to utilize telecommunications when they felt it enhanced their professional role, when they were allowed to explore the technologies, when they received training in using technologies and when that training encouraged habitual use of the technologies.

Once the institutional decision has been made to enter telecommunications, the faculty must be brought on board. Managers must ensure the training of the principles of technology, the function of the technology, the redesigning and planning of current lessons, and the operation of the technology (Rivard, 1996).Schools can utilize several options in delivering the training to faculty. Options include using peer trainers in a mentoring model; encouraging faculty to acquire the knowledge and skills on their own; or hiring professional staff members whose primary functions involve faculty training. Regardless of the method of instructional delivery, management must consider whether telecommunications work will occur during regular staff development times or after hours, and whether activities will take place in the computer lab at school or at an external training site (Gooden & Carlson, 1997).

In response to a growing demand for training, several universities and private corporations offer training programs of varying quality and cost (Real Education, Inc., 1998; the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, 1998). A small institution may find outsourcing their faculty training to be the most cost-effective approach in their program.

Maintaining telecommunications.

Once implemented, schools must maintain and adapt their programs as necessary. If management set various measurements up front to measure the goals, they can determine whether they are meeting those goals or whether the goals must be modified. Upon examining the results, management may identify these needs and determine that human resources must be reallocated (creation of distance ed office, increased staffing in the computer support department, etc), compensation structures for faculty could be reexamined. Will they carry the same course load with technology on top, or a reduced traditional load while teaching a course via technology, or will additional compensation for a telecommunications course be provided?

Budgeting.

Administrators are always battling the issue of allocating funds within any program. In distance education, administrators must decide how much to spend on course development, technology, academic staff, student support, services, learning centers and central facilities, administration, and marketing. If telecommunications are to be used in a school beyond a pilot project or trial period, the necessary budgetary and human resources must be allocated. Brody (1995) noted that managers often fail to accurately forecast future needs and requirements in the budgetary process, in part due to events outside their control, such as governmental allocations. He also notes that technology administrators often fail to request sufficient funding. This topic underscores the necessity of proper planning and decision-making. Schools that proceed through the four-part framework will have altered their mission statements to accurately reflect the commitment of the institution to learning through telecommunications will be better able to receive proper funding during budget negotiations.

Examining student evaluation data assists administrators in determining where to allocate monies. For example, if students indicate they would like a higher degree of interaction, then the budget could be adjusted to a delivery system that allows more interaction or workshops on interactive strategies for instructors. Administrators often feel that running a small and efficient administrative team is the most beneficial to the program; however, this can limit their ability to run things properly by being understaffed. On the other hand, too many middle managers can cause an institution to consume too much of the budget and not produce useful work (Moore & Keasley, 1996).

At the secondary level, it may be cost efficient for schools to pay fees to a third party for some courses to be taught via telecommunications rather than hire a teacher to become proficient in that area. Shull (1996) noted that the National Science Education Standards conclude that all high school students should take biology, chemistry and physics. In this scheme, a small rural high school could afford to offer an honors physics course even if the potential enrollment was only one student.

Continuous Evaluation.

Evaluation is critical for any program to become successful and the same holds true in distance education. One must first decide what method of evaluation would prove most beneficial in the telecommunications atmosphere. The manager must not only evaluate the effectiveness of the program, but also the equipment and materials used. This includes keeping equipment up to date. Gilcher (1995) suggests that there are five main aspects to consider in evaluation. They are as follows:

1. Demographic data

2. Administrative concerns (registration, receipt and delivery of information, incentives for faculty, training, technical support)

3. Technical and physical logistics (room layout, available equipment)

4. Instruction ( pacing, workload, quality of interaction, etc.)

5. Outcomes ( willingness to take or teach another course, willingness to recommend to others, grades.
 

With the rapid change of technology, the administrator must evaluate often. With regular evaluations, the administrator can insure highly effective products. These five aspects of the program that Gilcher suggests evaluating when put together provide a thorough coverage of any distance program. They prove to be successful queries in the evaluation arena.

The evaluator can use a variety of methods in the role of evaluating. The chapter on constructivist evaluation discusses a large scope of evaluation methods. Despite the type of evaluation instrument that is used by the administrator, the most important factors to consider are that an evaluation needs to be conducted often of the materials, equipment, teachers and learners.

 Human Resources.

Utilizing human resources effectively also presents challenges to administrators. As job duties change and new requirements for emerge, administrators must schedule regular job task analyses in order to identify the knowledge, skills and behaviors that successful employees will possess. This process can also identify possible training needs (Jonassen & Hannum, 1995). In addition to recognizing these new qualifications, management must create proper rewards for higher levels of skills. Moore and Kearsley (1996) note that faculty motivation in higher education for teaching via distance education is usually intrinsic rather than extrinsic and that most instructors feel that the distance education experience improves their traditional teaching. In her study of faculty rewards at traditional research institutions, Wolcott (1997) determined that the rewards for teaching at a distance varied, but that participation in distance education was not generally seen as a scholarly activity and therefore does not play a decisive role in tenure decisions. Through her observations, Wolcott did note that department heads were likely to see the use of distance teaching technologies favorably in an annual review. She concludes that proper planning and decision-making can help align distance education more closely with the institution's mission, that faculty rewards should be modified to reflect accurately the desired behaviors and the changing nature of education, and that younger faculty should be encouraged to explore teaching technologies without fear of harming their chances of gaining tenure.

Secondary schools also recognize the importance of encouraging faculty to participate in telecommunications projects. The Klein (Texas) Independent School District Technology Plan notes that teachers will earn an additional stipend of $1500 if they are willing to become "mentors." This job entails training other teachers in using technology and multimedia in the classroom. Mentors will also be furnished up to date hardware and software for their classrooms if they are willing to train. Additionally, the district will also pay teachers to provide in-service training in technology.(KISD Technology Plan, Personal communication, 1998).

Maintenance of Software and Hardware.

One aspect of telecommunications that one must consider is the maintenance of software and hardware. If the equipment does not work, then the benefits of the programs will be null. In his study of distance education, Sable (1995) suggests that the overall trend in technology is to move towards diversification and increasing functionality. With this increase in diversification, adequately trained professionals must be available to solve problems that may arise. In the K-12 spectrum, school districts are beginning to employ technicians whose jobs are to primarily keep things up and running. This practice is very beneficial to the district because is relieves the teachers of the act of learning to repair equipment. Also, the district will not have to train all of their teachers on maintenance, but can rather spend their time on training how to use the technology in their classrooms in effective and creative ways. Often, though, school district will not have the position of technicians. In these cases, the teachers that are utilizing the technology, must also know how to repair the equipment if something goes wrong. For example, in Klein ISD the computer labs are often outdated and the hardware is not working up to par. In these cases, the teachers are not as apt to use the labs because they do not know how to fix the hardware and do not have the class time to use for this. In contrast, at the university level, the teachers generally do not have to fix the equipment. The equipment is expected to be up and running and ready for use when class time arrives. It is crucial at any level that the hardware and software be working properly and that there is a trained person who is available to render any problems that may arise in order to have successful outcomes.

Fees for customers.

Who should pay for telecommunications courses? As a larger proportion of the financial burden is borne by the learner, the greater the restrictions of access to the learning. At state schools, different fee structures for on-and off-campus students may meet with public resistance. Duning et al. (1993) note that it is interesting that states which are willing to subsidize education on-campus expect that those receiving education at a distance bear the additional costs

The actual costs of distance education are hard to calculate because no one counts the savings incurred by learners or teachers in time spent in transit, time away from work or family, and the unrealized cost of relocating. Tifflin and Rajasingham (1995) believe that learners in the information age will likely bear the cost of their education. Access to education may thus be hampered by the fact that federal student aid is not widely available to part-time students and some off-campus students

Price (1997) raises pragmatic concerns about user fees. Are students in telecommunications courses charged more to help defray additional costs? Do distant students pay campus fees (student services, library, health center) if they cannot access these services? At most schools, revenues are not fungible, meaning that if fees are paid for health center, the money goes to the health center. Academic institutions must clearly address these issues and transmit the policies to all concerned parties.

 Areas of Management Concerns

As with all programs, some identical concerns exist in traditional and distance arrangements. However, as a new program, telecommunications education must generally prove its worth and submit itself to heightened scrutiny because it is the newest component of the institution. Is there sufficient interest in the programs to justify their existence? Does the learner have a worthwhile experience through the telecommunications that justifies its existence? Has creating telecommunications increased the enrollment, particularly of individuals who would otherwise not enroll, such as adult learners or remote learners? What accreditation hurdles exist? Which governmental or quasi-governmental bodies must approve the offering of such courses? Should accreditation standards be reviewed and adjusted for the information age? Several university systems are currently deliberating on these topics (for example, see Selected University of Maryland Policies).

While all policies are important, three areas are of immediate concern to managers in educational telecommunications: accreditation standards, government regulation, and grant funding. Additionally, these three areas interact and affect one another, resulting in a more complex decision-making arena.

Accreditation Standards

Most schools participate in voluntary accreditation by regional or specialized organizations in order to confer degrees that are recognized by state agencies and the U.S. Department of Education. Regular funding and receipt of grants also hinges on a school having the imprimatur of compliance. Gellman-Delaney notes that regional accrediting bodies can come to odds with state governments when the accrediting body has restrictions or mandates that the state does not feel are justified or that the state feels are hindering. She notes that many accrediting bodies have separate guidelines for on-campus and distance programs. Gellman-Delaney posits that some of the concerns about distance programs that exist, such as academic integrity and student support services, should likely be as vigorously examined in traditional programs(1997). The Council for Higher Education Accreditation serves as a national voice for and source of information to regional and professional accrediting bodies and has sought to address distance education issues through consensus (1998).

Government Regulations

Governments play many roles in the implementation and institutionalization of distance education. In order to continue to receive many sources of funding, schools must comply with federal and state rules and legislation. One source of indirect funding comes from dollars awarded to students through the financial aid process. The 105th Congress will reauthorize the Higher Education Act in 1998. Key changes in this bill address accrediting bodies and distance education. As currently proposed (1998, March 31), the revised Act would allow the Secretary of Education to authorize demonstration programs of distance education and authorize them to participate in Title IV Student Financial Aid (Fusco, 1998). This bill, if passed, would also require the Department of Education to report to Congress on provisions of the act, or its own rules and policies, which impede the development and use of distance education. Support for distance education from the U.S. Congress could provide a boost to administrators hoping to implement various training technologies.

Grant Funding.

Governments and private industry may also influence decision-makers by offering grants for the creation and inclusion of telecommunications in educational settings. Sorenson (1997) examined the results of the Stars School grant project in Iowa where grant moneys were used to upgrade the state to fiber optic quality transmission lines and serve social goals, including reaching underserved learners. An analysis of the program indicates that more learners are being reached, learners and teachers are satisfied with the quality of the experience, cost efficiency and faculty support and training. Some administrators will aggressively seek grants in order to not only promote the use of technologies on their campuses or in their districts, but also acquire hardware and software bought with grant funding.

Conclusion

This chapter briefly explored the role of managers and administrators in the use of telecommunications in education. More specifically, issues related to the decision-making process in moving towards telecommunications, to the implementation of new technologies, and to the maintenance of those technologies were identified. This cursory view demonstrates that effective managers must be sensitive to human resource needs, be knowledgeable about the budgetary process and sources of revenue, be able to identify sources of expert information and be attuned to the consumer.

Additionally, effective managers remain alert to future developments and potential areas of concern. As the use of telecommunications in educational settings increases and changes, managers and educators must stay abreast of both developing technologies and policy issues. The following points are meant to encourage reflection and perhaps encourage researchers to explore these points as future areas for study.

Will graduate courses taken on-line at another university be acceptable for transfer to the home institution?

Will courses 'transfer' over international boundaries?

Will the number of children in home schooling rise as 'the best' teacher is available online?

When faculty create electronic lessons or modules on their own time, who owns the work?

Will students cheat more in distance education courses?

Will other governmental entities (ISDs, legislatures, etc.) mandate adoption of telecommunications in order to promote access?

What impact does Americans with Disabilities Act have?

Will schools that hop on the telecommunications band wagons end up 'ahead' in terms of prestige or reputation or could the moneys be better spent elsewhere?

Should districts and schools aggressively seek to participate in pilot programs in order to secure their futures?

Can secondary students acquire the necessary skills to be self-directed learners, thereby decreasing the need for daily classes?
 
 
 

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