What are they anyway?

Although distance education could be defined to include any educational venture where students and teachers are not sharing the same physical location (remember the ever popular correspondence schools advertised on matchbook covers-these qualify), our focus is specifically upon those distance education tools that utilize  telecommunications technologies to provide geographically-independent teaching and learning. Some of these tools may be real-time and interactive (like videoconferencing) while others may be asynchronous (email or web-based course work) where student and teacher operate independently of each other's time constraints.

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What are the special pedagogical issues?

Teaching and learning in the distance education environment is still a novelty to most of us, student and teacher alike. Therefore, one of the most helpful things you can do is prepare your students ahead of time for the ways in which this experience will be different. If you are using a videoconferencing system, students need to understand the slight audio delay and how to deal with that during discussion. They need to know that it is not the least bit rude to speak up during class because in a multipoint videoconferencing setting that may literally be the only way of being "seen." As an instructor, you need to do everything in your power from Day 1 to break the passivity that is deeply ingrained in the experience of sitting in front of a television monitor.

When teaching courses with distance education, you will often have some students who are physically in the same space as you and some who are in remote settings. It is critical to develop ways to treat both local and remote students equitably. The second-class status that remote students often feel is conveyed by the subtlest of gestures: calling the local students "the class" while identifying remote students by their site name, directing your gaze at the local students rather than making eye contact with the camera which is the "face" of the distant students.

Finally, teaching and learning at a distance requires you to have much, much more foresight around logistical issues. That is not to say you can't be spontaneous, just that it requires more planning (if that's not a contradiction in terms). For example, materials for students can't be developed ten minutes before class and then given as handouts unless you have some way (fax, courier, email) of also getting them to students at a distance at the same time. Make sure you give careful thought to how you will distribute materials to students and also how they will get them back to you.

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What resources are available on campus?

The organizations listed here provide support and/or resources for distance teaching and learning.

Can I do asynchronous, text-based distance education?

Distance teaching and learning need not involve expensive videoconferencing systems. It can be accomplished quite effectively using text-based modes (such as email) in ways that are asynchronous, thus allowing both student and instructor to respond in accordance with their own scheduling needs.

Email

Email has been used in a wide variety of ways. Often it is used as a supplement to either traditional classrooms or other forms of distance education. For example, students can engage in a preliminary discussion of a reading assignment over email before class, thus allowing more sophisticated discussion to emerge during actual class time. Instructors who have used email as a tool for teaching report that they often feel they get to know their students quite well through these communications, often better than if they had them in a regular class, since the medium tends to produce more intimate discussion than is common face-to-face.

Contact OIT for information on email, establishing accounts, using listservs for large classes, creating electronic bulletin boards, etc.

OIT Help Desk
A109 Lederle Graduate Resource Center
545-9400

World Wide Web

The WWW is a great tool for distance education. Although text predominates, web pages can now include images, video clips, and audio clips which allows a broad range of materials to be easily distributed. Students can be easily taught to create their own web pages as a means of submitting information and projects. When distributing information over the WWW, don't forget that fair use copyright rules that apply to the classroom do not apply in this broader distribution unless you can ensure that only your students can access the web pages of your class.

For more information on using the WWW as a teaching tool contact Academic Computing.

Academic Computing
A209 Lederle Graduate Research Center
577-0072

How about synchronous, text-based distance education that is real-time?

The Internet can also be used for text-only communication that is "live" in the sense of very little time delay between message and response. Chat rooms offered by the on-line services are an example of this. A more interesting, and perhaps more educational use of this technology, are MOOs and MUDs. The Multi-user Object Oriented (MOO) or Multi User Domain (MUD) are virtual reality spaces created by text-only descriptions in which individuals interact in real-time. If you haven't tried these, they are a fascinating experience.

Diversity University
http://www.du.org

Is that really me on TV?
(synchronous video distance education)

For many of us, being able to both see and hear students at a distance is a big leap forward in the perceived quality of the learning environment. This can be accomplished through satellite broadcasts, videoconferencing, and cable television. The choice of which technology to use is often a matter of price and the number of sites involved. 

Videoconferencing

As desktop videoconferencing improves and as the telecommunication revolution continues, this mode of distance education will only become more accessible. Meanwhile, sophisticated videoconferencing systems like PictureTel provide a great solution. To use this technology for effective interactive teaching requires paying attention to details that wouldn't matter in a regular local class. For example, a simple thing like eye contact with the camera is critical to developing connection with remote students.

For information on using this technology in your teaching, start with Continuing Education's PictureTel system. The five campuses of the University system all have PictureTel systems in place and this campus has at least three PictureTel systems available though the organizations noted below.

Continuing Education/PictureTel
North Pleasant Street, Box 31650
545-2414

Computer Science Dept.
Computer Science Building
545-2744

Professional Education for Engineering and Applied Science Program (PEEAS)
Marcus Hall
545-0063 Satellite

The PEEAS Program is the bedrock of satellite broadcasting on this campus. With over two decades of experience, they have extensive knowledge of this teaching environment. (Note that the University's ALS membership allows free preview downloads of all PBS satellite broadcasts).

Cable Television

Cable television can also be used as a teaching and learning tool. The Amherst campus has an excellent cable system linked to all the residence halls. 

Housing Services Cable Network
Berkshire House 211
545-1963

Who can help me incorporate distance teaching and learning tools into my instruction to optimize effective teaching and learning?

Center for Teaching
Mei-Yau Shih
Coordinator of Teaching Technologies
301 Goodell Building
545-5172
lisleb@acad.umass.edu

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Has anyone else already tried these teaching tools?

The following colleagues are a few of those on campus who have been early innovators in the use of distance education in their teaching. They have volunteered to serve as "peer innovators" by sharing tales and advice drawn from their own experiences. Please feel free to contact them and continue building the community of technology experimenters.

Shlomo Barnoon
barnoon@schoolph.umass.edu
Community Health Studies
545-0309

Beatrice Botch
bbotch@chem.umass.edu
Department of Chemistry
545-4257

Jim Kurose
kurose@cs.umass.edu
Computer Science
545-1585

Bill Vining
vining@chem.umass.edu
Department of Chemistry
545-2352

Genevieve Chandler
gec@nursing.umass.edu
School of Nursing
545-5094

Gary Moore
gmoore@schoolph.umass.edu
Environmental Health Sciences
545-0484

Penelope Pekow
ppekow@yahoo.com
School of Public Health
545-1872