A pair of monitors displaying whatever video image has been selected for transmission
from the remote site(s). If there is but one remote site in use, the originating site can control both its own
and the remote site's video image. If more than one remote site is active, control of remote video is not possible
from the originating site.
A software-controllable document camera, mounted vertically above the instructor's
podium, for display of hard-copy visual materials or small objects.
Two video cassette player/recorders at each location: one for recording classroom
sessions as they occur, the other for playback of pre-recorded videotapes.
Computer
All locations currently have a dedicated IBM PC connected through an RGB/NTSC converter,
and selectable as the Auxiliary device on the touch-screen console. (This configuration is easily modified to accommodate
other devices.) Instructors should be aware that a DOS-text computer display image does not reproduce well; the
use of a graphics display interface (Microsoft Windows; Macintosh) and large-sized text fonts (24 points or more)
is a necessity.
Audio
All locations are equipped with fixed-position, cardioid-pattern, voice-following
microphones. Neither the instructor nor students need activate any mechanical device to speak or to be heard. The
audio system's echo-cancelling circuitry, however, means that two people cannot speak from two or more different
locations at exactly the same time (not usually a desirable circumstance anyway!).
Audio levels (including mute and privacy functions) are software selectable at all
locations.
Ancillary equipment
Each classroom is equipped with a facsimile (fax) machine connected to a dedicated
dial-up telephone line (you may need to use the local outside line prefix).
Each classroom is equipped with a voice telephone, also on a dedicated dial-up line.
In a few locations, the fax and voice lines are shared.
Each classroom is equipped with an audio cassette player/recorder.
Technical Support for Your Distance Learning Class
Using the Distance Learning hardware isn't especially difficult not much more complex than
using an Automatic Teller Machine (and surely easier than programming a VCR!) And, NSHEC institutions provide support
for you, starting even before your first class:
Training
You double as equipment operator whenever your distance-learning class is in session.
Thus it's important that you become thoroughly familiar with the equipment configuration at the originating site
prior to the first class. NSHEC regularly schedules training sessions for new Distance Learning faculty, and a
copy of the Operating Manual can be obtained from your technical coordinator or from NSHEC. To make your initial
class meeting go more smoothly, you should schedule the interactive classroom at your site for some practice sessions
before the school term starts.
Staffing and Scheduling
Each location is staffed by a designated site coordinator (usually a member of the
institution's audio-visual department) who assists instructors in classroom setup and inter-site coordination.
Course scheduling is administered by the NSHEC Steering Committee. Instructors wishing
to offer Distance Learning courses should contact their unit adminstrators. Availabilities on the system are quite
limited. Make your request as far in advance as possible.
Site selection and scheduling is software-controlled from network hubs at Oakton
Community College and at DePaul.
Because distance-learning courses take place at multiple sites simultaneously, and
because the network itself is under the control of scheduling software, instructors need to be especially cognizant
of the starting and ending times for classroom sessions. Be aware, too, that semester or quarter starting and ending
dates differ across institutions. You may wish to check that access and support arrangements have been made for
remote-site classes at locations other than those operated by your home campus.
Selection of Course Materials and Delivery Modes
Interactive Distance Learning courses can make use of virtually any traditional classroom
presentation materials and teaching styles, enhanced through the easy access to electronic technology that the
Distance Learning environment offers. It's a good idea, though, to check with your school's audiovisual department
in advance of your class to ensure that your media and computer presentation plans will succeed. Especially amenable
to Distance Learning delivery are -
Pre-recorded video and audio materials.
Any NTSC (American, Canadian, and Japanese broadcast standard) VHS videocassette
can be used as part of a classroom presentation, so long as copyright usage restrictions are observed. This includes
videos produced professionally, by students, or by the instructor. Although the classrooms are not equipped with
video production equipment, most campus audio-visual departments are willing to assist the preparation of videotape
materials. Some may also be able to convert PAL- or SECAM-standard tapes to NTSC, or 3/4" or Betamax format
tapes to VHS.
Films, however, pose special problems. Few sites are equipped with a television film
chain, which is virtually a necessity for direct transmission of motion pictures to remote locations. Movies create
the illusion of motion by sequencing images at twenty-four frames per second; for television, the magic number
is thirty. Unless you have a five-bladed projector of the kind used by TV stations, your movies will appear to
flicker if they re projected directly to a television camera (and vice versa). For this and for copyright reasons,
it's probably best to avoid filmstrips altogether. Try to acquire a VHS version of the same material.
Audiocassettes (in language courses, for example) may be used without need for special
equipment arrangements.
Computer-generated graphics, including multimedia presentations.
Currently, each classroom is equipped with a PC-compatible multimedia (CD-ROM and
sound card) microcomputer running Microsoft Windows plus other software chosen locally. The computer, by default,
is the Auxiliary input to the touchscreen control device. Thus graphics developed for Windows- or DOS-based presentation
programs (Harvard Graphics, for example) can readily be integrated into a lecture. You need be aware, however,
that DOS- generated text does not reproduce clearly on classroom monitors, so you should use Windows or graphics
software and large, sans-serif fonts (24 points and above) for text displays (e.g., spreadsheets). You may also
wish to experiment to find effective contrasts between foreground and background colors (black on white always
works, as does bright yellow on dark blue; something like red on orange probably won t).
If software you wish to use in your class is not installed at your originating site, contact
your local coordinator for assistance.
The device installed at each site to convert PC output to NTSC television assumes that
the signal is either IBM VGA or Apple Macintosh video. There is thus some flexibility as to the type of computer
actually used. Again, contact your local coordinator for information and assistance.
Still graphics and charts, including both those prepared in
advance and those generated during the class session.
Hard-copy materials can be easily displayed via the Document camera at each site. These
reproduce best in a horizontal ( landscape ) orientation and using large type sizes. Instructors may also generate
materials in real time, using plain paper and a felt-tip marker. Although the Document camera's field is adjustable,
the resolution limitations of the display monitors make the use of small typefaces (including the 10- and 12-point
sizes commonly used for books) problemsome.
The NSHEC system offers a Send Graphics function (you use it by selecting its icon on the
touch-screen control device) which freezes a graphics image on the monitors, and even permits picture-within-a-picture
transmission of stills. The Send Graphics function may be useful for displaying images containing small details.
Your ability to use 35mm slides and acetate transparencies may, like films, be limited.
Most sites are not equipped with slide or overhead projectors, or any other device for directly transmitting a
gel image (check with your A-V people). Unlike motion pictures, though, it is possible to capture a projected still
image using a television camera; thus one workaround is simply to bring a slide or overhead projector into your
classroom, then focus a camera on whatever you choose to use as a screen. Another solution is to enlist your A-V
folks help to transfer the slides or transparencies to videotape or to computer images (digitizing).
Some (but not all) acetate transparencies will reproduce satisfactorily if they re placed
on plain white paper, then transmitted using the Document camera. Transparencies (like slides) usually rely for
clarity on backlighting, however, which the Document camera cannot provide. One further workaround for transparencies
(but not for 35mm images; they re too small), then, is to place them on a rear-illuminated slide sorter panel.
As with computer graphics, the fonts in your slides or transparencies should be of sufficiently
large size to be read easily from a TV monitor.
A caveat: graphics images do not reproduce flawlessly on television (as true for broadcast
TV as it is for the Distance Learning system). The screen resolution limits your ability to exhibit fine details
or intricate patterns, and colors have a tendency to shift. If detail or color accuracy is critical for your presentation,
consider distributing handouts instead of displaying television images. Broadcast engineers, somewhat harshly and
with tongue firmly implanted in cheek, translate NTSC to mean Never Twice the Same Color.
And another: text images are difficult to read and to comprehend if they re too verbose
(besides probably being deadly dull). The name for text of more than about thirty words is "handout."
Role-playing sessions between class participants.
Presentations by visiting practitioners or other guest speakers.
Both these enhancements arise as by-products of the distance-learning technological environment,
and merely call on the course instructor to wear, temporarily, the hat(s) of a television producer/director/ cameraman/switcher.
The ability to control source selection and salience allows you to stage events of these kinds more effectively
than a traditional classroom setting permits.
Delivering a Course
Encouraging Interaction
A frequent complaint (especially for remote-site participants) about a Distance Learning
environment is lack of touch or personal involvement. Though even couch potatoes sometimes make verbal responses
to television programs, the medium tends to induce a passive mind set. Instructors thus need proactively to encourage
students willingness to participate.
As in a traditional classroom, the best way to encourage participation is to call on students
by name (and location, in case of duplicates). In a Distance Learning setting, though, you may find you have to
do so more often than usual many students are intimidated by all the electronic gadgetry, and hence less willing
to speak up. One approach (which also works in conventional settings) is to note who has written especially high-quality
answers to homework or exam questions, then to call on those folks explicitly come feedback time.
It's a good idea, too, always to tell your students what they ll see next as you switch
cameras. Encourage them to speak up if they don't see it. Even the best of us will sometimes glitch a switch! And,
this offers a further opportunity for class participation.
Administering Assignments, Exams, and Handouts
Assignments
If your syllabus lists assignments, or if you disseminate assigment information at least
one class session ahead of due dates, the Distance Learning environment poses no new barriers to communicating
your expectations. It's in the receiving that things change.
Small remote-site classes can fax assignments (and even exams) to you immediately. This
method isn't especially feasible, though, if the remote-site class is relatively large. For larger classes, or
submissions not suitable for fax transmission, you ll need to make arrangements with the remote-site coordinator(s)
for pick-up and forwarding of student papers. NSHEC does not operate an inter-site courier service, but libraries
in the North Suburban system do, and they will convey classroom materials for you. Check with your library circulation
desk, and refer to the Administrative Procedures manual for delivery services provided by your institution. Delivery
times may sometimes be slow, so you ll need to plan accordingly.
One effective method that doesn't require pick-up and distribution of student papers is
for students to send and receive documents via electronic mail (e-mail). This also forestalls excuses involving
cellulose- starved dogs. Contact the computer services department at your college about using e-mail.
Exams
Administration of examinations at remote sites poses three problems: How is the exam delivered
securely? How can it be proctored? And, how can completed exams be securely transmitted back to the course instructor?
As with assignments, exams for small remote-site classes can be faxed to students, and their answers, faxed back.
If the remote site class is so large that facsimile transmission would be too time-consuming or otherwise inappropriate,
you ll need to forward copies of your exam via the library courier system or U.S. mail to the remote-site coordinator,
and arrange with him or her for distribution of the exams to students at class time. Be sure to allow adequate
lead time for this process a week, to be on the safe side. An alternative, used in some Distance Learning systems,
is to install in each classroom a lock box to hold exams or other sensitive materials until they can be distributed
by the remote-site coordinator.
If you feel you need an on-site exam proctor at remote locations, you ll need to make suitable
advance arrangements with the coordinators for those locations. The use of a live proctor, though, isn't always
necessary: you can maintain visual and aural contact with remote sites from your home classroom (though this becomes
more difficult as the number of on-line remote sites increases). In general, the need for a proctor grows as remote
class sizes are larger, the number of remote sites increases, and the opportunity for malfeasance is greater (multiple-choice,
true-false exams).
Procedures for return of completed exams are similar to those for their delivery. Members
of small remote classes can fax their work to you. If the remote class is larger, or if you prefer that students
not retain copies of your exams, you can make arrangements with the site coordinator for collection and forwarding.
Again, you should anticipate relatively long lead-times. A lock-box system, if one is installed, can also help
ensure that no one tampers with completed exam papers.
Final Exams
NSHEC course transmission scheduling is rigid: Distance Learning facilities for any class
are available only at the times and dates that class regularly meets during the semester or quarter. Many schools,
though, depart from their normal class-time schedules for administering final examinations. A class that usually
meets on a Monday evening, for example, may have its final exam period on a Tuesday. The network cannot accommodate
this change. Three solutions are possible:
- Require remote-site students to attend the originating site classroom for final exams.
- Move the final exam period for Distance Learning courses to the last regular class meeting
time (this may require local administrative approval).
- Recruit a dependable proctor for remote-site classes, and make sure that students at those
locations know how to contact you (telephone, fax) in case of questions or problems. In short, it's likely that
you won't have network contact with remote-site students during final exams. Adjust accordingly.
Handouts
Course handouts can be administered in the same way as assignments. NSHEC recommends, however,
that all handouts for the semester or quarter be prepared prior to the start of your course, then transmitted to
site coordinators through the library system or U.S. Mail for distribution to students.
Working in Groups Should your teaching methods encourage team or group
work, the Distance Learning format poses no new obstacles for student activities outside of class times. Indeed,
you can even form groups composed of students from multiple locations, subject only to the usual mutual-access
constraint.
If you divide your students into groups during class time, however, you may want to take
special pains to minimize students feelings of exclusion or alienation, especially if your usual style is to visit
with each group sequentially while they carry out their classroom work. Remote-site students are especially likely
to feel excluded in such scenarios. You may thus wish to consider restructuring the classroom format, or to recruit
teaching assistants to interact with remote-site groups.
Remote Site Contact and Coordination
All Distance Learning locations are assigned Site Coordinators, whose names and numbers are
published in the NSHEC Telecommunications Network Administrative Procedures Manual. You should make a note of this
information along with voice and fax numbers for on-line sites before your first class meeting, then have it readily
available whenever you re conducting your Distance Learning course. Remote-site coordinators can assist you in
facilitating transmission and receipt of hard-copy materials or other special requirements. Coordinators (or their
designates) are always in residence during Distance Learning class times, and can be helpful in case of technical
problems.
Generally, site coordinators (at both remote and originating locations) take care of system
start-up, set- up, and shut-down responsibilities for each class. It's probably useful nevertheless if you also
are acquainted with these procedures. They re printed in the Operating Manual supplied by the system designer,
Innovative Communications, Inc. You should obtain a copy as early as possible. Be warned that some start-up and
set-up routines require that you use an unpublished access code (similar to an automatic teller machine).
Experienced Distance Learning instructors usually recommend that at least one student at
all sites be trained in basic operation of the system hardware and software. The Consortium has prepared a separate
Manual for Distance Learning Students covering this topic and others. At the least, you should make sure that the
phone and fax numbers for your home site are clearly posted at all receiving sites.
Should you need to cancel a class, follow your home institution's existing procedures for
class cancellations. In addition, please notify the room coordinators at receiving sites.
What to do if something goes wrong
The Distance Learning network is a sophisticated amalgam of computer-driven telecommunications
hardware and software. Fingers crossed, the system is usually dependable and reliable. Glitches do occur, though.
In most cases, you can work around possible problems:
Loss of remote video. First, ensure that the video loss is not due
to operator error (i.e., you pushed the wrong touch-screen icon). Then, ask a trained student at the affected site
to attempt to restore lost video, or to contact the site coordinator for help. If audio transmission is still intact,
you can continue teaching, modifying your presentation as appropriate.
Loss of audio. Check that your home site isn't in private mode (which
defeats audio to and from remote locations) or mute mode (remote locations can't hear you). Then, ask for help
from a trained student at affected remote sites, or contact the site coordinator(s). You should make an attempt
in any case to continue teaching, perhaps using fax and voice phones more liberally, and/or relying more heavily
on visual materials for communication.
Loss of audio and video. Even this nightmlare can be surmounted.
Your first (and most obvious) step should be to ensure that equipment at all active sites is powered-on and operating
(you can make this check by telephone). Next, contact appropriate site coordinators for assistance. If all else
fails, you may nevertheless be able to continue class through creative use of voice and facsimile telephones.
In all these secenarios, you may also consider asking affected students to abandon the
remote site and travel to your location for that class meeting. This is a viable alternative only if the problem
arises fairly early during the class session and if travel times are not excessive.
A further (and probably better) contingency strategy is to videotape the class at your
home site, then make one or more copies of the tape available to remote-site students via the North Suburban Libraries
courier system. Each site is equipped with two VCRs; the second is intended for just this purpose. Many instructors,
in fact, regularly videotape their classes whether or not a technical problem arises; the tapes are then available
for student review or for self-critique.
Whether or not to videotape classes, however, is entirely your choice. NSHEC policy states,
Recording/videotaping of classes shall be only at the initiation of the sending instution and of the faculty member
teaching the course and may be used only at the discretion of the faculty member.
If a technical problem cannot be resolved locally, you should ask your technical coordinator
to contact the system contractor for a diagnostic check of the interactive equipment. They cannot help, however,
with classroom computers, printers, or fax machines.
Assessing Course Outcomes
The uniqueness of Distance Learning course delivery draws special attention to assessment
and evaluation issues. For an overview of these, please see the document NSHEC has prepared on this topic.
Administrative Details
Compensation
This is a purely insitutional issue. Schools vary in the extent to which they offer additional
compensation for a distance learning course, and as to whether or not distant classrooms are defined as separate
course sections. Check your local policy.
Copyrights
Most materials used in a distance-learning course are governed by fair-use copyright law.
Institutions may vary, however, in the way the law is interpreted and applied locally, hence instructors should
consult with their administrators before using copyrighted materials.
Some forms of copyrighted materials (e.g., videotapes supplied with some textbooks) explicitly
require publisher permission prior to use in a distance-learning environment. In such cases, permission, which
is usually granted readily, should always be obtained prior to first use.
Institutional Supports
Library facilities
Consortium members have agreed that institutional library facilities are open to all students
at both sending and receiving sites, to engender access to course-related secondary information. You thus need
make no special arrangements for library work at remote class locations, excepting reserve materials, for which
you should make remote-site library arrangements at least a week in advance of their use. Class lists are provided
to Learning Resource Directors and Librarians at each location each semester or quarter.
Textbooks
NSHEC procedures permit textbooks required for Distance Learning courses to be stocked
by bookstores at all on-line locations (except ISAC, which has no bookstore). The course instructor, though, will
need to make arrangements with Institutional Coordinators as far in advance as possible. Do not assume that textbooks
for your course will be available at remote locations automatically.
Computers
If student use of computer facilities is part of your curriculum, you ll need to make advance
arrangements with remote-site coordinators for student access to necessary equipment. The computer provided in
each Distance Learning classroom, however, is always available during class time.
Training Others
For the vast majority of faculty in North Suburban Higher Education Consortium institutions,
teaching a Distance Learning course is a wholly new experience. If you re one of the lucky few who already possess
hands-on knowledge of the NSHEC system, please be aware that your teaching responsibilities do not end with the
last day of class. Most consortium institutions, and NSHEC itself, have implemented faculty training procedures
in varying degrees of formality (the document you re now holding is the result of one such effort). The success
of these procedures depends most of all on the willingness of experienced faculty to share their expertise with
others.
And finally, this manual will and should evolve as the NSHEC network expands and gains
experience and insight. Any and all suggestions for additions and modifications are welcome, through your local
faculty representative to the NSHEC Faculty/Staff Development Committee, or to NSHEC directly.
INDEX (To Hardcopy)
Ancillary equipment (4)
Assignments (8)
Audio (4)
Audio cassettes(5, 6)
CD-ROM (6)
Charts (7)
Class cancellations (10)
Classroom interaction (2, 8)
Classroom mobility (2)
CODEC(3)
Color fidelity(6, 7)
Compensation(11)
Computer (4, 6, 13)
Copyrights(11)
Courier service (8, 9)
Course Assessmen(11)
Course delivery(5)
Course instructor(3)
Course materials(5)
Course preparation(3)
Distance Learning - Definition(1)
Distance Learning features(2)
E-mai(8)
Equipment configuration (3)
Exams (8, 9)
Fax machine (4, 8, 9, 11)
Filmstrips (6)
Final exams (9)
Fonts (6, 7)
Graphics (2, 6, 7)
Group work (10)
Handouts (8, 9)
Lead times (2)
Library (8, 9)
Loss of video (10, 11)
Loss of audio(11)
Multimedia (6)
Originating site (1)
Overheads. (7)
Presentations (8)
Remote site (1, 9)
Role-playing (8)
Scheduling(5, 9)
Screen resolution (7)
Site coordinators (10)
Slides (7)
Staffing (5)
Still graphics (7)
System contractor (11)
System start-up (10)
Target population (1)
Technical support (5)
Telephone (4, 9, 11)
Television cameras (3, 4, 7)
Television monitors (4)
Textbooks (12)
Training (5, 13)
Transparencies (7)
VCR. (4, 5, 11)
Video (3, 5)
CONTENTS COPYRIGHT (C) 1995. NORTH SUBURBAN HIGHER EDUCATION CONSORTIUM. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
