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By BEVERLEY SCOBELL
When Bill Trunkhill, professor of mathematics at Waubonsee Community College, enters his advanced calculus class at the Sugar Grove campus in rural Kane County, he greets 29 students. His class at Sugar Grove is complete, but he still has four more students ready to join his class. Trunkhill touches a button on a control panel in the lectern at the front of the room, and four color television monitors come to life. On one of the two monitors facing Trunkhill are his other four students, sitting down in their classroom at McHenry County College, 30 miles away. Trunkhill controls the second monitor to focus on him, the board, an overhead or the Sugar Grove class. The Sugar Grove students watch two television screens at the front of the classroom. One screen shows the teacher, the overhead or their own class. The other monitor shows the "remote site" class.
The McHenry students have the same equipment in their classroom. One monitor shows Trunkhill, the overhead, the Sugar Grove class or the McHenry classroom. Trunkhill controls what they see according to his instructional plan. The McHenry students see themselves on the other monitor. Through cordless microphones — there are 11 student microphones in each classroom in addition to the instructor's — students chatter while Trunkhill is preparing to fax the McHenry students the same handout being passed around to the Sugar Grove class. The homework will be returned through an internal courier/mail service. One student at McHenry asks to speak with Trunkhill after class. A telephone in each classroom allows remote site students the ability to ask questions privately. Trunkhill also tells the student that he will be telecasting the class from the McHenry site the next week.
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The vision of state government planners is that soon virtually every college student in the state — along with many high school students and adults seeking continuing education — will have the same opportunity to reach across the miles electronically and have access to teachers and knowledge without having to travel any farther than their local community college or high school.
As changes in technology make information accessibility the driving force in our society, and the so-called information superhighway comes closer to everyone's door, state decision makers have dusted off an old idea in education — distance learning — and provided the funding that gives it a new definition. Recognizing the educational opportunities for using the technology to serve previously unserved student populations, state policymakers have developed a plan and have laid the groundwork to expand these "classrooms without walls" into a statewide network that could be readily available to all Illinoisans by the end of this decade. The state has a framework for achieving a distance learning network within five years. In fiscal year 1994 the governor requested and the legislature approved $15 million to buy the equipment and train personnel. Another $15 million in the FY 1995 budget will continue expanding the network. A total of 122 sites are planned that will eventually link all 49 community colleges, |
As changes in technology make information accessibility the driving force in our society, and the so-called information superhighway comes closer, state decision-makers have dusted off the idea of distance learning |
where the telecommunications systems are based, to public and private universities and colleges, high schools, grade schools, libraries, government agencies, hospitals and some businesses for training purposes. An important component of the plan is the reciprocal "sharing of resources" between government and private companies that appears to be the key in making educational opportunities available, at least
18/May 1994/Illinois Issues
Photos from Waubonsee Community College An introductory speech class at Waubonsee Community College, Sugar Grove, using telecommunications-based distance learning. |
from an economic standpoint, to a previously unserved or underserved student population. The Catch-22 to this plan is that the same telephone companies that make much of the technology available and the statewide network possible charge line usage fees that could be prohibitive for many of the rural districts the system is intended to serve. The state is looking to Waubonsee Community College in Kane County as a model for building cooperative funding support as well as demonstrating the strengths and weaknesses of the system. Waubonsee began teaching classes over its telecommunications system in the fall of 1988 using an interactive (audio and video) microwave system linking its main campus at Sugar Grove to its downtown Aurora campus and four area high schools: Kaneland, Oswego, Plano and Waubonsie Valley (the different spellings are historic). Initial funding came from local residents, businesses and industry in amounts ranging from $10 to $50,000. Called the Telecommunications Instructional Consortium, or TIC, the collaborative effort enables the high schools to link as many as five sites at the same time, with each having the ability to originate and telecast classes. The college can originate courses at all the sites and teach them to two or more groups of students simultaneously. The high school classes are taught by high school teachers, but high school students can enroll in college classes either in the day or at night. Each site functions as an extension center for the college's continuing education program. |
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Now linked to the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Aurora, the TIC system offered a course in astrophysics this semester. Also, scientists from nearby Fermi Laboratory, which will soon be connected to the system, have taught classes such as high energy particle physics. More than 40 classes, which include a range of liberal arts and science courses, are offered each semester. Adult basic education classes such as GED review and English as a second language also are available.
John Swalec, the president of Waubonsee Community College, says the technology has served his college district in rural Kane and McHenry counties very well with over 6,000 having taken the televisual courses. He cautions, however, that the distance learning alternatives to traditional teaching are not an "end-all and catch-all." But for those 10 to 20 percent of students who may be denied taking courses because of time and distance restrictions, Swalec says the distance learning technology eliminates those barriers and gives those students "exposure, accessibility and opportunity" to attain knowledge from courses that may otherwise be missed. Carey Israel, executive director of the Illinois Community College Board, agrees. He says, for example, that a community college in southern Illinois may not be able to afford an astronomer because the demand may not be great enough. However, in the whole southern region there may be enough demand and by linking several institutions televisually, one astronomy instructor could teach a few students in several locations. Though Israel hastens to add that he doesn't see telecommunications saving money, he does believe that expanding course offerings is important to the one million Illinois community college students enrolled this year, 70 percent of whom work while attending classes and 92 percent of whom stay in the communities where they were educated. |
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Beyond the advantages of accessing necessary courses to achieve an associate degree or vocational certificate, distance learning technology offers great potential for continuing education. He says many students have families, and many of those are single heads of households who cannot drive 50 miles to work on a baccalaureate degree. "The telecommunications can bring that baccalaureate degree — since it is interactive — right on to that community college campus," says Israel, "because some people cannot afford to commute to access higher education."
May 1994/lllinois lssues/19
Photo by John Freidah/The (Springfield) State Journal-Register
| In March children from Lincoln Elementary School in Springfield used interactive video technology to join a group of Los Angeles elementary students. The California students, whose school was damaged by the earthquake, told of their experiences while the Lincoln students related stories about a fire that recently destroyed part of their school. |
The plan for a distance learning network that will eventually link the entire state through two-way interactive video was initiated and developed by the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB), but it is being implemented as a cooperative effort with the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE). The initial $15 million appropriated by the General Assembly was distributed through the Board of Higher Education in Higher Education Cooperative Act grants to ten regional consortia (see box, page 23). Included in the consortia are 58 sites on community college campuses, 15 sites at public universities, 15 at private universities and 22 mobile units. Other sites include the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Aurora, several high schools, hospitals and correctional facilities, and some workplace training facilities in private industry.
All the regional consortia received funds from the FY 1994 appropriation and have submitted five-year plans outlining where they would expand the network in their area if they continue to be funded. The plan of the Regional Educational Alliance of the Fox Valley, of which Waubonsee Community College is a member, offers a glimpse into the future of the network. Because the telecommunications system based at Waubonsee is already fully functional using a blend of microwave, satellite, copper and fiber optic cable technologies, the focus of that consortium is to extend its offering to elementary and secondary schools and business and industry.
Waubonsee's base site at Sugar Grove is already linked televisually to its Aurora campus, Elgin Community College, McHenry County College and Aurora University as well as the four area high schools and the math and science academy. The consortium's plan includes links to sites at Kishwaukee and Judson colleges; Furnas Electric Company, Fermi Laboratory and Batavia High School in Batavia; Copley Hospital in Aurora and Sandwich Extension Center in Sandwich. Waubonsee will also have a telecommunications link with its new Center for Distance Learning, which serves as a training facility for teacher preparation. The center is a place for experimentation and development of techniques needed to support teachers and the curriculum in this new environment.
Showing the weblike nature of the expanding network, Elgin Community College, in turn, will link to its Fountain Square campus in Elgin and establish a site at District 300 in Algonquin. Long-range plans see McHenry County College reaching out to Crystal Lake South High School, Crystal Lake Central High School, Cary Grove High School and Crystal Lake Alternative Learning Center.
The other consortia have similar plans for expanding connections for delivering instruction via the two-way video links. Based on these plans, the ICCB and IBHE have recommended that another $15 million be invested in the distance learning
20/May 1994/Illinois Issues
network. The governor included the request in his fiscal year 1995 budget. Sen. John W. Maitland Jr. (R-44, Bloomington) believes the plan has bipartisan support. "The General Assembly is going to react positively if we can see evidence of movement," he says. "It is obviously the wave of the future at all levels of education."
Telephone companies have become natural and often eager partners in laying this network. They have invested billions of dollars in the copper and fiber optic cable over which much of the compressed video signal will pass. Ameritech has donated more than $2 million in equipment, line charges and grants to several pilot distance learning projects. Some are linked into the community college-based network and some are independent. Ameritech donated equipment and one year of free line service to the Waubonsee system.
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Another Ameritech-funded project at Lewis and dark Community College in Godfrey links more than 5,000 employees at Shell Oil Company in Wood River and Olin Corporation in East Alton to the college via interactive television. Beginning in the fall, the 4,000 employees of Olin will have access to continuing education and job retraining courses ranging from computer assisted drafting and technical writing to the study of liberal arts and sciences without having to leave their jobs. Gary Hascall, director of business, distance and continuing education for Lewis and dark, says that the college plans to take a full range of courses to Shell in the near future. "The goal is to set up a seamless system whereby people registering for classes at the training facility of their company are entered via data transmission over the phone lines as registered students of the community college," says Hascall. "They don't have to deal with two organizations."
Sally Jackson, president and CEO of the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce, says this type of distance learning program "puts an important competitive tool in the hands of Illinois business." |
Telephone companies have become natural and often eager partners in laying this network. They have invested billions of dollars in the copper and fiber optic cable over which much of the video signal will pass |
Reaching out to teachers, Ameritech created a $500,000 grant, called the Governor's/Ameritech Illinois EdTech Grant, that was awarded to Western Illinois University's College of Education for the training of future and current teachers in the use of advanced telecommunications technology in the classroom. With the grant WlU's College of Education was able to link up with Springfield High School, Springfield's Lincoln Elementary School, the Springfield Urban League Head Start program and the Springfield School District 186 Early Start program. Students in Springfield are linked to data bases and online services, including Prodigy, ILLINET and Internet. In a recent application of the technology, with the help of Central Management Services' satellite link, Lincoln Elementary School shared a classroom with students in Los Angeles.
Student teachers at WIU use the communications technologies to expand options for serving special needs students, such as students who are gifted and students with disabilities. An Ameritech press release claims that this electronic and video link to a teaching university "will give Springfield students from early childhood through 12th grade access to resources that might take years to appear in textbooks." Gov. Jim Edgar says that the project "will make Illinois a model state in educating teachers to use all available technologies in the classroom. This plan will help our state bring teaching into the 21st century."
Teachers who use the technology are vigorous supporters. Jan Sprague-Williams, a speech and communications instructor at Waubonsee, has taught at least one course on the TIC system each semester since its inception. She says she has to prepare somewhat differently for the televisual classes, but the technology helps her focus her presentations. Sprague-Williams videotapes her classes and has found that not only do her students benefit from viewing their performance, but she is able to critique her own performance. This unanticipated staff development tool, she says, is used by many of the teachers on the system. In addition, the taped classes help students review, update their notes and fill in classes missed. The college keeps the tapes in the library for two weeks.
Dan Heckle, a sophomore at Waubonsee who has taken two interactive classes, says that the teachers use the telecommunications equipment effectively. He says his teachers used the overhead camera and videotapes and didn't use the board as much. "I think it's a little better than regular classes," says Heckle. "I think the technology helps."
Both Sprague-Williams and Trunkhill say that students accept the technology almost instantly. Teachers volunteer for the assignments on the TIC system, but Sprague-Williams says that even those tentative about technology find they can manipulate it in a short time. She says larger issues for teachers may develop as the network expands. Some teachers worry they may get "stuck" teaching just introductory level classes while non-staff teachers are assigned the more challenging elective classes. But, she says, teachers do not see the technology replacing them. "That's not the purpose," says Sprague-Williams. "It's a tool for delivering instruction to students."
Though a number of educators grumble about the state pouring more money into "gadgets" while support for traditional teaching stagnates, the most daunting barrier to meeting the five-year goal of a statewide telecommunications network is the cost of delivering the instruction from point to point.
May 1994/Illinois Issues/21
According to telephone company spokespersons, for the standard of technology set by the state to insure interconnectability, the average cost for telephone line charges runs $2,000 per month per site. Funds from the HECA grants can buy equipment at either end but cannot be used for delivering instruction over the system. High school District 155, which borders Aurora, Bolingbrook, Naperville and Plainfield and includes the three high schools the network is reaching out to through McHenry County College, is considering the technology. However, the initial reaction, says a spokesperson for the district, is that the amount of money needed could be better spent elsewhere.
Waubonsee president John Swalec, who served as chairman of the Illinois Community College Board's Task Force on Communications, whose recommendations became the basis for the statewide plan, says the high cost of line charges is a definite concern that must be addressed. Suggestions to the General Assembly include increasing appropriations to colleges and universities to cover such costs. Administration officials are talking about negotiating some type of "education rate" that would be lower. Telephone company officials say the price will come down as more sites are added to the system.
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There is something of a field of dreams, a let's-plant- some-technology-and-see-who-will-feed-it-money-to-grow attitude about building this network. And to some degree the administration's vision of public-private partnerships fueling the network's progress is being realized. Richland Community College in Decatur has entered into a cooperative agreement with Illinois Power Company of Decatur to install a telecommunications link in the company's Energy and Environmental Center in Clinton. In exchange for Richland setting up the equipment, Illinois Power has agreed to provide classroom and office space for a Richland extension center. Illinois Power has also agreed to pay the telephone line charges of $2,900 per month for one year. Richland will provide classrooms in Decatur for training Illinois Power employees. Dave Zindel, director of the Learning Resource Center and coordinator of this project for Richland, says Illinois Power will use the interactive video at the Clinton site for employee training during the day, and Richland will use it late in the day and at night for community college classes. Charles Novak, president of Richland Community College, says, "This is a perfect example of what partnership between education and business can bring to the students and customers we serve." |
Photo from Lewis and Clark Community College As part of Ameritech's SkillLINK project, Julie McPike, director of marketing for Ameritech, demonstrates the distance learning technology to Lewis and dark Community College students in Godfrey. Employees of Olin Corporation and Shell Oil Company have similar classrooms at their worksites that are linked via two-way interactive television to the college. |
Another example is Consolidated Communications Inc. in Mattoon, a telephone company building links and donating services to the distance learning network through Lake Land Community College in Mattoon. The company sees its efforts as a means to support economic development. Tom Cox, senior account manager, says that from a telephone business standpoint, whatever keeps rural schools open and their communities alive is good business. "We've seen it first hand. We lose one-third to one-half of our customers in a community when the school closes." Sen. Maitland agrees that a statewide telecommunications network will advance economic development in rural areas. He says that a business coming into Illinois with workers to train is more likely to consider a rural location if it can tap into a fiber optic line that reaches out to the world.
Whatever the kudos or the costs, a statewide distance learning network linked through interactive video seems a certainty.
Waubonsee Community College's experience has proven that business, industry and individuals respond favorably to supporting the technology that allows knowledge to travel long distances rather than people. It's hard to find a politician, educator, business person or student who doesn't like the idea, whether or not he or she has actually seen it in action. If Vice President Al Gore is correct when he says that the data superhighway is the most important marketplace of the 21st century, then Illinois with its experience in building partnerships while building its educational distance learning network ought to be ready for the on-ramp.
22/May 1994/Illinois Issues
Distance learning sites
Sites for telecommunications-based instructional delivery system, based on Higher Education Cooperation Act fiscal year 1994 capital grants, listed by regions
Central Illinois Higher Education Consortium*
Illinois Central College, East Peoria, fiscal agent
Heartland Community College, Bloomington
Illinois State University, Normal
Illinois Valley Community College, Oglesby
Lincoln Land Community College, Springfield
Sangamon State University, Springfield
*All but Lincoln Land and Sangamon State have two sites - one on campus and a mobile unit; four additional mobile units are for shared use.
North Suburban Higher Education Regional Consortium
Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, fiscal agent
College of Lake County, Grayslake
DePaul University, Chicago (2): O'Hare; downtown campus
Illinois Student Assistance Commission, Deerfield
National-Louis University, Evanston (2): main; downtown
Oakton Community College, Des Plaines
William Rainey Harper College, Palatine
INTERACTE Chicago*
City Colleges of Chicago, fiscal agent (7): mobile units for Kennedy-King, Truman, Wright, South Chicago Learning Center, West Chicago Learning Center; two mobile units for central administration.
Chicago State University, Chicago
Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago (3): campus; two mobile units, one for Teachers' Academy for Mathematics and Science
Loyola University, Chicago
University of Illinois, Chicago
*Two mobile units for Chicago public schools
Prairie Learning Consortium
Lake Land College, Mattoon, fiscal agent, (3): campus; Paris;Danville Correctional Center
Danville Area Community College, Danville (3): campus;Hoopeston; United Samaritan Hospital in Danville.
Eastern Illinois University, Charleston (2): campus; Taylorville Correctional Center
Graduate Studies Center at Millikin University, Decatur
Parkland College, Champaign (2): campus; Rantoul
Richland Community College, Decatur (2): campus; Clinton
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Illinois Satellite Network*
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, fiscal agent
Rock Valley College, Rockford
*Satellite distribution capability
Regional Educational Alliance of the Fox Valley
Waubonsee Community College, Sugar Grove, fiscal agent (6):
Fermi Laboratory; Batavia High School; Sandwich Extension Center; Center for Distance Learning, Waubonsee; Copley Hospital, Aurora; mobile unit at Fumas Electric Company, Batavia.
Elgin Community College, Elgin (3): District 300 in Algonquin; Fountain Square campus
Judson College, Elgin
Kishwaukee College, Malta
McHenry County College, Crystal Lake (4): Crystal Lake South High School, Cary Grove High school, Crystal Lake Alternative Learning Center, Crystal Lake Central High School.
South Metropolitan Regional Higher Education Consortium*
Governors State University, Park Forest South, fiscal agent
College of St. Francis, Joliet
Joliet Junior College, Joliet
Kankakee Community College, Kankakee
Lewis University, Romeoville
Moraine Valley Community College, Palos Hills
Olivet Nazarene University, Kankakee
Prairie State College, Chicago Heights
Saint Xavier University, Chicago
South Suburban College of Cook County, South Holland
* Seven mobile units for shared use
Southern Illinois Collegiate Common Market
Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, fiscal agent
John A. Logan College, Carterville (2): campus; Veterans' Administration Hospital, Marion
Rend Lake College, Ina (2): campus; Mt. Vernon Township High School
Shawnee Community College, Ullin (2): campus; Choate Mental Health Center, Anna
Southeastern Illinois College, Harrisburg (2): campus; Vienna Correctional Center
Southwest Illinois Consortium
Lewis and dark Community College, Godfrey, fiscal agent (3):
Tri-County, Macoupin County and Madison County school districts
Belleville Area College, Belleville (3): campus; Red Bud; Granite City
Illinois Eastern Community Colleges, Olney (4): Olney; Fair-field; Mt. Carmel; Robinson
Kaskaskia College, Centralia (2): campus; Vandalia Center
State Community College, East St. Louis
Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville
West Suburban Postsecondary Consortium
College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, fiscal agent
Illinois Benedictine College, Lisle
Morton College, Cicero
Northern Illinois University, DeKalb
Triton College, River Grove
Rosary College, River Forest
Multi-University Center at Oak Brook
Western Illinois Education Consortium
Black Hawk College, Moline, fiscal agent
CONVOCOM
Highland Community College, Freeport
Quad-Cities Graduate Study Center, Moline
Carl Sandburg College, Galesburg
Sauk Valley Community College, Dixon
Spoon River College, Canton
Western Illinois University, Macomb
May 1994/Illinois Issues/23
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