World Telecommunication Day 1999 |
From grammar school to graduate school to postgraduate education, the United States is leading the world in the development of on-line education. And if current plans come to fruition, American students will sprint even further ahead than their international counterparts.
In 1996, the Clinton administration challenged the telecommunications industry to wire every classroom in the nation by 2000. ''It's easily achievable,'' said Vice President Al Gore at the time. ''It can and must be done.'' Three years later, the U.S. Department of Education reports that 89 percent of all elementary and secondary schools are now connected to the Internet.
Distance learning
Distance learning courses for students who cannot attend classes at a regular campus were offered by 90 percent of U.S. higher education institutions enrolling more than 10,000 students and 85 percent of schools with enrollments of between 3,000 and 10,000 students in the fall of 1998. And most of these courses were available via the Internet.
For example, the Ed-X Distance Learning Channel (www.ed-x.com) provides links to 3,000 Internet courses offered by American universities. The California Virtual University (www.california.edu) has a catalogue of 2,000 accredited on-line courses and 100 on-line degree programs offered by the likes of UCLA and Pepperdine.
While some institutions are using the Web to supplement on-campus offerings, others are going much further, with universities that exist only in cyberspace. Entities like Anheuser-Busch University (ABU), Jones International University (JIU) and Western Governors University (WGU) are vying against traditional ''brick and mortar'' institutions in the higher education market. They offer on-line courses and degrees to both American students and scholars from around the world. JIU is the first totally on-line university to receive accreditation from one of the six major U.S. accreditation organizations.
While no one seriously believes that on-line universities will take the place of Ivy League institutions in our lifetime - especially at the undergraduate level, where the socialization aspects of attending college are almost as important as the education - there are many areas in which on-line education will no doubt thrive in the future.
Opening new doors
One promising area is on-line postgraduate degrees for students trying to juggle a full-time job, family obligations and education.
Penn State calls its new on-line program the World Campus and treats it like an autonomous 25th campus in the state university system. Last fall, World Campus had just 70 students. Six months later, enrollment had reached 600, and Penn State and its partners are spending $10 million in an effort to reach a target of 10,000 students in four years.
Such on-line programs can be profitable for schools. Stanford's engineering program offers 100 on-line courses with fees at 140 percent of the school's normal tuition. Duke charges almost $86,000 for its 19-month Global Executive MBA program - but tuition does include a laptop computer.
Home schooling and adult education - both growing trends - are also facilitated by Internet technologies. Telecommunications companies such as Nortel, Lucent, AT&T and others are developing networks specifically designed to help schools develop these capabilities.
Bell Atlantic and FVC.com have linked up to develop a $55 million on-line network to provide live and stored video resources through a broadband network to schools throughout the state. Dubbed Access New Jersey, it will reach an estimated 600,0000 students by the end of this year as part of the state's goal to deliver high-speed access to every New Jersey classroom by 2002.
Twenty-five elementary schools in Illinois are participating in a pilot program called Starship School, which bills itself as the first fully integrated on-line communications and learning system for the K-8 level. Starship is being developed by Chicago-based Edventions LLC, an entrepreneurial organization that leverages technology to enhance communication and learning.
Private-sector role
Many high-tech companies are helping assimilate on-line technology in schools. Bell South's edu.pwr3 Foundation is a $10 million grant initiative to help public schools in the Southeast fully integrate on-line technologies into the classroom. The program builds on Bell South's NetDay commitment, which provided $25 million in advanced technology services and grants for the 1997-98 school year to 6,400 schools in states like Georgia, South Carolina and Florida.
Created in 1995, the AT&T Learning Network is a five-year, $150-million program aimed at helping families, schools and communities across the United States use technology to enhance teaching and learning. The network includes free on-line support services, a mentoring program that helps teachers integrate technology into lesson plans and classroom activities.
Texas Instruments recently donated $1 million to the Alliance for Higher Education in North Texas to help the area's distance learning network become digital. The company also supports local universities, including a recent $300,000 donation to the University of Houston both to finance the new campus and the center for distance learning on the main campus. Texas Instruments technology is a key element in the development of high-speed modems that will enhance the quality of distance learning by allowing for faster Internet delivery.
Cisco Systems' Networking Academy Program is designed to help high school and college students in 2,818 academies throughout the United States and in 50 countries worldwide to prepare for a career in technology. Cisco's education services also provide schools with networking technology for working on-line and via intranets.
In a new partnership, Microsoft has just announced plans to invest $25 million in a joint project with MIT, I-Campus, to research new technologies to enhance university level education.
Julia Clerk