See Also:  Interview with Sir John Daniel ON DISTANCE LEARNING

    Growing up in Indiana, Linda Frazer enjoyed quiet afternoons in the public library, devouring Cherry Ames and Nancy Drew mysteries. She felt so at home among the rows of books that she decided to become a librarian when she grew up. Instead, she earned her undergraduate degree in religion, went into social work, married and became a stay–at-home mother.

    A divorce brought her to Lake City to be near her parents, who had migrated South, and to a job as media specialist aide at a local elementary school. The job rekindled her love of libraries and her interest in pursuing her girlhood dream.

    Searching for options, Frazer discovered that Florida State University in Tallahassee, two hours away, offered a master’s level program in information studies. Though the idea of moving to the state capital and enrolling at FSU was enticing, she hated to once again uproot her 12- and 16-year-old sons.

    "I know some people drive that distance to get a degree, but with the boys and soccer and homework, there was just no way I could do it," said Frazer. "I figured I’d have to keep on keeping on with what I was doing."

    A chance meeting with an FSU professor visiting Lake City, however, convinced her otherwise. The professor informed her that FSU offered the degree she sought on-line, and, even better, the program was ranked among the top in the nation by the American Library Association and U.S. News & World Report.

    "Finally, this was my chance to do what I always wanted to do, and I can even do it in my jammies," said Frazer, now a third of the way toward earning her master’s degree through FSU from the comfort of her home.

    Frazer, 45, is among a growing number of U.S. students who are booting up, logging on and clicking their way to higher education via distance learning. No one tracks the precise number, but experts estimate that it approaches one million.

    Distance learning frees students of the confines of classroom walls, fixed class hours—and fashion—and enables them to overcome geographic distance, and balance family and work schedules with schoolwork. It opens the door to individuals who otherwise might have no means to gain educational success and professional advancement.

    To many educators and students, distance learning is an idea whose time has come. It certainly isn’t new. Correspondence courses have been around for years. But those early efforts, consisting primarily of printed materials, were largely ineffective because students and teachers had no way to interact. The experience for many was cold and isolating. Later efforts, however, using television, videos, audio cassettes and telephone, were a vast improvement. And, today’s sophisticated communication technologies—from live satellite video conferences to electronic messages on the Internet and CD-ROMs—allow for a high degree of interactivity.

    The Internet allows students to participate in live chats and, in some modes, to hear and see teachers, who can react to their comments and questions in "real time." If they choose to work asynchronously, students can log in at their convenience to review course materials on the Web, participate in threaded discussions, or use CD-ROMs, video or audio cassettes.

    Enthusiasts say distance learning can provide an educational experience similar in quality to that of the traditional classroom. Some even say it has the potential of being better.

    Dr. Chris Lacher, acting director of FSU’s Center for Academic Support and Distance Learning (CASDL), says "distributed" teaching and learning is the key.

    "Distributed learning is a unifying concept because it combines distance learning and on-campus education and improves the educational experience of on-campus students, while accommodating a broader spectrum of students," he said. The concept also allows on-campus students to take courses on-line that they might otherwise have to wait to register for because of a scheduling conflict.

    "We’re convinced that we need to go down this track and keep ourselves at the frontier of this whole technological development," FSU President Talbot "Sandy" D’Alemberte said. "With campuses becoming increasingly wired, it makes sense to use the electronic infrastructure to improve learning as well as research."

A Growing Market

    Those who insist that nothing can replace the magic that happens between a student and teacher in a classroom, will find few to disagree. No one expects distance learning to emerge from its niche market to replace the traditional on-campus experience where social life is a major part of the allure of a university education for 18- to 22-year-olds.

    Nor do they think it should, but students should have an on-line alternative, says Dr. Alan Mabe, dean of graduate studies and associate vice president for program development, who is leading FSU’s distance and distributed learning efforts.

    "The demographics of the college population have changed," Mabe said. "Today, many students are older and much more likely to be working. Those individuals need options. With distance learning, they can pursue a degree without disrupting work or family life."

    Growth in on-line learning is among individuals older than 30, who are in full- or part-time jobs, married or divorced with children. A majority of them are seeking degrees and have some college credits. Many are upgrading credentials or learning skills for a new career. Another common thread that ties these people together is that they either do not have access to a university campus, or, their schedules don’t mesh with the university’s.

    Like Frazer, Jeannette Kamciyan and Eugene Major, classmates in the master’s level "Management of Information Organizations" course spring semester, are typical distance learners.

    With the goal of upgrading her professional skills, Kamciyan, 44, director of nursing education at Bethesda Memorial Hospital in Boca Raton, enrolled in FSU’s master’s program in information studies. She says it’s something that as the mother of children ages 10, 12 and 14, she would not do if it weren’t for FSU’s on-line option.

    "With distance learning I can rationalize the fact that I’m taking classes because I’m still at home, just in the next room," Kamciyan said. "The kids can ask me homework questions and I can throw a load of laundry into the washing machine during down times. Besides, the traffic is so awful in South Florida, who wants to get home from work and then have to drive an hour to make a seven o’clock class?"

    Major, who lives in Columbia, Md., was looking for a career change. Though he drove past the University of Maryland to and from work, Major, 47 and the father of two young children, didn’t want to quit his $65,000-a-year job at NASA/Goddard Space Center to spend two years at the university, which offered the courses he needed only during the day. Still, with demand for graduates in information studies rising, Major was convinced entering the field would be smart. He solved his dilemma while searching the American Library Association’s web site.

    Said Major, who earned a graduate degree in physics in 1977 the traditional way at St. Bonaventure College in New York, and now is on his way to a second master’s through FSU, a thousand miles away: "Technology caught up with what I really wanted to do."

The Push to Reach Students

    Driven by fierce competition for non-traditional students, universities from California to Florida have been poring over blueprints and mixing the mortar for their "virtual" campuses. The Florida Virtual Campus, is a collaborative effort between the State University System’s 10 universities and the 28 colleges comprising the Florida Community College System. The 1999 Florida Legislature appropriated $350,000 to the SUS and $4.35 million to the FCCS to develop a statewide computer-assisted information system that will allow students to apply for admission, register for courses, do career and academic planning, inquire about financial aid and pay fees.

    Demand by citizens for more flexible higher education and by employers for constantly re-trained employees spurred Florida legislators to demand institutional efficiency and increased access. The estimated 200,000 additional new students expected to pursue post secondary education by 2010 offers further incentive to policy makers to place the issue among their top priorities. Legislators and administrators view the on-line approach as a way to provide education to a broader and more diverse group of students, while saving on construction costs.

    The state’s public community colleges and universities have aggressively responded to the pressure for expanded distance-learning opportunities. In 1997, an estimated 60,000 students statewide were studying on-line. And in the fall of 1998, 1,900 on-line courses were being offered statewide, according to Florida’s Postsecondary Education Planning Commission.

    For years, FSU has been strategically laying the foundation for a completely integrated virtual campus. Much of its experience with distance learning extends back 25 years to contracts with the U.S. Navy to provide training to Navy personnel. In addition to offering a master’s level degree in information studies, FSU has provided a number of individual undergraduate courses on-line. The success of those pioneering efforts has lead FSU to consider a larger, more organized effort.

    In recent years, FSU leaders have examined existing distance learning models in Canada and the United Kingdom.

    The British Open University in Milton Keynes, England, is the largest and most successful distance learning center in the world. It has won international acclaim for its model, which combines videos, printed materials and the telephone, as well as hundreds of regionally situated tutors. Over its 30-year history, BOU has provided higher education to more than two million students in England, Asia, and Africa. The British government ranked it 11th of 98 higher education institutions in quality of teaching.

    Owen Gaede, acting director of FSU’s Learning Systems Institute, was encouraged by his visits to England.

    "I’m finding that what we have been and are doing at FSU, though limited in scope, is of such high quality that people around the world are taking notice," Gaede said. "We’ve learned some major lessons from BOU, and we’re putting them to good use.

    "BOU has proved that quality and student support are the most important ingredients to success in distance and distributed learning. It shows that this isn’t a technology issue, rather it’s an instructional design issue. Courses have to be so well designed that students don’t suffer because they don’t have a professor standing over them. Another lesson is that mentors are essential."

    In this model, the faculty member is the content expert and is assisted by instructional designers, graphics experts, web-site developers who can effectively present courses for independent study, and mentors, or tutors.

    "This team approach maximizes review opportunities and provides for continuous improvement from a variety of perspectives," Gaede said.

    Mentors, who have at least a bachelor’s degree or professional experience in the field related to the course, communicate with individual students by e-mail and web interface, threaded discussion, phone and fax.

The 2+2 Initiative

    This fall, FSU will launch the 2+2 Distance Learning Initiative, which will have some similarities to the BOU model. The program will provide access to Floridians who have an associate of arts degree and want to earn a bachelor’s degree in information studies or computer science from FSU. Students follow a typical semester-long calendar, but attend on-line classes at times and places convenient for them.

    The university is partnering with a number of the state’s community colleges, which will open up their libraries, computer labs and proctored testing facilities to students and assist in recruiting mentors and distributing information.

    "We’re working together in this experiment toward providing maximum access and flexibility to all Florida citizens who want to pursue higher education and career advancement," FSU President Talbot "Sandy" D’Alemberte said.

    "Participants in the 2+2 Program will experience the same high-quality faculty, curriculum, and resources as on-campus FSU     students, but their participation will be mediated by state-of-the-art instructional materials, trained learning guides, and the use of next-generation technology."

    Mabe says the university’s goal is to create a "seamless" electronic environment, linking the entire student body to the faculty, courses and administrative system.

    "We want to get to the point where students, whether residential or distant, can apply for admission, register, pay student fees, take care of other administrative matters, and attend classes entirely on-line, without having to be on campus unless they want to be," Mabe said. "We’re 90 percent there."

    The university expects to have that system in place by the end of summer 1999. It’s a realistic expectation. In April, FSU was named the most wired university in Florida and, for the second consecutive year, one of the top 50 in the nation by the prestigious Yahoo! Internet Life magazine. Criteria for the rankings included the number of computers available to students, wired dorm rooms, on-line registration and distance learning initiatives.

Students & Teachers: The DL Experience

    Educators say it doesn’t matter if they’re standing in front of a classroom or teaching over the Web, what drives learning is the students’ motivation, and distance learning students are "extraordinarily" motivated.

    "They are more motivated, more self-directed, so they tend to be very successful," says Gaede. "They’re serious about their education, and are happy to have an opportunity to earn a degree from a high-caliber institute."

    They want rigorous courses packed with information and they want to use class time productively at their convenience, he said. They are interested in gaining knowledge and expertise, not just in a grade.

    "I’m constantly impressed by the quality of students in distance learning," says Dr. Eliza Dresang, associate professor of information studies. Her Spring 1999 master’s level "Management of Information Organizations" course had an enrollment of 54 on-line students from Key West, Boca Raton, St. Augustine, Jacksonville, Miami, Georgia, and Maryland.

    Dresang was skeptical about distance learning before she logged onto her first on-line course three years ago. Like some faculty nationwide, she worried about the quality of a distance education and the lack of personal contact between herself and students. Experience, she says, has allayed those fears.

    "I wasn’t predisposed to thinking distance learning was as good as it is, but I can see many advantages to distance learning over face-to-face interaction," Dresang said. "It can be more democratic because, while fast thinkers do well in class, students who are not so quick on their feet or are timid speaking out in class feel freer to express their opinions on-line. They can pause, and think about what they’re going to say. Another advantage is that students can reread class discussions and lectures, and not have to scramble to take notes."

    Other professors say posting syllabi, class notes, outside reading, links and deadlines on the Web is an effective way to communicate and leaves few excuses for missed assignments.

    Dresang says e-mail and on-line chats enable her and students to have in-depth, unhurried and uninterrupted discourse, something the on-campus scene doesn’t always allow. As a result, she says, her relationship with her on-line students is no less a quality one than the one she has with face-to-face students.

    "But it takes effort, and willingness to make that happen," she says. "You have to figure out how to make students feel they’re getting a personalized education, even when you’re not seeing them. You can’t just put a lecture and a syllabus on-line and expect a good relationship."

Technology Offers Options

    Committed to its distance learning initiatives, Florida State has sponsored workshops to help faculty members choose the most effective means of adapting course content and materials to the Web. The university also has supplied resources and technical support to help professors become more technologically savvy. Once an on-line course is up and running, it will be evaluated to ascertain that course objectives are met and that students are learning.

    "This is a real benefit to me as a faculty member because there will be an opportunity to learn what leading thinkers are thinking and what students want and need out of distance learning, " said Dr. Stephen McDowell, an assistant professor in the Department of Communications. " In addition, the team approach that includes content, design, and technology people will enhance course content and delivery and be a real strength."

    McDowell, who is co-developing a new course called "Information and Communication Technology," has found that, initially at least, developing an on-line course can be labor intensive. Adapting an existing course to the Web can be equally hard work because it often involves re-examining course objectives and rethinking and rewriting classroom lectures they had relied on for years.

    Dr. Kay Grise, associate professor of human sciences, is embarking on a totally Web-based version of a course she has taught for years face to face. She was among the 60 to 70 faculty members who participated in the FSU workshops. Her course, "Introduction to Textiles," will be offered on-line for the first time in the spring.