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DEOSNEWS Vol. 1 No. 10. This document has about 510 lines.
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EDITORIAL

This annotated bibliography describes experiences in distance
education and computer-mediated communication (CMC). I have
deliberately tried to compile a bibliography of articles from
different parts of the world and to show a variety of CMC ap-
proaches. The search resulted in an abundance of articles from
North America and quite a few from Europe and Australia, but
relatively few articles from the rest of the world.

As an extra service for DEOSNEWS subscribers, I have included e-
mail addresses to some of the authors who are willing to respond
to questions and comments about their articles.

Norman Coombs NRCGSH@RITVAX.ISC.RIT.EDU
Keith Harry KW_HARRY@VAX.ACS.OPEN.AC.UK
Morten Soeby Z_SOEBY_M@KARI.UIO.NO

COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION AND DISTANCE EDUCATION
AROUND THE WORLD

An Annotated Bibliography
By Morten Flate Paulsen

AUSTRALIA

Harry, K. and A. Castro. 1988. Electronic information exchange:
The dream and the reality. In Developing Distance Education, eds.
D. Sewart and J. S. Daniel, 238-41. Papers submitted to the 14th
World Conference in Oslo, August 9-16. Oslo: ICDE.

Briefly describes the development of AOLIN, the Australian Open
Learning Information Network, and of an informal bibliographic
database working group, since the Thirteenth World Conference of
the International Council for Distance Education in 1985. Ident-
ifies international initiatives during the same period which have
made recommendations regarding information and documentation on
distance education. Outlines the characteristics of an ideal
electronic network linking distance education practitioners and
indicates what is actually possible in terms of one-to-one and
one-to-many communication, and identifies current problems (The
ICDL Database accession #10000803)

Monro, D. 1987. Quality distance education = computer based
feedback + electronic mail. In Using Computers Intelligently in
Tertiary Education, eds. J. Barrett and J. Hedberg, 147-52. A
collection of papers presented to the Australian Society for
Computers in Learning, November 29th to December 3rd 1987 Ken-
sington, NSW: ASCILITE.

The Riverina-Murray Institute of higher Education offers a post-
graduate Diploma in Computer Applications. The course is offered
only externally and utilises AUSTPAC as the primary instructional
and communication medium. The paper describes the types of
facilities which have been investigated and developed, in an
attempt to provide an enhanced learning environment for the
external student. Two of the facilities discussed are the use of
electronic mail and computer based feedback. The use of elec-
tronic mail has meant that the external student can have the same
types of regular communication with lecturers which an on-campus
student takes for granted. Computer based feedback has provided a
periodic assessment mechanism, controlled by the student, which
highlights areas of learning difficulty by directing the student
to material in the prescribed texts and notes. The combination of
these facilities has proved highly effective. Not only has the
marking load on staff resources dropped, but students are able to
ask questions relating to their particular difficulties, and
receive direct advice on overcoming those problems. (Author's
abstract) (The ICDL Database, accession #10000619)

CANADA

McCreary, E. 1989. Computer-mediated communication and organisa-
tional culture. In Mindweave: Communication, Computers and
Distance Education, eds. R. Mason and A. Kaye, 101-112. Oxford:
Pergamon Press.

The article describes the impact computer conferencing has had on
the University of Guelph's organizational culture, and concludes:

"After five years of exposure to the medium we do not feel we
have mastered it, or even fully harnessed it. It continues to
surprise us. In a non-directive way CMC is giving us a stimulat-
ing new experience of ourselves as an organisation. Its impact on
overall organisational vitality has been positive but not un-
equivocal" ... "the only way human beings can individually or
collectively be 'more vital or alive' than 'just alive' is to be
more conscious, and for better or worse CMC has made us that."

CHINA

Gao, F., W. Li, and D. Li. 1989. A PC-based Audio/Graphics/Video
Image Satellite Communication Education System and its Applica-
tions. Educational & training technology international 26(3):248-
53.

This paper describes a pc-based communication system equipped
with audio, graphics, and video devices for enhanced versatility.
On a single telephone line, the system allows you to transfer
graphics and still video along with ordinary voice. Both teacher
and students can use an electronic pen and a tablet to transmit
handwriting and drawing in real time. An image capture facility
allows the users to capture computer graphic and still-pictures
from sources like camcorders, videotapes, and monitors.

In March 1988, over 300 people took part in the first interna-
tional teleconference using this system. Seven cities in U.S.
were connected to Beijing. Later, the system has been used to
provide students in Beijing with lectures from U.S. about cell
biology, expert systems, and features of American college teach-
ing.

The article concludes that the system is a versatile and inexpen-
sive new tool for teleteaching.

DENMARK

Bang, J., and M. Moller. 1990. Computer conferencing in Danish
distance education. In Media and Technology in European Distance
Education, ed. A. W. Bates, 249-252. Milton Keynes: Open Univer-
sity for the EADTU.

This article describes the use of PortaCOM, a Swedish computer
conferencing system, for distance education at the Jutland Open
University (JOU) in Denmark. The authors present preliminary
experiences gathered from three Arts Foundation Courses, one
Archaeology course, and one Mass Communication course; all of
them delivered in 1988 and 1989.

JOU practices a group-oriented concept, where students are organ-
ized in classes of 20-35 students. The groups meet in face-to-
face seminars five or six times a year. Between the seminars, the
students use PortaCOM as a course supplement.

In some of the courses, the students had the necessary communica-
tion equipment at home; in other courses, the students had to use
the equipment at one of JOU's five study centers.

"The students with the home based personal computers have found
that computer conferencing has facilitated communication with
their teachers and fellow students. These students completed the
arts foundation course with better grades than on similar courses
where computer conferencing had not been used." . . . "the
conferencing system has been a very useful addition to their
distance education." . . . "It has been hard to motivate students
without home-based personal computers to use computer conferen-
cing. They seem unwilling to leave their homes and go to a study
center for communication, when they could just as easily grab the
phone or mail a letter."

Christensen B. B. 1990. Teachers and CMC at Jutland Open Univer-
sity: A case study. In Media and Technology in European Distance
Education, ed. A. W. Bates, 253-258. Milton Keynes: Open Univer-
sity for the EADTU.

This article concentrates on the teachers' role in the Arts
Foundation courses at Jutland Open University (JOU). Five teach-
ers were engaged in the three courses conducted in 1988 and 1989.
Just one had a university degree where computers were a part of
the study, the others had no computing skills. Their expecta-
tions about CMC ranged from sympathetic to very negative.

Christensen points out that experiences from just five teachers
are too sparse to draw any firm conclusions, but some of her
initial conclusions are: "CMC gives more work to the teachers,
but extra teaching hours have not been added to the courses;" ...
"the teachers have to be trained in the technical and especially
the educationally use of CMC;" ... "experiences of teachers in
previous years must be passed on to new teachers." ... "I am more
and more convinced that many of the problems we are observing are
not primarily due to CMC, but in part due to the implementation
of it and in part to the way that distance education is orga-
nised. It is not CMC that causes the problems, but we become
aware of the problems because of CMC. CMC can be an important
tool in solving these problems."

FINLAND

Manninen, J. 1991. Computer conferencing and self-directed
learning - Experiences from computer-mediated facilitating. Paper
presented at the Fifth International Symposium on Adult Self-
Directed Learning, February 24-26 at Norman, Oklahoma.

The paper is based on two experiments from two one-month courses
in Finland. The first course - Philosophy of Adult Education -
was held at the Helsinki University in spring 1990. The students
were offered the option of doing the course-work by participating
in discussion-groups in PortaCOM. 12 students, age 20 to 35 took
part in the course. They all had basic computer skills, and still
face-to-face meetings were arranged to train them in using
PortaCOM. All of them had daily access to a computer either at
home, at work, or on campus. An average student logged on to
PortaCOM 39 times, spent 59 hours online, and sent 29 messages.
Some group discussion took place.

The second course - Introduction to Adult Education - was held in
the fall 1990. Thirty students at the Open University, University
of Helsinki used Tradepost (Telebox) for communication. The
students, aged 35 to 50, were trade union members from metal
industry and child care. All had access to a computer at home, at
work, or at a trade union center. All of them had completed a
theory course about computer conferencing, so no face-to-face
training was provided. The average student logged on just a few
times and was online about 2.3 hours. No discussion took place,
and in several local groups the system was handled by one person
who took care of the mail for his peers.

The paper concludes that students must have daily access to
computers, they must be given the ability to use the equipment,
and each student must use the system on their own.

FRANCE

Guihot, P. 1989. Using Teletel for learning. In Mindweave:
Communication, Computers and Distance Education, eds. R. Mason
and Anthony Kaye, 192-195. Oxford: Pergamon Press.

The article describes the use of the French videotex system
Teletel (also known as Minitel) for education. The widespread
access to Teletel terminals resulted in several activities
starting from 1986:

- For a per hour fee, educational services on Teletel provide
services like: anonymous teachers answer home-work questions via
e-mail; and databases with model answers to questions asked in
national examinations.

- Teletel equipment has been distributed to French schools.

- Teletel has been used in university applications like: initial
registration of students in the universities in Paris; informa-
tion services to prospective and current students, teaching at
the University of Paris-Dauphine.

- The Ministry of Education has established EDUTEL, an informa-
tion service aimed at parents and school staff.

INDONESIA

Brochet, G. and E. K. McCreary. 1990. Telecommunication across
continents: Indonesian/Canadian cooperation on the Sulawesi
regional development project. In Proceedings of The Third Guelph
Symposium on Computer Mediated Communication, 350-360. University
of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario.

International development projects require advanced communication
tools. Time differences can be a problem, telephone calls can
take hours to place, and Telex may be inconvenient. This paper,
describes the use of the CoSy computer conferencing system by
Project staff to facilitate communication between sites in Canada
and Indonesia. Since 1984, the system has provided daily e-mail
and CMC contact between staff members on either side of the
world. PT IndoSat, the Indonesian telecommunication provider,
established satellite links for the project.

The paper concludes that the project: .. "repeatedly confirmed
the significant advantages of CMC over more traditional forms of
management communication. The speed, degree of detail, technical
reliability, relative confidentiality, relative candour and
immediate, permanent documentation afforded by CMC communication,
surpass the alternatives and have established this medium as
indispensable to this type of project. The Sulawesi experience
holds significant promise for any rural development project
involving comparably complex work in remote sites."

LATIN AMERICA

Thorngate, W. and B. Klejner. 1990. Developing countries and
communications: A Latin American example. In Proceedings of The
Third Guelph Symposium on Computer Mediated Communication, 395-
403. University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario.

From June 1987 to December 1989, about 15 medical scientists in
Latin America and Canada used EIES and Bitnet for communications.
EIES was accessed via the host computer at New Jersey Institute
of Technology, U.S.A., and Bitnet was accessed via the host
computer at Carlton University in Ottawa, Canada. Most of the
scientists used e-mail frequently, but they used computer confer-
encing very little. The problems with technical equipment and
local telephone connections were chronic. Most participants could
not maintain a telephone connection for more than about fifteen
minutes at a time. The telecommunication infrastructure in Latin
America is a major obstacle for projects like this.

NETHERLANDS

Meurs, C. E. J van, and P. A. J. Bouhuijs. 1989. Tele-education:
An experiment on home computing at the Dutch Open University.
Open Learning 4(1):33-36.

The article describes a nine-month pilot project conducted by the
Dutch Open University. In 1987, 668 students enrolled in the
course: Systems and Systems Controls. Of these, sixty volunteer
students and two tutors took part in the Tele-education experi-
ment. The sixty students were supplied with a pc, a printer, and
a modem. Both hardware and communication were provided free of
charge. The course had three media components: print, computer-
aided learning, and computer-mediated communication.

The computer-aided learning components were: an introduction to
the computer, a distribution system game, self-assessment ques-
tions, tutorials, and simulations. The computer-mediated communi-
cation system consisted of e-mail, a bulletin board system, and a
system for file-transfer.

The authors state that: "The results of this project were rather
disappointing." Furthermore: "no educational advantages of a
Tele-education approach over a standard distance education course
could be detected." The Tele-education course was even rated
significantly lower than the original course with regard to
freedom of time and place. The overall judgement of the computer
aided learning courses, however, was positive.

The authors also state that the benefits of computer communica-
tions may be less in Netherlands than elsewhere, because the
country is densely populated without any remote areas.

NEW ZEALAND

Sheffield, J. and R. J. McQueen. 1990. Groupware and management
education: Matching communication medium to task requirements. In
Proceedings of The Third Guelph Symposium on Computer Mediated
Communication, 181-192. University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario.

The University of Auckland has developed a groupware system to
support synchronous group sessions. This paper reports the
experiences from a management course exercise using the
groupware. Two groups of ten students took part in an assignment
using the Nominal Group Technique. One of the groups utilized the
groupware, the other group used traditional tools like wall-
mounted sheets of paper and felt markers.

Both groups were satisfied with: "the technical and the socio-
emotional aspect of the discussion." The students using the
groupware completed the assignment in less time than the other
students, and as the result of the groupware process, they had
developed a written assignment report.

NORWAY

Rekkedal, T. 1990. Recruitment and study barriers in the Elec-
tronic College. In The Electronic College - Selected Articles
From the EKKO Project, eds. M. F. Paulsen and T.Rekkedal, 79-105.
Oslo: NKI Forlaget.

The article describes results from an in-depth telephone inter-
view survey among 20 prospective computer conferencing students,
26 correspondence students, and 20 computer conferencing stu-
dents, all in connection with NKI's ten-course Information
Processing Program. The interview period was June 1st to June
20th 1989, and the respondents were those the interviewer was
able to reach via telephone in this period.

The conclusions from the interview are:

- The Information Processing program can be studied in four
different ways: Full-time and part-time on campus, and through
both correspondence and computer conferencing. The different
alternatives seem to reach different target groups with different
needs. Studies via correspondence or via computer conferencing
seem to attract different student-groups, who deliberately choose
the method they prefer.

- Distance education through computer conferencing has functioned
quite well.

- There is a need for improved information to prospective stu-
dents about technology and cost of courses taught via computer
conferencing.

- Lack of modems and limited knowledge about the technology is a
major recruitment barrier for computer conferencing courses.

- Research is needed to find better methods for teaching via
computer conferencing.

Soby M. 1990. The Postmodern condition and distance education -
computer conferencing and communicative competence. In Proceed-
ings of the Third Symposium on Computer Mediated Communication,
112-120. University of Guelph, Ontario.

The article discusses the new facilities and opportunities com-
puter conferencing offers distance education, and describes the
NKS College experience with the PortaCOM conferencing system in
the fall 1989 and the spring 1990. PortaCOM was initially offered
as one compulsory part of the course: The Computer as a Tool, in
the NKS Business Administration Program. After a while, student
pressure entailed opening of conferences for the two courses:
Statistics and Economics as well. PortaCOM was used as an adjunct
to correspondence tuition, telephone contact and face-to-face
contact. In the 1989 spring term, about 100 students logged on to
PortaCOM. The average student was online 17.5 hours. About 30
students were very active, 30 were medium active and the rest
were "lurkers". Interviews with the students conclude: "CMC sup-
ported their study activity and responsibility towards their own
education and supported the co-operation among the students."

In the 1990 spring term, the NKS College established these
conferences on PortaCOM: three for PC as a Tool, two for Economy,
two for Organisational Behaviour, one for Management, one for
Administration, and the Cafe Online. About 600 students enrolled
and 300 used PortaCOM actively.

U.S.A.

Coombs, N. 1989. Using CMC to overcome physical disabilities. In
Mindweave: Communication, Computers and Distance Education, eds.
R. Mason and A. Kaye, 180-185. Oxford: Pergamon Press.

This article describes the experiences from two CMC courses that
the author, who is blind, taught at the Rochester Institute of
Technology. Both courses were about Modern American History, and
comprised: a textbook, the television series "America: The Second
Century," and computer conferencing via VaxNotes.

The first course, in 1986, enrolled 13 students. The teacher
conducted face-to-face classes and moderated the computer confer-
ence with the help of a personal computer with speech synthesiz-
er. The students: "evaluated all aspects of the computer more
favourably than they did either the videos or the text. They
rated the conference discussion very positively." One of the
students was hearing impaired. The second course was further
developed for hearing impaired students, utilizing captioned
video as well as computer conferencing.

Coombs states: "The handicapped, once having learned the basic
technologies, can participate equally with their disability being
invisible."

Phillips, G. M., G. M. Santoro, and S. A. Kuehn. 1988. The use of
computer-mediated communication in training students in group
problem-solving and decision-making techniques. The American
Journal of Distance Education Vol. 2 No. 1. 38-51.

The following is an abstract written by the authors: "This
article describes the use of computer-mediated communication in a
small group performance course. Typical instruction in such
courses is often ineffective because instructors are unable to
monitor group discussion effectively. Through the use of a
computer network, three objectives were achieved: 1) instructors
were able to closely monitor progress in the groups; 2) students
were provided with detailed feedback about their performance of
communication skills in their groups; and 3) the instructional
staff was able to increase their monitoring efficiency to effec-
tively advise more groups than in non-computerized group perform-
ance courses. The details of the evaluation, feedback, and com-
puter system are explained."

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