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DEOSNEWS Vol. 1 No. 18. This document has about 380 lines.
Copyright 1991 DEOS - The Distance Education Online Symposium
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EDITORIAL

Scholars, researchers, administrators, and students are invited
to submit articles about distance education to DEOSNEWS. If your
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COMPUTER NETWORKS FOR TEACHING AND RESEARCH:
CHANGING THE NATURE OF EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE AND THEORY

Greg Kearsley & William Lynch
[kearsley@gwuvm.gwu.edu & blynch@gwuvm.gwu.edu]
School of Education & Human Development
The George Washington University
Washington, DC

In the past few years, the use of computer networks in education has gone
from being a curiosity to a major component. Thousands of teachers and
students are now using computer networks on a regular basis to learn and
interact with each other. It is clear that networks have the potential to
significantly reshape the way we conduct education. To date, however, there
has been little analysis of the impact on teaching/learning strategies,
curriculum, or the organizational structure of schools. In this article we
will examine this impact in light of our own experiences using networks in
the Educational Technology Leadership program at The George Washington
University as well as research conducted by others on the topic.

The Ed Tech Leadership BBS

For the past 2 years, a bulletin board system (BBS) has provided electronic
messaging and computer conferencing capabilities for the faculty and
students in our Educational Technology Leadership program. At the beginning
of each course, students are shown a videotape demonstrating how the
bulletin board works and are encouraged to use it during the course.
Sometimes we post assignments, quizzes or exams on the system but most of
the time it is used for informal interaction between students and in-
structors. Access to the bulletin board is free and we provide an 800
number to allow people outside of the Washington area to sign on without
incurring long distance charges.
Most of the students in the program are teachers or training pro-
fessionals completing their Master's degree on a part-time basis. In
general, they work during the day at full-time jobs and take most of their
classes at night after work. Our students tend to be very busy and place a
premium on their free time. Since they spend much of their day in a
classroom teaching, they are often difficult to reach by telephone. While
most of the students live within 20 miles of the main campus, they are not
inclined to waste a lot of time commuting to classes. The bulletin board
provides a convenient and efficient means for students to interact with
faculty and each other.
There are a lot of interesting ramifications of providing a department
or school wide network. Since we allow all students and instructors access
to any course discussion, it is possible to participate in (or at least
"browse" through) any course being conducted. Thus, the network breaks down
the artificial walls we construct between different subjects or topics.
Another aspect is that students or faculty can be active electronically in
a course without actually showing up on campus for class meetings. This
increases the geographical range of our courses and makes them attractive
to students who would not normally enroll because of their distance from
the university (or the hassle of commuting downtown).
Probably the most significant implication of using computer networks
for teaching is that it can dramatically increase the degree of student-in-
structor interaction. Instead of a few questions during or after class, it
now becomes possible for students to post questions on the bulletin board
any time they wish. While this increased level of interaction is highly
desirable, it places a much heavier load on the teacher since responding to
student questions can consume many hours a week. If students are asked to
complete assignments and submit them online, this means even greater
demands on the instructor.
Students vary considerably in the extent and nature of their use of
the bulletin board system. Some students tend to be more active, probably
having to do with their social or verbal skills or their degree of comfort
using computers. For example, some students prefer to turn in their
assignments online while others stick to using the mail or fax. On the
other hand, use of the system does not seem to penalize students who have
limited verbal proficiency and who tend to say little in a live class. This
is especially important for foreign students who may have difficulty with
spoken English although their reading and writing ability is good.
One of the most significant factors that limits the use of networks by
students and faculty is easy access to a computer equipped with a modem,
preferably at home or at their office. Because not all students and faculty
meet this condition, we can only make network activities an optional
component of our courses. If the university would make it a requirement for
all students to own a computer (as some institutions do), we could design
our courses to rely on the use of network activities. Another possibility
is that we could make ownership of a computer and modem a pre-requisite to
course enrollment. So far we have not been willing to take this step since
it could have the unwanted effect of screening out students.
A much more profound constraint on the effectiveness of networks in
teaching and learning is becoming sophisticated enough about computers and
networks to use them effortlessly. While the basic functions of reading and
sending messages are not hard to learn, more advanced capabilities such as
transferring files, rerouting messages, participating in conferences, and
setting up electronic files take much more experience and affect the
usefulness of the system. Similarly, learning what types of teaching
techniques work on a network and modifying course activities to accomodate
these techniques takes a considerable amount of experience. Until this
experience is acquired, courses taken or taught using networks may not be
very successful or rewarding.
We feel that teachers need to use computer networks as part of their
professional activities in order to become confortable enough to use them
teaching. Like many university and college professors, we make extensive
use of BITNET to interact with our colleagues around the country and world.
BITNET adds a new twist to traditional research activities. For example,
there are a number of electronic journals available for both reading and
contributing to. Contributions are simply typed or loaded into the system
and sent to the editor for review. One of us is writing a book with an
author at another institution and we use BITNET to send draft chapters back
and forth for discussion. We have also used BITNET to submit conference
papers and organize sessions. Since BITNET also serves as the electronic
mail system for our own campus, it can be used to interact with local
colleagues too.
Our campus network also allows us electronic access to the university
library catalog. Students and faculty can sign on to the catalog and
conduct searches of the entire library holdings (including periodicals).
This is very useful when you are working on an article or preparing a
course syllabus and need to check references. Of course, we also have
access at the library to major online databases such as ERIC, PSYCHINFO,
DIALOG, etc. While faculty and students can access such online databases
directly, there are costs involved. Everything we have discussed in the
rest of the article involves no usage charges -- one of the factors that is
undoubtedly responsible for their success.

Implications

We believe the use of networks at GWU just discussed is typical of what is
occurring at many schools and colleges around the country. One clearcut
implication of networking in the school setting is the potential to change
the curriculum, particularly in language and science classrooms (Roberts et
al, 1990). When students use networks for class activities, those activ-
ities tend to be collaborative efforts that involve small groups collecting
and sharing information with students at other schools. For example, in the
Computer Chronicles project (part of the AT&T Long Distance Learning
Network), students at each site created their own newspapers using stories
provided by students on the network (Riel, 1985). In many cases, these
projects involve cross-cultural exchanges. Project Orillas linked Puerto
Rican students in the U.S. with students in Puerto Rico for the purpose of
improving Spanish writing skills (Sayers & Brown, 1987). In the case of
science, networks tend to focus attention on data collection. For example
in the National Geographic Kids Network, middle school students conduct
experiments in areas such as pollution or weather and share data with
students at hundreds of schools around the world. While students learn
about specific content areas, the emphasis is on having students actually
do science and learn how to ask and answer scientific questions (Foster et
al., 1988).
A second major implication of networks is the increased potential for
distance education (Davie, 1988; Mason & Kaye, 1989). Distance education,
i.e., learning situations in which the teacher and students are physically
separated, is becoming increasingly popular because of the convenience and
cost-savings it affords. However, the greatest problem in making distance
education work is providing a high level of interaction between students
and teacher. Computer networks provide a means to achieve this high level
of interaction and add new modes of teaching at a distance. For example, an
online conference allows an extended discussion, spanning weeks or months,
to be conducted with the possibility of involving "guest" participants from
any location. Furthermore, use of a computer network encourages students in
the class to interact informally, compensating for the lack of face-to-face
social interaction in a classroom. Indeed, the degree of social interaction
possible when a network is used in a course can be much more extensive than
in a traditional classroom!
One of the very significant implications of the use of computer
networks for distance education is the virtual elimination of geographic
and time barriers to education. Since students make a local telephone call
to link into a network, the actual location of the institution offering the
course is immaterial. Because networks are available on a 24 hour basis,
messages can be read and sent anytime. Colleges and faculty are no longer
limited to serving regional populations; students no longer need to con-
sider the proximity of a school to their home. Indeed many "electronic
universities" are emerging that have neither a traditional campus or
faculty. Students take courses at home or the office; faculty teach from
home or their offices. In one scenario, an electronic university does not
need to have its own faculty but offers courses taught by faculty from any
school who are interested. This opens up the possibility of "freelance"
teachers who offer courses at many electronic universities without belong-
ing to a specific institution. So much for faculty parking and tenure!
A third implication of networks is the potential for "mainstreaming"
handicapped and disabled students. Most of the problems that handicapped
students have in school revolve around difficulties communicating with
others. By using networks to interact, these barriers to communication are
removed. For example, deaf students can freely participate in regular
courses that use computer networks without any communication problems.
Similarly, blind and physically disabled students can participate in
courses that use networks by using personal computers equipped with special
interfaces. There are also a number of online databases that provide
information about special education resources (e.g., SpecialNet).
A fourth implication of network use is how they affect the profes-
sional development and collaboration of teachers. Earlier in this article
we talked about the use of BITNET to share information with colleagues in
higher education. A number of projects have established networks specifi-
cally for the purpose of teacher training and support. For example, the
Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College in Vermont runs a
network called BreadNET to allow teachers who participate in their summer
writing workshops to interact on a continuing basis (Elder et al. 1989).
Teacher-LINK is a network established by the School of Education at the
University of Virgina specifically to support student teaching activities
(Harris, 1989). A similar network for the support of beginning teachers is
being used at Harvard University (Beals, 1991). The National Education
Association in conjunction with IBM Corp. has implemented a large computer
network that links many schools and teachers around the country specifi-
cally for the purpose of teacher interaction. These efforts are important
because school teachers are often very limited in their opportunities to
interact with each other and educational researchers. Networks provide a
way of sharing the collective experience and wisdom of teachers at all
levels and locations.

Issues

There are many issues that need to be addressed as computer networks become
more popular in education. One important issue is the design of networks to
facilitate group interaction. As Feenberg & Bellman (1990) state: "Computer
Mediated Communications creates electronic social enviroments as complex
and socially specific as the interiors designed to serve the different
types of social activities that go on in face-to-face settings." (p. 68) In
other words, we need to think about the design of computer networks in ways
that are conducive to group interaction. Another design issue has to do
with creating telecommunications software that is easy to use but also
powerful and rich in terms of features. Because students may be at varying
levels of computer sophistication, we need software interfaces that can
accomodate both novice and experienced users.
Interconnection among networks is also an important issue. There are
literally hundreds of local and national networks that we would like to
link up with from our GWU bulletin board system. But each system involves a
different user interface and operating system commands. While it is not
technically difficult for us to connect up with different networks from our
bulletin board system, it is unrealistic for us to learn and remember how
to use each one. We need software that will automatically translate from
one system to another and allow us to use many systems without the need to
become telecommunications experts.
Changes to teaching strategies and curriculum raise a number of
issues. The use of networks results in a highly participatory and collabor-
ative learning environment. Teachers or students who are uncomfortable with
this type of environment will not find networked classes very enjoyable.
Most class activities conducted in a network setting are relatively
unstructured and this may make them difficult for some students. In
addition, participation in networks requires good reading skills --
students who are poor readers will be at a disadvantage. Certain topics and
techniques that work well in a regular classroom may not work in an online
class and vice-versa (Hiltz & Meinke, 1989; Phillips, Santoro & Kuehn,
1988). So, teaching and learning via a computer network requires experimen-
tation on the part of teachers and students.
Earlier in this article we alluded to some of the administrative
issues that computer networks introduce. For example, campus classroom
facilities become less important; computing facilities and electronic
access to resources become paramount. User support is a critical consider-
ation. For example, students often have problems using our bulletin board
system and need help. We have a full-time lab assistant who maintains the
system and provides assistance. Without this assistant, it is unlikely that
we would be able to provide satisfactory support to our students in using
the BBS. We rely on our campus computing services for assistance using
BITNET or the online library catalog. If we were to expand our use of
networks to include gateways to other systems, we would depend upon these
services for technical support and training. Historically, departments have
been the main administrative unit in higher education; the use of networks
could change this situation.
Class size is another significant issue. Because of the high level of
interaction involved in an online course, a single instructor can only
handle a small number of students (typically 10-15) -- even though in
principle, there is no physical limit on enrollment size. This means that
the teaching load for online courses is heavier than a traditional class
with the same number of students. If large class sizes are allowed for
online courses, instructors need teaching assistants or team teaching
arrangements. Instructors also need to learn strategies for handling the
high level of interaction typical of online courses. This includes redi-
recting questions back to students, grouping similar questions together for
a single response, and encouraging concise messages.
There is also the question of costs. Is it reasonable to expect
students to provide their own communications hardware and software needed
to participate in online courses? Should off- campus students pay as much
tuition as on-campus students despite the fact that they do not use campus
facilities? Should on-campus students subsidize the costs of the computing
resources used to deliver networked courses to off-campus students? Who
should pay for the usage costs when we connect with commercial networks or
databases? Clearly, a rethinking of traditional education financing is
needed for online education.

Conclusions

Computer networks are creating new instructional paradigms at all levels of
our educational system. Networks change the way we teach and learn, result
in curriculum restructuring, and provide new educational opportunities for
certain kinds of students. At The George Washington University, we have
watched our education courses evolve due to the use of computer networking.
We believe that this evolution will ultimately have a broad impact on the
university in terms of how classes are taught, who teaches, and the
composition of the student body. These changes reflect an overall trans-
formation in our educational system as it assimilates the new possibilities
of the information age.

References

Beals, D.E. (1991, April). Computer mediated communication among beginning
teachers. THE Journal, 18(9), 74-77.

Davie, L.E. (1988). Facilitating adult learning through computer- mediated
distance education. Journal of Distance Education, 3 (2), 55-69.

Elder, J., Bowen, B., Schwartz, J. & Goswami, D. (1989). Word processing in
a community of writers. New York: Garland Publishing.

Feenberg, A. & Bellman, B. (1990). Social factor research in computer-med-
iated communications. In L. Harasim (ed)., Online Education: Perspectives
on a new environment. New York: Praeger.

Foster, J., Julyan, C., & Mokros, J. (1988). The National Geographic Kids
Network from Technical Education Research Centers, Inc. Science and
Children, 25(8), 39.

Harris, J. (1989, June). Teacher-LINK: An electronic culture. In Proceed-
ings of the National Educational Computing Conference, Boston, MA, 297-299.

Hiltz, S.R. & Meinke, R. (1989, October). Teaching sociology in a virtual
classroom. Teaching Sociology, 17, 431-446.

Mason, R. & Kaye, A. (1989). Mindweave: Communication, computers and dis-
tance education. New York: Pergamon Press.

Phillips, G.M., Santoro, G.M., & Kuehn, S.A. (1988). The use of computer--
mediated communication in training students in group problem-solving and
decision-making techniques. Americal Journal of Distance Education, 2(1),
38-51.

Riel, M. (1985). The Computer Chronicles newswire: A functional learning
environment for acquiring literacy skills. Journal of Educational Computing
Research, 1(3), 317-338.

Roberts, N., Blakeslee, G., Brown, M., and Lenk, C. (1990). Integrating
Telecommunications into Education. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice- Hall.

Sayers, D. & Brown, K. (1987, July). Bilingual education, second language
learning and telecommunications: A perfect fit. C.A.L.L. Digest., 3(5).

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