DEOSNEWS Vol. 3 No. 7.
Copyright 1993 DEOS - The Distance Education Online Symposium
   
Director of ACSDE and Editor of AJDE:  Dr. Michael G. Moore.
DEOSNEWS Editor:  Melody M. Thompson
DEOSNEWS Reviewer:  Margaret Koble
   
   
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EDITORIAL
   
Many people have called The American Center for the Study of Distance
Education to request general information about setting up a distance
education program or unit within their institutions. A commonly asked
question is, "How have other institutions dealt with the task of creating
a framework for the integration of distance education into their overall
program?" In response to this question, DEOSNEWS is publishing The
Pennsylvania State University's Report of the Task Force on Distance
Education to provide our readers with an example of how one major
research university is attempting to deal with this issue. Because the Report
is quite long, it will be published in two succeeding issues of DEOSNEWS.
This issue consists of Part 1: Executive Summary and Overview. Part 2,
which includes a complete discussion of Recommendations for Action,
references, and a list of task force members, will be published in the next
issue of DEOSNEWS.
   
   
   
THE REPORT OF THE TASK FORCE ON DISTANCE EDUCATION
   
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA
   
Issued November 1992
   
   
PART 1: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND OVERVIEW
   
   
CONTENTS
   
Executive Summary
Summary Of Recommendations For Action
The Task Force And Its Charge
The Report Of The Task Force On Distance Education
What Is Distance Education?
Technology And Distance Education
National Forces In Higher Education
A Changing Student Population
     Technology
     A Changing Economic Picture
The Force Of History And Mission At Penn State
     The Historic Tradition Of Distance Education At Penn State
     The Multi-Campus Structure Of The University
     Research
     Service
   
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
   
        The Task Force on Distance Education has focused much of its
deliberation on the central question posed in its charge by Executive
Vice President and Provost John Brighton - "What role should distance
education play in the future of Penn State?"  We placed this question in
the context of the Strategic Goals set by the University in 1990, the
Guiding Principles of the University Future Committee whose charge is to
develop a comprehensive sense of that future, and the Statement of the Council
of Academic Deans on the Future of Penn State which was delivered to the
President on September 1, 1990.  We also looked at the evolving national
picture of higher education in America and at the more localized
circumstances of our own university.  From this and extensive research on
the subject of distance education itself, we have developed an answer to that
question that serves as the centerpiece of this report and an over-arching
statement of our belief in the place of distance education in the University.
In our view, distance education will become a substantial part of the
University's future regardless of this report or any actions that are taken
as a result of it.  We believe that the external forces of an evolving student
population, the revolutionary advances in technology, and the changing
economic picture for all of higher education will, eventually, bring an
enhanced and expanded use of distance education methodologies into the
central strategies of most major universities.  We also find that there are
unique and special circumstances at Penn State that predispose the
University toward an augmentation of its distance education activities and
that this, likely, will occur at sometime in the University's future.
However, the Task Force believes that, at this moment, there is a
"window of opportunity" that is open to the University that will allow it to
capitalize on existing strengths and assume a position of national leadership
in distance education.  We believe that this could ensure the future viability
of our distance education efforts, increase the quality and efficiency of many
of our academic programs, bring national recognition and prestige to the
University through accomplishments in this area, and serve as a source of
both cost-savings and revenue generation. We also believe that if this
"window of opportunity" closes before strong actions are taken, the
leadership role will pass to another institution and Penn State will, likely, be
cast in the role of a consumer of distance education rather than a major
producer.
   
        The Task Force firmly believes that there is a very real possibility
that national and international preeminence in distance education may prove
to be a prerequisite to national and international preeminence in most other
areas of academic enterprise.  To that end, we advance the proposition that
distance education must become a central priority in Penn State's strategies
for the future.  We believe that the University should take all necessary
steps to advance and support the use of distance education across the full
range of academic pursuits and endeavors and move rapidly and aggressively
to develop programs of the highest academic quality within each of its
constituent units.  We see this as an act of strategic necessity that
touches on the future success of all academic units and, consequently,
should be carried forward by a clear charge from the central administration.
We have developed our report around a central goal that we believe
encompasses both the importance of distance education in the University's
future and Penn State's place in the future of distance education.  That goal
is:
   
To elevate The Pennsylvania State University to a position of national
leadership in the advocacy, creation, and utilization of distance
education as an important and beneficial force in the future of the
institution and all institutions of higher learning.
   
The Recommendations that follow are focused on the achievement of
this goal.
   
   
SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ACTION
   
   
Recommendation I:  That all necessary steps be taken to elevate Penn
State to a position of recognized national leadership in the field of distance
education.
   
*  We recommend that the University make leadership in distance
education a primary goal in its strategic plans for the future.
   
*  We recommend that The American Center For The Study of Distance
Education at Penn State be enhanced and expanded to become the national
locus for the study and understanding of distance education; the shaping of
national policy for the method; the development of new program designs;
assessment techniques and criteria; technological applications; and a
principal force for the advocacy, development, and use of distance
education throughout higher education.
   
*  We recommend that partnerships with business, industry, and
government be forged to support Penn State's efforts in advancing the cause
of distance education and to bring the University to a position of national
and international preeminence.
   
Recommendation II:  That the University create an administrative and
organizational structure that encourages and facilitates the use and
development of distance education in all areas of academic pursuit and
endeavor.
   
*  We recommend that all schools, colleges, academic units, as well as
student support and resource units throughout the University be charged by
the central administration to explore, encourage, and support the
development and use of distance education and include distance education
within their strategic plans in the future.
   
*  We recommend that a unit be created under the direction of the Vice
President for Continuing Education specifically charged and organized to
support the development and delivery of distance education.
   
Recommendation III:  That the University commit all resources
necessary to fully develop and maintain an evolving technological
infrastructure to allow distance education to become a viable, efficient, and
effective component in Penn State's future.
   
*  We recommend that a special task force or committee be appointed by
the central administration from those agencies or units within the University
who possess knowledge or expertise over any aspect of the technological or
practical infrastructure needed to serve an enhanced or expanded use of
distance education and charged to deliver a strategic plan for the
development of that infrastructure at the earliest possible date.
   
*  We recommend that the University take whatever steps are necessary
to implement the strategic plan for that infrastructure.
   
*  We recommend that the University adopt as part of that
implementation a strategy of providing adequate life-cycle funding for the
technological infrastructure to assure that service levels are both maintained
and responsive to ongoing technological developments.
   
Recommendation IV:  That a system of investment in the future of
distance education be established to provide support for program
development and the continued growth of the method through its successful
application.
   
*  We recommend that a substantial pool of resources be assigned to the
proposed Distance Education Unit to fund program development and that a
proportion of revenues generated by distance education programs or cost-
saving benefits derived from their use be returned to the pool to support
further and enhanced program development.
   
*  We recommend that a proportion of revenues generated by specific
distance education programs or cost-saving benefits derived from their use
be returned to the schools, colleges, departments, or other academic units
that participated in the support or development of those programs.
   
*  We recommend that a portion of the revenues generated by specific
distance education programs be returned to the faculty who participated in
the creation, teaching, development, or design of those programs in
proportion to the extent of their contribution or participation.
   
Recommendation V:  That the University establish a clear system of
incentives and rewards to encourage activity, recognize achievement, and
foster continuing accomplishment in distance education at Penn State.
   
*  We recommend that the promotion and tenure "rainbow dividers" be
rewritten to specifically recognize distance education activities as being
appropriate and co-equal with other recognized activities in the categories of
Teaching Ability And Effectiveness, Research and Creative Accomplishment,
and Scholarship And Mastery Of Subject Matter.
   
*  We recommend that distance education activities be mainstreamed
into the faculty's list of responsibilities so that a faculty member teaching,
conducting research, or creatively involved in distance education sees it as
part of his or her workload and not as an extra or adjunct responsibility.
   
*  We recommend that the funding mechanism proposed earlier be used
to provide financial incentives to schools, colleges, departments, and faculty
to participate in distance education and return benefits whenever distance
education programs generate revenues or return cost-saving benefits for the
University.
   
*  We recommend that the University create annual awards to recognize
achievement in distance education and provide support for continued
accomplishment.
   
Recommendation VI:  That all necessary steps be taken to create an
environment favorable to distance education that will promote its use and
development while serving to change the culture of higher education at Penn
State.
   
*  We recommend that the initial thrust of the proposed Distance
Education Unit be to develop demonstration projects throughout all units of
the university system to clearly establish the potential use, benefit, and
application of distance education within these units in service to their broad
academic goals.
   
*  We recommend that the University and the American Center For The
Study Of Distance Education sponsor and promote conferences,
workshops, speakers programs, and other events to inform and educate the
university community about distance education.
   
*  We recommend that the proposed Distance Education Unit identify
and develop individualized programs within each major academic unit to
inform and educate their faculty about distance education and bring them to
a better understanding of the worth, merit, and potential benefits of the
method for their particular area.
   
THE TASK FORCE AND ITS CHARGE
   
        The Task Force on Distance Education was appointed on March 31,
1992 by the Vice President for Continuing Education, Dr. James Ryan, and
charged by the Executive Vice President and Provost of the University, Dr.
John Brighton.  The charge delivered to the Task Force was to explore and
examine distance education both at Penn State and in a national context,
consider its potential use and application in the broad scheme of the
University's future, and bring forth recommendations to address the role
that distance education should play in that future.
   
        The group, consisting of twenty-three faculty and administrators and
three professional staff, was asked to consider distance education as "a
serious issue and one that is very important to the University's future" and
approach it with a view "to build a vision of distance education in Penn
State's future."  The committee was to assess the University's capacity to
deliver instruction at a distance and determine what that capacity should be if
distance education were brought to a level of use that, in the committee's
view, was appropriate to the needs of the University.  The Task Force was
also asked to consider how the University should "position itself to deliver
instruction at a distance between campuses and to national and international
audiences."
   
        The Task Force was given until the first of June to deliver a preliminary
report with a final report due by the end of October.  Although the task has
been difficult and, at times, overwhelming, the Task Force has completed
its work and offers this report in the hope that it will prove to be timely,
accurate, and, above all, helpful.
   
        Over the seven months of our investigation and deliberation, we have
found that as our understanding of distance education grew and developed,
our sense of its strategic importance to the University and its future
deepened and became more pronounced.  Many of us came to this
assignment with only a peripheral knowledge of what distance education
was, how it worked, what benefits it held for higher education, and how it
could be applied to the University's strategies for the future.  We also
brought to the process a myriad of misconceptions and false assumptions
about the methodology that were and are wide-spread throughout the
University.  However, as we became better informed and more
knowledgeable through our research, discussion, and, most important,
direct contact with functioning programs, we found that our opinions,
beliefs, and ideas about distance education altered dramatically.  We now
believe that this method is a viable and important means of educating that
should and, perhaps, must play a central role in the University's future
strategies.
   
        We also recognize, as a result of our own process, that advancing the
case for distance education will be neither simple nor easy.  However, we
find the potential benefits that distance education offers to higher education
are such that all efforts should be made to bring it into the mainstream of
recognized educational activity. Consequently, we have responded to our
charge with this report in anticipation that it will begin a strategic initiativ
towards the development and use of distance education across the
University.  In publishing this report we are less interested in gaining
acceptance of our specific proposals than in bringing this issue to the
attention of the university community and providing a first-step in what we
believe will be a necessary change in the basic culture of the University.
Because of this, we propose that this report be implemented in three
distinct phases.  In the first phase, we recommend that this report be
disseminated and discussed. We also believe that before strong actions are
taken, there should be a period of time spent in taking inventories of
existing resources, developing an accurate picture of costs, and carrying
forward a broad program of education and information to help the university
community understand the pedagogy of distance education and the benefits
that it can bring to higher education.  In the second phase, a comprehensive
strategic plan for distance education should be developed by the central
administration in concert with the constituent academic units of the
University.  In phase three, the strategic plan would be put into action.
   
   
THE REPORT OF THE TASK FORCE ON DISTANCE EDUCATION
   
        This report calls for an enhanced and expanded use of distance
education to serve the broad strategic goals set forth by the University in
January of 1990.  It also calls for the adoption of a new paradigm that
places distance education within the core of the University's strategic
priorities and provides for the encouragement, development, and utilization
of distance education as a key component in all of our future planning.  In
the following pages, we argue that Penn State must solidify its position of
national leadership in distance education and commit the necessary energy
and resources to insure success in the growth and development of distance
education programs.  It is the contention of this task force that success in the
University's over-arching goal of national and international preeminence in
education, research, and service will be conditioned by and, potentially,
dependent upon the success of its efforts in distance education.
   
        This report will focus on the forces and factors that we believe advance
the case for an institutional commitment to distance education.  It
identifies goals toward which such a commitment can aim and offers
recommendations to achieve those goals.  In form, this report is divided into
two sections.  The first deals with the nature of distance education and those
forces that the Task Force believes warrant an enhanced utilization of the
method.  The second focuses on specific recommendations for action to
advance a strategic initiative towards the expanded use of distance
education.
   
        It is the hope of the Task Force that this report will provide a foundation
upon which a strategic initiative for distance education can be built.
However, it is not our intent to present a final or definitive agenda for the
development of distance education.  Rather, the Task Force hopes that this
report will serve as a starting point from which a fundamental redirection in
our approach to higher education can take shape.  To that end, we
respectfully offer the following report.
   
   
WHAT IS DISTANCE EDUCATION?
   
        Distance education, like any formal method of educating, is a means by
which someone who desires to learn engages in some form of communication
with someone who can educate.  In distance education as in other educational
programs, the learner must acquire knowledge, develop skills in using that
knowledge, and gain understanding of the value and application of that
knowledge in the broadest possible context.  However, distance education
differs from most other forms of education in that the learner and the
teacher are geographically remote from one another rather than in the same
room in a face-to-face situation.
   
        Although distance education may be defined in a number of ways, this
task force has viewed "distance education" as a very specific term that
applies only to situations involving geographical separation, a teacher, a
learner or learners, interactive communication, and the acquisition of
knowledge, skills, and understanding.  In this sense, distance education is
not just teaching people who are at distance from the instructor nor learning
from someone who is not physically present.  Although both distance
teaching and distance learning do take place, there is also the demand that
some form of interaction exists between the teacher and learner.  For this
reason, educational tools like 'programmed learning texts' and 'teach
yourself books' are excluded from this and most accepted definitions of
distance education.  Similarly, instructional television broadcasts, audio and
video taped lessons, and computer learning programs, on their own, would
not be considered as forms of distance education.  However, any or all of
these may be part of a distance learning system if they are joined to some
form of two-way communication that allows for interaction between the
teacher and the learner.
   
        Two-way communication may be established using a wide variety of
media including computer communications, telephone, and postal service.
Emerging technologies like interactive multi-media and fiber-optic
networks are already expanding the interactive capabilities of distance
education and promise to yield even greater capacity in the future.
   
        Although distance education is similar to other forms of education, the
distance education learning environment is substantially different from that
of the traditional classroom and employs very different techniques and skills
in the design and execution of learning programs.  It is not a mere extension
of face-to-face education via technologies like video or computer.  One of
the great misconceptions of distance education is that success and
accomplishment in face-to-face teaching can simply be spread and
proliferated through video broadcast or tape distribution and qualify as a
workable model for distance education.  To the contrary, the use of
technology to increase class size or span distance without the appropriate
didactic design considerations necessary for distance education usually
produces diminished learning outcomes no matter how successful the
source material may have been in the face-to-face classroom environment.
However, the preponderance of research indicates that well-designed
and well-managed distance education programs produce learning outcomes
equal to those of face-to-face instruction.
   
        A second misconception of distance education is that it is inherently
inferior to face-to-face instruction or, correspondingly, that face-to-face
instruction is inherently better or more successful in producing quality
learning than is distance education.  Again, to the contrary, research
indicates that well-designed distance education programs produce learning
outcomes that are equitable with the face-to-face model.
        Of greater significance is the fact that, in specific applications, the
learning outcomes of distance education may be markedly superior to those
of the traditional classroom environment when they provide added learning
benefits that cannot be obtained through traditional means. The most
obvious benefit of distance education is that it can provide access and
opportunity for learners who cannot obtain education due to geographic or
physical isolation or other factors that preclude traditional classroom
instruction. This has served as the primary reason for advancing distance
education in the past.  However, the evolving nature of distance education
now offers a much richer program of benefits than in the past and in those
benefits lie the great promise of distance education as a tool for enhanced
quality, increased efficiency, and greater effectiveness in the broad picture
of higher education.
   
        The most advanced distance education programs can provide students
with far greater involvement in the process of learning and allow them the
exercise of far greater control over that process than is possible in many
traditional learning environments.  Through distance education, students can
shape and design the learning environment to suit their own particular
circumstances and self-direct instruction to serve their individual needs and
abilities. Distance learning programs can allow students to set the pace of
their learning and, consequently, improve their comprehension and skill.
Students who require greater time to master material can afford themselves
the opportunity to review and absorb information without the burden of
"keeping up" with a class norm that determines the speed at which one must
learn.  In self-contained distance education programs, the constraints of time
and place can be totally eliminated and learning can proceed whenever and
wherever the student chooses. External limitations such as available
classroom space and scheduling opportunities can be eased or eliminated
from both the student's and the institution's overall program of educational
offering.  Substantial teacher/student interaction, for many years a perceived
weakness of distance education programs, is rapidly becoming an asset of
the method while it grows as a liability in many of our traditional
classrooms. Interactive computer-based programs can provide students with
a far greater interaction than is possible in many of our over-crowded
classrooms and, even in the most simplistic of distance education program
designs, interaction is potentially greater than in an evolving classroom
situation that increasingly depends on too-large enrollments and over-taxed
instructors.
   
        The emerging technologies of distance education also provide
extraordinary opportunity to enhance learning benefits through increased
efficiency in the delivery of quality instruction to the broadest possible
audience of learners.  Quality teachers, our greatest educational asset, are in
far too short a supply to meet the demands of ever-increasing enrollments
and their effectiveness is all too frequently lost in a learning environment
that is not conducive to quality instruction.  The technologies of distance
education can be applied to increase the reach of our best instruction and
create a new learning environment richer in support of instruction and of far
greater capacity to expand learning opportunities than the present
configuration of classroom lecture and outside readings could ever hope to
be.  Instructional materials that cover the breadth and depth of a particular
subject can readily be made available in a single program allowing students
to self-direct their learning to individualized levels of experience.  Motion,
sound, image, and the interplay of a wide variety of media can combine
with traditional text to make learning a more interesting and challenging
position for the student.  In short, distance education can be far more than
an alternative path for learning.  It can become a new learning environment
that offers increased benefits to students with vast potential for increased
application across the total landscape of higher education.
   
        Still, despite all of the potential that resides in distance education,
it must not be misconstrued as either a challenge to traditional learning or
a entity unto itself.  It is a means of educating with certain benefits to both
learners and the institutions that employ it.  Its relative strengths and
weaknesses lie not in the method itself but in its application.  Its relative
success or failure is not determined by its inherent qualities but by how it is
employed in a specific situation.  Like any form of education, high quality
distance education programs produce high quality learning while programs
of poor design and execution produce diminished results.  It is a form that
demands that the design, production, and distribution of programs be
specifically geared to distance education learning objectives and take into
account all of the special needs and requirements of individual programs.  It
also demands management systems and assessment tools that are carefully
designed to serve the realities of study outside of the face-to-face model.
   
        This task force believes that distance education is a most important
resource that must be brought forcefully into the mainstream of activity in
higher education.  We believe that it is a viable and proven method of
educating that compares favorably with traditional instruction and, in
important applications, can actually be a superior mode. We see its benefits
to both learners and the institution of learning to be substantial and believe
that they will certainly increase as expertise is gained in its use and
application. We see increased learning benefits to students as the primary
and most compelling argument for advancing distance education.  Although
we also see great potential for cost-efficiency and increased effectiveness in
delivery by employing this method, it is the potential to improve the quality
of learning and instruction that has led the Task Force to its strong position
of advocacy and support for distance education.
   
        However, the Task Force does not see distance education as a universal
panacea for all of the problems in higher education nor do we see it as a
force that will or should replace traditional instruction.  We believe that
distance education must become a component, albeit a most important
component, that needs to be added to the complex matrix of means that must
be employed if we are to meet the demands of the future.  Distance
education is a tool, a most valuable tool, and one that needs to be used to far
greater effect and profit than it has been in the past.
   
TECHNOLOGY AND DISTANCE EDUCATION
   
        One of the most obvious and important facts of distance education is
that it is dependent upon technology to exist as a means to educate.  Since
education takes place at a distance, some medium of communication must be
employed to bridge that distance.  However, the media employed in distance
education are extremely varied and not necessarily complex or sophisticated.
Learning can take place via any medium and the choice is determined by its
appropriateness to the material, the cost of delivery, the availability of
facilities, and the number of students who will take the course.  In many
applications, postal, electronic, or voice mail provide a reasonable means
for communication to take place and no measurable enhancement of learning
is gained by utilizing more sophisticated or expensive media.  Despite the
emphasis that is being placed on emerging electronic technologies, the
method is not confined to expensive programming and delivery systems nor
is it accurately represented by them. However, the emerging advocacy for
distance education both nationally and internationally is due, in large
measure, to the increased  potential in the method that is being created by
technology and the enhanced capacity for efficient and wide-spread use of
distance education through advanced electronic delivery systems.
   
        The technologies of communication, which lie at the core of distance
education, are advancing at a rate unimagined in even the recent past.
Although distance education is but one small part of the technological
revolution that is reshaping human communication, it is a central focus of
that revolution and does offer enormous potential and opportunity for higher
education.  Of particular benefit to higher education is the enormous
potential that exists in multi-media, interactive programming, and digital-
based delivery systems that are rapidly becoming available for wide-spread
use and application.  Multi-media capabilities in instruction significantly
enhance and expand learning opportunities for students.  Integrated sound,
motion, image, and text create a rich new learning environment awash with
possibility and a clear potential to increase student involvement in the
learning process.  The interactive capabilities of both program and delivery
systems allow for feedback, dialogue, and on-going assessment that are
impossible in all but the most localized and direct applications of resident
instruction.  Emerging delivery systems offer the potential to extend the
reach of education beyond all constraints of time and place and carry it into
the work place, the learning center, and even the home within the space of a
decade.  In short, the quality, management, access, availability, and
efficiency of education can advance significantly through the use and
application of technologies, particularly those of distance education, in
service to learning.
   
        This task force finds that technology is opening-up a new frontier in
higher education that offers significant promise to improve learning and
make it available to an almost limitless audience of learners.  Our sense is
that technology will alter and reshape the entire landscape of higher
education and that it is important to recognize and acknowledge this change
and prepare for it as a coming fact of our strategic future.  We believe that
the technologies of distance education present the University with a valuable
resource that can be tapped and utilized to address many of the problems
that are now before us.  Our contention is that those universities that
embrace these realities will gain a significant strategic advantage over their
competitors and lay a foundation for future growth and stability.  On the
other hand, those that do not will be significantly disadvantaged and will
carry additional burdens as they attempt to cope with those forces that are
already acting upon higher education.  The Task Force believes that Penn
State must view technology as a central component in its strategic future and
seize the opportunity to become a leader rather than a follower in its
development and use.
   
   
NATIONAL FORCES IN HIGHER EDUCATION
   
        The Task Force believes that there are three sweeping and pervasive
forces acting upon all institutions of higher learning that are of
consequence in our strategic view of the future and relate directly to
the role that distance education should or, perhaps, must play in that
future. Each is distinct but all are interrelated and combine to create
a force for change that we believe  must be acknowledged and considered
in all of our strategic plans. The Task Force is convinced that these
forces will reshape and redefine the very nature of higher education and
that this change is already taking place.  Our sense is that the future
is upon us and that we must respond to it aggressively and forcefully or
risk being left behind or carried along no longer in control of our destiny.
A Changing Student Population
   
        There is clear and ample evidence to suggest that the future population
of learners will be dramatically different from our past and present clienteles
and that these students will have needs and carry expectations distinct and
dissimilar from those for whom our present strategies were developed.
All data currently available presents an evolving student body that will
become older, increasingly involved in part-time rather than full-time
instruction, less able and disposed to study in the resident instruction mode,
and more selective in exercising their educational options than any student
population in the past.  This growing body of learners will be increasingly
concerned with life-long learning opportunities, specific programs geared to
the needs of business and industry that lie outside of traditional
undergraduate and graduate instruction, and the advancement of
international perspectives in education that address the needs of a global
market and increasingly interdependent world order.
   
        Obviously, this will predicate a dramatic shift in the content of higher
education and the need to see content as a dynamic and evolving reality that
must constantly readjust to changing needs and perspectives.  While higher
education has always responded and redefined itself to serve the needs of
society, the process of change will escalate in the future and demand a new
outlook that allows for a more rapid "turn around" in thinking so that new
ideas and concepts can be brought before students as quickly as possible.
Our management of knowledge and ability to absorb new scholarship must
also become more "streamlined" and responsive if we are to keep pace with
both the increase of knowledge and the demand for it.
   
        However, the great adjustment that must be made will be in the context
of learning and the delivery of education to students.  Life-long learning will
demand a completely new sense of the university and its role in society and
a consequent shift in its view of the context of learning.  In the future, the
University must provide far greater access and availability of learning
opportunities for a population that will be forced to continually balance
educational needs with unshakable commitments to home, family, and the
work place.  This context must also allow for self-paced learning unfettered
by the traditional constraints of time and place.  Education will become an
on-going part of life and the necessity for increased flexibility, expanded
delivery, and the ability to respond to and meet the individual needs of
learners must match the demands of life-long learning.  In short, the
community of learners in the future will demand a new educational context,
the development of new systems of delivery, and the creation of new and
expanded areas of scholarship to meet their needs in a rapidly changing and
increasingly interdependent world.
   
        In the view of the Task Force, distance education is an essential and
appropriate means to meet many of the needs of this changing student
population and an opportunity to extend the role of higher education into
new and diverse communities of learners for whom education will be a
necessity rather than an option in their futures.  We believe that this change
is well underway but our adjustment to it has barely begun.  Our sense is
that this force will soon mandate a national commitment to distance
education and that higher education must now begin to readjust and realign
itself to address this eventuality.
   
Technology
   
        The technological revolution brought on by the use of electronic media
and information systems has entered a new and dynamic phase that is now
beginning to alter our social, political, economic, and cultural landscape in
ways that are not only unprecedented but are occurring so quickly that we
are "swept away on the winds of change" and are finding, almost daily, that
our world has changed to such an extent that it is barely recognizable.  The
computer has altered the very nature of how we think, do business,
entertain ourselves, and interact with one another.  Video has created a
world of images that shape our opinions, beliefs, commerce, and even our
political process. Advances in audio technology have, in less than a decade,
made the phonograph an object of historic curiosity and changed the culture
of listening to an individual "plugged in" activity rather than a social or
communal act. Communications networks have made the world much
smaller and promise to create a true "global village" with a vast common
market that exists outside of increasingly ineffective barriers like national
boundaries and political influence.
   
        And now, there is the coming reality that these once distinct media will
converge to form a single medium encompassing all of the functions of
communication.  Music is already something that we watch as well as listen
to.  The book is being rapidly transformed into an electronic learning tool
that utilizes sound, images, and motion in addition to a printed text.  Our
computers now speak to us, as do our automobiles and kitchen appliances,
and, in the not too distant future, they will probably allow us to talk back to
them.  Our world, for good or ill, is being transformed into a multi-media
environment and the realities of that transformation must be acknowledged
and taken into account when making any attempt to project ourselves into
the future.
   
        Technology will demand a shift in our culture from "terminal" to "life-
long" learning as a norm and a fundamental reorganization of our thinking,
culture, and social institutions will be necessary to accommodate this
change.  The culture of higher education will not be immune to these
changes. The preeminence of resident instruction will certainly have to alter
if higher education is to keep pace with the demands that will be placed
upon it. An acceptance of the use and fundamental need for technologically-
based learning will also have to become a part of higher education's
strategies for the future.  And planning for the future must include
preparation.  The programs of tomorrow must begin today if we are to be
ready to participate in the future when it arrives.
   
        Although the future is not with us, it is approaching at an alarming
speed and it is imperative that we prepare for it and not be taken by surprise.
This task force believes that technology, in general, and distance education,
in particular, will play a central role in the future of higher education and th
role that the University plays in that future will, to a large extent, be
determined by what is done now to accommodate technological advances.
Technology will make education one of the primary "goods" in a world
economy that will be characterized by change and redirection more than at
any time in the past.  The need for education will predictably escalate as our
citizenry attempts to keep pace and informed in a world that will demand
increasing expertise and experience in a world market.  This task force
believes that distance education will be the means by which such experience
and expertise will be acquired. We see the need for a balance to be struck
between the need for education and its acquisition.  It is the contention of
the Task Force that distance education will be the fulcrum upon which such
balance will rest in the 21st Century.
   
A Changing Economic Picture
   
        If there is any force that is acting upon higher education, it is the broad
reality of declining resources in the face of increased demands on all areas
of academic endeavor.  The decline of public support, the limitations of
increased revenues from tuition, and the diminished potential for raising
funds in a weak economic environment are national phenomena that effect
all institutions of higher learning.  Strategic stances like the University's
"doing less and doing it better" have become the rule after decades of
strategies based on incremental growth and expansion.  The reality is,
simply, that there is less and will probably be less in the foreseeable future.
However, the demands that are placed on great public universities like
Penn State show no signs of diminishing in any reasonable proportion
to declining resources.  Enrollments are growing in response to the
increased costs of private education and the enhanced reputations that our
major universities now enjoy.  Research occupies an increased importance
in a society and economy driven by the demands of a global market,
increased competition, and sweeping advances in technology. Academic
services to business, industry, and, most important, human needs have
escalated and will continue to do so as our society increasingly turns to its
centers of learning for guidance and solutions to the problems of a world
growing more diverse, complex, and sophisticated with each passing day.
In short, although financial constraints may necessitate a stance of "doing
less," the demands being placed on higher education call for it to become
increasingly involved, both quantitatively and qualitatively, in those
activities mandated by university commitments to education, research, and
service.
   
        If there was a central paradigm in higher education, it was formed out
of the relationship between our institutions of public learning and
government in the cause of increased education for the broad population.
That cause persists and is becoming more important as we approach the 21st
Century.  However, that central paradigm is collapsing as government
retreats from its long-standing role of primary partner in advancing higher
education to the general population.  Although the deepening problems of
higher education are clearly driven by the growing resource gap created by
decreased government support and collateral increases in the cost of and
demand for learning, the focus of the public debate on higher education has
been centered, instead, on the institution of learning itself and those
perceived failures of our public and private schools to manage their affairs
effectively and efficiently.  The public mood, whether right or wrong, is not
supportive of increased government spending to bolster our colleges and
universities and there is no emerging consensus to reverse that mood.  Like
government itself, higher education is caught between two conflicting forces
- increased demands for services and diminished resources to meet those
demands - with a public unwilling or unable to address that conflict in a
meaningful or substantial way.
   
        There is now a clear need for higher education to develop a new
paradigm to address its growing financial problems.  New partnerships
must be formed to fill the ever-widening gap between revenues and
expenditures. Rather than being based on the largess of a single powerful
partner as in the past, the future of higher education will likely rest on a
broad and diverse collection of partners, including government, but, with
growing reliance on the private sector for substantial amounts of support.
Higher education must also adapt and become more business-like in its
activities than in the past.  Strategic market considerations, greater cost-
efficiency, and enhanced effectiveness in educational programming must
become a part of this new paradigm.  Entrepreneurial thinking must also
become a part of our strategic planning and investments must be made,
despite their difficulty, to insure that the demands of the future can be met.
Higher education must, simply, reconstruct and reconstitute itself as a
financially stronger and more self-reliant institution if it is to maintain its
necessary position in our society.
   
        Yet, great care must be exercised in this reconfiguration.  Education
cannot be seen as merely another commodity to be bought and sold in the
marketplace.  Learners must not become our "market" and the influence of
rich and powerful clients must not pull higher education away from its
devotion to intellectual excellence, the pursuit of knowledge, and service to
the common good.  Higher education is entering a most propitious yet
delicate stage in its history and it must see this time as one of opportunity to
forge a greater future and not fall prey to easy answers or seemingly simple
solutions.
   
        This task force believes that distance education can play a significant
role in the complex new paradigm that must be created by higher education
to insure its future success.  We believe that it is an important means to
increase the quality of education and research, utilize resources more
efficiently, increase the effectiveness of scholarship and learning, and
expand the ability to provide service.  The Task Force recognizes that in
order for distance education to play such a role, there will need to be a
change in the basic perception of the method within the culture of higher
education and a need for substantial investment.  However, it is our belief
that the potential is too great, the need too compelling, and the benefits too
substantial not to take an aggressive stance towards the advancement of the
method in higher education.  It is our contention that distance education is a
crucial and necessary component in any realistic plan for the future of higher
education.
   
        These three forces that the Task Force has identified create, in its
opinion, a powerful case for the adoption of distance education as a central
strategy in any comprehensive plan for the future of higher education. While
only a part of what must be a sweeping and fundamental new strategy,
distance education is clearly an important component.  The Task Force
believes that, as a tool for change, distance education offers the first and
best response to a wide variety of needs that must be addressed and present
higher education with the opportunity to emerge from a period of financial
difficulty secure and, indeed, strengthened in the pursuit of its fundamental
goals.
   
        But beyond the forces of national change that strike at all of higher
education, the Task Force feels that there are particular factors in the make-
up and history of Penn State that intensify the case for distance education in
the University and speak to an even greater commitment to the method than
at most competing institutions.
   
   
THE FORCE OF HISTORY AND MISSION AT PENN STATE
   
        The Task Force believes that beyond the call for the use of distance
education as a strategic priority predicated by national forces, there are
compelling reasons, unique and specific to the University, that speak to its
adoption as a central component in our future planning.  More important,
the Task Force believes that there is a compelling case for Penn State to
move aggressively and rapidly toward a position of national leadership in
distance education.  Our past; our basic structure; our dedication to
excellence in teaching, research, and service; and the current status of our
infrastructure combine to give us a competitive advantage that should be
exploited and capitalized upon to the benefit of both the University and the
emerging community of learners who will seek education in the future.
   
The Historic Tradition Of Distance Education At Penn State.
   
        Distance education has a long and distinguished history at Penn State
and the University is recognized as one of the national leaders in both the
creation and delivery of quality learning at a distance.  This year,
Continuing Education marks its 100th year of service to learners across the
state and around the world.  Independent Learning is the largest program of
its kind in the nation with over 30,000 enrollments, drawing degree and
non-degree students from all counties in Pennsylvania, from every state,
and from 26 countries.  The College of Agricultural Sciences is involved in
a wide variety of distance education activities centered on Cooperative
Extension and including teleconferencing, computer access to information,
and the use of the AG*SAT network for satellite credit transmission.  The
College of Engineering offers advanced degrees in Mechanical, Electrical,
and Acoustical Engineering and there are master's degrees in both Adult and
Health Education offered at a distance.  These are but a few of Penn State's
accomplishments in the field of distance education.
   
        This record of commitment and achievement has provided Penn State
with national and international preeminence in distance education and
created an infrastructure that gives the University a substantial platform of
accomplishment, experience, and expertise to build upon for the future.
The Task Force believes that Penn State in a unique and enviable position to
capitalize on its current strengths and assume the leadership role in the
advancement of this important national interest.  While competitors are
emerging in both the public and private sectors, few can boast the breadth or
depth of experience that the University has in distance education or can
easily build to the level of development in infrastructure that the University
currently enjoys.  Strategically, we believe that it would be in the clear
interest of the University to exploit this advantage and solidify its position
of leadership in the development, delivery, and utilization of distance
education for the future.
   
The Multi-Campus Structure Of The University
   
        For many years, distance education technologies and programs have
been successfully employed to serve the mission of "one University
geographically dispersed" and build bridges across the spaces that tend to
isolate and divide the 23 centers and campuses of Penn State. However, the
future will certainly demand far greater interaction and interrelation between
the constituent campus units than at any time in the past.  The need to
provide services broadly across the system will increase as the University
seeks greater cost and management efficiency. The sharing of resources, the
elimination of unnecessary duplication, the streamlining of administrative
support, and the provision of new learning partnerships will be requisite
parts of any strategic vision of Penn State's future.  There is also the broad
philosophic need to create a greater sense of shared identity and overcome
the damaging effects of fragmentation at Penn State.  If the University is to
maintain its important and necessary position as the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania's premier institution of higher learning, it must strengthen the
"ties that bind" it together and build upon its shared mission and vision of
academic excellence.
   
        The Task Force believes that distance education must be an important
and central component of any strategy that is developed to address the needs
of Penn State's multi-campus structure.  Provisions must be made for
increased sharing and interaction between and among units. Initiatives must
be advanced to make each unit a 'shareholder' in the broader vision of the
University's future.  Specific efforts must be directed at identifying
academic strengths within the CES and making them available to the
University-wide community of learners. The Task Force believes that
distance education provides the most viable and effective platform to
advance many of the goals of a more unified and interrelated university.
   
Research
   
        As one of the great research universities in the nation, Penn State must
be able to facilitate and advance its research mission in the most expeditious,
cost-effective, and efficient way possible to maintain and enhance its
position in an increasingly competitive environment.  The need to access,
utilize, synthesize, and disseminate information rapidly will be a central
factor in the advancement of the University's research efforts.  There is a
demand to increase the speed at which information is moved.  The
technologies of the past are simply too slow to keep pace with the advances
that are taking place in almost every aspect of investigation and study.
Modern research is also becoming a true global activity that demands that
researchers have access to one another and their expertise despite the
distances created by time and geography.  Overcoming 'distance' in
research will be as important to its success in the future as facilities,
funding, and space are in the present.  There is also the very real and
growing competition between research and educational interests for the
limited resources that are available.  In research, as in all other aspects of
Penn State's future, strategies must be developed to allow for the
advancement of the research mission without compromise to the other
important goals of the University.
   
        The Task Force believes that in a world increasingly dependent upon
near instantaneous interaction and the global sharing of information, the
technologies of distance education will be as important to the research
mission of the University as they are to the educational.  We also believe
that distance education provides an important opportunity to advance both
the educational and research missions of the University without increasing
competition between them for resources.  Since the technological
infrastructure required for either can be utilized by both, there is an inherent
benefit derived in viewing distance education as a cooperative venture that
bridges traditionally divided interests.  In research, as in education, distance
education and its technologies are essential to a future strategy that will
allow for progress towards the goal of national and international
preeminence.
   
Service
   
        As the Council of Academic Deans noted in its statement of September
1, 1990, it is important that the University "achieve recognition as the
preeminent university in Pennsylvania and be viewed by the citizens and
government of the Commonwealth as the state university and a critical
resource for the well-being of Pennsylvania." Clearly, this will require an
increased role in the provision of service to the state and its citizens.  Since
service on a state-wide basis is a matter of distance, the Task Force believes
that distance education and its application to the service mission of the
University will be of equal importance to the advancement of the
methodology in education and research.  As business, industry,
government, and the populace of the Commonwealth turn to the University
for guidance and solutions to the myriad of problems that they face, means
must be found to both answer these calls for service and provide such
service quickly, efficiently, and effectively.
   
        The Task Force believes that distance education will be an important
and necessary tool in advancing the service mission of the University. We
see the multi-campus system of Penn State as a network that reaches out
across the state to provide and disseminate service as well as traditional
instruction.  We believe that the linkage of this system through distance
education technologies will provide the University with the most efficient
and effective means of delivering and managing service both to specific
constituencies and to the broad base of the general population.  Our sense is
that Penn State can utilize this system to become the most visible,
responsive, and responsible service presence in the Commonwealth.  As in
research and education, this task force sees distance education as the means
by which much of our future in service will rely and depend upon.
   
                              - - - - - - -
   
Part 2 of the Task Force Report consists of the expanded Recommendations
for Action, References, and a list of Task Force members. Part 2 will be
published in the next issue of DEOSNEWS.
   
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The Pennsylvania State University
College of Education
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College of Education