CONTENTS

UPFRONT - "October Issue: DESIEN Pilot Project Evaluation"
IN PERSPECTIVE - "The Year in Review"
FOCUS - "Lessons Learned in Team-Teaching Across Universities With Interactive TV"
CAMPUS UPDATE - add new information
DE CLEARINGHOUSE, NETNEWS - "Intellectual Property and Copyright Update"
FYI - news and reminders
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UPFRONT - In the October Issue of DESIEN we'll be asking you to evaluate the 12 issues in this Pilot Project. We'd like to find out: if DESIEN has been a helpful resource for you, if DESIEN should be continued, what you've particularly liked, what you think could be omitted and ideas you
might have for additions and/or changes. The questions will be in the next issue. We'll look forward to your feedback.

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IN PERSPECTIVE - "The Year in Review" - DESIEN began September of '95 with a review of the 1994 Symposium Progress Reports, followed by an article in October on "Developing Effective Compressed Video Courses". The next issue focused on "Issues and Concerns" that had grown out of the 1994 Symposium feedback. In December we looked at these issues and concerns in more depth and Michele Jacques began her monthly column on the Distance Education Clearinghouse.

The 1996 issues began with a focus on the "Distance Education Committee (DEC)", followed by articles on "The Educational Media Council(EMC)", "The Development of the Distance Education Clearinghouse", "The Collaborative Nursing Program", "The Virtual Institute for Technology, Teaching and Learning (VITAL)", "Developing and Assessing a Distance Education Course", "Flexible Learning" and in this issue "Teaching Across Universities with Interactive TV". Each issue also included campus information updates, workshop and conference schedules and special shorter articles on conferences, copyright, funding, ways in which technology shapes learning and the learner, etc.

One of the most satisfying aspects of DESIEN, from our perspective has been the monthly interaction and campus updates and the growth of our subscriptions from 62 to 102.
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FOCUS

"Lessons Learned in Team-Teaching Across Universities With Interactive TV"

Thomas B. McRoberts, Coordinator, Interactive Television Network,

University of Minnesota

John R. Freeman, Professor Political Science, University of Minnesota

Susan J. Tade, Media Producer University, Media Resources, University of Minnesota

Background - Political science is an important field of work at almost every university in the country. At the undergraduate level it is usually a high-demand major, especially for students considering going on to law school after they graduate. At the graduate and research level, its importance as the locus for the study of democratic institutions has been underscored by the last several years of political change around the world.

The CIC is the academic consortium consisting of the (eleven) "Big Ten" schools plus the University of Chicago. The "Committee of Institutional Cooperation" itself is made up of the provosts of the member universities. The CIC political science departments are leaders in graduate studies and research. The departments are noted especially for their work in data analysis and statistical modeling. Quantitative analysis represents the "cutting edge" of political science research, and also provides the essential language for interdisciplinary dialogue with other fields such as psychology and economics.

Unfortunately, graduate instruction in quantitative methods is expensive. Because the work builds on a strong base of prerequisites which take time to acquire, and because much of the work involves highly specialized seminars, it is typically taught in very small classes. It is hard for most departments to justify employing the necessary number of specialized faculty. With downsizing of departments clearly in the offing over the next decade, this problem is likely to get worse.

The Plan - With financial and administrative support from the CIC, representatives from four political science departments, Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio State and Wisconsin, met to plan a greatly improved, shared curriculum in advanced data analysis via interactive television:

* First, we identified a set of four advanced data analysis seminars that are essential but also expensive to produce; few departments can offer all four of these regularly. The four were:

• time series analysis
• maximum likelihood estimation
• event count and "limited" dependent variable modeling
• measurement theory, including LISREL analysis.

We proposed to develop cooperative ways to offer these four seminars regularly, pooling our staff resources and making the seminars available to the graduate students at the four schools
via interactive television.

* Second, we proposed a bi-weekly "brown-bag" advanced data analysis and modeling seminar for interested faculty and graduate students from the four schools, also via interactive television. The seminar would consist of presentations of current work by faculty and graduate students, presentations by visitors, and perhaps two- or three-week modules on particular topics such as errors-in-measures models or cross-level inference.

* Finally, we proposed to eventually integrate the introductory data analysis seminars of the four departments to at least the limited extent necessary to make certain that they serve as common preparation for the shared set of advanced seminars. This would not involve the use of interactive television, but rather coordinated curriculum planning.

Implementation - The project was piloted in the fall of 1995 with a faculty-graduate student "brown-bag" seminar series in order to acquaint students and faculty with the technology. The sessions included four lectures, two by CIC political science faculty and two by guest scholars outside the CIC. One guest traveled to Ohio State and the other to the University of Minnesota.

The four institutions were connected via a multipoint bridge at the University of Wisconsin. Each location dialed into the bridge one half hour prior to the scheduled beginning time of the class. Technicians from each site "balanced" the connection, establishing proper audio levels to avoid echo and ensuring video followed audio (since it was a multipoint connection).

This "brown-bag" series engendered an exchange among students and faculty from all four institutions. It also stimulated interest in the upcoming interactive television course, and it allowed us to fine tune the production process.

In the spring of 1996 a fourteen week graduate seminar course on time- series analysis team-taught by Janet Box-Steffensmeir of Ohio State and John Freeman of Minnesota was offered at the four cooperating institutions. This course, the first of the proposed four seminars, was a semester offering, corresponding to the normal academic calendars at Illinois and Wisconsin and spanning parts of the winter and spring quarters at Minnesota and Ohio State. The initial enrollment for the course was 20. To date six students have finished the course; we expect another 6-10 students to finish. (Delays in course completion are common in methods courses where a number of statistical analyses are required.)

In conjunction with this course, Box-Steffensmeier and Freeman developed an electronic mail reflector or listserv, which provided a means of communications between instructor and students as well as between students alone. A Web site was developed for the course which supplied additional information about such things as e-mail addresses and public databases.

Accomplishments - Once students and faculty were comfortable with the technology the loss of inhibitions to speak in class was obvious. His collaborative effort enhanced the quality of faculty and student work and a camaraderie developed. A real community-building among methodologists in the CIC has ensued. Prior to this effort none of our schools offered the four advanced seminars regularly. And no university or group of universities anywhere in the world offers an advanced topical "brown bag" seminar of this quality.

Utilizing the electronic mail reflector or listserv a community of scholars developed. If a student in Illinois e-mails the Professor with a question, that message is "broadcast" to all students in the class who monitor the list, as well as the instructors response to the question.

Since this course was team taught graduate students received comments from two faculty members. It also made it possible for students to tap into the faculty at all four schools for advice on their research, for letters of recommendation, etc.

The course is being systematically evaluated by the CIC to test the possibility of multi-site interactive seminars generally. The model that is developed here obviously can tell us a good deal about what to expect and how to proceed in all sorts of other collaborations.

Concerns - A cost analysis is yet to be done. We need to determine if the course was cost effective. We assumed cost savings would be realized when the four institutions did not offer parallel courses in these areas. The interactive television curriculum should free up faculty for their teaching assignments.

There are important technical problems to be solved, especially in the use of a multipoint bridge in interactive television. Throughout the course we had technical difficulties due to the fact that the four institutions have different technical set ups and standards of operation.

There are a host of logistical problems to deal with, including the assignment of teaching credit for faculty who are involved, melding semester systems with quarter systems, handling balances-of-payment in tuition, etc.

Regarding course content, students at each site were not always working with the same statistical software. This needs to be addressed since all students need accessibility to the same databases and software in order to have a level "playing" field when it comes to grading.

The use of a fax machine or the US Mail was a very cumbersome way to supply course notes. Originally we thought typed notes would go on the class Web site. However, time precluded this. Also, there are intellectual property right issues - not only in terms of using information from texts in our notes but also in terms of whether we want to freely distribute our lecture notes to the world.

Where Do We Go From Here? - Starting in the 1996-97 academic year, we anticipate offering two of the four advanced seminars annually, with the weekly "brown-bag" seminar running concurrently throughout the academic year.

We need to offer the seminar and course again in order to hone our teaching and technical skills. We are confident that next time we offer the seminar and class we can solve some of the problems mentioned above, e.g., supply uniform statistical software to the students and improve the distribution of class notes. Whether the difficulties with the multipoint bridge can be fully solved remains to be seen.

Assuming these improvements are made, we will next explore the possibility of offering political science and other area courses via interactive television. For instance, it may be possible and advisable to offer seminars in East Asian politics and Central European politics or perhaps South Asian and North African geography and literature.

(From the "Proceedings" of the 12th Annual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning, August 7-9, 1996, Madison, WI, p.211-214. Permission for including this article in DESIEN was granted by the authors and by Christine Olgren, Program Chair of the Conference.)

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CAMPUS UPDATE

(Please add new information about your institution's distance education progress below.)

UW CENTERS -

UW-EAU CLAIRE -

UW-GREEN BAY -

UW-LA CROSSE - We are currently completing our second distance education classroom which is located in Morris Hall in the School of Education. Construction has been completed and we are now beginning to install a compressed video system capable of T-1 and dial-up. We have hired a full time scheduling and site support coordinator, Terry Wirkus. In addition, we are collaborating with a CESA 4 initiative, a leased T-1 connection with WWTC, and a dial connection with the La Crosse Public Schools. Finally, we have expanded our distance education initiative web page. Please visit us at:
http://www.uwlax.edu/InfoTech/Media/DistanceEd.html

(Jim Jorstad-Director Media Services/Educational Television Center, UW-LaCrosse)

UW-MADISON -

UW-MILWAUKEE -

UW-OSHKOSH -

UW-PLATTEVILLE - We received a USDA Challenge Grant for $76,183 over three years. The Grant is for developing courses and assessing learning styles in distance education.

(John Ambrosius-Professor Agricultural Industries, UW-Platteville)

UW-RIVER FALLS - UW-River Falls received a WATF grant to complete its distance learning classrooms and implement a student-staffed faculty assistant service for course development purposes. The amount received was $49,802.

UW-River Falls held a TLTR-type workshop this fall as part of faculty development activities. The emphasis during 2 days of presentations was on multiple technologies.

(Barbara Audley-Director of Continuing Education Extension, UW-River Falls)

UW-PARKSIDE -

UW-STEVENS POINT -

UW-STOUT -

UW-SUPERIOR -UW-Superior activated its second distance ed classroom and second interactive video network link this fall, with funding through an ECB distance ed grant and UW System's Instructional Technology Improvements Program. The new classroom in Erlanson Hall, our business building, seats 28 students. The additional capacity permitted an expansion of our fall schedule to two undergraduate courses, five upper division/graduate courses, and one postsecondary options course for high school students.

A grant from the UW System Undergraduate Initiative will assist in developing courses for delivery to the Rhinelander/Minocqua/Eagle River area via compressed video.

(Peter Nordgren-Director Media Resource Center, UW-Superior)

UW-WHITEWATER -

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FROM THE DISTANCE EDUCATION CLEARINGHOUSE
NETNEWS

"Intellectual Property and Copyright Update"
Michele Jacques

Distance Education Clearinghouse on the web at:
http://www.uwex.edu/disted/home.html

The section on Intellectual Property and Copyright has recently been updated on the Distance Education Clearinghouse. It provides links to information regarding various aspects of copyright, fair use, and other concerns. There is also a link to the text of the U.S. Copyright Act itself. This section can be found at:
http://www.uwex.edu/disted/intprop.html

Here are some examples of the links you can find:
• Stanford University Libraries has developed an excellent, and highly acclaimed site which identifies primary materials, statutes, legislation, case studies, etc. They also have a comprehensive collection of articles relating to copyright and fair use.

• The Copyright Website provides very basic information on the fundamentals of copyright, and how copyright law applies to multimedia and to the Internet. There is also a section on web issues. The sections of "Famous Copyright Infringements" and "Bleeding Edge: Internet Issues" are a slightly different approach, being both interesting and helpful.

• Copyright and Universities is a site which has been created for the Association of American Universities/Association of Research Libraries. This is a collection of policy statements and intellectual property resources of interest to academic institutions.

US Copyright Office is the government site as presented by the Library of Congress. It is another excellent resource for basic copyright information.

These are some of the sites which are listed on our page. Of course, each of these sites will lead you to other areas of interest. For broader examples, try searching some of the search engines by entering "Intellectual Property" or other relevant terms. Yahoo has a section on
intellectual property at:

http://www.yahoo.com/Government/Law/Intellectual_Property/

As always, please be sure to send your comments, suggestions, and questions about the Clearinghouse to me. I can be reached at jacques@ics.uwex.edu or by phone at (608) 265-6178. Thanks.

Michele Jacques
Project Coordinator, WWW
Distance Education Clearinghouse
Instructional Communications Systems (ICS)
University of Wisconsin-Extension

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FYI

NEWS AND REMINDERS:

ICS TRAINING WORKSHOPS - For institutions and faculty in need of audiographics or compressed video training workshops for spring courses and programs, now is the time to schedule. Call - ICS 608-262-4342.

ICS has also published a number of valuable resources for faculty and distance education team members: "Bridging the Distance" a book designed to help people plan, present and evaluate interactive audioconferencing programs and maximize participant satisfaction; "Breaking New Ground: Faculty Perspectives" a videotape/print package with interviews and excerpts from five faculty who have taught via compressed video and "The Essential Compressed Video Guide: 7 Keys to Success" developed for faculty and trainers who have been asked to instruct via compressed video. It is also a practical resource for the full distance education team including administrators. Call - ICS 608-262-4342.

WETC - One hundred twenty-four sessions, including workshops and labs are scheduled for the Wisconsin Educational Technology Conference (WETC), October 8-10, 1996, Green Bay, Wisconsin. A special session of Roundtables is set for Wednesday evening. Call - Sandra Carman 608-266-0001.

WEBFAIR '97 - Visit the WebFair '97 homepage at:
http://webfair.wisc.edu

Wisconsin students (groups or individuals, K-16) will use the WWW to describe an academic project they are doing on a web page. Entries will be judged spring semester.

ITEC EXPO - A multi-platform show featuring exhibits from America's most significant technology companies will take place October 15-16, 1996, 10:00-5:00 p.m. at the Dane County Expo Center, Madison, Wisconsin. WebFair '97 will also be a feature at ITEC. Call - 503-968-1123x117.

UCEA (formerly NUCEA) - Region III Annual Meeting, "Outreach: an Imperative for Higher Education", with an emphasis on distance education will be held October 16-18, 1996, University of Tennessee. Call - 615-327-2487.

EASTERN ADULT CONTINUING, and DISTANCE EDUCATION RESEARCH CONFERENCE - October 24-26, 1996, The Penn State University. Call - 814-865-7679.

TELECON XVI - "Connecting to the Desktop: in the Office, the School and the and the Home," is scheduled for October 29-31,1996, Anaheim, California. Call - 1-800-829-3400.

ATTENDING TO TECHNOLOGY - A Conference at The University of Maryland at College Park, November 7-9, 1996 will examine the intersections between technology, teaching and research. Visit the Web page: http://www.inform.umd.edu/CRBS/attendtech/announce.html
or contact - crbs@umail.umd.edu

PEDAGOGY CONFERENCE - The Sixth Annual Conference of the Institute for The Study of Postsecondary Pedagogy, The School of Education, will be held at The State University of New York at New Paltz, November 20-22, 1996. The theme for the conference is "Instructional Technology, Pedagogy and the Curriculum: Rethinking the Teaching and Learning Process". Call - 914-257-3590.

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OCTOBER ISSUE: Evaluation of DESIEN Pilot Project, September 1995 to September 1996.

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DESIEN ARCHIVE: An Archive has been created for past issues and interaction comments. Locate at: http://www.uwex.edu/disted/desien.html

DESIEN has been created to encourage information exchange and discussion of distance education issues concerned with: 1) Symposium team progress and institution course/program development, 2) faculty/ team development, 3) technology, 4) policy, 5) funding and 6) research
among participants, presenters and organizers of the 1994 UW-Extension/UW System Distance Education Symposium. Other List recipients are also welcome to join in with information contributions and discussion.

Each monthly issue will focus on an "area of interest", feature a regular column on the Distance Education Clearinghouse by Michele Jacques, contain an FYI section, and list future areas of focus. Your continuous input through updates, features, questions and dialogue will be instrumental in helping DESIEN evolve and grow.

DESIEN is a one-year pilot project, September, 1995 to September, 1996 and will be evaluated at the end of that time. The coordinators of DESIEN are Pat Takemoto and Rosemary Lehman. The owner of DESIEN is Rosemary Lehman, lehman@ics.uwex.edu. Please contact Rosemary if you have concerns or problems.

ListServ: DESIEN-List@uwex.edu