• Mar. 01 - Re: FCC Telecom Act page
  
• Mar. 04 - DESIEN-List: fwd: WWW Course Development
  
• Mar. 06 - DESIEN-FYI
  
• Mar. 07 - intellectual property & distance education
  
• Mar. 07 - intellectual property & distance education -Reply
  
• Mar. 07 - Re: intellectual property & distance education -Reply
  
• Mar. 29 - DESIEN-Telecommunications & Financial Aid

  
  

Date: Fri, 1 Mar 1996 09:12:44 -0600
Reply-to: LEHMAN@ics.uwex.edu
From: "Rosemary Lehman" [LEHMAN@ics.uwex.edu]
To: Multiple recipients of list [desien-list@uwex.edu]
Subject: Re: FCC Telecom Act page

FYI

The following information appeared on UW-Professor Barry Orton's List Serv - telecomreg - on March 1. It was sent by Kevin Webach of the Federal Communications Commission:


The FCC has created a Web page to provide information on implementation of the Telecommunication Act of 1996. The page includes general information, links to FCC releases implementing provisions of the Act, and links to other sites with additional materials and analysis. We encourage people to submit ideas for additional resources to add to the page. The FCC Telecom Act page is located at: http://www.fcc.gov/telecom.html
Rosemary

 

Date: Mon, 4 Mar 1996 08:37:05 -0600 Reply-to: LEHMAN@ics.uwex.edu From: "Rosemary Lehman" [LEHMAN@ics.uwex.edu] To: Multiple recipients of list [desien-list@uwex.edu] Subject: DESIEN-List: fwd: WWW Course Development Forwarded message to DEC ListServ from Bob Skorczewski on March 4: ANNOUNCING A COMPUTER CONFERENCE ABOUT WORLD WIDE WEB COURSE DEVELOPMENT APRIL 8 - 26, 1996 The International University Consortium and University of Maryland University College invite you to participate in a computer conference which will focus on the development of instructional materials for the World Wide Web. From the comfort of your own home or office you can be involved (via your computer) in stimulating discussions about the use of the World Wide Web as a vehicle for course development and delivery. An electronic packet of supporting materials containing relevant literature and other reference material on the topic of World Wide Web course development will be provided to participants in the conference. Leading experts in the field will serve as moderators and will present information and guide the discussions during the 3-week period. Tentative topics which may be discussed are: 1) Converting existing courses for the web. Designing course materials for web delivery. Use of graphics. How much interaction is optimal? Stand alone WEB or combined with other media? Teaching techniques and strategies. Pacing Multimedia issues: - Is the use of digital video realistic? - What about sound? 2) Setting up registration and procedures. Costs - who pays? Administering tests on the web (using forms?) Keeping your classes 'secure.' Supporting teachers and students. Is this publishing? (copyright, institutional clearances) Teachers as media developers.... do they do it alone or should the institution provide centralized support? Prerequisites (who do you exclude?) 3) What kind of hardware/connections? Minimal student hardware configuration(s)? What kind of editors/programs work best? Java and other tools. Tools for Interactive discussion. - conferencing/bulletin boards - MOOs and MUDs - on-line chat The computer conference will be distributed by Listserv so as to allow access to as many people as possible. This computer-mediated conference (CMC) is an activity associated with the Distance Education and Technology Workshop being held in College Park, Maryland, May 6-8, 1996. If you are interested in attending the workshop, you can request a brochure and registration form via e-mail, or visit our WWW page which contains a workshop registration form. E-mail: tsmith@nova.umuc.edu WWW page: URL=http://www.umuc.edu/iuc ************************ REGISTRATION INFORMATION *********************** To register for the CMC, print out the form below and send it along with a $25 registration fee. If you are paying by credit card or using a purchase order, you can fax or e-mail your registration. ALL REGISTRATIONS ARE DUE BY MARCH 29, 1996. International University Consortium University of Maryland University College University Boulevard at Adelphi Road College Park, MD 20742-1612 Phone: 301-985-7811 Fax: 301-985-7845 e-mail: tsmith@nova.umuc.edu ______________________________________________________________ _______________ INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY CONSORTIUM Pre-workshop Computer Conference on Developing Instructional Materials for the World Wide Web April 8 - 26, 1995 Registration Form Name_________________________________________________________________________
Title _______________________________________________________________________ Institution _________________________________________________________________
Address ____________________________________________________________________
City ________________________________________________________________________ State/Province ______________________________________________________________ ZIP/Country Code ____________________________________________________________
Day Phone ___________________________________________________________________
Fax _________________________________________________________________________
E-mail ______________________________________________________________ ________ (Please type or print this line VERY clearly to ensure proper registration.) ************************ Registration Fee: $25 ************************
Please check one:
____ I am enclosing a check made payable to University of Maryland University College/IUC in the amount of $25.
____ Please bill me. My organization's purchase order number is __________________ MasterCard/Visa Card Number ____________________________________
Exp. Date __________________ Signature: _________________________________________________________________
END Announcement forwarded to EDTECH by: Geralyn Brostrom gbrostro@polaris.umuc.edu ----- End forwarded message

 

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Date: Wed, 6 Mar 1996 11:11:08 -0600 Reply-to: LEHMAN@ics.uwex.edu From: "Rosemary Lehman" To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: DESIEN-FYI FYI The University of Maine at Augusta, has issued a Call for Proposals for its 10th Annual Conference, to be held Sept. 26, 27 & 28, 1996. The Conference theme is,"Yesterday's Dreams Are Today's Reality: Quality and Access in Distance Education and Training. " The objectives of the conference are to: . explore the new applications of technology for the teaching/learning process . identify major issues and trends for the delivery of credit/non-credit programs . examine the latest findings in teaching/training at a distance . focus on the "nuts and bolts" of program development and implementation . encourage networking among practitioners . discuss the applications of the process for the public and private sector . review and discuss essential budgeting/financing procedures The proposal deadline is May 23, 1996. To obtain a brochure with a Presentation Proposal Form call: 207-621-3170. Rosemary

 

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Date: Thu, 7 Mar 1996 11:05:29 -0600
Reply-to: tishler@facstaff.wisc.edu
From: tishler@facstaff.wisc.edu (William P. Tishler)
To: Multiple recipients of list [desien-list@uwex.edu]
Subject: intellectual property & distance education

From the University of Michigan Academic Outreach Homepage
http://www.outreach.umich.edu/pages/de_page.html


distance education n. (dis`tans' ej'oo-ka`shn) Education via the communications media (correspondence, radio, television, and others) with little or no classroom or other face-to-face contact between students and teachers.


intellectual property n. (in`tl-ek`ch=F4=F4-el prop`er-te) Expressions or results of mental activity (especially such things as literary, artistic, or scholarly creations, research designs, etc.) for which one has a legal right to own, use, reproduce, or sell.




William P. Tishler ........................ tishler@facstaff.wisc.edu
Broadcast Specialist ................... office (608) 233-2174
University of Wisconsin-Madison................... dept. (608) 262-4472
Madison, WI 53706 ................................ fax (608) 262-7579

 

 

Date: Thu, 7 Mar 1996 11:40:41 -0600
Reply-to: barbara.m.audley@uwrf.edu
From: Barbara Audley [barbara.m.audley@uwrf.edu]
To: Multiple recipients of list [desien-list@uwex.edu]
Subject: intellectual property & distance education -Reply


This definition seems to leave out two-way audio/visual systems. I would not support such a limitation on a generic description.



Barbara Audley
Director, Continuing Education Extension
UW-River Falls

Date: Thu, 7 Mar 1996 13:02:35 -0600
Reply-to: tishler@facstaff.wisc.edu
From: tishler@facstaff.wisc.edu (William P. Tishler)
To: Multiple recipients of list [desien-list@uwex.edu]
Subject: Re: intellectual property & distance education -Reply



Barbara,

If you mean real-time teaching with two-way audio/visual systems when a class starts at 9:00am and end at 9:50am. Then you are probably right. It looks like University of Michigan Academic Outreach's definition of DE leaves out two-way audio/video systems. Technology is a limited resource these days. It's becoming very hard to find money for it. Most business and Universities today can't afford to have it sit around unused for 16 hours a day (or night) and still make cost effective. I know this because of experience. If we are really talking about Distance Education than it is important to remember that we don't all live in the same time zone. I am just reporting what I see at other universities and business. You might want to give Michigan a call to find out more.

- Bill



This definition seems to leave out two-way audio/visual systems. I would not support such a limitation on a generic description.

Barbara Audley
Director, Continuing Education Extension
UW-River Falls

Date: Fri, 29 Mar 1996 08:31:11 -0600
Reply-to: LEHMAN@ics.uwex.edu
From: "Rosemary Lehman"
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: DESIEN-Telecommunications & Financial Aid



A March 28 forwarded DEOS-L message concerning telecommunications and student financial aid - from attorney Michael Goldstein of Dow, Lohnes & Albertson:

_____________________________________________________________



There has been a lot written about the special student services needs of students enrolled in telecommunicated learning programs. However, a change in the law in 1992 also made it a lot easier for such students to receive student financial aid. A copy of an article on that subject that will be on our homepage very shortly is attached:


Telecommunicated Learning and Federal Financial Aid



Congress has mandated that student enrolled in courses delivered through the use of telecommunications be treated the same as students enrolled in conventional (i.e. "face-to-face") courses when it comes to the awarding of student financial assistance under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (Act).. Until the enactment of the 1992 statute, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) generally considered courses offered through telecommunications to be a form of correspondence study. The key language, now enshrined at Sec. 484(m) of the Act, is straightforward:



A student enrolled in a course of instruction at an eligible institution of higher education * * * that is offered in whole or in part through telecommunications and leads to a recognized associate, bachelor, or graduate degree conferred by such institution shall not be considered to be enrolled in correspondence courses * * * . (Emphasis added.)


The 1992 amendment is also significant in, for the first time, providing a broad definition of telecommunications-based educational delivery systems:


For the purpose of this subsection, the term "telecommunications" means the use of television, audio, or computer transmission, including open broadcast, closed circuit, cable, microwave, or satellite, audio conferencing, computer conferencing, or video cassettes of discs * * * .


This definition is extremely important, since in the past ED has only considered "live" telecourses which allowed for interactivity to be excluded from the definition of correspondence courses, lumping all other forms of telecommunicated instruction into the latter category. Congress has now made it clear that the definition of telecommunicated learning (with one exception noted below) is not technology-dependent.


These provisions are very important for three key reasons:



1. While the Higher Education Act severely limits the amount of student aid available to correspondence students, a student enrolled in a telecommunications-based course is entitled to full student aid, adjusted only for actual differences in cost of attendance arising out of the use of telecommunications.



The Act does require financial aid officers to adjust Title IV aid to a student enrolled in telecommunication-based courses if the delivery method "results in a substantially reduced cost of attendance to such student." While an institution may not simply reduce financial aid because the course is delivered through telecommunications, the aid officer is required to determine if the delivery system "substantially" reduces actual costs, and to adjust that student's aid accordingly. Since most students still have living costs regardless of the mode of delivery, the effect of this provision is likely to be minimal. (Note that any added costs arising out of the use of telecommunications, such as telephone toll charges or required materials and equipment should be included in the adjusted COA.)



2. Although the law excludes from eligibility to participate in the Title IV federal financial assistance programs those institutions that offer a total of more than fifty percent of their courses through telecommunications and correspondence study, by enacting a course-based limitation rather than one based on relative enrollment the Congress has avoided the problem of controlling the size of telecourse enrollments in order to maintain Title IV eligibility.



Thus, an institution that offers 200 different courses, 100 of which are "face-to-face," 50 of which are telecommunications-based and 49 of which are correspondence, would remain an eligible institution. Further, a course that is delivered both conventionally (i.e. "face-to-face") and by correspondence counts as two courses, one in each category. Although the regulations simply repeat the statutory provision, ED seems to be counting course numbers (e.g. English 101), rather than sections. Properly counting telecommunications-based courses is particularly important in the institutional recertification process. (See Section G of the Application for Approval to Participate in the Title IV Student Financial Assistance Programs). Likewise, proper documentation of telecommunicated learning programs is important for compliance review purposes.



3. The law assures that a telecommunications-based course is not converted to correspondence status simply because it also incorporates written materials.



This is a departure from ED policy which has declared courses of study that mix resident and correspondence components to be all correspondence study. Under the Act, the use of telecommunicated learning does not "poison" a course of study for student aid purposes the way correspondence study is construed to do. Note also that while a course of study that would otherwise be considered correspondence is not converted to a telecommunicated-based course simply by the dropping of an audio cassette into one lesson package, the combining of traditional correspondence-type materials with a meaningful amount of telecommunicated-based materials will in fact convert what was a correspondence course into one that is covered by the new section There, however, a special requirement for courses that utilize video cassettes or discs: the course must also be delivered "in person to other students of that institution." (Emphasis added.) That means courses delivered through these two specific media (but not other technologies) must also be delivered on-campus, although not necessarily through "face-to-face"means (i.e. the exact same telecommunications medium may be used for the on-campus component).



MICHAEL B. GOLDSTEIN

Lead Partner
Educational Institutions, Public Telecommunications and
Government Relations Practice Group
DOW, LOHNES & ALBERTSON
(A Professional Limited Liability Company)
1200 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20036-6802
Voice 202-776-2569
Fax 202-776-2222
Email mgoldstein@dlalaw.com
Website http://www.dlalaw.com



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