THEME -Digital Television (DTV)

UPFRONT -Going Digital
FOCUS -Digital Television: New Opportunities for Distance Education by Steve Vedro
UW NEWS - News from our Colleges and Universities
WI CONFERENCE UPDATES - The August Distance Learning Conference and GWETC '99
EDTECH TRENDS - The Next Generation Internet
CORPORATE U's & PARTNERS - Keeping Company with the Campus
NET LAW - The Year for Fundamentals, UCEA Online Review of Legislative and Regulatory Issues
NEW TECHS - Eyeglass Computer Display, Worms & Other BioBots, Hip-Based Email Pagers
ASSESSING TECHED - An Assessment Citation
REPORTS & RESEARCH -Distance Learning Effectiveness, Division Over Internet Learning, Into the Future
NEW ON THE LIST -Welcome to New Subscribers
FYI - News, Conferences, Institutes, Events
MAY DESIEN ISSUE -Technology/Learning Decision-Making

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UPFRONT

As technology goes digital, our language is expanding and new applications and acronyms are surfacing: ISDN-Integrated Services Digital Network - dial-up digital phone lines for audio, video and data); DVD-Digital Versatile Disk - an interactive digital movie player with special features and tracks; MD-MiniDisc - the newest technology for digital audio recording; DBS-Direct Broadcast System - an 18-inch dish, with hundreds of channels, that can deliver digital quality picture and sound; DC-Digital Cameras - that give us immediate filmless pictures for computer downloading; and DTV - Digital Television, one of the most fascinating technologies, and one that holds enormous potential for education, business and entertainment. DTV is the topic of this month's FOCUS article, by Steve Vedro, an Educational Telecommunications Consultant. Steve explores the DTV potential and shares his perspective on the many new opportunities it offers for distance education.

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FOCUS

Digital Television: New Opportunities for Distance Education
Steven Vedro, Consultant
Reforging the Links Project
www.reforginglinks.uwex.edu

A New Partnership after a Long Separation

Public broadcasting and distance education have had a somewhat mixed relationship over the years. While most PTV stations started out with strong distance learning missions, the last two decades have seen a move away from formal "educational broadcasting."

This parting of public television and distance learning is about to end. Digital television, soon to be implemented in most of the nation's major cities, and across the country by 2006, will provide each station not only with an opportunity to deliver high-definition wide-screen pictures, but also multiple narrowcast channels, and a one-to-many digital data capacity equal to the best cable modem or ADSL circuit. This convergence of television and computing, broadcasting and the internet, will stimulate a demand for new programming genres - a demand that will encourage new partnerships between public television and university-based continuing and distance education organizations.

What is DTV? And how might educators use it?

* DTV sends a compressed digital signal in the same channel space as today's analog TV. The new digital broadcasting standard for North America provides for the replacement of our fifty-year plus analog broadcast channels with a new set of digitally-encoded 6 megahertz-wide allocations in the UHF band. Each channel will carry a combined data stream just under 20 megabits per second. This is equivalent to nearly 400 "56k" modem channels or a dozen T-1 lines. In order to fit immense amounts of digital information required to encode high-quality motion video, the signal is "compressed" for storage and broadcast. The compression scheme (MPEG-2) is the same one already being used for CDs, DVDs, high-end web streaming and most satellite broadcasts.

* DTV will deliver stunning images and sound in a wide-screen format. Video compression technology makes it possible to deliver much more picture and sound information than is possible over today's analog channels. DTV's "high-definition" specification provides for a video signal containing over 2 million pixels, six-times that of the best analog studio camera.

Standards Comparison Table

NTSC (analog) HDTV (digital)

Total lines 525 1125
Active lines 486 1080
Sound 2 channels (stereo) 5.1 channels (surround)
Aspect ratio 4 x 3 16 x 9
Max. resolution 720 x 486 1920 x 1080

* Wide-screen images will be displayed in a 16x9 ratio (at either 1080 interlaced scanning lines or 720 progressive lines). While the bulk of "HD" broadcasts will consist of sporting events, movies, nature programs and arts events, once HD sets and recorders drop in price and all stations have converted to DTV, educational programs requiring high resolution images (e.g., in the arts, medicine, engineering) will soon become economically possible. Satellite feeds of medical grand rounds, meteorological engineering courses containing complex 3D weather models, will find their way on to instructional DTV broadcasts.

* DTV will give each broadcaster multiple narrowcast channels. Because HD programs are so expensive to produce, and much content does not require a wide-screen display, most stations will use their DTV capacity to increase the number of program options being broadcast at the same time. While commercial television is worrying about the effects of "audience fragmentation" on advertising revenues, public broadcasters are talking about their ability to finally serve their multiple audiences with dedicated services. A full-time adult learning channel is clearly one option. Hybrid services, combining 1-way video with internet-based interaction opportunities will blossom as DTV receivers add more internet features and as PCs become more like TVs. Informational and instructional content will drive these new mini-channels.

* DTV provides a one-to-many, real-time, high-speed data-delivery channel. DTV is transmitted as digital packets; since not every packet in the channel is needed to carry television information, the extra capacity is always available for other digital services. The good news is that as far as DTV is concerned "a packet is a packet," whether it contains audio information, computer programs, email, web screens or commands to turn on the microwave oven! This means that any program created by educators for delivery over digital media CD-ROM, IP web stream, etc.) can be "streamed" over DTV's data channel to any individual receiver or all receivers in the coverage area. Even when carrying HD signals, at least 1 Mb/s will be open for datacasting; when stations are transmitting less demanding signals, greater capacity for datacasting becomes available - up to the full 19 Mb/s if no TV is being sent out. Imagine the ability to download fully-updated interactive educational materials to thousands of PCs (or tomorrow's next generation of TV/data recorders) simultaneously!

* DTV makes a new genre of "enhanced television" possible. The most exciting opportunity for bringing public television producers and university educators together, lies in DTV's capacity to bring together its television and its data signals in an integrated "enhanced video" program. PBS has already demonstrated how a broadcast program can carry an entire CD-ROM's worth of supporting pictures, text and audio to a DTV-capable multimedia PC. Last November's digital broadcast of Ken Burns' biography of Frank Lloyd Wright also carried a companion program, invisible to most viewers, but available immediately after the program at the click of a mouse. A number of enhanced programs are already being planned for PBS distribution during the DTV phase-in period: www.pbs.org/digitaltv/tune.html

While these national DTV efforts will be getting most of the publicity, enhanced TV provides an opportunity for continuing education partnerships to be developed at the local station level. Each local program will have its own "enhancement stream" - providing information, education and instructional content to meet the learning needs of different audience segments - from those that only want to order a companion book to the series, to those that want additional information and access to extended interviews and related visuals "left on the editing room floor"; to those that are seeking more serious interaction with the content - from joining a discussion group to registering for an online seminar. Instructional videos will all be able to carry a full multi-media enhancement package, delivered at high speeds to students across the nation.

Continuing and distance educators and instructional video developers need to think about the impact of digital TV convergence - for it will provide more than just new channels for transport. It will also provide opportunities and challenges in content development, production techniques and content marketing partnerships.

Suggested Links:

For a non-technical "crash course" on DTV, see Robert Cringley's DTV Intro: www.pbs.org/opb/crashcourse on PBS Online. For a discussion of possible PTV and Continuing Education partnership, see my "Beyond the Portal": www.cpb.org/library/infopackets/packet35.html; for review of current "enhanced TV" projects using WebTV for Windows, see also my "Looking for DTV Models" article for CPB" infop@ckets: www.cpb.org/library/infopackets/packet34.html. For a list of how DTV may change the PBS Adult Learning Service, see: www.pbs.org/digital/TV/teach2.html#adult.

(Steven Vedro - srvedro@facstaff.wisc.edu - is an independent Educational Telecommunications Policy and Planning consultant based in Madison, Wisconsin. A number of his writings appear on the Corporation for Public Broadcasting "info.p@ckets" www.cpb.org/library/infopackets/packet.home.html web site)

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UW NEWS

UW-EXTENSION - Position Announcement: ONLINE RESOURCES SPECIALIST, University of Wisconsin-Extension, Instructional Communications Systems, Madison, Wisconsin. For information about the position and application instructions see: www.uwex.edu/disted/pos9907ics.htm. Applications will be reviewed beginning May 18, 1999. (Michele M. Jacques, Information Resources Manager, ICS, UWEX)

UW-MADISON - Undergraduate Teaching Improvement Council UTIC - has initiated a SURVEY PROJECT to gather and disseminate information on UW System faculty and staff, teaching and learning centers, instructional experiences, topics and approaches. Survey information will be posted on the UTIC webpage and accessible by May 1. To receive an electronic version of the survey, email: rwilk@ccmail.uwsa.edu.

Other UTIC announcements: 1) a special series of grants is available for the Fall or Spring semester of 1999-2000 to fund development and implementation of workshops, mini- conferences, seminars, campus team activities, or similar projects aimed at helping to advance discussion and work on student learning and development. Grant application and guidelines can be found at: http://www.uwsa.edu/utic/grants/fl_up99.htm 2) UTIC's annual Faculty College will convene at UW-Marinette, May 24-27 for approximately 100 faculty and academic staff from the UW System to attend three days of intensive, interdisciplinary seminars on teaching, student learning, and faculty development. See: www.uwsa.edu/utic/utictalk/apr99.htm (UTIC t a l k, 9 April 99)

UW-MILWAUKEE - As a result of federal funding UW-Milwaukee, the Waukesha, New Berlin, Mequon-Thiensville, Nicolet and Racine school districts, Cardinal Stritch University and the Cooperative Educational Service Agency (CESA) 1, are creating a "Virtual Academy." The VA will train teachers over the Internet about how to use computers and other technology to improve student achievement. Twenty courses are expected on line this summer. "When the courses are online, everyone in the region and the state will have the opportunity to use them," said Juli Garton, director of instructional technology for CESA 1. The purpose is to broaden teacher and student horizons with technology and to help kids learn online, with improvement in performance. (Mike Johnson, The Journal Sentinal)

UW-STEVENS POINT - Lynn Gilles, UW-Stevens Point has been creating a new course that will teach Interior Architecture students how to use computer aided design (CAD) software to help make their designs come alive in 3D visualization. To read the article, visit: http://www.uwsa.edu/olit/ttt/tttv4n6.htm (TTT Newsletter, 4-6 - 23 April 99)

UW-STOUT - Position Announcement - WEB-BASED INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGNER. This position will be responsible for the coordination of and support for web-based curriculum development across the campus. For further information contact: Julie Furst-Bowe, bowej@uwstout.edu

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WI CONFERENCE UPDATES

* DISTANCE LEARNING '99 - the 15th Annual Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning August 4-6, 1999, Marriott Madison West, Madison, WI. The Conference Planning Committee invites you to join more than 1,000 colleagues from around the world at this leading forum on distance education and training. Participants from education, business, industry, and government will come together to exchange information and explore new developments at this national/international event.

Program Features - This year's program features more than 125 breakout sessions and workshops emphasizing: *Best practices for effective applications, *Planning and management guidelines, *Successful teaching methods, *Course designs for active and collaborative learning, *Innovative approaches, solutions, and research findings. The program includes 24 half-day workshops on Wednesday, 10 tracks of 80 breakout sessions on Thursday and Friday, exhibits, and networking events. New this year are Advanced Roundtables and Media Center sessions focusing on practical Internet/Web skills.

Keynote Speakers - Thursday's opening keynote features Dr. Peter Cochrane, Chief Technologist and Head of Research for British Telecommunications, who is known as one of the world's leading visionaries on computer and telecommunications technology. Friday's closing keynote by Dr. Brandon Hall examines the future of online learning and provides scenarios to guide decision-making.

For the complete program, visit our Web site at: http://www.uwex.edu/disted/conference/ To receive a printed brochure (available mid-May), e-mail distel@education.wisc.edu or call 608-265-4159. Include your postal address.

* GWETC '99 - The 1999 Governor's Wisconsin Educational Technology Conference (GWETC '99) is scheduled for October 12-14, 1999 at the Midwest Express Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Program Features - Now in its seventh year, the conference is designed to support and advance the application of technology at all levels of education and training in instruction, curriculum, learning resources, special needs, administration and planning. Last year the conference drew over 1,800 attendees. This year conference organizers are anticipating more than 3,000. To meet the demand of a larger number of participants, the committee is increasing the number of sessions, workshops and labs to 200 plus and the number of Exhibitors to more than 220.

New types of "special events" are also being added: Pre-Conference Workshops and Labs, Poster Sessions, Internet Cafes, Exhibitor Showcases, Hands-on Classrooms and Learning and Cultural Tours - events that the spacious Midwest Express Center and Milwaukee can easily handle.

Keynote Speakers - Three Keynote Speakers have been selected: on Tuesday - the day emphasizing higher education Alan Chute, Chief Learning Strategist of Bell Innovative Labs, Lucent Technologies, will address attendees; on Wednesday, Rick Inatome, CEO of Inacom will speak to all levels of education; and on Thursday, Janice Gordon, Director of The Laptop Program, will keynote with a K-12 emphasis.

GWETC is cosponsored by: TEACH Wisconsin, the University of Wisconsin-Extension, the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board and the Wisconsin Technical College System. For complete information on the Conference visit the Web site at: http://www.gwetc.org To receive a printed brochure (available mid-May) call 608-264-9689. Include your postal address.

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EDTECH TRENDS

THE NEXT GENERATION INTERNET - Several next-generation Internet networks are now being built in the United States, and the features of these new Internets may indicate the future direction of the Internet. The Internet2 is a private network 1,000 times faster than the World Wide Web, which aims to connect over 130 university and government research centers The congestion that affects the public Internet will not apply to the Internet2 because it is a private network. Several companies are working on separate next-generation Internet projects that will extend the Internet through wireless devices, such as handheld computers and smart phones. Over the next four to five years, Motorola and Cisco Systems plan to jointly invest over $1 billion in the development of a wireless Internet. In addition, Microsoft and British Telecom will work together to develop Internet services based on wireless devices using the Windows CE operating system. (Financial Times 04/07/99 - Edupage - Apr. 7)

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CORPORATE U's & PARTNERS

KEEPING COMPANY WITH THE CAMPUS - Corporations are increasingly establishing universities as a way to train employees. Currently, 1,600 corporate universities exist in the U.S., and 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies have universities. Companies in Western Europe and Latin America are also joining the university trend. Recent mergers have underscored the importance of corporate universities. For example, Daimler-Chrysler CEO Jurgen Schrempp in a Chicago speech emphasized the role of Daimler's university in unifying the merged Daimler and Chrysler companies. Schrempp says the university will help instill the two companies with a common culture. Also relying on a corporate university is Citicorp's merger with Travelers Group, which will use the university to train employees in cross-selling each other's products. Some corporate universities offer courses to the public in an effort to profit their companies. Many use the Internet, which provides a simpler, less expensive way for companies to provide all of its workers with training. Since many employees expect their companies to provide them with skills for their next jobs, many corporate universities attempt to offer actual degrees, often by joining with conventional universities. (Financial Times 26 April 99)

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NET LAW

THE YEAR FOR FUNDAMENTALS - So far this year, Congress has introduced more than 50 bills pertaining to the Internet or electronic commerce, about two dozen of which would directly affect the Internet industry. The amount of Internet-related legislation is no surprise "given the explosion of the Internet itself," says Internet Alliance Executive Director Jeff Richards. "If 1997 was the year of the explosion of Internet legislation and 1998 was the beginning of the dance between legislators, regulators, companies, and their consumers, then this year, 1999, is the year I think we all get serious and decide on some fundamentals," he says. Meanwhile, the Internet industry is cowering at the thought of new federal regulations being imposed on the Internet. John Scheibel, director of government relations for Yahoo!, says a piecemeal approach to regulating the Internet can quickly add up to a patchwork of burdensome regulation. (San Jose Mercury News Online 9 April 99 - Edupage - Apr. 9)

UCEA'S ONLINE LEGISLATIVE AND REGULATORY ISSUES - How will upcoming legislative and regulatory issues affect your programs this year? And what steps should you take to assure compliance and make your views known to legislators? UCEA's 1999 Forecast of Legislative and Regulatory Issues profiles this year's top issues for continuing educators and offers detailed recommendations for action on each issue. You can download it from the UCEA Website at: http://www.nucea.edu. (E-News From UCEA - April 28, 1999)

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NEW TECHS

EYEGLASS COMPUTER DISPLAY - MicroOptical will demonstrate technology that the company calls the first practical head-mounted display (HMD) at next month's Society for Information Display conference. Eyeglass Display can be clipped onto or built into ordinary eyeglasses. Traditionally, workers who require a hands-free screen have had to use heavy and costly headgear. MicroOptical's Tom Holzel says the concept of HMDs is popular, but "nobody's gotten the ergonomics right." The Eyeglass Display is "a featherweight personal display with an appearance nearly indistinguishable from conventional glasses," says Holzel. The display is located either in the temple piece of the eyeglasses or in an L-shaped optics module that clips onto the temple. A small lens/mirror combiner sits in front of the eye, either on a transparent stalk or as part of the eyeglass lens, and reflects images into the eye. The stalk or lens provides the optical path from the display to the combiner. The Eyeglass Display uses "see-through" monitor technology, allowing users to easily switch their focus between the display image and their normal view of the world. (EE Times Online 04/22/99 - Edupage 23 Apr 99)

WORM AND OTHER BIOBOTS - Scientists and researchers from the fields of biology and computing are exploring connections between the two sciences that could lead to a better understanding of living creatures and to advanced computers that handle information in a similar manner as animals and humans. Shawn Lockery and researchers at the University of Oregon's Institute of Neuroscience have created a worm robot or "biobot" that is programmed to "think" and act like a round worm searching for food. Instead of sniffing levels of chemical concentrations to find food as an actual round worm would do, the worm robot detects a range of light intensities. Round worms have neuron signaling far more powerful than the computing used by desktop computers, and the worm robot could lead to computers that better adapt to changing conditions and component failures. Meanwhile, a group of researchers at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland are working on a robotic hexapod, resembling a cockroach, and robots similar to crickets and ants have been developed at European universities. (Popular Science 03/99 - Edupage 9 Apr 99)

HIP-BASED EMAIL PAGERS - Elliott Masie of the Masie Institute recently tested a new hip-based two way email pager enabling him to get and send emails as he walked down the airline terminals to his gate. "Clearly," he says, "the convergence of wireless technology will place all of us in a more connected context. Next, we will have to set expectation levels for response. I sent a test message to a colleague and he did respond to my hip in just 2 minutes. Yet, later he sent me an email and when he didn't get a response in a few minutes he sent another one. Rising expectations? The device is Motorola's PageWriter with service from SkyTel: www.skytel.com (Techlearn Trends #119 24 April 1999 )

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ASSESSING TECHED

AN ASSESSMENT CITATION - According to Steve Ehrmann "If you're an evaluation champion in your institution, you know that one of the hardest tasks is convincing people that evaluative studies are actually worth the effort and expense. The new issue of Change Magazine should give you some ammunition. An article summarizes studies that have already made a difference for their institutions: simple ones and sophisticated ones, studies of learning and of costs. If you like it, spread it around. It may help you convince some folks that evaluation can be worth the time and money. Here's the citation:"

Ehrmann, Stephen C. (1999), "Asking the Hard Questions About Technology Use and Education," CHANGE, Vol. 31, No. 2 (March/April), pages 24-29. Available on the Web in draft form: http://www.tltgroup.org/resources/fquestions.html (F-LIGHT, 27 april 99)

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REPORTS & RESEARCH

DISTANCE LEARNING EFFECTIVENESS STUDY - The Institute for Higher Education Policy notes that "there is a relative paucity of true, original research dedicated to explaining or predicting phenomena related to distance learning." The authors of the study, entitled "What's the Difference?", draw three broad conclusions from their findings: 1. The notion of "access to college" in the distance learning context is unclear; 2. Technology cannot replace the "human factor" in higher education; 3. Although the purpose of research is to assess how technology affects learning and student satisfaction, the results seem to indicate that technology "is not as important as other factors, such as learning tasks, learner characteristics, student motivation, and the instructor." To obtain the entire report, go to the IHEP Website at: http://www.ihep.com/PUB.htm (E-News From UCEA - 28 April, 1999)

DIVISION OVER INTERNET LEARNING - Two new studies being released this week question the value of online college courses. The College Board says in its reports that Internet courses could put underprivileged students who have less exposure to computers at a disadvantage. They will arrive at school with less computer knowledge and thus be less prepared for online courses. "There's this rush to get online and go virtual," says College Board researcher Larry F. Gladieux. "Colleges, policy makers, and Internet providers who are driving this market need to think about broad access." The College Board is concerned that schools facing budget cuts might be lured online by pitches from technology providers that online learning cuts the costs of real-world learning. But colleges must realize that a technical divide exists, as only 20 percent of low-income households own a computer. Meanwhile, the Institute for Higher Education Policy says in its report that Internet-based education is too new and untested to justify its rapid growth in colleges. The report notes that there is a higher dropout rate of 32 percent for online classes, compared to just 4 percent for real-world classes. (Associated Press 7 April 99 - Edupage - 7 April 99)

INTO THE FUTURE - A five-year research project, Oxygen, was launched April 12 by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Pentagon's research arm. The project will reinvent all facets of information technology from chips and software to computers and networks. In this "oxygenated digital new world" computers will recede to the background. Instead of 'going to the computer,' this environment will respond to point and click remotes and to our voices. The project is the brainchild of the lab's director, Michael Dertouzous. (Wisconsin State Journal, 5 April 99)

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NEW ON THE LIST

Welcome to: Mohd Ashraf, Joel Evans, Greg Noggl, John Maxwell, Jill Leafstedt, Barbara Klingensmith, Lisa Robinson, Melissa Robison, William Bradberry, Claudia Dovalina, Cato Holm, Lillian Connors, Denise Egea-Kuehne, Susan Cordell, Jason Souter, Jody Cawood, Donald Jennings, Lola McGourty and Elizabeth Hodge.

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FYI
News, Conferences, Institutes, Events

* The satellite teleconference entitled "Copyright in the New Millennium: The Impact of New Changes to the U.S. Copyright Law" will be aired Friday, May 21 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Details of the program, speakers and cost are available at: http://www.arl.org/dmca/video.html

* M/SET 2000, International Conference on Mathematics, Science Education & Technology is scheduled for Feb. 5-8, 2000 in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Marriott- Mission Valley. The Call for Participation deadline is Oct. 5, 1999. The conference is hosted by San Diego State University and sponsored by the Journal of Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching (JCMST) and the Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). For more information see: http://www.aace.org/conf/mset

* You are invited to submit a proposal for presentation at the seventh annual American Association for Collegiate Independent Study (AACIS) conference, to be held November 4-6, 1999 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The conference is sponsored by Louisiana State University. Presenters are expected to pay fees and are encouraged to attend the entire conference. For further information email: gearhard@columbia.dsu.edu

* The Commonwealth of Learning and the Caribbean Broadcasting Union, with support from the Caribbean Development Bank announces TEL-isphere 1999, The Caribbean & Technology-Enhanced Learning Conference, November 25 to 27, 1999 at the Sherbourne Conference Centre, St. Michael, Barbados. For more information see: http://www.col.org/tel99

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MAY DESIEN ISSUE - Technology/Learning Decision-Making

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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/

DESIEN has been created to encourage information exchange and discussion of distance education issues concerned with: 1) UW Systemwide distance education progress and institution course/program development, 2) faculty/team development, 3) technology, 4) policy, 5) funding and 6) research. List recipients outside of the UW System are also welcome to join in with information contributions and discussion.