On-line education has been a hot topic in recent years. Many universities have offered distance-learning programs to cope with the growing demand from half-time students. How is SVSU prepared in this area?

SVSU is technically prepared to offer on-line classes, said Mr. Ken Schindler, the Executive Director of Information and Technology Services at SVSU. He made the remark this week while speaking to a group of students as a guest speaker in Dr. Sean Wu's CM 590 class. Dr. Wu is a visiting professor from Taiwan and he is teaching the class of Project Management on Web-Based Media this semester at SVSU. He and his students try to categorize the different models of on-line education.

According to Mr. Schindler, the technical bottleneck for the potential on-line class students is the limited "digital traffic volume" at home. The minimum bandwidth required for a one-way on-line course is about 256 KBs cable and a two-way course will at least double that figure. This is something that cannot be achieved in the short term. SVSU only provides students living on-campus with high- speed data network access. Many (less than 800) off-campus students still use a free but slow dial-up Internet access service provided by the university. Many students (578 so far) and faculty members (96 so far) have subscribed discounted cable service from Charter Communication. However, students living in areas where Charter doesn't provide service cannot enroll in this service. Mr. Schindler said that the university is negotiating with another Internet service provider called SpeedNet to provide wireless service in those areas.

MICTA Service Corporation of Mt. Pleasant (www.micta.net) is currently negotiating a cellular services contract with several cellular providers on behalf of its members. As a MICTA member, SVSU students and employees will be able to take advantage of these contracts as soon as they are signed. This program will combine the discounted cellphone service and wireless access to Internet. However he couldn't give too many details as the negotiations are still under way.

Another guest speaker, Dr. Robert Yien, Vice President of Academic Affairs at SVSU, reviewed the distance-learning program provided by SVSU in the chronological order. He told the class that SVSU actually started this type of program from as early as 1982, when some faculty members used a so-called "Jem-92" technology via a dedicated telephone line to teach a small class at Wordsmith Airport located at Oscoda, about 100 miles north of Saginaw. The program lasted about 10 years before it was cancelled after the airport was closed in early 1990s. In 1990s the College of Nursing and the College of Education tried some interactive video programs. The on-line education program made a breakthrough during the summer of 2000, when the former director of the library raised the possibility of importing "blackboard" technology into SVSU. The faculty members enrolled in this program more than tripled during the past two years.

SVSU might have to make moves in this area to counter similar programs provided by nearby universities and colleges, said Dr. Yien when he fielded questions from students, but the University will tread a cautious path. He still believes that on-line education is more appropriate for graduate students who are more self-motivated. For the undergraduate students, the in-class discussion might be a more effective means.

According to Dr. Yien, the only fully on-line course offered by SVSU so far is Eng 212 taught by Prof. Lynne Graft. She has been offering this course for two consecutive semesters and she will continue to do so in the forthcoming winter semester. "So far the response is mixed," said Dr. Yien. He is eager to discuss the pros and cons of this education method with Dr. Graft next year.

Dr. Yien also refuted the idea that the tuition for on-line education should be lower. Instead it is usually higher than traditional education because you have to pay for the conveniences and privileges provided by on-line education.

Dr. Yien didn't foresee a devastating threat of on-line program to the traditional education. It should play a supplemental and complimentary role to the traditional education. "Thirty years ago, when our library was still in the basement, people started to worry about the threat of electronic media to the traditional library. But today our library still exists," concluded Dr. Yien.

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