Summary, Findings, and
Conclusions
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1.
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This case describes a collaborative effort among
ten campuses of the State University of New York
(SUNY) to establish a shared distance learning
network in western New York state. The
participating campuses, led by SUNY Brockport, made
a proposal to the SUNY system Office of Educational
Technology to form WESTNET&emdash;a distance
learning network that would provide two-way
compressed video connections and related classroom
equipment at each of the member institutions. The
proposal was funded, the network was established,
and courses were first offered in spring term
1997.
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2.
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Given the fiscal constraints under which SUNY is
operating, it is apparent the campuses cannot
afford to individually offer the kind of
specialized and diversified courses as they have in
past years. A premise of WESTNET is that by
providing a telecommunication infrastructure
campuses will be able to maintain the diversity of
course offerings through their group efforts in
sharing courses.
This consideration was particularly important in
the development of a Philosophy Consortium by
faculty from several of the campuses. That
consortium has provided a model for faculty
collaboration that could be expanded to other
disciplines as the network expands.
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3.
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The WESTNET campuses plan to create a model for
a distance learning network that addresses the
interinstitutional issues related to course
sharing, administrative support, and technical
infrastructure that must be solved in order to make
WESTNET a success.
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Benefits
Learning Outcomes
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4.
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The evaluation of learning outcomes was based
upon data from five courses delivered via WESTNET
in spring 1997&emdash;one course in Education, one
in Nursing, and three in Philosophy. An analysis of
the grade data shows that the proportion of
students earning grades of "A" or "B" at the
sending and receive sites was not statistically
significant at the 5 percent level. The proportion
of "A" grades earned by sending site students,
however, is significantly greater (at the 5 percent
level) than the proportion earned by receiving site
students.
The lower proportion of "A"s at the receive
sites could be due to the lower overall ability of
these students as evidenced by their lower GPAs and
as further evidenced by their lower grade
expectations. Alternatively, the lower grades may
be in some way related to the start-up nature of
the network. Additional study of this phenomena is
clearly warranted.
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5.
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A student attitude survey was administered to
students at both sending and receiving sites. For
the specific survey items where there were no
significant differences among the send and receive
site students, there were no indications
unfavorable toward WESTNET. For the specific survey
items where receive site responses were
statistically different than send site responses,
the send site responses were uniformly neutral and
the receive site responses were uniformly
supportive of WESTNET.
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6.
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Concerns indicated by individual responses to
the open-ended questions suggests some logistic
problems that are likely to be remedied by more
experience with the network. Another concern, that
the technology will be used as a reason to downsize
academic departments, suggests a misunderstanding
that the technology is the source of the fiscal
problem facing the system rather than a possible
solution to the problem. Finally, both receive and
send sites students understand the benefits of the
technology as a means of improving access.
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Student Access to Courses
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7.
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The SUNY campuses in western New York state
provide an important source of access to higher
education for residents of the region. One of the
WESTNET objectives is to maintain and expand that
access. Given the financial constraints the SUNY
campuses are operating under, some downsizing of
academic departments is occurring. This threatens
the viability of degree programs on campuses with
relatively small departments and numbers of majors.
Course sharing among campuses is one way to
maintain degree programs and provide adequate
course offerings even where campus departments are
relatively small.
The creators of the Philosophy Consortium at
Brockport, Fredonia, and Cortland, for example,
have shown that an important traditional discipline
can thrive in hard economic times by creatively
pooling scarce resources and sharing courses among
campuses.
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Institutional Renewal
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8.
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The instructors in the five courses evaluated
indicated that their involvement with WESTNET
offered them new avenues for professional
development. These include the possibility of
continuing to teach advanced courses, the
opportunity to audit courses of colleagues from
other institutions, and the availability of
high-tech equipment for classroom use. They felt
that their teaching was greatly enhanced by the
reorganization of their subject materials to suit
the new delivery system. Instructors were pleased
with the opportunity to reach new students in their
courses, and to offer this clientele a greater
variety of courses than had previously been
possible.
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9.
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Cooperative arrangements among campuses for
course sharing via WESTNET appear to be blossoming.
The Philosophy Consortium is expanding and the
Nursing Department at Brockport is increasing its
course offerings. Other campuses are indicating an
interest in participating in WESTNET. Additional
departments including Languages - French and
Japanese, Political Science, and Recreation and
Tourism are either offering or planning to offer
courses over WESTNET. Protocols for FTE sharing and
assignment of communications line charges are
beginning to emerge.
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Costs
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10.
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The cost of a WESTNET course was estimated based
upon the direct operating and capital costs of a
WESTNET studio classroom, transmission costs, and
WESTNET administrative overhead. This estimated
cost of a WESTNET course is less than that of
offering the same course in classroom format with a
live instructor at multiple (two or three)
locations.
Cost comparisons such as these are valuable but
must be made with a clear understanding of their
implications. The comparison of WESTNET costs with
the costs of offering the courses separately on
each campus should not be interpreted to mean that
offering the courses on each campus remains a
viable alternative. It is not. Given the fiscal
situation, WESTNET provides a less expensive way to
deliver these courses that would otherwise be at
risk of being eliminated at all sites.
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