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In the process of refining the procedures described in
the TCM Handbook, 17 institutions were gracious enough to
volunteer as pilot test sites. While the primary purpose
of the pilot test activity was to refine the procedures
contained in the Handbook, the tests also yielded data of
interest in their own right. While the samples are too small
to provide definitive answers to key management questions,
the preliminary findings are tantalizing. My interpretation
of the results suggests that:
- Technology-mediated delivery is more expensive than
face-to-face instruction, at least within the parameters
of course enrollments and methods tested. There were no
instances in which this finding was not true. Research
and modeling in other projects has found that scale matters-there
are conditions under which technology-mediated delivery
is less expensive than traditional classroom instruction.
Continued efforts must be made to identify those conditions.
- Cost differentials arise for different reasons depending
on the method of delivery:
For satellite and television-based delivery, the additional
costs can be traced to communications costs.
For online courses, cost differentials arise out of
the need to invest in course development activities
to make courses adaptable to Web-based delivery.
As an aside, I would note that relatively small course
development costs that are frequently found suggest many
institutions are putting classroom-based courses on the
Web rather than fundamentally reengineering courses to incorporate
different pedagogies that have the possibility of making
truly effective use of the available technology.
- There is a tradeoff between planning and development
costs (see the Washington State University example, Case
12). Time spent in careful planning and design is more
than offset by a reduction in development costs. Think
before you leap!
- Course completion rates are affected by "mentoring"
activities and strategies. Cost effective incorporation
of strategies for accomplishing this particular function
is critical to successful online courses (see the Florida
State University example, case 2).
- Receive-site costs are real and cannot be assumed to
be "free" to provider institutions. Costs borne
by others can dramatically affect cost comparisons-and
ultimately decisions about the most efficient ways of
delivering instruction.
- Most importantly, paraphrasing a 1992 admonition-"it's
the people, stupid." Inclusion of technology and
other capital costs in the calculation is not the difference
maker. These costs pale in comparison to the people costs
in spite of the large sticker prices associated with acquisition
of the capital items. In the end, the determinants of
comparative costs are:
The amount, type, and costs of the human assets utilized
in the process.
The unique talents of different kinds of employees and
take advantage of the possibilities of differentiated
staffing and allow increased scale to be achieved in a
responsible manner.
The key decisions are people decisions, not technology
decisions. Technological capacity presents us with the occasion,
but not the reason, to rethink the ways in which students
are aided in their acquisition of new knowledge and skills.
Dennis Jones, NCHEMS
Updated
04/03/2002
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