Council updated on distance learning

At its Tuesday Meeting, the Bloomington Faculty Council received a report on the possibilities of distance learning -- using technology to teach online courses and make them available to students at other IU campuses, or even students around the world.\nDistance learning makes correspondence courses and obtaining degrees available to students at other IU campuses. Previously, the program had been limited to posting class notes online. \nErwin Boschmann, an associate vice president responsible for distance learning, said the program's goal consists of designing courses that would use the latest technology to develop interactive courses and move the program into mainstream use. \nBoschmann assured the council that the plan, "Charting a Course Toward an Indiana Virtual University" is not instituted yet. He said he hopes to begin instituting the plan in December of this year after further discussion.\n"This new technology encourages students to be engaged (in learning)," Boschmann said.\nJeremy Dunning, dean of continuing studies, showed an example of virtual reality in distance learning. He displayed a virtual landfill that allows students to learn about the site while not actually going there. Dunning said that example would be recreated for more distance courses. \n"There are ways learning experience can be created with technology that cannot be created in the classroom," Dunning said. "This will work because it takes the best of classroom and puts it into distance education."\nHe said distance learning has a bad reputation because only notes have been posted on the Internet. The new plan incorporates much more. \n"What makes a good teacher is not what's in the notes, but how a professor mediates that content," he said.\nBoschmann added he thinks distance learning, if developed correctly, can be just as effective as traditional classroom learning.\n"Studies show students perform no better or worse doing an (online) experiment than actually being in the laboratory," he said.\nAfter the presentation, English professor Stephen Watt said he was concerned with potential competition between distance learning and actual classes. \nBut Boschmann said distance learning will complement -- not detract from -- IU's academic mission.\n"This technology is an opportunity to combine both reach and richness of learning," he said.