Technology brings education a little closer

Debra D. Bass

Monday, Sept. 30, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Modern technology can turn your living room into a classroom.

It's an emerging field called distance education, and UNLV and the Community College of Southern Nevada have jumped on the bandwagon.

The concept allows anyone with a computer, television, cassette player or telephone the opportunity to advance their education without having to trudge through traffic. And rural residents can mosey down to the local high school for class rather than making a long trip to the city.

The Legislature appropriated $5 million for the state to develop ways to make education more accessible to rural and urban residents. UNLV, CCSN, the Clark County School District and KLVX Channel 10 teamed up and acquired another $1.9 million for equipment and staff.

As a result, the classrooms of the future have unlimited seating and better access than a convenience store.

But the wheels of change are grinding slowly. Participation is minimal so far.

"It's word of mouth that's going to help us. When students see the technology and how it works, they'll come," said Yvonne Alley, student liaison for UNLV's distance education program. "And we haven't had any student or teachers who were negative about the technology."

UNLV offers seven courses at seven high school sites in Clark County, Pahrump, Laughlin and Elko. There are only 45 students enrolled at all the sites in all the classes combined. The classes offered are general psychology, humans and the environment, Russian I, finite math, English composition I, people's law and nursing.

But Alley said the triumph of the communication technology should not be overshadowed by the number of participants in the program's first semester.

By the end of the 1997 school year, according to a July university system estimate, 12,600 Nevada students will have taken part in 412 courses offered by all seven higher-education institutions delivered at 27 sites throughout the state.

That estimate may be a little high. The report predicts UNLV will by then offer 80 classes for 4,740 students and CCSN 30 classes for 3,000 students. Together, they now offer fewer than 15 programs to fewer than 300 distance-education students.

Still optimistic, Chancellor Richard Jarvis says the growth of distance education will be a key factor in the overall growth of the university system.

"The more we can deliver classes to established facilities, like schools and homes and businesses, the less bricks and mortar we have to use," Jarvis said.

Next semester, UNLV plans to offer at least double its current course offering. The two-year budget for the program is $2.6 million, but the bulk of that went toward start-up costs for equipment.

Professors teach the courses from UNLV classrooms that are equipped with satellite communication units linked to a network of interactive video classrooms. That means the professor can not only be seen and see students at the other sites, but they can talk to one another during class.

This set-up is by far the most advanced the University and Community College System has ever seen.

Susan Taylor, a UNLV English professor, admits the technology is daunting, but it didn't stop her from volunteering.

Her English composition class is broadcast live in the Pahrump Valley High School library. She has the capability to broadcast to up to five remote locations.

"I specifically wanted to teach this class," Taylor said. "Because distance education is new, it offers a lot of opportunities to change the way we teach and the way we involve students."

Students can not only fulfill high-school credit requirements, but compile college credits through distance education.

Elizabeth Garcia, a 16-year-old senior in Pahrump, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is one of six students in Taylor's class. But she sits among rows of empty seats.

"I like it all just fine," Garcia said. "It's fun talking to them through the TV but I sometimes wish I had someone here taking the class with me."

Her tuition, $192, was donated by the local Rotary Club.

"Students are asking about the program more and more. But it costs money, you know, so they are more cautious," said Judy Hughes, the Pahrump high school counselor. "The cost is not prohibitive when you think about the cost of taking the class at UNLV and driving back and forth."

Garcia agreed, suggesting it was not the cost, but the added strain, that was keeping many of her classmates from the university offerings.

"Most of my friends want to wait until they graduate high school to take college courses, but maybe that will change," she said.

The novelty of Taylor's class still attracts a lot of attention in a town that has only one stoplight. Students are likely to wave at the camera as they use the library during the live broadcasts. Some simply stop, stare and listen while resting on a column of books that divides the small library.

The high-tech set-up includes two monitors, one displaying the UNLV class and one of Garcia and the empty chairs. Remote control units at each location allow an operator to rotate the camera and zoom in on objects. But the system is not without its glitches. Occasionally the video capacity fails, sometimes the audio, sometimes both, but usually only in brief intervals.

Taylor says the technology may not be perfect but credits it with bridging the education gap between Pahrump and Las Vegas.

The Community College of Southern Nevada has for years offered a variety of lower-tech distance education programs, using telephone conference calls and audio and video tape. The college now offers 14 such courses that also incorporate the Internet and KLVX Channel 10. The program boasts an enrollment of 180 -- including students as far north as Idaho.

Students who don't have live access to teachers during class can use e-mail or the telephone to talk one-on-one. Homework is faxed or overnight expressed from site to site.

Currently, introduction to business, introduction to research on the Internet, Nevada history, college study skills, American sign language I and English composition are offered. CCSN will begin to offer live interactive courses this spring.

"It's so new. It's difficult to plan strategically, because it really changes the way we do things," said Chris Chairsell, CCSN dean of special programs. "But over the years we have noticed familiar faces signing up for the classes year after year. That's the highest stamp of approval you can get."

Chairsell enrolled her son in the latest Internet class to develop library research skills to test the system.

"I wanted to get a student's perspective," Chairsell said. "He doesn't mind being a guinea pig, because I fed him lots of ice cream. But I can foresee some changes coming out of this experience."

On Oct. 10, KLVX Channel 10 will broadcast information about distance education from 7:30 to 8 p.m.

The broadcast is scheduled as part of a UNLV Technology Week program running Oct. 7-11. It will include daily lectures, demonstrations and an open house for the Super Computer center.

Those interested may call 895-0334 or access the UNLV Technology Week page on the Internet at http://www.nevada.-edu/TechWeek.