| |
Higher education has been undergoing
great changes for several years as a result of numerous forces
influencing the methods which instructors use to teach and
the ways in which academic instruction and training is delivered
to students. Increasing availability and technological advancement,
coupled with the declining cost of technology, have enabled
colleges and universities throughout the country to utilize
computer technologies for innovations in teaching (Montague & Knirk,
1993), such as distance education. Distance education, defined
in Title 5 Regulations of the State of California Education
Code as "instruction in which the instructor and student
are separated by distance and interact through the assistance
of communication technology" (Article 2, Section 55370),
includes technologies ranging from audiographic and televised
instruction to computer delivery over the Internet of entire
courses.
Some of the compelling reasons that various forms of distance
education have been implemented include (a) the increase
in the adult population seeking higher education, many while
continuing employment; (b) workforce demands for updating
skills and for lifelong learning; (c) the need to serve various
types of part-time students who are juggling family and work
responsibilities, from welfare recipients and industry workers
to "reverse transfer" students with bachelor's degrees (Lui,
1997, p. 14+); (d) a paradigm shift within many colleges
regarding their educational missions; and (e) the increasing
high costs of constructing brick and mortar buildings needed
to absorb the influx of college students (Lui, 1997).
The use of technology in teaching to support higher education
problem-solving efforts is clearly described by an Annenberg/CPB
Project (1992):
Tidal waves of economic, demographic,
educational, and technological changes demand that colleges
reconsider what they will teach, how they will teach, whom
they will they teach, and the degree to which the classroom
of today will look and feel anything like the classroom of
yesterday. (p. 10)
Growth in higher education student populations in California
was predicted to hit hard with the advent of "Tidal Wave
II," a term coined by demographers for the children of the
Baby Boomer generation (Tidal Wave I) who are reaching college
age in increasing numbers (Lui, 1997; McCargar, 1997). The
huge number of students expected to graduate from high school
in the coming decade is anticipated to peak at 2.21 million
students who are projected to enter California colleges and
universities by the year 2005 (Lui; McCargar).
|
|
|
