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A goal-oriented method for establishing an electronic college
Education & Computing 8 (1992) 113-118 Elsevier
113
A goal-oriented method for establishing an electronic college Morten Flate Paulsen The American Center for the Study of Distance Education, The Pennsylvania State University, College of Education, 403 South Allen Street, Suite 206, University Park, PA 16801-5202, USA
Abstract Paulsen, M.F., A goal-oriented method for establishing an electronic college. Education & Computing 8 (1992) 113-118. This paper presents a goal-oriented method for establishing an electronic college. The method is outlined in a milestone plan, adapted from goal-directed project management. The paper advocates commitment to training, support, and motivation of people, as well as technological expertise. The method comprises the following steps: define your aim, procure the necessary management support, define the usergroups involved, determine the users' need: information and activities, decide on which host computer to use, decide on which software to use, decide on the type of network, decide on the type of workstation, design the framework in terms of a matrix, design a training, support and motivation program. This paper describes each of these steps in detail and uses a case description, "TowerNet", originating from the Adult Education Department of Pennsylvania State University.
Keywords: electronic college; distance education, computer conferencing; management support; user groups; information; activity; host computer; software; network; workstations; framework; training; support; motivation.
Introduction T h e " E l e c t r o n i c C o l l e g e " is a c o m p u t e r b a s e d system which facilitates written communication a m o n g s t u d e n t s , f a c u l t y a n d staff, i n d e p e n d e n t o f t i m e a n d s p a c e . T h e c o n c e p t is d e s c r i b e d in m o r e d e t a i l in t h e b o o k The Electronic College [1]. I n o r d e r to e s t a b l i s h an e l e c t r o n i c c o l l e g e a p r o j e c t g r o u p is n e e d e d w i t h p r o j e c t m a n a g e m e n t skills, p e r s o n n e l m a n a g e m e n t skills a n d t e c h n i c a l skills. T h e p r o j e c t will r e q u i r e a w o r k f o r c e , t e c h n i c a l e q u i p m e n t a n d m o n e y - - a n d will t a k e m o n t h s to accomplish. T h i s p a p e r is o r g a n i z e d a r o u n d t h e M i l e s t o n e P l a n s h o w n in Fig. 1, a n a p p r o a c h i n s p i r e d by t h e "goal-directed project management" method, des c r i b e d in [2], w h i c h I h i g h l y r e c o m m e n d f o r p r o j e c t s like this. I will e m p h a s i z e t h e f a c t t h a t establishing an electronic college involves both p e o p l e a n d t e c h n o l o g y . It is i m p o r t a n t to b e e q u a l l y c o m m i t t e d to t h e t r a i n i n g , s u p p o r t , a n d m o t i v a t i o n o f t h e p e o p l e i n v o l v e d as to t e c h n o l o g © 1992 - IFIP
ical p r o g r e s s . A s a c o n s e q u e n c e , t h e r e a r e t w o paths through the milestone plan: one dealing with people, the other with technology. .S P1
Project start Define your aim
P2
Procure the necessary management support
P3
Define the usergroups involved
P4
Determine the users' need: information and activities Decide on which host computer to use T2 Decide on which software to use T3 Decide on the type of network
1
T4 Decide the type of workstations T5 Design the framework in terms of a matrix P5ao~/ Design a training, support and motivation program Start the operation of your college Fig. 1. Milestone plan for establishing an electronic college, for people (P) and technology (T).
114
M.F. Paulsen / Goal-oriented method for establishing an electronic college
The sequence of the milestones is carefully chosen, but some milestones may be interchanged, if necessary. In the following the milestones are descibed in detail. For each milestone, there is included a case example from the TowerNet project.
Define your aim
Defining the aim is extremely important for two reasons. First, the project group and the m a n a g e m e n t involved need to agree upon common goals. Without a joint perception of the project's aim, the project will hardly be able to become a success. Second, the project-group needs a clear and easily understandable aim for internal justification and external marketing. In this context, I have found it truly useful to devise a dazzling project name, by which people are able to easily identify the project.
The TowerNet Aim: The aim of the TowerNet project is to develop a computer conferencing environment which facilitates flexible and effective written communication among students, staff and f a c u l t y - - a t the four sites of the Adult Education Program at Pennsylvania State University.
Procure the necessary management
support
M a n a g e m e n t support is crucial for the project. Besides approval of the project aim, m a n a g e m e n t must allocate the necessary resources and must give effective, visible support to the project. Be sure that resources are allocated for all the steps in the milestone plan. You should discuss the visibility effects with your managers. It is seldom enough that managers support the project in word or print, they must show their support by frequently using the system. This provides ultimate visibility.
The TowerNet management support: The project is initiated by the professor in charge and some other professors, who are really enthusiastic about the project. This, in itself, is not sufficient: more active support from the m a n a g e m e n t has to be procured.
Define the usergroups
involved
The main reason for establishing an electronic college is to provide the users with educational service. To make a successful system, you really need to know who your users are. It is necessary to cluster potential users in usergroups, and to decide which usergroups should be considered as target groups. Some users you might consider are: system operators, hackers, prospective students, present students, passive students, former students, teachers, guest experts, teaching assistants, former teachers, facilitators, bursars, etc. You will need to add to, omit and cluster these suggested users into groups.
The TowerNet Usergroups: The TowerNet project is designed to serve: - 200 graduate studentsi divided into classes; - 4 facilitators, one at each site; - 1 system operator; - 5 faculty members; and - 1 staff member.
Determine activities
the users' need for information
and
It is useftil, but sometimes difficult, to distinguish between information and activities in a conferencing system. You should think of information as rather static and important facts which the college wishes to distribute to its users. Information is well suited for "broadcasting" via bulletin boards. Activities, however, are needed fordynamic group interaction in conferences. When you have decided which usergroups you will serve, you must ask yourself: What kind of information and activities does each usergroup need? This question frequently needs to be posed, for instance each term. Information you might consider: - general information about your college; - information about the programs you offer; - syllabi; - user-manuals; - schedule of classes; - student, faculty and staff rosters; - examinations; - fees.
115
M.F. Paulsen / Goal-oriented method for establishing an electronic college
Activities you might consider: - social chitchat; - system support; - prospective counselling; - teaching; - pedagogical discussions. The TowerNet need f o r information and activity: On-line information and activities like the following are planned to be available: Information on bulletin boards: - the D. Ed. in Adult Education: General Information, - the D . E d . in Adult Education: Handbook, - schedule of Adult Education Classes, - the quarterly newsletter, - faculty and student directory, - Adult Education syllabi, -examination announcements and former exams. Activities in conferences: - one conference for each course, - a conference for general, administrative discussions, - a "caf6" for social chatter.
Decide
on
which
host
computer
to use
The host computer is the nucleus of the system. It can be anything, from a tiny PC to a huge mainframe. Deciding what kind of host to use, is mainly a question of capacity. It is necessary to estimate the n u m b e r of simultaneous users and the accumulated number of users the college should serve. Another question to consider is whether to utilize computer equipment already installed for other purposes, or to invest in brand new hardware. The smaller initial costs of utilizing a host already in use, often has to be weighted against the security problems invoked by potential student access to other host computer applications. Some software solutions allow the system to be distributed among several host computers. This might be a valuable feature for colleges located at several sites. Choosing a host computer means choosing an operating system as well. O p e n solutions, such as Unix and MS-DOS, are platforms for a variety of existing and future software solutions. Vendor-
specific operating systems usually have just a few suitable software solutions, or none at all. An electronic college will also need several utility programs and m a n a g e m e n t information systems adjoined to the conferencing system. This argues for open standards, instead of vendor-specific, operating systems. A reasonable solution for many colleges will be to lease host computer access from a commercial computer service bureau. This is a solution with low initial cost and a short implementation period. Another benefit could be the access to an existing base of experienced users. On the other hand, leasing tends to make the electronic college very dependent on the service bureau. The college may have difficulties in building a suitable framework, such as described in this article. There are also many examples of colleges complaining about the charges they have to pay for using the conferencing system. An electronic college should continually be in operation, even during night-time, weekends and vacations. This might be a challenge for many colleges. The TowerNet host computer: We plan to employ the University Center for Academic Computing and its IBM mainframe computer, with its CMS operating system and the Center's user support. This is an obvious choice, because students, faculty and staff already have user accounts at the Center and no extra cost will be charged to the department.
Decide
on
which
software
to use
People often think that the software is the most important part of a conferencing system. I will warn against that notion. The users, the activities and the information are in my opinion far more important. So, do not over-estimate the importance of the software: look for a reasonable solution which is easy to implement. You can choose from several different software strategies. The most obvious to consider are: to buy standard software, to adapt some applications available on our host computer, or customize your own application. Which solution to choose often depends on what is available for your host computer.
116
M.F. Paulsen / Goal-oriented method for establishing an electronic college
The TowerNet software: We plan to adapt a system, based on Bitnet's E-mail and Netncws' bulletin and confcrencing system. We will customize a user-interface and integrate these applications using the R E X X programming language. This is not a sophisticated solution. It is, however, available with minor adaptions and no software investments.
Decide on the type of network
Some important issues concerning the communication networks are: user-friendliness, cost, baud rate, capacity and versatility. Most public networks are not very userfriendly. This is a major obstacle for prospective students. Unless we can lower this threshold for prospective users, electronic colleges will never become a success among ordinary people. In my opinion, it is crucial to split the communication cost equally among the students. This is possible by using " g r e e n " (800) telephone and packet-switched digital network numbers pre-paid by the college. The college can implement different strategies for reducing communication costs, depending on the chosen conferencing software and the chosen framework. The chosen communication network structure will obviously influence the cost as well. The college should support most of the baud rates used by prospective students. The capacity of a conferencing system may be measured by the maximum number of simultaneous users. This n u m b e r is equivalent to the number of communication ports installed. One communication port can support only one user at a time. Over an extended period of time, however, as a rule of thumb, one port can handle from twenty to hundred users. An electronic college should aim at versatile communication network solutions. Both local and wide area networks should be supported, as well as public telephone networks a n d packet-switched digital networks. The TowerNet Network: Pennsylvania State University has C o m p u t e r labs, linked to the host computer, on the four actual sites. Students who prefer to use their own computer, may dial into
the mainframe via long distance telephone lines. The latter is not a viable solution because of the communication costs. We need to find a solution which accommodates local dial-in nodes to the mainframe computer.
Decide on the type of workstations
A workstation should consist of microcomputer equipment, including a m o d e m and a local printer. It is necessary to have a local word processor and local communication software. A widely debated issue is to which extent the workstation hardware and software should be standardized. Standards: Arguments supporting standardized workstations are the possibilities of making fancy user-interfaces, p r e p r o g r a m m e d macros etc. User manuals can be tailor-made and do not have to support lots of different equipment. Student support on telephone hot-lines and within the conferencing system will be easier. All together, fewer prospective students will be excluded due to technological obstacles. On the other hand, standards supported by just a few software and hardware vendors will exclude users with other configurations. The college could offer cheap or free software. This will create an extra workload of distribution. Another problem occurs when the college develops software which has to be supported. An even greater problem occurs when this software is issued in updated versions and all versions should be supported. The dilemma of standardization can be visualized as follows: Standardization ~ ? ~ Pluralism. Utilities: The workstation should handle local utility programs, supporting an electronic college. These could be software for computer aided instruction (CAD, compilers for programming courses and spelling- and g r a m m a r checkers for language courses. The TowerNet Workstations: Students can use their own computer as well as computers at the computer labs. We recommend Y T E R M communication software for PC-users a n d Tincan for Mac-users. The communication software is free
M.F. Paulsen / Goal-oriented method for establishing an electronic college
of charge. We must, though, establish a routine for software distribution.
Design a training, support and motivation program
You must never forget that even an excellent technical system is useless without users. The hardest part of the project is often to help and to motivate people to use new and unfamiliar technology. I recommend that you assess each usergroup's needs for training and if necessary, come up with separate training programs for each of them. You also should consider establishing a group of facilitators to work on user support. This group could be responsible for making user manuals, answering a telephone hot-line, providing on-line help, and making on-site demonstrations. With proper motivation, people are willing to fight considerable technical obstacles. Without motivation, they tend to reject any learning effort. The ultimate motivation is when people see that their managers benefit from frequent system use. So it is extremely important to facilitate system use for the managers. '
Design the framework in terms of a matrix
Now, when you have decided which usergroups to serve and what kind of information and activity you want to provide, you can establish the F r a m e w o r k Matrix. Write down the usergroups along the horizontal axis and possible information and activities along the vertical axis. Then consider, for each cell in the matrix, what access privilege the usergroup should have to the corresponding information and activities. You should consider the following user privileges: No access, read only access and read and write access. Sometimes it is useful to consider more subtle access privileges, like censored and mandatory access.
The TowerNet Framework Matrix is presented in Table 1.
Table The
117
The TowerNet training, support and motivation program: We plan three separate course pro-
1 TowerNet
Framework
Matrix
information/activities
users 1
2
3
4
e
w
r
e
w
r
e
w
newsletter
e
student
e
general
information
handbook schedule
faculty
of classes roster and staff roster
syllabi comprehensive program
exams
planning
issues in adult reading
for college
international adult
in education
education adult
education
professional
students education
research
seminar
administrative
and adults
seminar
resident
issues
caf~ Legend: course
1 = System 506,
13 = Students r = read
9=
operator,
Students in course
access,
2 = Staff,
in course
510,
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
w
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
w
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
e
w
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
e
w
r
r
r
r
r
r
f~ ' /
r
r
r
r
e
w
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
e
n
n
n
n
w
n
w
n
n
n
n
n
e
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
w
n
n
n
n
e
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
w
n
n
n
e
n
n
n
w
n
n
n
n
n
w
n
n
e
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
w
n
e
n
n
n
n
n
w
n
n
n
n
n
w
e
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
e
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
3 = Professor,
4 = Professor,
10 = Students
in course
560,
588.
w = write
and
read
access,
n = no access,
e = establish.
5 = Professor, 11 = S t u d e n t s
6 = Professor, in course
570,
7 = Professor, 12 = Students
8 = Students in course
in 580,
118
M.F. Paulsen / Goal-oriented method for establishing an electronic college
g r a m s for: local facilitators, faculty a n d staff a n d s t u d e n t s . First, t h e facilitators n e e d intensive t r a i n i n g in Bitnet, N e t n e w s , Y t e r m a n d Tincan. T h e n , t h e p r o f e s s o r s a n d staff will b e o f f e r e d t r a i n i n g in N e t n e w s . Finally, t h e s t u d e n t s will b e o f f e r e d c o u r s e s in Bitnet, N e t n e w s , Y T E R M a n d Tincan. I strongly r e c o m m e n d t h a t t h e faculty t e a c h t h e s t u d e n t courses. T h e signal effect a n d i m p a c t of this effort will b e s u p e r i o r to any o t h e r solution. O u r s u p p o r t system will i n c l u d e a t e l e p h o n e hot-line, local f a c i l i t a t o r s a n d d i s t r i b u t i o n of u s e r - m a n u a l s . T h e h o t - l i n e a n d u s e r - m a n u a l dist r i b u t i o n a r e a l r e a d y existing c o m p u t e r c e n t e r cervices. W e h o p e to a p p o i n t i n t e r n s t u d e n t s for local facilitating. F a c u l t y , staff a n d s t u d e n t s m u s t p e r c e i v e this p r o j e c t as a p r i o r i t y d e p a r t m e n t initiative. W e m u s t c o n t i n u a l l y p r o m o t e this t h r o u g h w o r d s a n d action in i n t e r n a l notes, s e m i n a r s a n d classes.
Conclusion
U n t i l now, just a few e l e c t r o n i c c o l l e g e s have b e e n set up. Yet, we see a growing i n t e r e s t , a n d I h o p e t h e m e t h o d d e s c r i b e d m a y b e h e l p f u l for
e s t a b l i s h i n g f u t u r e e l e c t r o n i c colleges. It is n o t m e a n t to b e a f o o l p r o o f m e t h o d , always l e a d i n g to success, b u t it is r a t h e r a g u i d e l i n e which e n a b l e s o n e to avoid s o m e obvious pitfalls d u r i n g t h e process. I wish you g o o d luck; you will n e e d it.
References
[l] M. Paulsen and T. Rekkedal, The Electronic College (NKI Forlaget, Oslo, Norway, 1990). [2] E. Andersen, K. Grude and T. Haug, Goal-Directed Project Management (Kogan Page, London, 1987). Morten Flate Paulsen is Assistant Professor at the NKI College of Computer Science, where he has headed the development of an electronic college for distance education since 1986. The college is owned by the NKI Foundation, one of the largest nongovernmental educational institutions in Norway. His work includes design and development of the EKKO computer conferencing system, implementation and management of an information processing programme for distance education which equals one year of full-time study, He has published a selection of articles about the EKKO project, which is known as "The Electronic College". He is also editor of DEOSNEWS, an electronic journal for distance educators, which has subscribers from more than 30 countries.
113
A goal-oriented method for establishing an electronic college Morten Flate Paulsen The American Center for the Study of Distance Education, The Pennsylvania State University, College of Education, 403 South Allen Street, Suite 206, University Park, PA 16801-5202, USA
Abstract Paulsen, M.F., A goal-oriented method for establishing an electronic college. Education & Computing 8 (1992) 113-118. This paper presents a goal-oriented method for establishing an electronic college. The method is outlined in a milestone plan, adapted from goal-directed project management. The paper advocates commitment to training, support, and motivation of people, as well as technological expertise. The method comprises the following steps: define your aim, procure the necessary management support, define the usergroups involved, determine the users' need: information and activities, decide on which host computer to use, decide on which software to use, decide on the type of network, decide on the type of workstation, design the framework in terms of a matrix, design a training, support and motivation program. This paper describes each of these steps in detail and uses a case description, "TowerNet", originating from the Adult Education Department of Pennsylvania State University.
Keywords: electronic college; distance education, computer conferencing; management support; user groups; information; activity; host computer; software; network; workstations; framework; training; support; motivation.
Introduction T h e " E l e c t r o n i c C o l l e g e " is a c o m p u t e r b a s e d system which facilitates written communication a m o n g s t u d e n t s , f a c u l t y a n d staff, i n d e p e n d e n t o f t i m e a n d s p a c e . T h e c o n c e p t is d e s c r i b e d in m o r e d e t a i l in t h e b o o k The Electronic College [1]. I n o r d e r to e s t a b l i s h an e l e c t r o n i c c o l l e g e a p r o j e c t g r o u p is n e e d e d w i t h p r o j e c t m a n a g e m e n t skills, p e r s o n n e l m a n a g e m e n t skills a n d t e c h n i c a l skills. T h e p r o j e c t will r e q u i r e a w o r k f o r c e , t e c h n i c a l e q u i p m e n t a n d m o n e y - - a n d will t a k e m o n t h s to accomplish. T h i s p a p e r is o r g a n i z e d a r o u n d t h e M i l e s t o n e P l a n s h o w n in Fig. 1, a n a p p r o a c h i n s p i r e d by t h e "goal-directed project management" method, des c r i b e d in [2], w h i c h I h i g h l y r e c o m m e n d f o r p r o j e c t s like this. I will e m p h a s i z e t h e f a c t t h a t establishing an electronic college involves both p e o p l e a n d t e c h n o l o g y . It is i m p o r t a n t to b e e q u a l l y c o m m i t t e d to t h e t r a i n i n g , s u p p o r t , a n d m o t i v a t i o n o f t h e p e o p l e i n v o l v e d as to t e c h n o l o g © 1992 - IFIP
ical p r o g r e s s . A s a c o n s e q u e n c e , t h e r e a r e t w o paths through the milestone plan: one dealing with people, the other with technology. .S P1
Project start Define your aim
P2
Procure the necessary management support
P3
Define the usergroups involved
P4
Determine the users' need: information and activities Decide on which host computer to use T2 Decide on which software to use T3 Decide on the type of network
1
T4 Decide the type of workstations T5 Design the framework in terms of a matrix P5ao~/ Design a training, support and motivation program Start the operation of your college Fig. 1. Milestone plan for establishing an electronic college, for people (P) and technology (T).
114
M.F. Paulsen / Goal-oriented method for establishing an electronic college
The sequence of the milestones is carefully chosen, but some milestones may be interchanged, if necessary. In the following the milestones are descibed in detail. For each milestone, there is included a case example from the TowerNet project.
Define your aim
Defining the aim is extremely important for two reasons. First, the project group and the m a n a g e m e n t involved need to agree upon common goals. Without a joint perception of the project's aim, the project will hardly be able to become a success. Second, the project-group needs a clear and easily understandable aim for internal justification and external marketing. In this context, I have found it truly useful to devise a dazzling project name, by which people are able to easily identify the project.
The TowerNet Aim: The aim of the TowerNet project is to develop a computer conferencing environment which facilitates flexible and effective written communication among students, staff and f a c u l t y - - a t the four sites of the Adult Education Program at Pennsylvania State University.
Procure the necessary management
support
M a n a g e m e n t support is crucial for the project. Besides approval of the project aim, m a n a g e m e n t must allocate the necessary resources and must give effective, visible support to the project. Be sure that resources are allocated for all the steps in the milestone plan. You should discuss the visibility effects with your managers. It is seldom enough that managers support the project in word or print, they must show their support by frequently using the system. This provides ultimate visibility.
The TowerNet management support: The project is initiated by the professor in charge and some other professors, who are really enthusiastic about the project. This, in itself, is not sufficient: more active support from the m a n a g e m e n t has to be procured.
Define the usergroups
involved
The main reason for establishing an electronic college is to provide the users with educational service. To make a successful system, you really need to know who your users are. It is necessary to cluster potential users in usergroups, and to decide which usergroups should be considered as target groups. Some users you might consider are: system operators, hackers, prospective students, present students, passive students, former students, teachers, guest experts, teaching assistants, former teachers, facilitators, bursars, etc. You will need to add to, omit and cluster these suggested users into groups.
The TowerNet Usergroups: The TowerNet project is designed to serve: - 200 graduate studentsi divided into classes; - 4 facilitators, one at each site; - 1 system operator; - 5 faculty members; and - 1 staff member.
Determine activities
the users' need for information
and
It is useftil, but sometimes difficult, to distinguish between information and activities in a conferencing system. You should think of information as rather static and important facts which the college wishes to distribute to its users. Information is well suited for "broadcasting" via bulletin boards. Activities, however, are needed fordynamic group interaction in conferences. When you have decided which usergroups you will serve, you must ask yourself: What kind of information and activities does each usergroup need? This question frequently needs to be posed, for instance each term. Information you might consider: - general information about your college; - information about the programs you offer; - syllabi; - user-manuals; - schedule of classes; - student, faculty and staff rosters; - examinations; - fees.
115
M.F. Paulsen / Goal-oriented method for establishing an electronic college
Activities you might consider: - social chitchat; - system support; - prospective counselling; - teaching; - pedagogical discussions. The TowerNet need f o r information and activity: On-line information and activities like the following are planned to be available: Information on bulletin boards: - the D. Ed. in Adult Education: General Information, - the D . E d . in Adult Education: Handbook, - schedule of Adult Education Classes, - the quarterly newsletter, - faculty and student directory, - Adult Education syllabi, -examination announcements and former exams. Activities in conferences: - one conference for each course, - a conference for general, administrative discussions, - a "caf6" for social chatter.
Decide
on
which
host
computer
to use
The host computer is the nucleus of the system. It can be anything, from a tiny PC to a huge mainframe. Deciding what kind of host to use, is mainly a question of capacity. It is necessary to estimate the n u m b e r of simultaneous users and the accumulated number of users the college should serve. Another question to consider is whether to utilize computer equipment already installed for other purposes, or to invest in brand new hardware. The smaller initial costs of utilizing a host already in use, often has to be weighted against the security problems invoked by potential student access to other host computer applications. Some software solutions allow the system to be distributed among several host computers. This might be a valuable feature for colleges located at several sites. Choosing a host computer means choosing an operating system as well. O p e n solutions, such as Unix and MS-DOS, are platforms for a variety of existing and future software solutions. Vendor-
specific operating systems usually have just a few suitable software solutions, or none at all. An electronic college will also need several utility programs and m a n a g e m e n t information systems adjoined to the conferencing system. This argues for open standards, instead of vendor-specific, operating systems. A reasonable solution for many colleges will be to lease host computer access from a commercial computer service bureau. This is a solution with low initial cost and a short implementation period. Another benefit could be the access to an existing base of experienced users. On the other hand, leasing tends to make the electronic college very dependent on the service bureau. The college may have difficulties in building a suitable framework, such as described in this article. There are also many examples of colleges complaining about the charges they have to pay for using the conferencing system. An electronic college should continually be in operation, even during night-time, weekends and vacations. This might be a challenge for many colleges. The TowerNet host computer: We plan to employ the University Center for Academic Computing and its IBM mainframe computer, with its CMS operating system and the Center's user support. This is an obvious choice, because students, faculty and staff already have user accounts at the Center and no extra cost will be charged to the department.
Decide
on
which
software
to use
People often think that the software is the most important part of a conferencing system. I will warn against that notion. The users, the activities and the information are in my opinion far more important. So, do not over-estimate the importance of the software: look for a reasonable solution which is easy to implement. You can choose from several different software strategies. The most obvious to consider are: to buy standard software, to adapt some applications available on our host computer, or customize your own application. Which solution to choose often depends on what is available for your host computer.
116
M.F. Paulsen / Goal-oriented method for establishing an electronic college
The TowerNet software: We plan to adapt a system, based on Bitnet's E-mail and Netncws' bulletin and confcrencing system. We will customize a user-interface and integrate these applications using the R E X X programming language. This is not a sophisticated solution. It is, however, available with minor adaptions and no software investments.
Decide on the type of network
Some important issues concerning the communication networks are: user-friendliness, cost, baud rate, capacity and versatility. Most public networks are not very userfriendly. This is a major obstacle for prospective students. Unless we can lower this threshold for prospective users, electronic colleges will never become a success among ordinary people. In my opinion, it is crucial to split the communication cost equally among the students. This is possible by using " g r e e n " (800) telephone and packet-switched digital network numbers pre-paid by the college. The college can implement different strategies for reducing communication costs, depending on the chosen conferencing software and the chosen framework. The chosen communication network structure will obviously influence the cost as well. The college should support most of the baud rates used by prospective students. The capacity of a conferencing system may be measured by the maximum number of simultaneous users. This n u m b e r is equivalent to the number of communication ports installed. One communication port can support only one user at a time. Over an extended period of time, however, as a rule of thumb, one port can handle from twenty to hundred users. An electronic college should aim at versatile communication network solutions. Both local and wide area networks should be supported, as well as public telephone networks a n d packet-switched digital networks. The TowerNet Network: Pennsylvania State University has C o m p u t e r labs, linked to the host computer, on the four actual sites. Students who prefer to use their own computer, may dial into
the mainframe via long distance telephone lines. The latter is not a viable solution because of the communication costs. We need to find a solution which accommodates local dial-in nodes to the mainframe computer.
Decide on the type of workstations
A workstation should consist of microcomputer equipment, including a m o d e m and a local printer. It is necessary to have a local word processor and local communication software. A widely debated issue is to which extent the workstation hardware and software should be standardized. Standards: Arguments supporting standardized workstations are the possibilities of making fancy user-interfaces, p r e p r o g r a m m e d macros etc. User manuals can be tailor-made and do not have to support lots of different equipment. Student support on telephone hot-lines and within the conferencing system will be easier. All together, fewer prospective students will be excluded due to technological obstacles. On the other hand, standards supported by just a few software and hardware vendors will exclude users with other configurations. The college could offer cheap or free software. This will create an extra workload of distribution. Another problem occurs when the college develops software which has to be supported. An even greater problem occurs when this software is issued in updated versions and all versions should be supported. The dilemma of standardization can be visualized as follows: Standardization ~ ? ~ Pluralism. Utilities: The workstation should handle local utility programs, supporting an electronic college. These could be software for computer aided instruction (CAD, compilers for programming courses and spelling- and g r a m m a r checkers for language courses. The TowerNet Workstations: Students can use their own computer as well as computers at the computer labs. We recommend Y T E R M communication software for PC-users a n d Tincan for Mac-users. The communication software is free
M.F. Paulsen / Goal-oriented method for establishing an electronic college
of charge. We must, though, establish a routine for software distribution.
Design a training, support and motivation program
You must never forget that even an excellent technical system is useless without users. The hardest part of the project is often to help and to motivate people to use new and unfamiliar technology. I recommend that you assess each usergroup's needs for training and if necessary, come up with separate training programs for each of them. You also should consider establishing a group of facilitators to work on user support. This group could be responsible for making user manuals, answering a telephone hot-line, providing on-line help, and making on-site demonstrations. With proper motivation, people are willing to fight considerable technical obstacles. Without motivation, they tend to reject any learning effort. The ultimate motivation is when people see that their managers benefit from frequent system use. So it is extremely important to facilitate system use for the managers. '
Design the framework in terms of a matrix
Now, when you have decided which usergroups to serve and what kind of information and activity you want to provide, you can establish the F r a m e w o r k Matrix. Write down the usergroups along the horizontal axis and possible information and activities along the vertical axis. Then consider, for each cell in the matrix, what access privilege the usergroup should have to the corresponding information and activities. You should consider the following user privileges: No access, read only access and read and write access. Sometimes it is useful to consider more subtle access privileges, like censored and mandatory access.
The TowerNet Framework Matrix is presented in Table 1.
Table The
117
The TowerNet training, support and motivation program: We plan three separate course pro-
1 TowerNet
Framework
Matrix
information/activities
users 1
2
3
4
e
w
r
e
w
r
e
w
newsletter
e
student
e
general
information
handbook schedule
faculty
of classes roster and staff roster
syllabi comprehensive program
exams
planning
issues in adult reading
for college
international adult
in education
education adult
education
professional
students education
research
seminar
administrative
and adults
seminar
resident
issues
caf~ Legend: course
1 = System 506,
13 = Students r = read
9=
operator,
Students in course
access,
2 = Staff,
in course
510,
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
w
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
w
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
e
w
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
e
w
r
r
r
r
r
r
f~ ' /
r
r
r
r
e
w
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
e
n
n
n
n
w
n
w
n
n
n
n
n
e
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
w
n
n
n
n
e
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
w
n
n
n
e
n
n
n
w
n
n
n
n
n
w
n
n
e
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
w
n
e
n
n
n
n
n
w
n
n
n
n
n
w
e
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
e
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
3 = Professor,
4 = Professor,
10 = Students
in course
560,
588.
w = write
and
read
access,
n = no access,
e = establish.
5 = Professor, 11 = S t u d e n t s
6 = Professor, in course
570,
7 = Professor, 12 = Students
8 = Students in course
in 580,
118
M.F. Paulsen / Goal-oriented method for establishing an electronic college
g r a m s for: local facilitators, faculty a n d staff a n d s t u d e n t s . First, t h e facilitators n e e d intensive t r a i n i n g in Bitnet, N e t n e w s , Y t e r m a n d Tincan. T h e n , t h e p r o f e s s o r s a n d staff will b e o f f e r e d t r a i n i n g in N e t n e w s . Finally, t h e s t u d e n t s will b e o f f e r e d c o u r s e s in Bitnet, N e t n e w s , Y T E R M a n d Tincan. I strongly r e c o m m e n d t h a t t h e faculty t e a c h t h e s t u d e n t courses. T h e signal effect a n d i m p a c t of this effort will b e s u p e r i o r to any o t h e r solution. O u r s u p p o r t system will i n c l u d e a t e l e p h o n e hot-line, local f a c i l i t a t o r s a n d d i s t r i b u t i o n of u s e r - m a n u a l s . T h e h o t - l i n e a n d u s e r - m a n u a l dist r i b u t i o n a r e a l r e a d y existing c o m p u t e r c e n t e r cervices. W e h o p e to a p p o i n t i n t e r n s t u d e n t s for local facilitating. F a c u l t y , staff a n d s t u d e n t s m u s t p e r c e i v e this p r o j e c t as a p r i o r i t y d e p a r t m e n t initiative. W e m u s t c o n t i n u a l l y p r o m o t e this t h r o u g h w o r d s a n d action in i n t e r n a l notes, s e m i n a r s a n d classes.
Conclusion
U n t i l now, just a few e l e c t r o n i c c o l l e g e s have b e e n set up. Yet, we see a growing i n t e r e s t , a n d I h o p e t h e m e t h o d d e s c r i b e d m a y b e h e l p f u l for
e s t a b l i s h i n g f u t u r e e l e c t r o n i c colleges. It is n o t m e a n t to b e a f o o l p r o o f m e t h o d , always l e a d i n g to success, b u t it is r a t h e r a g u i d e l i n e which e n a b l e s o n e to avoid s o m e obvious pitfalls d u r i n g t h e process. I wish you g o o d luck; you will n e e d it.
References
[l] M. Paulsen and T. Rekkedal, The Electronic College (NKI Forlaget, Oslo, Norway, 1990). [2] E. Andersen, K. Grude and T. Haug, Goal-Directed Project Management (Kogan Page, London, 1987). Morten Flate Paulsen is Assistant Professor at the NKI College of Computer Science, where he has headed the development of an electronic college for distance education since 1986. The college is owned by the NKI Foundation, one of the largest nongovernmental educational institutions in Norway. His work includes design and development of the EKKO computer conferencing system, implementation and management of an information processing programme for distance education which equals one year of full-time study, He has published a selection of articles about the EKKO project, which is known as "The Electronic College". He is also editor of DEOSNEWS, an electronic journal for distance educators, which has subscribers from more than 30 countries.