"Five miles, in the snow, in a skirt..." my Mother would tell us. That was how she obtained an education, walking five miles in the snow. We really weren't too sympathetic to that story. We didn't have the slightest idea what walking five miles in the snow felt like. My siblings and I were too consumed with just how terrible life was for us. We grew up in Phoenix and had to ride our bikes over five miles in the heat. With temperatures soaring over one hundred degrees each spring, we arrived at school dripping in sweat. We thought dropping out was better than getting there. What will my children tell their children some day? They had to use 56K.

How unfortunate for my children that their peak educational years fall before full deployment of broadband services. In the year 2001, only 15% of the 56 million US homes on line have access to a speed considered to be broadband service level. Broadband speed improves educational experiences by providing access to on-line courses, research material, interactive classes, libraries and other educational material in less time and potentially at higher quality. Using a modem at 56K is frustrating, time-consuming, and slow.

We have moved beyond my Mom's classroom experience, but we have not reached our potential Today, due to the baby boom and American jobs which require higher educational capabilities, a crush of students balance time and costs to qualify for jobs in the new technology driven services economy that we currently cannot fill, including the 425,000 high-technology jobs which will remain unfilled in the United States in 2001 for lack of qualified talent. Students have seen the need, if others have not. As a result, only 15% of today's students are between the ages of 18 and 22, live on a campus and attend college full time.

In 1995, Jean Kline was promoted to Administrator of Public Health for a mid-sized county in Florida from a position in nursing. At this point she recognized the need for an advanced degree. Ms. Kline more closely resembles the majority of today's college students. Ms. Kline stated, "Through its distance learning program, the University of South Florida's College of Public Health afforded me to opportunity to achieve my goal yet continue my full time position. Living over 2 1/2 hours from any major university, I could not be a stronger advocate for this program -
it was the best way to accomplish my goal."

The National Technological University (NTU) was created in 1984 as one of the first institutions to recognize and respond to the growing need for distance learning by offering college courses leading to a full degree via this method. Ahead of his time, Dr. Lionel Baldwin created the University as a cooperative effort between twelve engineering and management colleges in the United States. Students using satellite technology benefited from courses that originated from any one of the twelve campus locations and were presented by some of the top professors in the country. Students attended live Instructional TV courses at their work locations and could replay the class if needed on videotapes provided by NTU. The audio portion of the courses was a live connection between the instructor and all of the sites. In 1994, ten years later, according to Constance Beutel, Director of Technology for Golden Gate University, the National Technological University was only one of four institutions that provided a full degree program remote from a campus.

Other institutions followed suit. Today, just seven years later, 72% of U.S. colleges offer some Internet instruction. Thirty-four percent, according to Industry Standard Magazine, have accredited degrees. One such program, Corinthian Colleges, has seen their online enrollment increase 337% in the last year. Students participate in on-line group projects and instructor-led discussions. Worldwide, there are 11 distance-education mega universities. Two of the largest programs, China Central Radio and Television University, educate over three million students.

According to Lynn Rejniak, Director of Research and Development for Educational Outreach at the University of South Florida (USF), "It is about access and accessibility. Distance learning is no longer just about distance. Time, convenience and other factors such as customized learning approaches are accelerating the change for technology integration into education." At USF last year, 12,270 students were enrolled in over 285 courses delivered as web-based, video conferencing, and interactive television. Courses are delivered using satellite, cable, fiber connectivity and microwave access. Courses incorporating interactive digital video, 3D graphics, animation, cartooning and medical imaging all require broadband high-speed access. Previously all distance education courses were on TV or through correspondence. Students needed only a VCR and a TV. Today, a growing percentage of classes are delivered on line and students need access to the Internet and broadband speeds to participate expeditiously in the courses.

One of those students is Richard Nickle, Emergency Response Coordinator and Environmental Health Scientist for ATSDR Emergency Response at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in Atlanta, Georgia. The Masters in Public Health program offered by University of Southern Florida is the only reason he is months away from obtaining a Masters Degree. Once a member of the United States Coast Guard, a "spill response" professional in private industry, and then a consultant, Richard recognized his career has been very focused. He sought an advanced degree program that would expand his knowledge into more areas of Public Health. More importantly, as the father of four teenagers Richard needed a program that balanced his family work and cost needs. An employee assistance program supplemented the costs and USF provided him remote access to a specialized Masters Degree program not offered at many educational institutions.

"Members of our classes were from outside the country in Peru and Venezuela, for example, and from as far away as Montana in the United States," Richard said. As an "emergency responder" Richard quickly establishes teams when somewhere in the world an unplanned event requires immediate advisement from a professional regarding hazardous material. His position is considered "no notice to leave," meaning he can't count on being available in a classroom for a weekly class. "Twice during my program I had to participate in courses from Puerto Rico," he explained. "For one class I could use the web version and keep up, but I had to complete the final upon my return. For the other class I had a project due. I completed mine in Puerto Rico and turned it in on time using the web." Richard benefited from instructional courses on TV and courses simulcast on the web. At his work location, Internet access was broadband and he could easily participate in the banter of the course. He noted that over the three years he has been involved, more of the courses became available on the web and they were advantageous because they were accessible anywhere Internet access was available.

Although only a small percentage of all college students live on campus, campus dwellers and faculty have advantages corporate presidents and teenage kids, like mine, only dream of having. The Internet began on college campuses and colleges continue to be incubators for innumerable technologies. Access to broadband technologies creates a different student. Broadband access is "the rule" not the exception on college campuses today. Those students who also have access to broadband services will be able to compete better with on-campus residents for the jobs of the future.

One such campus is California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB). There all college freshmen have a laptop PC and access to a wireless LAN. Courses are recorded in six different formats. Students on campus use wireless PC cards on their laptops providing a 1.5M bit/sec 802.11b Ethernet, to access a class they missed, the university library of resources, or classes in progress. The University also streams campus events, distance-learning content and archived lectures. Lev Gonick, Ph.D, is the Chief Technology Officer of CSUMB and the visionary who provides this new maturing technology to students. Perhaps, if the past is an indication of the future (VCR's used first in schools and for training), soon all homes will have access to wireless connectivity and educational content in this multi-sensory fashion. Those with the vision of Dr. Gonick, those who build homes equipped for broadband services are the people who will later be recognized as leaders who made broadband services as common as a TV is today.

Recognizing the growing need to provide convenient high quality content to adult learners is another visionary leader. Glenn Jones started the Jones Online University in 1995. Mr. Jones began only after giving thoughtful consideration to future educational endeavors and conducting two years of research. By 1999, Jones University was the first 100% online university to obtain regional accreditation. Today the University provides 15 degree programs to students in 57 different countries. A faculty of 400 teach "in cyberspace" to communities of learners, supported by less than 40 people who work in a physical building. One of those people is Pamela Pease, Phd., President of Jones University. According to Ms. Pease, "our primary goal is to provide high quality content in a convenient delivery fashion."

In the last two years the enrollment has grown 168%, an indication that students feel Jones University is accomplishing its goal. Courses are arranged in modules, with about eight modules per class. Classes may start any of the 12 monthly terms a year. Instructors are adding more multimedia and video to the course delivery so a line speed of 256K is required. Although students may log on at any time and classes are asynchronous, they are still interactive. Students profess to have more instructor/student interaction than in traditional college courses. Jones University holds a graduation in "cyberspace" and maintains an e-global library that is available free to all Jones University students and commercially to others.

Technology is changing the way the world educates students and increasing the need for education. Broadband deployment is making it easier and more effective for people to be educated anywhere at anytime. It is just like my children keep trying to tell me. They must have access to broadband services.

What will my children's children complain about? Well, maybe visionaries like Dr. Lionel Baldwin, Glenn Jones and Dr. Lev Gonick could offer a guess. The rest of us, we should order broadband services and take a college course.

About the Author
Julie Dodd Thomas is the principal for Cogent Consulting, a small consulting firm specializing in the deployment of new technologies, management of communications regarding emerging technologies and implementation of technology in educational endeavors. She may be contacted with questions or comments at cogentco@pacbell.net