TAKING A TRIP WITHOUT ACTUALLY HAVING TO GO anywhere-that might be the best way to describe what web conferencing can do. The technology is being used in higher ed for everything from distance learning to helping administrators "virtually" meet face to face, and it is allowing HR departments to interview candidates who live thousands of miles away.
Video conferencing and web conferencing, a newer technology, have been on campuses for a while now. Both have been boosted by increased desktop and laptop use, high-speed broadband, and more affordable and available software and hardware, such as webcams. The day may be coming soon when everyone will be conferencing and real-time conversations online will be as common as instant messaging and e-mail.
Web conferencing is happening routinely on campus, but it is being done in such an informal and ubiquitous way that it is hard to get a definitive handle on who is doing what, says Kenneth Green, founding director of The Campus Computing Project. Hard data on installations is nearly impossible to find.
"There is much that occurs that doesn't involve campus infrastructure," he notes. Web conferencing applications now exist in common operating systems, including Apple's OS X and Microsoft's Windows XP and Vista. Groups of students and faculty members who are "meeting" online for impromptu discussions and workgroup tasks are flying under the radar of the campus CIO and the IT department.
Certain larger trends are spurring the use of video conferencing and web conferencing. One is the growing number of nontraditional students who are requiring distance education options. These are the adult students coming back for degrees or professional development courses who need to access lectures and course materials during the midnight hours or before the workday starts.
"Students are dictating to schools how they want to learn," says Mishez Avari, director of education for AT&T. The telecommunications company helps support video conferencing with help from Polycom, VBrick, and other corporate partners. Recently released statistics illustrate his point. According to a new Eduventures study on adult learners, 40 percent of all students enrolled in higher ed are 25 years old or older. Most are juggling family and work obligations.
The other impetus for the growing use of the technology is the increased use of high-speed broadband. Where only 31 percent of U.S. households had high-speed DSL or internet cable connections in 2004, today the percentage is 55.
It is not just the students commuting from home, though, who are logging on to watch lectures, digest course material, or do online group projects. Colleges and universities are also purchasing more high-speed bandwidth for use in residence halls, explains Green.
It's Academic
Academics still make up the largest number of web conferencing and video conferencing case studies.
Washington State University was at the vanguard of video conferencing, installing its first system 20 years ago to connect its four branch campuses. Students spread out across the state needed access to required courses. This is what drove the technology installation, says Donald Dover, video conferencing operations manager. A system eventually linked classrooms on the main campus in Pullman to students across the Canadian border in Vancouver and on the other side of the state in Spokane.
Initially, WSU built the equivalent of television studios on campuses to conduct its videoconferences. This was an expensive undertaking. WSU spent $250,000 on each classroom outfitted with cameras, telecasting hardware, and other technology, says Dover. The communication was two-way but based on more traditional TV broadcast technology, with signals transmitted through a series of towers.
The university then migrated to a more updated video conferencing approach, retrofitting classrooms with telecommunications technology to deliver the message. Multiple cameras and mics have been added to make the experience more realistic, Dover adds. Cameras located in strategic areas give instructors a peripheral view. "You have to make sure that students asking questions are being seen." Digital document cameras also capture and help broadcast images that need to be viewed at very close range.
