THE Journal

Prior to these programs few of our faculty had ever been to Asia and none of the faculty had prior experience with distance learning. After a review of distance learning technologies (e.g., correspondence education, live TV, etc.) we chose Tutored-Video Instruction (TVI), a technology developed by Stanford University’s School of Engineering in the early 1970s for the purpose of delivering graduate engineering education to Hewlett-Packard employees 100 miles distant from Stanford’s campus. Stanford relied upon research of the various distance learning technologies that suggested that the use of television as a means of delivering instruction to students, regardless of grade levels or subject matter, resulted in student performance that was equal to that of “live” classes.

Tutored-Video Instruction

In the TVI format, live lectures are videotaped and viewed later at remote locations by groups of students where discussions, directed by live tutors, are then fed back to the instructor. A local tutor is trained to direct the students’ learning at the remote location and serves as the faculty member’s local representative, distributing materials and collecting assignments. The tutor is also charged with providing answers to student questions. To do so requires that the tutor stop the videotape when questions arise, direct a discussion towards providing answers by other students and, when necessary, forwarding unanswered questions directly to the faculty. Thus, the tutor provided the instructor with a direct link to the remote location experiences. Together the tutor and the students were expected to “manage” the learning experience by actively engaging the information presented to them on the videotapes.

Research on Stanford’s success with this program concluded that:

• Next »
• 1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4