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Shifting costs to the learner
In the example provided above, both the institution and the
learner incurred higher costs for using newer learning technologies. In other
cases, the use of newer technologies tends to shift a greater share of the cost
of access to the learner. As mentioned earlier, many institutions that regarded
community education as part of their mission also considered the cost of
outreach as an institutional cost. But funding cuts and a shift in priorities
has prompted a move toward requiring learners to bear more of the costs of
access. For example, in some cases, instead of a 1-800 line that students can
use to phone their instructor, learners now must cover the cost of computer
access so they can contact their instructor by e-mail.
For women, who are the majority of part time learners and of
distance learners in Canada, these additional cost requirements may make it
impossible to pursue the only form of education that was previously feasible
for them. Covering the cost of travel to reach a videoconference site, or of
computer access, may just be the element that makes education unaffordable,
especially when family budgets are tight and it is difficult to cover the cost
of essentials.
What is the evidence of value for
money?
Determining the value of any given technology has to be done on
the basis of some comparison. Educational technologies, when first introduced,
were frequently compared with traditional face to face instruction; comparisons
that often ignored the reality that the different techniques were used to serve
different cohorts of learners in different contexts with different needs. Now
that we have "old" technologies and "new" technologies, we can compare their
effectiveness for similar cohorts.
So far, although the use of new learning technologies has been
documented in a variety of publications, there is not a great deal of
comparative information between newer technologies and older technologies for
similar cohorts.
The effectiveness of open and distance education, one of the
main applications of the use of educational technology for adult learners, has
proven the value of technologies in providing access to quality learning in
many different contexts. But as yet, there is very little evidence that the
newer technologies are any more effective, accessible or cost effective than
methods that have been used for many decades, such as well-designed packages
that may include print, audio and videotape, local tutorial sessions, telephone
tutoring, and access to study skills and counselling support on an as-needed
basis.
Many of the "old" technologies enable learners to study
according to their own schedule, when they had time available, saving learner's
time and enabling many learners to continue their paid work. By contrast, some
of the newer more expensive technologies, such videoconferencing, require
learners to be at a particular site at a particular time, actually reducing
flexibility for the learners and often requiring more time commitment.
Checking out the gift horse
In many cases, pilot projects to use new learning technologies
start up with special funding, then are discontinued when funding runs out,
Tony Bates observes:
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Funds will flow from government and the private sector for
educational trials, partly to encourage technological development and hence
commercial competitiveness and partly to stimulate services to a point where
the take-up of the service makes it economical, or at least justifies earlier
infrastructure investments.
It is therefore even more essential that educators ask
themselves- and potential sponsors- questions regarding access, costs, teaching
purposes, user-friendliness and organizational implications before embarking on
projects which may have technological glitz but may not either be valid
educationally or economic as a sustainable system.40 |
What else could be done with the money?
Another issue to be considered is what might be called
"displacement cost" - what programs, courses or services are being reduced or
cut at the same time that there is increased expenditure for technologies?
While it may be difficult to prove that there is a direct relationship between
funding cuts in some areas and expenditures on technology, the fact remains
that these allocations do indicate priorities and choices, and can be examined
on the basis of the values that underly these decisions.
For example, William Birdsall comments on a report about a
single mother using a computer and the Internet to access a course because she
was unable to afford child care, and notes that the example begged a number of
questions, particularly why there was money for computers, but not money for
childcare.41 There are no doubt many
examples of investment in the use of technology rather than in human services,
but this seemed a particularly telling one. |