Distance Learning

[TheSpaceAge]

:huh:
My next move away from corporate VTC is in the Distance Learning arena.
With jobs the IT market being greatly condensed and squeezed into freeze dried astronaut ice cream, what can anyone tell me about the "other stuff" you need besides VTC expereince would it be neccesary to know to work in the distance learning industry?

[Entropy3XD]

My last job (about 3 years ago) was for a distance based learning company. It was called Caliber Learning Network, and was under the umbrella of Sylvan Learning. They basically shriveled up and consolidated into another company, but what they did was pretty fascinating. Its kind of funny that you want to go from VTC to distance learning, because it was distance learning that got me into VTC.

Caliber was based out of Baltimore, MD, and had a facility downtown, as well as leased a large studio at Flite 3 production studios in North Baltimore. They wrote their own software which allowed "students" to do hand raises and ask questions during live feeds, as well as other things. The "teacher" streamed live and was able to use slides and other media. The software is pretty much like most data collaboration software out there today, with video and audio added. They would then take the tapes from the live broadcast and digitize them into .asf streams at different data rates. These streams were stored for On-Demand, so people could log in and see the broadcast at their leisure.

The company then got into "Express Studios", which is where I specialized. These studios were installed around the US and parts of Europe, and were basically mini recording studios, where the "teacher" could come in with their own media. The rooms were set up for all kinds of media hook-ups, and had an on-site moderator who would help with filming. The broadcast would be digitized and sent over ISDN back to Baltimore for storage, as well as recorded locally as a back-up.

So to answer your question, if you are on the hardware/network side, you basically need the same experience you would have as a VTC guru, with the addition of streaming (if you don't use it now).

The other choice would be to go into the software development side, which is really where much of the power in distance learning comes into play. This would be the creation of the software which would allow everyone to collaborate in an easy to use environment.

The last choices of course would be management or sales. If you decide to take this route, you really don't need to know anything. :lol: (just kidding guys, we need you just as much as you need us)

The two technologies actually mate very well together. I can dream of dozens of scenarios in which a mixture of VTC, streaming, and distance learning could come together.

Check out:

www.ilearning.com
www.esylvan.com
www.quintcareers.com/distance_learning_providers.html

I will talk to George. If there is enough interest, maybe a forum for distance learning can be added.

Good luck!!!

[Entropy3XD]

By the way.....nice avatar. I have a problem with my video feed as well. TECH SUPPORT!!! :huh:

[jrshaw]

I will talk to George. If there is enough interest, maybe a forum for distance learning can be added.

I would be interested in this too.

[tonyi]

There should definatly be a fourm for Distance ed. It's one of the fastest growing virticals. Has been for years. I also think there needs to be a fourm for Vidio Arrainment and Video visitation. Most companies now see the Judicial market as the next big thing.

[richhubb]

Distance Learning should definitely be added. There is much to gain and share. I would also be interested to see some comments on the distance education to corporate employment jump.

[MacGyver]

Interestingly enough, I went from studying to be a teacher to being a facilitator. While I was at school, I picked up a job on campus as a facilitator/technician for distance classes the university had, and when I finally graduated I got a job as a facilitator instead of a teacher. Go figure.

As for any advice for the guy who originally started the thread... I just fell into it... sorry.

[Entropy3XD]

I think most of us here probably tripped, stumbled, and fell into this line of work. I definitely did. I still have the scars.

[brobbins]

Like MacGyver, I took a complete left turn straight into the business of DL. I graduated from the college where I work and found that they had a job opening for a Video Network Technician. I wasn't sure my programming degree would help me out in that field, but I knew there's not a great demand for programmers out her in the sticks, so I took what was available.(without having to move across the country)
Now I work with 48 school districts here and know more about video than I thought I ever would, lol. That may be a good place to look, as many ISDs are going to DL to teach college level courses, or just to have enough students to justify a class. See if you can talk to somebody at a local university or ISD about it, and at least they can get you pointed to the people that make it happen for them.
Hope that helps.

Brad Robbins
Video Network Tech
TSTC Sweetwater
Texas

hehe, just noticed that post is from last May...oh well, maybe it'll help somebody.

[aveegirL]

So.. what was the outcome.. is there an "official" forum for distance ed? I stumbled into this discussion and the distance ed "arena" as a workstudy student for the distance ed dept @ UNM in ABQ. I am a senior IT major @ GMU in VA and my senior project included an assessment of our university's distance program.

The "ice cube" size knowledge of distance ed I had experienced @ UNM did not prepare me for the "iceberg" size concerns/issues that surround this growing industry - i.e. architecture, standards, ROI etc.

I would LOVE to hear what the "state of the union" RE: distance learning...

Is there a petition I can sign and do I need to show my student ID :classic: ?

[Toney]

Seems like distance learning has taken off.. I'm certainly up for joining any discussions involving technology and innovation in distance learning.
I myself have just left the corporate world as a VC specialist and joined a university in a distance education department. It's certainly a far cry from the rigors or corporate life, but so far so good!!
Since part of my brief in the new position is to help improve the group's technology and processes, I'm keen to pick up a few pointers myself!!
I can tell you that so far, I've hardly pressed my VC expertise into action. I've been involved in building up a new streaming solution amongst other things...

[emello]

There's definitely a lot of distance education going on out there - we've been doing classes since the mid 90's via ISDN and once we got onto Internet2, (and dropped a few PTel Concordes into the basement as boat anchors!) we've been going gangbusters in terms of classes, with several distance programs available.

There's a few places you can look for what's going on in DE:

The Distance Education Clearinghouse is a good one:
http://www.uwex.edu/disted/home.html

as well as www.internet2.org which has links to various programs that are going on out there utilitizing IP.

It would be great to see what others are doing out there. I know a lot of state schools have massive operations, and it would be interesting to see what everyone is up to.

And on that note, I have a class going across 12 timezones in about 10 minutes, so I'm on the run! ;)

[MKVAZ]

These sites don't really have forums, but they are great for suppoirting information and news.

www.micta.org
www.usdla.org