ERIC ED438781: Educational Telecommunications and Distance Learning: The State-by-State Analysis, 1998-99.

413 Pages·1998·7.4 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
IR 019 906
ED 438 781
Educational Telecommunications and Distance Learning: The
TITLE
State-by-State Analysis, 1998-99.
Hezel Associates., Syracuse, NY.
INSTITUTION
ISBN-1-889794-02-3
ISBN
PUB DATE 1998-00-00
NOTE
412p.
Hezel Associates, 1201 East Fayette Street, Syracuse, NY
AVAILABLE FROM
13210 ($97.50). Tel: [phone]; Fax: [phone]; Web
site: http://www.hezel.com.
PUB TYPE
Research (143)
Reports
MF01/PC17 Plus Postage.
EDRS PRICE
Computer Assisted Instruction; Computer Mediated
DESCRIPTORS
Communication; *Computer Uses in Education; *Distance
Education; Educational Development; *Educational Technology;
Educational Trends; Elementary Secondary Education; Higher
Education; *State Programs; *Telecommunications; Trend
Analysis
ABSTRACT
Since 1987 Hezel Associates has documented statewide
activities in educational telecommunications and distance learning. This is
the seventh edition in the series of reports. The analysis reports on
telecommunications and distance learning initiatives primarily; however, it
also describes the broader technology initiatives that encompass many of the
telecommunications and distance learning programs. The first section, "An
Overview of Educational Telecommunications and Distance Learning in the
United States," provides a summary of trends and also points to particular
technology development events in states. The State-by-State section contains
a description for each of the 50 states. Each state description is divided
into multiple sections. "Relevant Background and Brief History of the Current
Programs" highlights new activities since publication of the 1996 report.
"The State's Current Situation and Climate Regarding Distance Learning and
Educational Technology" gives the reader the latest information about
important planning groups, the forces that are driving educational technology
development, and the current plans in place or in the making within the state
information resources agency, the higher education agency, and the state
agency. In addition, the section includes information about E-rate
activities, funding, and major technology and network initiatives in the
states. A new section offers comments and conclusions about activities in the
state. Contains a glossary of interstate educational telecommunications
providers and a glossary of terms.
(AEF)
Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made
from the original document.
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BEST COP
U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND
Office of Educational Research and Improvement
DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION
BEEN GRANTED BY
CENTER (ERIC)
d This document has been reproduced
as
received from the person or organization
R.T. Hezel
originating it
O Minor changes have been made to
improve reproduction quality
I
TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
A
Points of view or opinions stated in this
INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)
document do not necessarily represent
1
official OERI position or policy
HEZEL
ASSOCIATES
Hezel Associates is dedicated
to the intelligent development
of telecommunications and
media resources through
planning and research.
With 30 years experience
in education, media. and
telecommunications management
and research. Hezel Associates
has gained a distinguished
national reputation as a leading
expert in telecommunications policy.
Our services include:
Market studies and needs
assessments for telemedicine and
education products and programs:
evaluation of telemedicine educational
technology projects; consultation on
management and policy issues
in telemedicine and educational
telecommunications: preparation
of strategic and business plans
for telemedicine and distance
education providers.
For more information. call us at:
800-446-3512 or come visit us at
www.hezel.com
BEST COPY AVAILABLE
3
Educational Telecommunications and Distance Learning:
The State-by-State Analysis 1998-99
A Report
by
Hezel
Associates
ASSOCIATES
4
HEZEL ASSOCIATES
EDUCATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND DISTANCE LEARNING:
THE STATE-BY-STATE ANALYSIS, 1998-99
A Report by Hezel Associates
ISBN #1-889794-02-3
Copyright 1998, Hezel Associates
Printed in the United States of America
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, record-
ing, or any storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the pub-
lisher.
Hezel Associates
1201 East Fayette Street
Syracuse, NY 13210
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
5
www.hezel.com
F
EDUCATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND DISTANCE LEARNING:
HEZEL ASSOCIATES
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I
TABLE OF CONTENTS
EDUCATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND DISTANCE LEARNING:
THE STATE-BY-STATE ANALYSIS, 1998-99
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
vi
PREFACE
AN OVERVIEW OF EDUCATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS
AND DISTANCE LEARNING IN THE USA
1
Introduction
3
Leadership and Governance in Telecommunications Development
3
Changing Models of Coordination
5
Technology as a Tool
6
The Integration of Technology in Education
7
A Growing Federal Influence
7
The Web and Distance Education
8
The Nationalization and Internationalization of Distance Learning
10
THE STATE-BY-STATE ANALYSIS
13
Alabama
15
Alaska
22
Arizona
29
Arkansas
37
California
49
Colorado
59
Connecticut
67
Delaware
75
Florida
81
Georgia
92
Hawaii
99
Idaho
108
Illinois
115
Indiana
122
Iowa
131
Kansas
138
Kentucky
144
Louisiana
151
Maine
158
Maryland
164
Massachusetts
172
THE STATE-BY-STATE ANALYSIS, 1998-99
6
HEZEL ASSOCIATES
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Michigan
177
Minnesota
184
Mississippi
191
Missouri
199
Montana
206
Nebraska
214
Nevada
222
New Hampshire
226
New Jersey
231
240
New Mexico
New York
247
North Carolina
256
North Dakota
264
270
Ohio
Oklahoma
277
Oregon
285
Pennsylvania
293
Rhode Island
301
South Carolina
307
South Dakota
316
Tennessee
324
Texas
331
Utah
341
Vermont
348
Virginia
354
Washington
361
West Virginia
367
Wisconsin
376
Wyoming
383
391
GLOSSARY
Glossary of Interstate Educational Telecommunications Providers
393
Glossary of Terms
340
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EDUCATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND DISTANCE LEARNING:
Iiv
HEZEL ASSOCIATES
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
For this, the seventh edition of Educational Telecommunications and Distance Learning: The
State-by-State Analysis, Hezel Associates offers gratitude to many individuals. Although the
first edition, published in 1987 under a contract with the Annenberg/CPB Project, was en-
tirely the product of my research and writing, the 1998-99 edition involved more nearly a
dozen staff and associates. Most centrally, Paula Szulc Dominguez, our senior research as-
sociate, bringing her usual high standards of quality to the research and writing, orga-
nized the campaign to finish the report. Unflinchingly, researchers Laurie Kenyon and Jun
Hwa Lee pursued information sometimes difficult to obtain, tracked down contacts for
their feedback, and wrote well. Paul Hezel and Mick Van Vranken did much of the early
web searching and initial contacting of state representatives. Gail Bouverat, our proofreader,
made sure our punctuation was in the right place, our spelling was correct, and the sen-
tences were full with meaning. Deborah Vriesenga designed and set the inside pages, and
Jerry Russell designed the cover and title pages.
At the office, our staff, Nader Nanjiani, Project Manager, and Stefanie Kubanka and
Bernadette Soto, Project Coordinators, carried a full slate of our main line research, plan-
ning, and consulting projects, even while this report was occupying so much attention of
other staff.
We are especially grateful to the many individuals in the states who provided their time and
assistance with information in response to our questions. Many of those state contacts have
been helping us since the first edition in 1987. The state contacts patiently told us about new
initiatives, policies, technology, and funding that we could never have found through
websites or printed material. Then they reviewed what we had written about their state to
make sure we were correctly representing the state. I appreciate their help year after year.
Finally, I extend gratitude to my wife, Janice O'Neil Hezel, and my children, Julia and Nathan,
who have supportedor at least enduredmy attention to this report, our clients, and the
business of Hezel Associates.
Richard T. Hezel
President
Hezel Associates
8
THE STATE-BY-STATE ANALYSIS, 1998-99
HEZEL ASSOCIATES
PREFACE
PREFACE
Since 1987 Hezel Associates has documented statewide activities in educational telecom-
munications and distance learning. Educational Telecommunications and Distance Learning:
The State-by-State Analysis, 1998-99 is the seventh edition in the series of reports. The title of
the report has been changed slightly to acknowledge the key function of distance learning
in the use of telecommunications. Besides, we had been following distance learning very
closely for years.
In this analysis, Hezel Associates reports on telecommunications and distance learning ini-
tiatives primarily; in addition, however, we describe the broader technology initiatives that
encompass many of the telecommunications and distance learning programs. We prefer to
use the term "educational technology and telecommunications" to reflect the broad spec-
trum of activity taking place in schools, institutions, and state agencies. When we write
about specific states and institutions, however, we use the terminology that the state or
institution itself employs. Therefore, in some cases our descriptions of initiatives mention
"information technology" planning efforts and "distance learning" projects, while at other
times, we describe "distance education." Our report reflects the fact that there is no stan-
dard vocabulary used to describe the use of technology to aid education. It's nearly impos-
sible to separate one from the other, and instructional delivery takes many forms and uses
various technologies anyway.
The analysis is our way of keeping our subscribers up to date on changes in the technology
environment as it affects education delivery in each state. As you will see by reading the
report, the changes from year to year are numerous, and this report is newly written from
beginning to end.
The report is intended to inform readers about trends in educational telecommunications,
technology, and distance learning. The first section, "An Overview of Educational Telecom-
munications and Distance Learning in the USA" provides a summary of trends we have
observed through collecting data from many sources. The overview also points to particu-
lar technology development events in states.
The State by State section contains a description for each of the 50 states. Each state descrip-
tion is divided into multiple sections, and previous subscribers will note some reorganiza-
tion within state reports. "Relevant Background and Brief History of the Current Programs"
highlights activities since we published the 1996 report. This section includes information
that will help you understand the context for current technology events in the state. The
section "The State's Current Situation and Climate Regarding Distance Learning and Edu-
cational Technology" gives the reader the latest information about important planning
groups, the forces that are driving educational technology development, and the current
plans in place or in the making within the state information resources agency, the higher
9
EDUCATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND DISTANCE LEARNING:
HEZEL ASSOCIATES
PREFACE
I
education agency, and the state education agency. In addition, the section includes informa-
tion about E-rate activities, funding, and major technology and network initiatives in the
state. Finally, we have added a new section, "Hezel Associates' Comments and Conclu-
sions," which offers the reader our analysis of activities in the state.
Readers who work in educational institutions or state agencies will find those descriptions
valuable in comparing activities in other states with their own activities and in searching for
models of good telecommunications practice and policy. Other readers who represent tele-
communications and technology suppliers will find that their marketing activities and re-
search can be guided by the state descriptions. For example, states involved in planning and
funding of educational telecommunications are generally better prepared to invest in tech-
nology and are appropriate targets of marketing efforts, while states that have conducted
little or no planning and have no funding are unlikely candidates for development in the
near future.
If you have very limited time to read the report, do read the "Overview" and the executive
summary of each state. Those will give you a flavor for the status of technology in theUSA
as a whole as well as the individual states.
The report data come to us through various methods. Since 1987 Hezel Associates has main-
tained a library of documents about telecommunications in every state. Our consulting and
research activities in more than 25 states have given us greater familiarity with telecommu-
nications projects and the people who organize them. To acquire up-to-date information,
we searched the web and contacted by telephone and email nearly 500 individuals across
the country in elementary, secondary, and higher education; public broadcasting; and state
agencies for technology and telecommunications. After we had drafted each state's analy-
sis, we emailed or faxed the draft to at least three of our contacts in each state to obtain their
feedback and corrections.
As always, we welcome feedback from readers about the report. We will be happy to help
you maximize your use of the valuable information. Please let us know how we can be
helpful to you in your planning, research, and market analysis.
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THE STATE-BY-STATE ANALYSIS, 1998-99
VII
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