© This paper was originally presented with Professor Lou Nevins (CSU, Chico), now retired, in 1991 at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington, D.C., for the Session entitled "Satellite Delivery of Education: From Elementary School to the Working World" in Washington, D.C., February 14-19, 1991. This paper was placed on the World Wide Web on April 6, 1999 and the only changes that have been made are the addition of selected references to some WWW sites.

INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND
CSU, CHICO ACTIVITIES: TERRESTRIAL AND EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL
OPERATIONS
CONCLUSIONS
EPILOGUE
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
REFERENCES CITED
SOME SELECTED AVAILABLE RESOURCES

INTRODUCTION

These timeless words were written by Alfred North Whitehead, the distinguished philosopher born one-hundred-and-thirty years ago last week (15 February 1861). If there is one thing we would like to leave with you today, in addition to providing summary information on the activities of our institution, it is to remember the fact that what we all are doing in the realm of satellite-delivered education is very complicated. In addition to the complication, it is often not easy to make modern communication systems (read "technology") work in contemporary educational settings.

Various systems and sub-systems have to come together for our activities to work and if they don't articulate and work properly, there is chaos. Perhaps what is worse, when our various systems and sub-systems fail, we then have the tendency to give up on proven systems that work elsewhere in society before we even try them within the context of education. In essence, we should avoid over-simplification and approach our extra-terrestrial (and terrestrial) educational activities with an open and prepared mind.

BACKGROUND

The intriguing title for our paper points out that what was "science fiction" several years ago is the "science fact" of today. One should wonder what "science fiction" of today might be the science facts of tomorrow.

In a classic science fiction work published thirty-one years ago in 1960 entitled Drunkard's Walk, Frederik Pohl described the activities of a University faculty member in the year 2196, when the world has a population of twelve billion, and courses were "beamed up to the handiest television-relay satellite and showered back down on the world" (Frederik Pohl, 1960, page 27). While one could speculate that teaching two-hundred and five years from now will be beyond "old-fashioned" television, Pohl's story about teaching over television around the world did come true in the 1980's and it is certainly more technologically feasible in the 1990s and beyond!

Television programming, educational and otherwise, has moved beyond the realm of "science fiction" into the realm of the science fact. In addition to the numerous single-continent examples of extra-terrestrial educational activities of the 1980s, the last decade also saw a variety global educational activities conducted both by organizations (such as INTELSAT, or the Society for Satellite Professionals International [SSPI]) and individuals (such as Takeshi Utsumi [V. Ostendorf 1988, T. Utsumi et al., 1989, and T. Utsumi 1990; also see Boeke 1990]). For those who do not realize it, "it ain't science fiction anymore!"

It has been a slow and cumulative process that led us to where we are today, and once again, we must avoid over-simplification to realize where we are today in the educational realm: more than 65 years ago, on January 27, 1926, the first public demonstration of television was given in the United Kingdom. by John L. Baird. In the United States, on April 7, 1927, the "first publicized test of a television phone conversation" occurred when the Bell System sent live television images of Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover by telephone lines from the Washington, D.C. area to New York City (J.H. WIlson 1975: 118). The fact is granted that the image appeared in New York City appeared on a 2.5 inch screen, and since there was no sound transmission, Hoover and the President of AT&T "communicated during the broadcast by telephone" but television was coming of age! (C. Panati 1984: 276).

In 1933, the year in which Whitehead. published his Adventures of Ideas, educational programming utilizing full-motion video to meet educational needs began in this country when the State University of Iowa broadcast the first instructional programming on the 25th of January 1933 (N. Whittington 1986: 2). Fifty-eight years ago our session could have been a speculative discussion at a science fiction meeting; today it is a reality.

Early in the 1950s, we saw MPATI (or the Midwestern Program on Airborne Television Instruction), which involved an airplane circling midwestern states, broadcasting television instruction to selected receive sites. In the 1950s we also saw development of closed-circuit instructional television in the elementary schools at Hagerstown, Maryland, and Anaheim, California. Broadcast educational television carried the ball for instructional television programming through the 1960s until today's proliferation of video-tape players in the calssroom. In 1952 The Pennsylvania State University's closed-circuit television system began and in 1961 the University of Rhode Island began their television programming: 5 courses broadcast to a single remote location with less than a dozen enrollments.

In 1965, educational television for engineering instruction came to Florida, when certain individuals realized that there was a distinct need to react to rapid developments in technology--and educational programming was an excellent reaction tool. As pointed out:

"The rapid growth of the early space program at Cape Canaveral provided the impetus for the first major ITV [instructional television] applications in engineering. In 1965, the University of Florida introduced two leased microwave links (one each way) between Gainesville and six extension centers operated by the school in the Orlando area. The part time students in central Florida attended the ITV class at the same time that the course was being taught on campus and had telephone links to the instructor in the classroom" (G.L. Reid 1986: 3).

A prediction was made in 1972 by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education that "by the year 2000 over 80 percent of off-campus instruction...will use information technology." The role of the "travelling teacher" (going to where the students are physically located) is being replaced by the new information technologies.

The 1985 Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching report entitled Corporate Classrooms: The Learning Business continued to echo this theme on the role of technology in higher education (N. Eurich 1985); and the 1989 Office of Technology Assessment publication entitled Linking For Learning: A New Course For Education clearly documents the wide-array of distance education programs that are currently available (L.G. Roberts 1989). A few decades ago there were some educational institutions involved in distance education via telecommunications; today there are obviously numerous institutions engaged in such endeavors and as Purdy has pointed out, as elected officials weigh the "growing demand for all kinds of post-secondary education against the growing costs of building new campuses" televised instruction will probably be on the increase in this country (L. Purdy 1990: 3). Indeed, this theme was echoed in The Wall Street Journal of November 14, 1990 when it was announced that the governors of the California Community Colleges established a panel to look into increasing course offerings "electronically to homes and offices instead of building new facilities" after the November defeat, in the elections, of a higher-education bond issue for the State of California.

Educational television for higher education began in California in 1969 when Stanford University established an "Instructional Television Fixed Services" (ITFS) system, known as the "Stanford Instructional Television Network" to serve working professionals in the San Francisco bay area. As Charles House, Corporate Engineering Director for the Palo Alto-based Hewlett Packard Company pointed out in 1984, Stanford really began their educational program designed for working professionals in 1954 with the Stanford Honors Co-Op Program began: individuals commuted to the Stanford campus to take classes but then ITFS was introduced, and classes were delivered to students at their work places (C. House 1984: 41); and in 1972 the University of Southern California created their ITFS network to serve professionals in the Los Angeles area.

By 1975, through various funds, an electronic distribution system was constructed for California State University, Chico, in the northern part of the state. Courses are taught by regular faculty members and distributed throughout Northern California via a terrestrial ITFS system. Coordinated by The Center for Regional and Continuing Education, the system (Figure #1) is maintained and operated by the institution's Instructional Media Center and faculty are provided with assistance for "teaching over television" (C.L. Nevins and L.J. Wright 1987).

While certain organizations were actively pursuing terrestrial educational ventures, other organizations began to be interested in the tremendous potential for satellite-delivered educational programming across North America. In 1981, for example, Hewlett Packard began constructing a satellite network, designed to link Palo Alto with more than one hundred downlink sites around North America. The National University Teleconference Network (NUTN), which would eventually offer a wide variety of programs via satellite, was created in 1982; in January of 1984 the National Technological University (NTU) was incorporated in Colorado; and on September 4, 1984, CSU, Chico began broadcasting, live via satellite, Computer Science courses leading to the M.S. degree in Computer Science. California State University, Chico, has had a number of graduates of the program and in the Fall of 1990, the institution had 130 enrollments at 21 sites across North America (Figure #2 ).

The National Technological University awarded its first M.S. degree in November of 1986 and by the Spring of 1990, 57 additional degrees had been awarded; on the 1st of August 1990, however, 63 individuals received their masters' degrees in a televised ceremony from NTU and Lionel Baldwin truly believes that "by the mid-1990s, NTU will be one of the top 10 universities in the U.S. in the annual number of Master of Science degrees awarded in engineering fields." With more than 3,600 enrollments in the 1989-1990 school year and with 964 students admitted to various degree programs, NTU (with 302 North American receive sites) is a formidable institution and NTU's projections will probably be realized. NTU has been pursuing expansion plans to European and Pacific Basin nations and late in 1990 research into extending NTU activities into Japan has been initiated by Takeshi Utsumi, a pioneer in the concept of global educational activities since 1972!

With all of the discussion on the educational institutions activities dealing with education via satellite, we should like to point out that other educational activities via satellite must not be dismissed. In addition to the satellite-delivered educational programming of the Texas-based TI-IN organization, we also have programming organizations such as Channel One, from Whittle Communications. As the Wall Street Journal for November 26, 1990, pointed out, towards the end of 1990 "5,600 schools have signed contracts to take the system, and more than 4,000 [in the United States] have it installed." In 1978, there were a total of nine non-entertainment satellite video networks in North America; by 1988 the number stood at thirty-two. At the end of 1990, according to a professional publication, there were fifty-four "Networks" involved in various aspects of educational programming via satellite throughout North America. According to E. M. Gold these were:

AASCB/OSU	American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business/Oklahoma State University
ABTV	Allen-Bradley
AHA	American Hospital Association
ALN	American Law Network
ALSS	PBS Adult Learning Satellite Service
AMA	American Management Association
AREN	American Rehabilitation Educational Network
ASHA	American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
ASTN	Automotive Satellite Television Network
ASTS	Arts and Sciences Teleconferencing Service, Oklahoma State University
BTVN	Bankers-TV Network
BUSM	Boston University School of Medicine HealthNET
CCI	Computer Channel Inc.
CLESN	Continuing Legal Education Satellite Network, Inc.
CTSN	Corporate Satellite Television Network
CSUC	California State University, Chico
DCVN	Digital Customer Video Network
ECI	Executive Communications, Inc.
SEN	Satellite Educational Network
EDNET	Educational Satellite Network
ESN	Educational Satellite Network
FEMA	Federal Emergency Education Network
FSN	Financial Satellite Network
GDN	Global Development Network
GWU	George Washington University
HSN	Hospital Satellite Network
IEEE	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
IRN	Institutional Research Networks, Inc.
ISEN	Interactive Satellite Education Network International Business Machines (IBM)
ISU	Iowa State University
ITN	Insurance Television Network
KBTV	Kodak Business Television Network
LETN	Law Enforcement Television Network
MCD	Medical Care Development, Inc
MITN	Michigan Information Technology Network, Inc.
NTU	National Technological University
NUTN	National University Teleconference Network
ODUN	Old Dominion University Network
OSUE	Oklahoma State University, College of Education
PLI	Practising Law Institute
PSI	Publishers Services, Inc.
SBC	Spacebridge Broadcasting Company
SCN	Satellite Conference Network, Inc.
SSPI	Society of Satellite Professionals International
STECH	Startech Network
STLN	SATELLIGHTNING
TBC	PBS The Business Channel
TI	Texas Instrument
TLC	The Learning Channel
TRI	Trion College
UAL	University of Alabama
UKAN	University of Kansas
VHASN	VHS Satellite Network
VHTN	Virginia Hospital Satellite Network
VPI	Virginia Polytechnic Institute

As comprehensive as this list appears, we are certain that it is still not complete, since the massive Hewlett-Packard Network, for example, is not listed, nor is TI-IN; nor are the overseas networks listed. In 1990, for example, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation established a 15-site satellite education system in Japan. With the studio in Tokyo, in-house training via satellite is provided to employees in 22 classrooms. The system, incidentally, utilizes Ku-band compressed video. In September 1990, an additional trade journal listed eighty-seven "originators" of satellite programming and in addition to the fifty-four listed above, the following fourty-three groups are also involved in provided some sort of education via satellite: it definitely isn't science fiction anymore!

ABA	American Bar Association
ABC	Applied Business TeleCom
ACSI	American Community Services, Inc.
AHA	American Hospital Association
AIAA	American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics
ALI-ABA	Video Law Review
AMCEE	Association for Media-Based Continuing Education for Engineers, Inc.
AMRI	AMR International, Inc.
APL	Apple Computer
ASPA	American Society of Pension Actuaries
BALL	Ball State University
BANK	Bankers -TV Network
BIZ	BizNet-U.S. Chamber of Commerce
BUSM	Boston University School of Medicine HealthNET
CAMM	Center for Apparel Marketing & Merchandising, Oklahoma State University
CCSN	Community College Satellite Network
CLTV	ComputerLand Corporation
CPA	CPA-TV
DA	De Anza College TV Center
EENET	Emergency Education Network
EXEC	Executive Committee Inc.
FBN	Food Business Network
GBA	George Bankers Association
IBA	Illinois Bankers Association
JCP	JCPenney Communications, Inc.
KSU	Kansas State University
LESN	Louisiana Educational Resource Network
MAN	Manisses Communication Group
MCET	MA Corporation for Educational Communication
NBCN	National Business Communications Network
NNS	PBS's National Narrowcasting Service
OKU	Oklahoma Network
OS	Ohio State
OSU	Oklahoma State University
PSN	Private Satellite Network
PSSN	Penn State Satellite Network
SEN	Satellite Education Network SET SetNet Rehabilitation Research & Training
STAR	VideoStar Connections
SUNY	State University of New York
UGA	University of Georgia
UMKC	University of Missouri-Kansas City
UMD	University of Maryland
VCU	Virginia Commonwealth University
WHI	Whittle Communications

There are several individuals and organizations interested in distance education as indicated by the listings above! The stakes are high, and individuals and organizations must be on top of the latest technology to avoid falling behind losing out on the tremendous educational potential of television via satellite. Lest one think that only educators are interested in the potential of satellite distribution of information, please consider that while one may be aware of the current satellite distribution of CNN (Cable News Network), or HBO (Home Box Office), or ESPN (Entertainment Sports Network), or a host of other specialized satellite feeds, please consider that within the year, the following eighteen channels will be added to various satellites:

Cable TV Nacional	International Shows
The Cowboy Channel	Western Programming
The Gaming Channel	Sports and Gaming News
In Court	Legal Programming
Sci-Fi Channel	Science Fiction
American Courtroom	Legal Programming
Career TV Network	Job Help Information
Celticvision	Irish Programming
Golden American Network	Programming for Seniors
Global Village Network	International Shows
The Monitor Channel	News and Information
Senior American Network	Programming for Seniors
Talk TV Network	All Talk Shows
K-Prime	DBS Programming
The Asia Network	Asian Programming
The Dating Network	Dating Programming
The Food Channel	Cooking and Food News
How-To Channel	How-To Programming

Given new technologies, this is only the beginning! Educators must continue to be on top of things, from the "elementary school to the working world."

One indication of the interest in distance education was the establishment, on the 15th of September 1987, of the United States Distance Learning Association as a non-profit organization in California; one of the founders was Dr. Smith Holt (currently Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences of Oklahoma State University) who was then Secretary of Education for the State of Oklahoma. As Smith Holt stated in his opening address for the Second Annual Distance Learning Conference in November of 1987, quoting from the words of Walt Kelly via Pogo, "The future just isn't what it used to be" and he added "and we in education had best recognize it" (S. Holt 1988: 13). As a leading telecommunications industry author stated it in 1990:

"Satellite delivery of educational programming is recognized as one of the key growth areas for the [telecommunications] industry in the coming decade. The business of education via satellite is offering newer opportunities to satellite transmission service providers, equipment manufacturers, production studios and related businesses" (S. Chase 1990: 4.).

CSU, CHICO ACTIVITIES: TERRESTRIAL AND EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL

"The tragedy of the world is that those who are imaginative have but slight experience and those who are experienced have feeble imaginations. Fools act on knowledge without imagination. The task of a university is to weld together imagination and experience" (A.N. Whitehead 1929: n.p.).

California State University, Chico, part of the public system of higher education in California, was established in 1887 as the second Teacher's Normal School in the state. A four-year Liberal Arts institution within the 20-campus California State University System, CSU, Chico has the responsibility of providing educational services to an area of northern California which exceeds 84,470 square kilometers (or approximately 21% of the State of California. The other two segments of public higher education in California are the 107 Community Colleges and the 9 campuses of the University of California.

The resident population of the University's service area in northern California is approximately 650,000 individuals (or roughly 2.1% of the state's population). Clearly, with such a large and rural service area, the institution could not expect all of the people of the region to come to the campus for their educational needs. Thus, an external degree program was established to take some of the campus programs and faculty out to some of the communities throughout the region. Having faculty travel to outlying communities continued until the 1970s when an electronic distribution system was finally completed (C.F. Urbanowicz 1978).

In 1975, through a variety of funds, including system-wide monies and federal dollars from the United States Department of Commerce (NTIA), an ITFS/Microwave link was established between California State University, Chico and the University of California at Davis, 148 kilometers south of Chico. The link was created to allow the Department of Computer Science at Davis to use Chico Computer Science courses for their developing Ph.D. program in Computer Science.

The initial ITFS system has expanded to 16 sites throughout northern California. At CSU, Chico ITFS stands for "Instructional Television For Students." Single courses and entire degree programs are delivered electronically throughout northern California. In January of 1976, the "Instructional Television For Students" network became operational in northern California.

Eventually, in recognition of CSU, Chico's telecommunications activities, in 1984 the University was ranked the most "innovative" of the then 19 campuses of the California State University system. The California State University System, in the Fall of 1990, had 368,766 enrollments, and has now expanded to 20 campuses; in Fall 1990, fifteen other campuses had established their own ITFS systems in their service areas, adapting the ITFS letters for their own region. At California State University, Sacramento for example, ITFS stands for "Instructional Television For Sacramento."

What we are doing at Chico, when one considers all things, is no longer unique: numerous institutions across the nation are delivering courses to distant students via television systems, be they terrestrial or extra-terrestrial or full-motion or non-full motion video. What we would like to do today, however, is point out some of the specific implications of our Northern California terrestrial ITFS system. In operation since 1976, over that time thousands of individuals have availed themselves of the courses and some specific information from the Fall 1990 semester is illustrative of this entire time period.

In the Fall of 1990, twenty-four upper division CSU, Chico courses were broadcast for seventy-four hours a week to the residents of Northern California via the ITFS system. These courses, received at 15 sites throughout the region generated 577 off-campus enrollments for the University. While these courses were being broadcast (from 8a.m.-10p.m. Monday-Thursday, 8a.m.-7p.m. on Friday, and 8:30a.m.-3:30p.m. on Saturday) they also had on-campus enrollments of 474 in those same courses (Figure #3). [BELOW you have C/S = Course/Site and various locations in northern California.]

SOURCE: ITFS Enrollment Matrix - Fall 1990 (10/30/90); where "X" equals student(s) in attendance for that particular course at that particular site.

If one looks at the distribution of these courses being offered via ITFS throughout the day, throughout northern California, some modest mathematical work eventually reveals that were these courses to be taught in the "traditional" manner throughout northern California (that is to say, faculty "driving out" to offer these courses at these locations at these times to these students), the cost to the University for the Fall 1990 semester would have been $207,941.40 in Motor Vehicle Operating expenses (alone) and a total of 16,018 personnel hours would have been spent driving throughout the region to deliver instruction to generate the 577 enrollments for the University! (Figure #4)

It is safe to say that if the twenty-four Fall 1990 courses had to be taught in the "traditional" manner throughout northern California for automobile operating expenses in excess of $200,000, it is probably a safe bet to say that the University would not have offered those courses to the residents of the region; this doesn't even consider the 16,000 hours of driving time (which is equivalent to approximately 9 personnel years alone!).

Suffice-it-to-say, ITFS instruction in northern California provides substantial savings for California State University, Chico. Perhaps more importantly, it represents savings to the students, for if those Fall 1990 577 off-campus enrollments wanted to take those 24 courses by coming to the Chico campus for them, it would have cost them (collectively) some $200,000 and 16,000 hours of driving time!

Now this last statement is somewhat far-fetched, and hard to prove, for chances are many of those individuals would not have bothered to come to take the courses (or they would have car-pooled or they would have . . . .); anyway, I think you get the idea of the value of the distance education service the institution provides via ITFS in northern California on a daily basis throughout the semester.

Finally, an independent, and extremely positive statement concerning California State University, Chico's ITFS system can be found in Lal's 1989 Ph.D. Dissertation from the University of Oregon: "The key factor revealed by this study is that the basic program is good from the point of view of students and instructors" (J.C. Lal 1989: 92). Need we say more?

After the University's success with ITFS in Northern California, satellite-delivered education was clearly the next step was in delivery of distanced education via satellite and in the 1980s both C-band and Ku-band uplinks were installed on the campus of California State University, Chico.

"Satellite networks make sense for distance learning because they are flexible, easy to install, are relatively inexpensive and permit an evolutionary educational system rather than a revolutionary change" (P. Rash 1990: 2).

California State University, Chico, currently offers courses leading to both the B.S. and M.S. Degrees in Computer Science from the institution to corporate receive locations across the nation and to date, CSU, Chico has produced more than sixty-five teleconferences received across North America. In the 1989-1990 Academic Year, the institution also participated in the TI-IN organization's teacher in-service educational programming to more than 750 nation-wide sites.

OPERATIONS

These topical words, by a gifted author dead some 42 years still ring true today but there is more than one "race" going on: there is the race between education and catastrophe and caught up in this race is the competition between educational institutions to establish new educational territories. With the advent of extra-terrestrial education the old boundaries based on the distance of travel from the central campus to the student are gone. Satellite communication eliminates all boundaries. In a time of shrinking funding sources (but continuous education), it will be interesting to see who survives. So, how does a particular institution of higher education survive when other institutions, or industry itself, become your competitors?

Although we stated earlier that what we must do is avoid oversimplification, for what we are all doing is a complicated endeavor, there are times when some simplification is in order to convey the magnitude of our individual institutions where-by we extend (sell) the best we have to offer to the distant learners. A utilitarian 4-C Framework or paradigm is suggested which has proven useful to us and which may be of value to others. There are three important variables that must come together: Content, Conduit, and Client. The Content is found among the faculty, researchers, or specific content experts from the field. Conduit is the technology and the people who understand its function and its management. The Client is, of course, the student and specific needs. If the three variables of Content, Conduit, Client, are not tied together by a fourth variable, namely Coordination, then Chaos can result in all of our activities!

FIGURE 5: 4-C Framework

 

On the Chico Campus, for example, the coordination of televised telecommunications is handled by The Center for Regional and Continuing Education; at other institutions, however, similar coordination is accomplished by an academic college (or departmental unit), by a media center, or by consortia offices located on a particular campus. (All of these models exist in the academic world when one considers the activities of Oklahoma State University or George Washington University, the National Technological University or the National University Teleconference Network.)

Outside of the academic world, the same 4-C framework (perhaps termed differently) has been utilized by various private sector individuals and organizations. As stated elsewhere: "This framework applies to numerous situations, and all variables must work together to create a successful project. If they do not, there is chaos" (Urbanowicz et al., 1988: 49).

CONCLUSIONS

"While theoretically and technically television may be feasible, commercially and financially I consider it an impossibility, development of which we need waste little time dreaming." (Lee DeForest [1873-1961], The New York Times, November 6, 1926)

These words, by an eminent twentieth century scientist and 1906 inventor of the triode, the basis of the radio, clearly points out the danger of predictions! We make no predictions, but do make some recommendations about instructional television, realizing we began the paper by pointing out the dangers of "over-simplification" in all of our collective endeavors.

Organizations and institutions that have a history of established and time-tested procedures and policies will survive over newer organizations that attempt to jump in without learning about what has gone on in the past (or what is actually going on right now around us). Institutions that will find success in their use of distance learning will be those that build upon the best of what they have by using the 4-C paradigm discussed above.

It was the 19th Century American author Edward Everett Hale who first suggested the idea of an "artificial moon" in a "science fiction" story in 1869 and it was, of course, Arthur C. Clarke who proposed another "science fiction/fact" idea in his classic 1945 article dealing with "extra-terrestrial relay system" which, incidentally, Clarke did not expect to see in his own lifetime. Advances in telecommunications technology are happening rapidly. Those who sit waiting on the sideline will be passed by those who are doing it.

Drucker's 1985 publication entitled Innovation and Entrepreneurship has an interesting statement appropriate for telecommunications individuals or individuals "simply" in higher education: "In an entrepreneurial society individuals face a tremendous challenge, a challenge they need to exploit as an opportunity: the need for continuous learning and relearning" (P. Drucker 1985: 263). To be successful, educational institutions must be committed to the challenge of delivering educational activities via satellite by providing "continuous learning" as part of the educational mission.

The excellent, and previously cited 1989 Roberts' report for the Office of Technology Assessment of the Congress of the United States entitled Linking For Learning: A New Course For Education, pointed out (among many things) that, for example, the satellites are currently available but "A shortage of satellite capacity (both C- and Ku-band) may develop" within the immediate future and we may be witnessing this sooner rather than later and the definitive weekly industry newsletter Satellite News (published by Phillips Publishing, Inc.) pointed out late in October of 1990 that as of 31 July 1990, 436 operating transponders, or 90 per cent of the transponders available in geostationary orbit for CONUS (Continental United States) or domestic use were being used! (L.G. Roberts 1989: 67). It would appear that there will be a surge of availability of transponders over the 1993-1995 time period, but after that, satellites which were launched in the 1980s will begin to go out of service, and then the crunch really begins! (D. Bross 1990a: pp. 6-7).

One can safely predict that as demand begins to exceed supply of transponder time, pricing schedules will increase and new compression technologies will have to come on line in order to maintain the competitive edge. Institutions and organizations which do not avail themselves of the capabilities of the option of "non-full-motion-video" for distance education purposes will find themselves priced out of the competitive market place by those individuals and organizations who will be utilizing such technologies like digital transmission systems. Will institutions outside of the traditional educational structure lose out to the entrepreneurs who will pick up and utilize the latest technologies?

Consider, for example, the announcement in November 1990 of the Direct Broadcast Satellite plans of the Seattle-based SkyPix organization: they plan to have 80 DBS channels on a satellite by the First Quarter of 1991: the technology will be compressed digital, with eight channels per transponder! (D. Bross,1990b, page 3; also see, however, D. Bross 1990c for a late 1990 update). Educational institutions, either singly or as consortia, should be looking into such technology for future applications when the transponder marketplace becomes saturated or when there are insufficient transponders for all who wish to utilize them. The technology is currently available and it is not science fiction: in January of 1991, for example, COMSAT (the Communication Satellite Corporation) announced TMTV (Time-Multiplexed Television) which can compress and combine "three separate NTSC-format TV source signals and stereo audio pairs into a single TV signal which then can be transmitted within a 36 MHz satellite transponder" (Anon., 1991, page 9). The future is exciting.

As stated a few years ago, "educational programming via satellite can be received virtually anywhere in North America today" if individuals (a) know what is currently available, (b) know how to access that programming, and (c) know how to influence what is being included in educational programming (C.F. Urbanowicz et al., 1988: 68). This last point is extremely important for those individuals interested in the advancement of the sciences. Meetings such as these and wide-spread research and reading are vital in this rapidly advancing and competitive field. Exciting changes are coming and some of the most interesting work is being done on "telecommunication reform for the global economy" and international regulatory issues (See, for example, the CIRCIT Newsletter and the Accessions List, as well as Utsumi 1989 and 1990). These are exciting times!

Chico's long-term involvement with ITFS in northern California and the live and interactive M.S. degree in Computer Science available via satellite, combined with computerized library support, is a clear indication of the University's long-range planning and commitment to higher education, utilizing the available technologies. In the 1980's a suggestion was made that since educational institutions had effectively gathered into a NUTN organization, perhaps now akin to EINSTEIN was needed: Educational INSTitutions Exchanging INformation on a world-wide basis (C.F. Urbanowicz 1988b). Whether this will come to pass or not is yet to be decided.

EPILOGUE

"Nothing is so easy as to deceive one's self; for what we wish, that we readily believe. (Another translation: We believe whatever we want to believe.)" (G. Seldes 1960: 201).

This statement comes from one of the magnificent compendiums of George Seldes and it is a translation of a statement made by the Athenian orator Demosthenes (385-322B.C.). There are some other ways to phrase this, but the message should be clear: don't deceive oneself and remember what we are doing is very complicated.

It would be ideal if the educational establishments could get together to get a single satellite dedicated to educational transmissions. Educational establishments must be aware of the new technologies and devise ways to (a) obtain them, (b) incorporate them into the curriculum, and (c) train faculty on how to utilize the new technologies. (Some of the technologies aren't really that new!) As Lewis Perlman, Director of Project Learning 2001 at the Hudson Institute phrased it:

"...distance learning--the use of telecommunications to deliver instruction from anyone, anywhere to anyone anywhere--virtually eradicates spatial barriers to choice. Once we recognize that 'school' is a process not a building, its clear that we can now deliver as many different schools as cable TV channels, to wherever there is an adequate terminal. In the U.S., that's just about everywhere. Every student can have access to the best teachers and instruction available in every subject. Distance learning can liberate minorities from the knowledge ghetto" (L.J. Perelman 1990).

Today, we would like to emphasize that if establishments of education do not "get their act together" we will see more and more independent networks being established and more and more industrial education taking place via satellite, with individual educational entrepreneurs selling their course(s) to industry directly and/or industry taking over the challenge of educating their own people. Industry is particularly concerned about keeping up with the world in high-technology advances. Industry's need for keeping up with research and education related to that research is key. It is important that the technical advances for communication be utilized by a new entity, the Industrial/Education complex, to meet those needs (C.L. Nevins 1989). This is an ideal time for entrepreneurship, if the entrepreneur has something to sell.

"I don't envy anyone who has to advise his [or her] country what to buy--or to accept as a gift--in the telecommunications field during the next few years. Or for that matter, for the rest of the century. By 2001 everything we have will still be operating somewhere. And it will all be obsolescent" (A.C. Clarke 1984: 20).

These words by A.C. Clarke, referring to technology, are also true for all aspects of education and educational technology currently in operation today on the 18th of February 1991!

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Nevins is a Professor in the Instructional Media Center at California State University, Chico and Urbanowicz is a Professor of Anthropology at the University; both worked closely on the institution's educational television activities in the 1970s and 1980s. Nevins joined the faculty in 1972 and is the Coordinator of Instructional Development in the Instructional Media Center. Urbanowicz has been a member of the faculty since 1973 and was the Associate Dean in the Center for Regional and Continuing Education from 1977-1988 and although he is no longer directly involved in the institution's television activities, he still follows selected aspects of distance education issues on the global level. Nevins is intimately involved with the institution's ITFS and Satellite activities and is currently involved in the development of selected aspects of teaching and distance education.

REFERENCES CITED

Anon., n.d., Project Share: A Final Report and Evaluation (Washington, D.C.: International Telecommunications Satellite Organization [INTELSAT].

Anon., n.d., The California State University Shortens the Distance for Learning (Long Beach, CA, Office of the Chancellor, The California State University).

Anon., 1990a, Class of 1990 Largest Ever for Satellite University. NTU Uplink, Vol. 5, No. 9: 2.

Anon., 1990b, OJT Via Satellite. Information Times: Hawaii's Monthly Telecommunications & Computer Magazine, Vol. 3, No. 5: page 13.

Anon., 1990c, Originators. Ed., Vol. 4, No. 9: 22.

Anon., 1991, Video Compression News From Comsat, Satellite Communications, Vol. 15, No. 1, page 9.

Bocke, Cynthia, 1990, Distance Educators Aim for International Audience. Via Satellite, -Vol. 5, No. 12: pp. 41-43.

Bross, David, 1990a, Special Report--Domestic Transponder Capacity to Tighten. Satellite News, Vol. 13, No. 43, October 29, pp. 6-7.

Bross, David, 1990b, Market Impact Analysis: Can SkyPix's DBS Plans Fly? DBS News, Vol. 8, No. 11, November, pp. 1-3.

Bross, David, 1990c, Skypix DBS Deal Falters as Principals Swap Accusations, Satellite News, Vol. 13, No. 48, December 10, pp. 1-3.

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Holt, Smith, 1988, The Future Just Isn't What It Used to Be" Ed: The Distance Education Network Report, Vol. 2, No. 1: 11-13.

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Perelman, Lewis J., 1990, Luddite Schools Wage a Wasteful War. The Wall Street Journal, September 10.

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Purdy, Leslie, 1991, The Growing Success of Telecourses. Coast Communicator, Winter, page 3.

Rash, Polly, 1990. Stepping Up To The Challenge of Satellite-Delivered Education. The Orbiter, Sep-Oct, page 2.

Reilly, Patrick M., 1990, Whittle's School Television Project Racks Up Subscribers, Defying Critics. The Wall Street Journal, November 26, page B5.

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Urbanowicz, Charles F., 1988a, Comments on Non-Entertainment Satellite Video. (Presented at the 10th Annual Satellite Communications Users Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada, September 20-22.)

Urbanowicz, Charles F., 1988b, Perspective On The Need for a Global University Via The Electronic Medium. (For the Educom'88 Workshop, Washington D.C., October 29-30.)

Urbanowicz, Charles F. et al., 1988, Educational Telecommunications from California: A Case Study from California State University, Chico. Telecommunications and Pacific Development: Alternatives for the Next Decade (Proceedings of the 10th Annual Meeting of the Pacific Telecommunications Council, Honolulu, Hawai'i), pp. 65-71.

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SOME SELECTED AVAILABLE RESOURCES:

Accessions List [Varies], International Centre for Distance Learning, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, United Kingdom.

Business tv Guide [Monthly], TeleSpan Publishing Corporation, P.O. Box 6250, Altadena, CA 91003-6250.

CIRCIT Newsletter [Monthly], (Center for International Research on Communication and Information Technologies), Riverside Quay, 4 Byrne St., South Melbourne, 3205, Australia.

DBS News [Monthly] Phillips Publishing, Inc., 7811 Montrose Road, Potomac, MD 30854.

Distance Education and Technology Newsletter [Monthly], Distance Education Publishers, RFD #2, Box 7290, E. Winthrop, ME 04634.

Ed [Monthly publication of the United States Distance Learning Association], Applied Business teleCommunications, Box 5106, San Ramon, CA 94583.

GLOSAS/USA Update [Varies], Dr. Takeshi Utsumi, 43-23 Colden Street, Flushing, New York, 11355-3998.

Information Times: Hawaii's Monthly Telecommunications & Computer Magazine. Information Times, Inc., P.O. Box 11540, Honolulu, Hawai'i 96828-0540.

Intermedia [Five times a year], International Institute of Communications, Tavistock House South, Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9LF, United Kingdom.

NTU Uplink [Monthly], National Technological University, 700 Centre Avenue, Fort Collins, CO 80526.

NUTN NEWS: A Newsletter of The National University Teleconference Network [Six times a year], Oklahoma State University, 332 Student Union, Stillwater, OK 74078-0653.

Pacific Telecommunications Council Member's Bulletin [Bi-monthly], 1110 University Avenue, Suite 308, Honolulu, Hawai'i 96826.

Satellite Channel Chart [Six times a year], WESTAT Communications, Post Office Box 434, Pleasanton, CA 94566.

Satellite Communications [Monthly], 6300 S. Syracuse Way, Suite 650, Englewood, Colorado 80111.

Satellite News [Weekly], Phillips Publishing, Inc., 7811 Montrose Road, Potomac, MD 30854.

Satellite Orbit [Monthly], Orbit Publishing, 8330 Boone Blvd., Suite 600, Vienna, VA 22182.

Teletraining: A Newsletter for Those Who Teach at a Distance [Monthly], Virginia A. Osttendorf, Inc., P.O. Box 2896, Littleton, Colorado 80161-2896.

T.H.E. Journal (Technological Horizons in Education) [Ten times per year], Information Synergy, Inc., 2626 S. Pullman, Santa Ana, CA 92705.

The Orbiter [Six times a year], Society of Satellite Professionals International, 80 South Early Street, Alexandria, VA 22304.

Via Satellite [Monthly], Phillips Publishing, Inc., 7811 Montrose Road, Potomac, MD 30854.

Additional References added to this WWW version of 6 April 1999 are:

http://www.csuchico.edu/~curban/1998-99LPP.html [Various thoughts on educational technologies over the 1998-1999 Academic Year at California State University, Chico.]

http://www.csuchico.edu/~curban/K12Visuals98.htm [Some thoughts and "visuals" on the importance of the Internet/WWW.]

http://www.csuchico.edu/~curban/Iridium1994.html [1994 Paper dealing with IRIDIUM, mentioned above.]

Oceania & The Pacific for Journalism 116: International Communications In The Global Arena. (For JOUR 116 (International Communications In The Global Arena) at CSU, Chico, March 25, 1993.

Information Technology for the Pacific Basin. (For the Meeting of the 17th Pacific Science Congress, Honolulu, Hawai'i, May 27-June 2, 1991.)

The Potential of the Pacific: Some Suggestions from California State University, Chico. (For the 1988 Annual Meeting of The Pacific Telecommunications Council, Honolulu, Hawai'i, February 15-19, 1988.)

For more information, please contact Charles F. Urbanowicz Copyright © 1999 Charles F. Urbanowicz

Anthropology Department, CSU, Chico 6 April 1999 by CFU