Although distance education is increasing in Iowa, use of the Iowa Communications Network is shrinking.

An Iowa Board of Regents feasibility study was conducted on the network and will be released at the Regents’ Nov. 2 and 3 meeting in response to the Sept. 14 and 15 meeting, when Board members expressed concern for the cost and effectiveness of the Iowa Communications Network.

“There has been a debate with respect to how well the ICN meets the needs of people,” said Iowa City Regent Bob Downer.

Gary Steinke, acting executive director and chief public affairs officer for the Regents, said the study will contain data about how distance education is delivered at all three Regent universities.

The study also looked at the use of graduate centers in western Iowa, Downer said.

“UNI and Iowa State made considerable more use of these [graduate] centers than the University of Iowa,” he said.

“UNI has courses at Carroll in cooperation with the DMACC campus – this may be repeated elsewhere in the state.”

Steinke said the focus of distance education is changing because technology is improving.

“Distance education is changing,” Steinke said.

“As the needs of students change, the institutions’ delivery will change.”

With the exception of one Regent university, ICN use is decreasing.

“The University of Iowa and Iowa State have been decreasing ICN use, and the University of Northern Iowa continues to use the ICN at the same level over the last few years,” Downer said.

One of the reasons the ICN is being used less is because of the increasing popularity of online classes, he said.

Of about 3,300 students who are enrolled in distance education courses, only about 450 of those are enrolled in classes that use the ICN for some portion of their content, said Bill Tysseling, chairman of the ISU Provost’s Distance Education Council and director of continuing education and communication services.

“Two years ago the trend lines for ICN and Web-delivered content crossed,” Tysseling said. “The ICN continues to shrink as Web-delivered content continues to grow.”

Iowa State’s distance education is increasing in popularity because it is convenient for students with children or full-time jobs, Steinke said.

“I agree that the on-campus experience is a significant part of obtaining a college education, but it is not possible for a great number of people,” Downer said. “We are better serving Iowans who are bound to certain places and can’t uproot themselves to go to a college campus.”

Downer said cooperation between Regent institutions and other colleges could improve the quality of distance education.

“I’m going to ask what the extent to which the universities work with community colleges and private colleges in western Iowa,” he said.

Iowa State’s distance education could be greatly improved by partnering with other universities and content providers, Tysseling said.

The ICN is cost effective if used by a large group of students, he said.

“If there’s only two to three students using an ICN in a location, it is less cost effective than if there is 20 to 30 students using it,” he said.

Tysseling said it is difficult to determine if Web-based classes are more cost effective than ICN classes because it is difficult to determine how much is spent on technology for online classes and how much is spent on other technology.

Some students’ needs are not met with ICN courses, Steinke said.

“There are courses that don’t work well with the ICN, such as labs or courses that require a significant amount of actual dialogue and participation between students and instructors,” Tysseling said.

Tysseling said Iowa State’s distance education could be expanded and offer more courses if more resources were allocated to the program.

“But what we are really interested in is how we can best meet the educational needs of the students using the resources available,” he said.

“I am trusting that the Board of Regents’ interest in distance education is along the same lines,” Tysselling said.