Anil Khurana begins class the way most professors do. He takes attendance. But rather than stand at the front of the room, he sits in front of a television monitor. And instead of looking around the room to see who's there, he looks into the monitor, which switches among five sites as his students speak to voice-activated cameras.

The College of Engineering is in step with a nationwide surge in distance education, and Assistant Professor Khurana's Product Development class is part of the Department of Manufacturing Engineering's distance learning program. The interactive-compressed video (ICV) graduate program offers a Master of Science in Manufacturing Engineering; it awarded its first degree earned solely through distance education in 1992. The ICV program was selected as one of the most exemplary in the country by the Center for Occupational Research and Development. "BU is jumping in at a time when the discipline is growing exponentially," says Marny Lawton, director of ENG's new Office of Distance Learning, of the plans to expand distance learning at the College.

While distance education isn't entirely new -- people have studied via "snail-mail" correspondence courses for years -- today's technology provides better means of distribution. And along with its newfound popularity, distance education has attracted its share of controversy. As major universities add distance learning courses to their programs, they invite debate over such issues as quality control, indulgence in the latest fad, and the belief that it's all about money.

While she's the first to admit that distance education isn't for everyone, Lawton believes that it resulted from societal necessity, not fad or profit motive. Contrary to popular belief, she says, "you can't just take course material you've taught for ten years, scan it in, and turn it into an electronic format. That's not distance ed."

What, then, is distance ed? According to Lawton, it is a viable option for busy people in a constantly changing world. "Distance education is just a part of what we're experiencing throughout society," she says. "Technology is part of it, but it's not the sole driving force. We're moving faster; we're having to learn more. We're healthier; we're living longer. We cannot guarantee we can go from college to retirement in one organization or one job. We're partially driving this because we're looking for options. Many professionals can't get up and move with a family. So distance learning satisfies a very real need."

Technology allows institutions to satisfy this need in myriad ways: courses are offered via two-way satellite, closed-circuit television, and the Internet, to name a few; the College of Engineering currently uses live, two-way videoconferencing. Students dial in through a bridge, which allows individuals at multiple sites to talk to and see one another. Voice-activated cameras help give the illusion that everyone is in the same room. The technology is not yet perfect; participants often look as if they're moving in slow motion, and there is a slight audio delay. But despite the quirks, many professors find that bringing students together from remote locations opens up their courses to ideas and discussions that wouldn't otherwise exist.

Teaching Cooperatively

Dan Cole, an associate professor in manufacturing engineering, taught a distance course last spring that allowed him to "pull students from industry together with more traditional full-time students at the University. Having the two sets of students contribute their shared experiences was helpful for everyone."

Although the technology is rapidly improving, Cole feels it still doesn't equal teaching in person. "The quality of the images I present in class is far superior to what can be shown via videoconference," he says. "So one needs to compensate."

Lawton suggests that a combination of delivery systems will help solve this problem; this fall, the College is combining interactive videoconferencing with Web-based curricula. As they integrate these new tools into their classes, professors compensate in other ways. Anil Khurana speaks more slowly and loudly, for example, and always keeps the audio delay in mind so that he doesn't inadvertently interrupt students. But nothing interferes with what he's there to do: teach.

"I've always told Merrill Ebner, who runs the [manufacturing engineering] program, that I can either teach or run the equipment," Khurana says. "I can't do both. You have to have your mind on the teaching itself."

Lawton agrees that distance teaching must be a cooperative effort. She aims to pull together the many experts on campus -- Web programmers, graphic designers, media specialists -- to help the faculty operate equipment and create electronic course materials.

A Broad Community

Ebner, professor of manufacturing engineering and the department's ICV coordinator, has taught courses through videoconferencing since 1991. While he admits there's room for technological improvement, he says, "I love it. It's a wonderful way to retain talented people. You can develop a real community."

The students who form this community, Ebner reports, are enthusiastic about distance learning courses. Robin Dimmock, a quality engineer at Osram Sylvania in New Hampshire, is a master's candidate who takes BU classes from her company's conference room. "It's great for me because I don't live near major universities," she says. "Being able to do this works great for me. I'd recommend it to anyone."

Lawton, who earned a master's degree via distance learning at George Washington University, is another satisfied student. "The same processes we'd have had to go through in real life, we went through electronically. We had papers to hand in, research work to perform. And we did it all by communicating online." She emphasizes that with faculty holding telephone and electronic office hours, students can get the same attention they'd get on a campus.

At the College of Engineering, tuition and enrollment (some twenty to thirty students per class) remain about the same for distance learning courses as for traditional ones. "Our whole point in distance education is not just to use the technology or to keep up with other institutions," Lawton says. "Our goal is to teach, to distribute education. And we don't want to lose sight of the goal."

Part of Lawton's role at the College will be to enhance the current distance education program as well as get other departments involved. The departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Biomedical Engineering are both planning videoconferencing courses.

Lawton is confident that distance learning is here to stay. "Like many things that are new, people want to label it," she says. "Distance education and all its technologies are not some miracle. They're just tools. And they'll fail or succeed depending on how they're used."