UTC has been a leader in distance learning since deploying a distance learning lab in 1995, according to a UTC professor, and has been pushing the envelope by delivering courses to former Soviet republics where students can conduct lab experiments from the other side of the globe.
EPB, AT&T and Comcast recently have expanded the bandwidth and speed of their Internet offerings for Chattanooga area residents, and local educators have responded by offering classes at the speed of light.
Dr. Will Sutton, dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science, said much of the framework to use up the additional bandwidth is already in place at UTC.
UTC’s distance learning classroom, where classes are streamed over the Internet, is already “completely booked up the whole day,” Sutton said, so he’s installing four more of the high-tech classrooms.
“We’re going to increase our throughput by a factor of five, so we see this as a real opportunity to take advantage of it,” Sutton said.
While it’s hard to predict what the future will look like at the current rate of technology advancement, faster Internet speeds will have a drastic effect on how students learn and communicate, according to Dr. Karen Adist, director and professor of the Walker Teaching Resource Center at UTC.
Thanks to the availability of gigabit speeds to the home from EPB and similar speeds for businesses from AT&T, the possibilities for distance learning are endless, she said.
“Five years from now I can’t even think about it,” Adsit said.
But for faster speeds to work, professors and students both must have access to fast speeds, or the system breaks down.
She and her colleagues will have to temper their excitement at what is possible with the knowledge of what is practical, she said, as students with slower computers or Internet connections could get left behind in the rush to add new streaming features and interactive tools.
“More lifelike or authentic instruction is possible, but a lot of that is dependent not only on access by the students but their technological capabilities,” she said.
While students will see the results of these improvements immediately, there are longer-term projects under way, too.
A joint venture is under way with Boeing, according to Sutton, to conduct experiments at an even greater distance: from Earth to space.
UTC is also experimenting with ways to deliver college courses to high school students in the area.
“This is like going beyond broadband,” he said. “Our ability to handle that type of thing may enable industries that have not looked at us otherwise to give us a second look, like high-end engineering and computer science jobs.”
Danielle Clark, director of communications for the Hamilton County Department of Education, said the school system has been rapidly expanding its capacity as well, with all but two schools connected with fiber optic cable.
By using teleconferencing to offer courses to students across the district, “we can offer more high level courses with our current staffing levels,” she said.
Though the school system is currently focused on reducing equipment needs and cutting costs, the long term effect will be to see an increase in productivity and efficiency, Clark said.