Considering Product Life Cycles and Business Models in Distance Education

Educators have taught courses in interactive television (ITV) classrooms for quite some time. These interactive distance learning classrooms are typically equipped with two-way audio and video and connect at least two sites: the main site at which the instructor is housed and one remote site (Reed & Woodruff, 1995). Some of the universities that use this technology own the connected sites; other institutions form a consortium consisting of sites owned by a number of universities or colleges.

Many educational institutions have adopted the technology. Interactive television-based classrooms clearly have been at the maturity stage of the product life cycle for some time. The vast explosion of the World Wide Web and Internet technologies have led to an increase in Web-based course offerings and, therefore, driven ITV classrooms into the maturity, perhaps even into the declining, stage of the product life cycle.

The institution is a comprehensive university located in Minnesota and has approximately 15,000 students.

It has used ITV for approximately 20 years and is a member of a Distance Learning Network. The network consists of two separate networks and has six members and numerous sites. Members are responsible for providing technical support to users and for the maintenance of the classrooms.

Several of the ITV classrooms at this university are less than 3 years old and are equipped with video cameras, a smartboard, and one computer at the instructor station. The instructor carries a microphone, and the room is equipped with microphones in the ceiling. The remote ITV classrooms are owned by colleges or universities within the Minnesota State Colleges and University System and also have video cameras and microphones. This technology allows the transmission of real-time compressed audio and video. Some of these classrooms are equipped with a computer; other classrooms are not.

The cameras in all ITV classrooms are voice activated and allow for interaction between students and instructors at the different sites. However, the instructor is able to view only one of the remote sites at a time if more than one remote site is connected with the main campus. On the other hand, audio is transmitted from all remote sites. Instructors control the volume and may mute the microphone; students at the remote site may only mute their microphones. The instructor has the capability of switching between two cameras at the main campus: one camera displays either the instructor or desktop applications in use; the second camera shows the students facing the instructor station.

Many students find an ITV course convenient because it eliminates the need for commuting to a distant campus. Individuals who reside in rural areas might not have access to the courses if they were not offered via ITV. Unfortunately, there are several disadvantages to this delivery system. One disadvantage is the limited instructor-to-student and student-to-student interaction identified as extremely important in distance education (Moore & Kearsley, 1996). Another drawback is the dependency on technology, which is the case in any technology-supported distance education setting.

The instructor who taught in the ITV classroom of this university during spring semester 2003 had previously taught in this educational setting. He had taught the course many times and used established course materials such as a syllabus, activities, and assignments. The course was a requirement for school media licensure, and four remote sites were connected to the campus where the instructor was located. Fifteen students were enrolled in the course. One of the sites had only one student present.

While teaching this ITV course, the instructor experienced many frustrations associated with the technology. Numerous times, he entered the classroom and found not all sites were connected. During the first class session, one site did not come online until 1 hour after the session had begun. The instructor and students at the main site had difficulties in hearing comments of students at remote locations on a continuing basis. Students at the remote site did not fare much better.

The instructor arrived approximately 15 minutes before class started in order to ensure that the technology was working properly. He never knew what to expect when he entered the classroom. During most class sessions, the technology did not work as expected. In fact, according to him, the technology got in the way of teaching the course. Negative experiences continued throughout the semester for the instructor and for the students. While these may have been isolated problems not typical of most instructors’ ITV experiences at this university, the expectation is that these issues should not occur with a product that has entered the mature stage of the product life cycle.

The instructor mentioned several possible future improvements of the ITV setting. One was better communication with administrative services. Persons who schedule courses and classrooms should clearly communicate how many sites will be connected, which was not the case here. Another element is to supplement the course with a course management system (CMS). Placing course content in a CMS and utilizing communication tools may enhance the students’ educational experience. In case the technology in the ITV classroom does not function properly, the class session can be conducted in a chat room and supplemented with a threaded discussion forum. The use of these communication tools will allow more flexibility for instructors and students.

At the end of the semester, students completed a course evaluations questionnaire. Items on the questionnaire related to the technology, the instructor, and the overall ITV experience. The majority of respondents (82%) indicated that they strongly disagreed or disagreed that the ITV system was always properly working at the beginning of class. However, 88% of students agreed or strongly agreed the classroom in use was comfortable and well equipped, and at least 92% agreed or strongly agreed with positive-stated items used to rate the quality of the instructor.

Participants also were asked to offer suggestions and provide other relevant comments in the form of open-ended questions. When asked to describe their ITV experience, four students indicated that they took the ITV course because of convenience. One student wrote, “I found it to be convenient in that I did not have to drive.”

Three students complained about the poor sound quality and mentioned that the audio and video were not synchronized. Other comments included that ITV is not the best learning environment. One remark was, “Something does get lost in the remoteness of it all.” They thought too many remote sites were connected and daily troubleshooting efforts required of them were disappointing. One student wrote, “I was greatly disappointed in having to turn on and troubleshoot ITV every time I came to class.”

The most frustrating elements the class reported were clearly technology-related issues—technology problems and audio difficulties. One critical fact was that the technology used in a technology-based course was not working properly. However, students also commented that they appreciated having ITV courses as an option, they would take another ITV course, and that it was a good experience overall. One student wrote, “It [ITV] was still better than driving to campus.” Recommended improvements by respondents were: decreasing the number of connected sites, using better equipment, improving the sound system and technical support, and rotating the instructor between sites.

Based on the instructor and student experiences, the authors questioned in which stage the ITV technology fit into a product life cycle. The four stages of the product life cycle are: (1) introduction, (2) growth, (3) maturity, and (4) decline. When a technology product enters the maturity stage of the product life cycle, the product has moved from cutting-edge technology to an established technology tool. At this stage, products usually have been improved through the addition of new features (Peter & Donnelly, 1998). The investment of resources is decreased because the majority of resources were allocated during the introduction or growth stage. One can assume a product in the maturity stage is consistent, predictable, and reliable. In the decline stage, high product quality is continued to support the product’s good reputation while costs and distribution outlets are being limited. One can argue that ITV technology is either in the mature or decline phase. This technology is well established, due to the length of time it has been on the market and the investment expenditures of producers. In either case, students and instructors should expect to receive or deliver a good product, respectively, in the ITV classroom.

Not only do technologies go through a life cycle, organizations go through life cycles as well. As technologies and organizations reach the mature stage, one expects predictability, efficiencies, and customer satisfaction. Business owners have the same goal, because the profitability rate of a business or product is highest at the maturity stage.

In business settings, the goal is to reduce the time a product takes to reach the maturity stage. Franchising offers a model for trying to stablish a mature business in a hort amount of time and in a pre-ictable manner. Franchise owners se standardized processes in order o deliver the same quality product t individual locations. They make xtensive use of efficiency, economies of scale, and standardization, nd promise the consumer the qual-ty of experience with a product or ervice they have come to expect.

Whenever consumers purchase a roduct, they have certain expecta-ions pertaining to quality, effi-iency, and standards. In an ducational setting, students who iew themselves more and more as ustomers have the same expecta-ions. When instructors use new, merging technologies, difficulties nd occasional glitches are xpected. However, when they use echnologies that have been well-stablished—systems or tools in the

maturity or decline stage of the roduct life cycle—they have expec-ations that the delivery system will e functional the majority of the time.

Business models focus on expec-ations of clients, standardization of rocess, performance, and effi-iency of product delivery. Per-eived quality is one major omponent in branding strategy Peter & Donnelly, 1998). Withouthe application of a business model, very good experience pertaining to product or service is a result of random events and, therefore, canot be reliably duplicated. Is it possible that we can learn from the usiness world and apply these models in educational institutions? an we gain from examining these usiness practices and integrate them? We think the franchise models particularly interesting and could be applied in the adoption of technologies and development of support materials and services in higher education.

Many books address issues businesses face at various stages. Gerber (1995) examines how entrepreneurs successfully start and grow small businesses, and addresses lessons learned from franchising. We could argue that faculty who develop new courses or experiment with integrating new technologies into their classrooms could be thought of as entrepreneurs even though they do not face the same risks true entrepreneurs face. However, their goal should be to move their product to a mature, dependable, and efficient model.

The advantage of following a business model in education is that the institution gains efficiencies in the mature technologies and services so that instructors have time to explore and experiment with emerging technologies and services. For example, the instructor who taught in the ITV classroom during spring 2003 devoted much time to surviving in the ITV classroom instead of exploring Internet capabilities. What should have been routine tasks required the same time and effort, as would adopting and exploring new technologies.

Are we sure that the ITV technology is moving toward the end of its product life cycle? The writing is most certainly on the wall. Unless the technology is frequently updated and properly maintained, it is likely to become extinct. However, this is the case with any other technology we have used in the past. But after the investment of thousands of dollars in this technology, it would be premature to “throw out the baby with the bathwater.”

We suggest that newer technologies should be combined with ITV. For example, a course delivered in the face-to-face environment could be enhanced with the use of ITV and Internet tools. Many educational institutions already offer hybrid courses. Many adult students appreciate flexible course schedules but have determined that online courses are not for them.

Why not combine several delivery methods if they are available to us?

The course will dramatically change because the course content must be modified and the course will require the instructor to acquire additional skills in order to assure instructional quality. The instructor needs to be comfortable with this “companion technology,” but has the opportunity to round out an existing program and contribute to quality teaching by enhancing student skill levels.