Distance Learning: Facts, Failures, Foibles, And The Future

Within the last decade there has been a strong push for colleges and universities to provide distance-learning opportunities. While “correspondence” schools have been in existence for many years, the “brick and mortar” schools have traditionally felt the classroom setting was the preferred and appropriate venue for higher-level education. The rapid growth of access to the Internet and depth and breadth of information found therein has caused a rethinking of teaching methodologies within the educational community. Rochester Institute of Technology has transitioned in the past two decades from a “seat in the classroom” format to an “internet friendly” format. The engineering technology programs at RIT have been pioneers in this movement to reach a broader audience. While engineering technology programs were attractive to regional participants, geographical distances limited the availability of these options. An early attempt to broaden the geographical reach of courses and programs included satellite locations with RIT faculty traveling extensively to provide instruction. Transitioning through an era of videotaped lectures, RIT and the engineering technology programs now have a firm commitment to internet-based distance learning. The paper investigates the advancements made by the engineering technology programs at RIT, analyzing the successes and shortfalls, and looking at future potential and possibilities in providing quality educational programs to students at remote locations. The author has taught several cycles of Strength of Materials via web-based distance learning. The purpose of this paper is to describe the transition that has occurred over the past two decades at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) related to delivery of academic instruction. RIT, a traditional “bricks and mortar” university, has a long and impressive history of providing a sound technical education to prepare graduates for a successful career in business and industry. Customarily, instruction was conducted on the central campus in classroom and laboratory settings. This mode of instruction was suitable for many years and met the needs of the Rochester, NY community.