The professor introduces this topic by addressing the subject of generalization when costing a course budget. He advises students that the figures collected are not only difficult to ascertain (many institutions keep these figures under tight cover), but they are also not easily transferrable. While it is tempting to replicate figures for student learning hours in one course, this may not be easily transferrable if the course you are applying figures to has very different content. Thus, while this module introduces costing practices and gives example figures, it is up to the user to make educated assumptions as to weather the same figures would be appropriate in a different context.
This module introduced the topics of costing technology and media in distance education. Professor Huelsmann introduced the various types of media and the concept of the student-learning hour (SLH). The SLH is important from a cost-effectiveness viewpoint as it correlates learning hours gained versus the cost required for the respective media production. We can categorize this as the cost per student learning hour (production costs divided by total number of students using the medium), or by total fixed cost of development (irrespective of student totals). The idea of SLH is equated to course credits in most American institutions. A 3-credit course correlates to 150SLH and can aid in academic budgeting.
We next discussed the media equivalence theory. To summarize this concept, media equivalence theory is based on the assumption that media learning effectiveness does not vary greatly with media type. According to Clark, “media are mere vehicles that deliver instruction but do not influence student achievement…”(Orivel, 1996 quoting Clark, p. 846-7). Following this concept enables planners to compare costs directly, rather than having to figure out qualitative differences in effectiveness and compare the ratios.
This is a debatable concept, however, especially in today’s technological environment where new educational technologies are changing and advancing rapidly. There are many who see distinction in capabilities among media types and assert that these differences are worthy of additional investment. These capabilities are identified in four main categories to support various aspects of learning: attending (absorption of information via some for of media, i.e. reading/listening/watching), discussing (verbal communication), practicing (experiment/simulation), and articulating (evaluation).
Another factor in this debate is the idea of time compression. There is an argument that media can hasten the learning process, thus having reduced cost implications. However, this can also be counter argued in that some media may lengthen the process. When attempting to discern effectiveness for various media, the cost per student learning hour is typically used as the benchmark.
When costing media, it is important to identify the fixed cost of development of one hour of learning with the respective medium. This number is usually fairly high, as it is the production and use of the intended medium. Another important figure is the aggregate variable cost per student for the medium. This would depend on media type, but is usually fairly small.
The rest of the module generalizes cost structure on a magnitude basis. Again, while it is difficult to translate specifics, it is helpful to know generalizations concerning cost of various media. For example, audio can be expected to be roughly 10 times as expensive as print, radio is 30 times, video is 50 times and television is 150 times.
As for audio cassettes, and radio programs- generally development costs for radio are higher than those for audio, but obviously the distribution cost of the audio will be greater. Thus, for smaller classes the cassette is more advantageous, but when reaching a wider audience, radio is more cost effective.
While television is the most costly of all media, it has the potential to be more cost-effective if there is a large student base.
Also introduced in this module was the European budgeting website COSTER that helps to eliminate some of the cost-guessing of media related activities. The site provides a wide range of cost figures, however it also requires the use of many experts which tends to push up costs substantially. The website is http://www.coster.ws/en/coster_tool.htm, And the tutorial is http://www.coster.ws/video/tutorial.htm.
References: Orivel, F. (1996). Evaluation of Distance Education: Cost-Effectiveness. In A. Tuijman (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Adult and Continuing Education. Oxford: Pergamon.