Introduction
State and school budgets, deficits, and revenue shortages are reasons often given for delays in distance education implementation. Budget problems are hindering distance learning programs, including their development time, the size of their budgets, and the scope of the projects. Many states, however, are using budget deficits as a justification for developing educational telecommunications projects (Hezel Associates, 1992). The rationale is that shared telecommunications systems can deliver scarce, yet needed, instructional programs less expensively than a live, in-person, traveling teacher, if such a teacher is even available to teach the courses (Nevada State Department of Human Resources, 1990).
Various interactive technology systems for delivering distance education are seldom compared on a cost benefit basis. The primacy of live video, or more, of two-way video, as a delivery system has resulted in large expenditures on technology with little critical analysis of the benefits of the systems in comparison with other potential systems, such as videotape distribution, audioconferencing, and computer-based instruction and messaging.
As states are adopting more stringent academic requirements at the K–12 level, and as schools recognize the need to prepare qualified students for the workplace, the discussion about distance education may move away from strict cost comparisons to a consideration of the educational value of the program or course (cf. Spangehl, 1987; Jones, 1988). In some remote areas of the USA, telecommunications is the only means of delivering some scarcely available courses to students.
There is a growing concern about cost effectiveness of distance learning systems. Yet, simultaneously, there is a growing awareness, especially among telecommunications specialists, that cost is not the only criterion for evaluating the effectiveness of telecommunications—educational value is the important criterion. Nevertheless, ignoring a proper cost-effectiveness evaluation can be expensive.
Approaches to Cost Effectiveness Evaluation
Several approaches to cost effectiveness evaluation have been used in education. Levin (1983) has described educational applications of cost effectiveness, cost feasibility, cost utility, and cost benefit analyses. The analyses can also be applied at various stages of planning, assessment, and evaluation of distance education. Cost feasibility studies are typically executed at the early stages of project planning, while cost utility, cost benefit, and cost effectiveness analyses are completed as elements of the project evaluation.
The Uses of Cost Effectiveness Studies by Distance Education Organizations
Despite the stakes involved, educational institutions seldom employ rigorous cost-effectiveness analyses in their evaluations of telecommunicated distance education programs and projects. In fact, only recently have cost effectiveness studies—and their importance—become evident in the literature of distance education evaluations. Many distance education networks have been built and implemented without a precise assessment of cost effectiveness.In distance education, assessments of cost are often undertaken independently of evaluation of effects; therefore, valid cost effectiveness studies are rarely performed. Brown (undated paper), for example, compare the costs of using videocassettes and broadcasting for distance education in Great Britain, and but [sic] he offers no cost-benefit analysis.
Several authors have written about the importance of cost effectiveness studies in distance education, and a few have reported the results of such studies. Chute (1986), for example, reports cost avoidance and productivity increases through teletraining in a corporate setting. Bates (1988, 1990) offers evidence of cost effectiveness evaluation applied in various settings, and Moore and Thompson (1990) provide a brief, yet thorough description of cost effectiveness studies in distance education.
Cost Effectiveness Studies As Decision-Making Tools
Despite the paucity of literature on the subject, cost-effectiveness evaluations provide decision making tools to be used at multiple points in the development of distance education programs. Cost feasibility studies permit judgments about the potential value of projects prior to their complete development and implementation. Decisions about whether to continue distance education programs and technology systems are aided during implementation by cost effectiveness studies. Ultimately, the studies seek to answer the important questions: "Is the cost worth the outcome?" and "Are our constituents deriving value from their investment?" Technical systems for distance education, in particular, often require evaluations of cost effectiveness because of the high capital and operating costs involved and because of the considerable political and funding stakes.
Assumptions of Cost Effectiveness Studies
Cost effectiveness studies are founded on at least two assumptions: (1) that the value of the system can be expressed in monetary terms; and (2) that the evaluation of effectiveness validly measures educational outcomes. The analysis requires that all categories of costs be fully assessed, including capital costs, operating costs, and human costs, which may be translated into monetary costs. The comparison of costs and benefits assumes that outcomes can be measured in some quantifiable way, either as number of students enrolled, amount of time driving, course performance on a test, or productivity gains.
References
Bates, Anthony, J. (1988). Delivery and New Technology. A Chapter from the NEC 25th Anniversary Book, "Open Learning in Transition: An Agenda for Action. Part 3: Methods." Syracuse, NY: ERIC Clearinghouse on Information Resources. ERIC Document number ED 331 467.
Bates, Anthony W. (1990). Third Generation Distance Education: The Challenge of New Technology. Syracuse, NY: ERIC Clearinghouse on Information Resources. ERIC Document number ED 332 682.
Brown, Stephen. (undated). Videocassettes Versus Broadcasts. I.E.T. Papers on Broadcasting No. 228. ERIC Document number ED 298 953.
Chute, Alan G. (1986). Student Acceptance, Learning Effectiveness and Cost Benefits in the Corporate Environment. Paper presented at the 1986 Association for Educational Communications and Technology, Las Vegas, Nevada.
Hezel Associates. (1992). Planning for Educational Telecommunications: A State-by-State Analysis 1992. Syracuse, NY: Hezel Associates.
Jones, Quentin, J. (1988). Access, Quality, and Economy: The Unfinished Agenda for America's Schools. Finance Collaborative Working Paper #4 prepared for The School Finance Collaborative.
Levin, Henry, M. Cost-Effectiveness. A Primer. Beverly Hills, California: Sage Publications, Inc., 1983.
Moore, Michael, and Thompson, Melody. (1990). The Effects of Distance Learning: A Summary of Literature. State College, PA: The American Center for the Study of Distance Education.
Nevada State Department of Human Resources. (1990) Project NETWORC Final Report. Syracuse, NY, ERIC Clearinghouse on Information Resources. ERIC Document number ED 325 073.
Spangehl, Stephen, D. (1987). The Push To Assess: Why It's Feared And How To Respond. Change, January/February, 35–39.
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