Virtual learning: distance education for law enforcement - Cover Story

FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin,The, Oct, 1997 by Kim Waggoner, Tom Christenberry

By Getting Help

Administrators should seek assistance before they establish distance learning programs. Organizations that have implemented similar programs can offer guidance. In many areas, schools, libraries, cable companies, and correctional facilities offer distance education. Professional associations, such as the United States Distance Learning Association and the Federal Government Distance Learning Association, can provide assistance. Commercial vendors can help, but in their zeal to promote their own equipment, they might not be the best source for objective advice.

The best source of information may be an instructional designer. This person does not have to be a professional who earns a living designing courses. A graduate student from the local university might have just as much knowledge and might work for the experience alone. By getting this much-needed help, administrators take the first step toward implementing successful programs.

By Conducting a Needs Assessment

First and foremost, instructional designers conduct needs assessments. Simply put, they determine what kind of system will best meet their client's needs. To do this, they ask such questions as: What purpose will the training/education serve? What kind of courses will the agency present? What audience will it target? Is real-time instruction important, or should user convenience prevail? What level of interactivity should exist between instructors and students? How much money does the agency have to spend on the program?

With the answers to these and other questions, instructional designers can find a technology that most closely matches the agency's criteria. Satellite training, for example, can provide training for large groups of people at one time. However, the technology's one-way video limits interaction between instructors and students. In addition, to receive live satellite programs, agencies must buy a dish; a KU-band dish (the most common) costs around $10,000. Additional costs apply for agencies that initiate the training from their own sites.

Computer-based videoconferencing represents another option. Each training/learning site must have a high-end computer and special conferencing software, in addition to lines to transmit data. The quality of the transmission depends on these lines and is proportional to installation and monthly fees.

Yet, even the most expensive lines cannot keep pace with fast or extensive action. As a result, a department planning to use its system to train officers on defensive tactics, for example, probably should choose another method. And, although it is difficult to train large groups using this technology, for long-distance meetings and other events involving smaller numbers of people, video teleconferencing works well.

HOW CAN AGENCIES AFFORD THIS NEW TECHNOLOGY?

Satellite training and videoconferencing represent two delivery methods that can prove expensive for law enforcement agencies. Fortunately, other means that cost less may meet the agency's needs instead. For example, using a personal computer with a modem and Internet connection, the right software (available free from Cornell University(3)), and a camera that costs around $100, small groups can meet for training or discussion. Audio conferencing connects participants via the telephone. And, a number of training programs come on videocassette.