Portland Community College to broadcast construction technology

Daily Journal of Commerce (Portland, OR), Aug 16, 2004 by Jessica Swanson

This fall, Portland Community College will be offering its full Building Construction Technology curriculum in a whole new way.

In an effort to attract new students into an old program at PCC's Rock Creek Campus, instructors will be coming to a campus near them - via interactive television.

Last spring, one such class - Construction Materials and Methods - was taught this way. This fall, in addition to Materials and Methods, PCC will offer Construction Math, Communication Skills and Intro to Construction Industry.

Beating the commute

PCC has offered classes using interactive television, also called ITV, for more than a year. But the technology was often being used by other courses during the times that Spencer Hinkle and Kirk Garrison, co-chairmen of the Building Construction Technology program, were looking to schedule their ITV courses.

Garrison and Hinkle weren't willing to schedule classes at inconvenient times for students just to use the ITV system because the idea is to make PCC's building construction technology and construction management courses more accessible - not less so.

We have known for a long time (that PCC's westernmost location) is problematic for (our) students. They want to take the classes, but they don't want to drive out here to Rock Creek, Hinkle said. We are looking for a way to reach out to people in the construction industry who wanted to take classes. We think this will open up our classes.

The classes will be broadcast from the college's Rock Creek Campus to its Cascade Campus in North Portland and its Southeast Center on Southeast 82nd Avenue and Division Street. All of PCC's campuses are set up for the ITV technology, and future classes could be held at PCC's Sylvania Campus between Tigard and Lake Oswego, and at the Central Workforce Training Center, located in Portland's central eastside.

Hinkle also is forging relationships with staff at similar programs at Oregon State University and the University of Oregon, both of which have access to the same technology. He thinks the universities may be able to offer PCC students classes, while PCC may be able to offer college-level construction management courses to students in Eugene and Corvallis.

Meeting the needs of

disadvantaged contractors

Teresa Bliven is the administrator of the Portland Sheltered Market Program, which helps pay for continuing education for minority- owned, women-owned and emerging small business contractors.

Sheltered Market contractors and other state-certified MWESBs were interested in the PCC program, but they needed more accessible classes in their fields. The interactive television courses will better meet the needs of these contractors, she said.

Now for the first time ever, there are courses available to people in Northeast Portland and Southeast Portland, Bliven said. There will be an impact not only for construction contractors, but also for employees and people in the trades.

Finding ways to stay connected

Garrison will be teaching Construction Materials and Methods in the fall. He has some trepidation about the new system reaching students in a personal and effective way, but mainly he said it will be a matter of organization on his part. He uses lots of hand-outs in his presentation, and they will have to be sent to the other campuses well in advance of the class period. He said he tends to speak quickly, which may not come across well on screen as the signal is still somewhat jumpy. He also watches his students closely to see if their body language or facial expressions are conveying confusion or understanding, which may be more difficult now.

But the technology is, as it states, interactive. The instructor's image is broadcast on a screen in a remote location, as well as his voice. When a student in a remote location has a question, the student pushes a button, and a camera zooms in on him to broadcast his image to other students and the teacher. Audio is two way. Also, when the instructor uses an overhead projector or an image from a computer screen, it is broadcast on the entire screen for a full visual image. The camera will zoom in on objects, making a class like Materials and Methods - which wouldn't seem to lend itself to this format - a little easier.

Also, instructors plan to connect with the students at remote locations by visiting the other campuses and teaching via satellite from them at least once a term. Though he knows it will demand more work and training on his part, Garrison is confident teaching using interactive television will be successful because it is meeting demand from students.

It's one of those things I think we need to do, he said. To meet their needs, I think we'll have to do it.