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The Georgia Statewide Academic and Medical System (GSAMS), a two-way videoconferencing program, is the largest distance learning and healthcare network in the world, with more than 370 sites as of December 1998. Included in the GSAMS network are K-12 public schools, colleges, universities, technical institutes, hospitals, prisons, Georgia Public Television, and Zoo Atlanta.
In 1998, the State University of West Georgia (UWG) and the Georgia Merit System (GMS) were awarded a grant to explore the distance learning policies of various types of organizational settings in the state during the 1998-1999 academic year. Prior to the awarding of this grant, no statewide studies had been conducted to examine existing policies at the GSAMS sites. In this study, two major areas of concern were explored: 1) the ways in which distance learning policies have been established, and 2) the types of policies that have been established. Five policy areas were examined: administration and management, technical issues, pedagogy, training, and evaluation.
During summer and fall of 1998, UWG and GMS worked cooperatively conducting focus group interviews, creating the survey instrument, and pilot testing the survey. In November, all GSAMS sites in Georgia, with the exception of the telemedicine sties, were surveyed. Each site received two surveys. The site coordinator was instructed to complete one survey and distribute the other survey to an experienced distance learning instructor at the site. The survey consisted of both closed (multiple choice items) and open-ended questions. A copy of the survey can be found in Appendix 1.
A total of 582 questionnaires were sent to GSAMS sites. Two hundred seventy-two were sent to K-12 institutions (64 were returned), 196 were sent to universities/colleges (38 were returned), 18 were sent to prisons (17 were returned), and 56 were sent to other sites, including state government agencies and nonprofit educational agencies (16 were returned). One hundred thirty-five completed surveys were returned. Some respondents indicated that GSAMS is no longer available at their sites, and these individuals returned blank surveys.
It should be noted that the results described in this report are not generalizable beyond the non-random sample of individuals who completed the questionnaire. Information in this report provides descriptive information for those individuals who completed the questionnaire. The first section of the results section describes overall findings in the areas of administration and management, teaching, training, technical issues, and evaluation. The second section provides information comparing organizational settings in these areas.