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July 2009 Digital Rapids Delivers "A La Carte Education" in Dublin at Griffith College
As the innovators at Griffith College have discovered, online video and audio content is a very vibrant part of a package that makes up Online Education. The use of Internet/Intranet tools and access can bring a new dimension to education. It is not simply a case of recording lectures and providing subsequent streaming in an orderly fashion. The complete presentation needs skilful authoring. This involves providing secure access, simple navigation, structured filing with clear association to other course materials along with continual communication with course tutors through e-mail. This all works when the technology is available and deliverable, which is not always the case. Griffith College is in the heart of a capital city where broadband access is readily available. Distance learning and online students typically are at a distance, in places where broadband access is not guaranteed.
 A good example of this is the case of one of Griffith Colleges Law students, an Irish girl serving with the UNHCR in Cambodia. She is able to access this new service and use her spare time to great effect, thanks to the services provided by Griffith College. In recognition of the difficulties she, and others, has with broadband access, dropped lines and the associated need to rebuffer the video content, John Molohan and Gavin McCullagh provide a feed at ¼ quality that delivers a better match to the local low download speed. They also provide multiple access points in the online video lecture where you can rejoin, in the advent of losing connection, thus less time is required to rebuffer and rejoin where you left off. Through this choice of access, course content is available to those with high-speed broadband and those with narrowband access.
Distant access is one example of the change that online course material brings. Another change is the limit on class size, there is none if the students do not physically visit the college. Online access also allows students selectively take modules of given courses. Some do not want to sit the overall exams, but rather partake in individual modules required for their own personal/professional development. These changes, and more, are providing what Max Seligman eloquently describes as “A la Carte Education”.
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