The growth of new technologies in television and audio-conferencing has given rise to the possibility of many applications in graduate instruction, six University faculty and staff members told the Graduate Council yesterday.

The University has already initiated programs using two-way compressed video, satellite communications and audio-conferencing.

Bruce Adams, director of the Center for Instructional Design and Interactive Video, said the satellites can link Penn State with universities throughout the nation, while audio-conferencing has international capabilities.

These new communications technologies facilitate what Michael Moore, Director of the American Center for the Study of Distance Education, referred to as "distance education." He defined distance education as a teaching/learning environment that is convenient to both the teacher and the student, with the distance bridged by media communications.

"Penn State has gained a reputation in the distance education field," said Marlowe Froke, general manager of the Division of Media and Learning Resources.

He said the purpose of incorporating the new technologies into University programs is "to present instruction that would not otherwise be available."

The use of media technologies in distance education has evolved from correspondents' courses, Froke said, adding that the University was once a leader in that area.

University Park's satellite uplink, which cost the University about $450,000, links all of the University's campuses by television, Froke said. Each commonwealth campus receives transmissions on satellite antennae (downlinks), that Froke estimates cost $5,000 each.

He said transmitting via satellite costs $400 per hour. The University Office of Telecommunications takes bids from private businesses for use of the service.

Expenses for the use of the new technologies in University-sponsored programs are paid for by central administration funds, along with funds by the individual colleges and academic units, Froke said.

Outside sponsors, such as the United States Department of Defense, which has contracted the University to instruct naval personnel, pay for individual expenses, Froke said.

Two-way compressed video allows parties at two different locations to see and hear each other, as if in one classroom, Adams said.

Similarly, Adams said, audio-conferencing provides a "telephone bridge" for class discussions.

Gerson Rosenberg, assistant chief of the Division of Artificial Organs at the College of Medicine, said "(two-way compressed video) is very similar to teaching in a classroom. Anything you have in the normal classroom you really have there." Rosenberg employed the technique when teaching a course about artificial organs.

Rosenberg cited the positive feedback of his students, but said using the video was "a little uncomfortable" for the first few weeks.