experience the entire session, minus the interaction. A final element, soon to be included, will include a rapid scanning, and printing device, allowing printed material to be sent immediately to or from each particular site. Right now, the delay in feedback on assignments and tests sent through the postal service is a major problem. Keys to Success | have found this quarter's teaching over COMNET to be challenging. 1 found that a "free writing" assignment at the beginning of class allowed students to use the time productively while I handled the small details of class logistics. [ used group presentation assignments throughout the course, fifteen minutes maximum per group, to involve students and to vary the presentations. Some presentations were dry, but most were stimulating and well done. Students generally came prepared with excellent examples and well * prepared visuals. Sometimes they encountered the same frustrations with the slow scan video delays that I had experienced. I believe that giving students the chance to present eventually built rapport between us. I was interested in what they had to say, and so, | believe, were their classmates at remote locations. Some of the keys to successful work over COMNET are important in any form of teaching, only amplified by the new system’s demands. Advance preparation is a must, allowing time for materials to be produced and distributed prior to classtime. For the first time in teaching the communication course, I put together a student workbook, complete with handouts, worksheets, and important visuals. When I have taught the course on campus, these materials have been distributed as needed throughout the quarter. The course over COMNET was more structured than before, a feature which should carry over into future classes. I found that having a good text, assigned readings, and assignments done outside of class were important. I found it helpful as a strategy to expect that most of the course content could be presented outside of the class, with class time used for discussion, questions, and synthesizing. Class time could thus be much more relaxed, and yet more meaningful. Attention to correcting written work, thus providing periodic feedback, is also crucial. Prompt return of student work is the problem we all face with our on-campus classes, except that the need for rapid response is greater, while the apparent pressure from the class is diminished. I have a bundle of assignments yet to grade, a reminder that I have progress to make personally in becoming more methodical in my teaching. Evaluation Currently, on our campus, the system is getting mixed reviews from faculty. Instructors appreciate the time savings and the extra pay, but they fear that critical elements of teaching may be lost. Some see COMNET teaching as too impersonal: "When I feach, I have to see the expressions on peoples’ faces. Without that, teaching isn’t worth it." Others worry about student attention: the story is going around our college that one professor, while visiting a remote site, was surprised to hear the voice of a colleague coming over the COMNET system. Looking into the room, he reportedly saw a vacant classroom. The students had apparently all gone home. We have some copyright problems to solve—e.g., increased cost and time. The dispersed sites created the need for multiple copies of some tapes, the payment of special fees, and the requests for special permissions. As a result, we have had to rely more on locally produced materials and sometimes have omitted components which would have enriched the course. All in all, the quarter has been a challenging one, balancing the demands of COMNET teaching with all the other requirements one faces. My first impression of COMNET, the first time I tried it out, was that I was teaching in a swamp, up to my waist in mud, but trying to present an interesting and animated class. [ take a more positive view of the system now, having learned a few tricks and having had some positive feedback. But this system represents a new world of extension teaching, and the technological changes are only beginning. Nick Eastmond Utah State University Kor further information, contact the author at Utah State University, Department of Instructional Technology, UMC 30-A, Logan, UT 84322-3025. Suanne o Rouece, 6 dir tober } 136% INNOVATION ABSTRACTS is a publication of the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development, EDB 348, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, (512) 471-7545. Subscriptions are available to nonconsortium members for $35 per year. Funding in part by the WK. Kellogg Foundation and Sid W. Richardson Foundation. Issued weekly when classes are in session during fall and spring terms and monthly during the summer ' Phe Uriverupyool Teac at Austin, 1986 Panther luplicatier: i permitted only by MEMBER Institutens for them awn personnel. ISSN 0199-106X