Monday, April 5, 1999

Union Cites Guido Sarducci in Ad Campaign Aimed at Distance Education By GOLDIE BLUMENSTYK The American Federation of Teachers is invoking an old comedy bit from NBC's Saturday Night Live to publicize a report that questions distance education. "A few years ago, Father Guido Sarducci joked about the 'Five-Minute University.' Is it about to become a reality?" "A few years ago, Father Guido Sarducci joked about the 'Five-Minute University.' Is it about to become a reality?" the union asks in an advertisement scheduled to run in The Chronicle and a number of daily newspapers beginning this month. The ad recalls the sly, sardonic routines of the comedian Don Novello, who portrayed Father Sarducci, a Vatican emissary with a heavy Italian accent, beginning in the 1970s. "In the five-minute university, Spanish is reduced to the phrases 'como esta usted' and 'muy bien,'" says the ad. "Economics is summed up as 'supply and demand.' Theology is simply 'God is everywhere.' Add one more minute and have a graduate degree. Pretty funny." Displaying a picture of the Guido Sarducci character prominently, the ad goes on to complain that the way some colleges and non-profit companies are marketing video and on-line courses is "no laughing matter." "Their catalogs and advertisements suggest that it's anachronistic for students to spend time in the classroom and library, interacting with professors and fellow students, moving past 'competencies' to understanding, perspective and wisdom." The ad is designed to call attention to a report, commissioned by the A.F.T. and the National Education Association, that discusses the need for more research about the quality of college-level courses delivered over video or the Internet. The report, titled "What's the Difference?" and prepared by the Institute for Higher Education Policy, is to be released this week, during the A.F.T.'s National Higher Education Conference in San Diego. ALSO SEE: The Marketing Intensifies in Distance Learning Jamie Horwitz, a spokesman for the A.F.T., said the union would ask its nationwide affiliates to share the cost of running the ad in major daily newspapers in their regions and in college newspapers. The A.F.T. has more than 100,000 higher-education members. The union, he said, does not mean to attack technology use in education, but rather the "educational soundness" of some distance-education courses. Distance-education advocates "keep saying there's no difference between getting an on-line education and sitting in the classroom," he said. But union officials contend that there is a difference between browsing in a library and using a virtual library, or participating in a live discussion rather than one via electronic mail. "There's just too much out there that's different to say that it's a fair and solid replacement," said Mr. Horwitz. He said the union was also making plans to create a World-Wide Web site where students and professors would be invited to submit information about the problems they've encountered with distance education. The site is likely to make its debut in the fall. Background story from The Chronicle: "Professors' Group Criticizes Accreditation of a Virtual Institution," 3/25/99