Module 4 Costing Educational Technologies In Module 4, we discussed classifying and costing educational technologies.

In unit 1, classifying media/technology and cost structure was discussed in great detail. In most instances, each technology has its own cost structure. When costing technology it is important to account for number of learners, and fixed and variable costs. echnology will either be more or less efficient depending on the student volume. !ost is an important aspect of technology. "owever, if universities are able to provide students with a high#maintenance technology for a low#price it should definitely be considered versus spending more money for the same results. When determining the effectiveness of technology, the following should be considered$ %1& accessibility, %'& organi(ational support, and %)& the ability to provide two#way communications. I believe that *M*!+s choice of ,M- %learning management system& was a cost#effective strategy. .s a student at *M*!, I am able to access ,M- without problems, and communicate both asynchronously and synchronously. In *nit ), we discussed and compared the .merican credit hours versus /uropean !redit ransfer -ystem %/! -&. . )#credit .merican credit hour is e0uivalent to 112 notional student learning hours and 1#/! - is e0uivalent to )2 notional credit hours. It is hard to compare the two credit hour systems costing because of their currencies. "owever, neither has a higher effectiveness than the other in term of credit hours. he student learning hours is an indication of the amount of time a student spends in a course. It also helps course designers determine the best way to organi(e and design a course to meet student+s needs. ,earning hours can also be used as a cost#driver for costing inputs. I am currently ta3ing two courses at *M*!, both which are )# credit hours. If I want to determine the accuracy of the .merican credit hour system for these courses I need to divide the 112 notional student learning hours by 1' wee3s in the courses, deriving at 1'.1 hours of student learning hours. herefore, I should spend approximately 1'.1 hours a wee3 in study time for each course. his is accurate for the two courses that I am currently ta3ing as they re0uire a lot of homewor3 and study time. "owever, I have been in classes where this isn+t the case because the course doesn+t re0uire as much time. his module was helpful in costing various technologies. I learned that technologies can have either a positive or negative effect on cost depending on the universities cost structure. *niversities should try to cost effective and consider the cheapest technology with the best outcome.

4eference$ 4umble, 5. %1667&. The costs and economics of open and distance learning. ,ondon$ 8ogan9age.