Appendix A

Supplementary Information on Distance Delivery

Research has shown that distance delivery approaches are extremely successful for student learning. Comparisons of student grades between students taking a course face to face in a classroom with a teacher and students taking the same course with the same teacher online via WWW demonstrate that the online students perform on average 15-20% higher on final exams (Navarro, 1999; Schutte, 1999). Specifically in interpreter education, the Educational Interpreter Certificate Project was effective in significantly raising interpreting students skill levels in a program that was primarily a distance program. Students received some face-to-face skill courses during 3 week summer sessions, but received intensive distance mentoring during two full academic years. Using an assessment tool with a 5 point scale (based on the EIPA), students' scores improved from pre-program averages of 2.0-2.8 to post-program averages of 3.4-3.7. A score of 3.5 was the goal for success in this training program. (Johnson, 1999).

• Similarly, instructors for the courses do not need to live in a specific geographical area nor travel. This means that we can select instructors because of their expertise and not convenience to our program. Because of this, the instructors can be experts in a particular domain, have a regular full-time job, and still teach a full semester-based course through our program.
  
  
• Enhanced interaction. Another benefit of web-based courses is the very nature of the interaction. All courses have a bulletin board where students can and must post questions and comments about the course material, in a form of a threaded discussion group. This means that a student can post a message about a specific subject and when students respond, there messages are grouped with the original one. Students can post at any time of the day; there are no special times that everyone must meet. Due to the asynchronous interaction and the medium (text), there is often more interaction from all students than occurs in face-to-face courses and workshops. In addition, the nature of the interactions is more prepared and well-thought-out, due to the time students have to prepare before interacting. Additional benefits are reported by distance students in web-based courses. Students from a variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds report that the interactions feel more balanced and fair because immediate judgements based on appearance are eliminated. This is also reported by students whose first language is not English. Although many web courses are conducted in English, students often report that the time for writing, revising, and proofreading their input makes them more comfortable participating in these kinds of classes. Students with various disabilities notice the lack of judgmental attitudes from classmates and teachers. And, current technology has made computer and internet access much easier for people with disabilities.
  
  
• Visual materials: We use a great deal of signed examples in our courses, delivered via digital movies on CD ROMs. In the course content, students can click on a hyperlink to open a Quicktime movie. These movies are 30 frames per second, which is real time motion, and the resolution is sufficient for fine-grained analysis.

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