SDM’s distance experience is important for all SDM fellows, whether they are enrolled in SDM’s on-campus, distance or commuter options, because all class assignments are designed to replicate today’s reality of geographically disparate teams in the workplace.
Teams of SDM fellows use state-of-the-art videoconferencing equipment to enhance their skills in innovating, collaborating and leading across organizational boundaries, international time zones and differences in work-family-school balance to complete successful projects on budget and on time.
Classes
The SDM program office will provide distance students and/or their internal conference/university program centers with a clear spreadsheet of information about each class (including dates and times) before the start of term.
Class participation
All students are expected to attend each class and to participate. Professors will call on students by site and personally. Students who need a closer look at the materials, or who have obtained prior permission from the professor to be excused from a particular class, will have access to the video streams that are produced for each session for review purposes.
A teaching assistant (TA) is assigned to most courses. The TA will be the main contact person for grading and feedback as well as for assistance with the web tool chosen for course delivery.
The SDM program office at MIT has integrated course management into existing MIT course support tools (SloanSpace and Stellar). After registering for courses, students may register independently for course-management access.
Distance course schedule
Below is a sample schedule of distance course offerings from fall 2006
| Day | Class | Location/Time | Instructor |
| Monday | ESD.61J Integrating the Lean Enterprise |
9-057 (LiNC) 2:30-5 pm includes 1 hr recitation |
Debbie Nightingale dnight@mit.edu 617-253-7339 |
| Tuesday | ESD.36J System & Project Management |
9-057 (LiNC) 3-4:30 pm |
Donna Rhodes rhodes@mit.edu 617-324-0473 |
| Wednesday | ESD.61J Integrating the Lean Enterprise |
9-057 (LiNC) 2:30-4 pm |
Debbie Nightingale dnight@mit.edu 617-253-7339 |
| Thursday | ESD.36J System & Project Management |
9-057 (LiNC) 3-4:30 pm |
Donna Rhodes rhodes@mit.edu 617-324-0473 |
| Friday | ESD.355J Software Engineering Concepts |
9-152 (Ford) 8:30-11:30 am |
Nancy Leveson leveson@mit.edu 617-258-0505 |
| ESD.34J System Architecture |
9-057 (LiNC) 12-2 pm |
Ed Crawley crawley@mit.edu 617-253-7510 |
Videoconference equipment and connections
SDM uses a video-collaboration-services provider to connect multiple distance sites to the MIT classroom. This provides each distance student the opportunity to participate fully in each class.
Connecting to the MIT bridge
There are two ways to connect to the videoconferencing equipment connected:
Videoconferencing considerations
Speed: Currently, the MIT benchmark speed is at 384 kbps (kilobytes per second). Students may "speed match" through our bridge at lower digitizing speeds, according to individual equipment choice and ISDN or IP service, down to 128 kbps. Quality of service is degraded for speeds below 384k, however, and we highly recommend equipment that supports the 384k benchmark.
Equipment and environment: Choose either desktop or conference/classroom. Most sponsoring companies have dedicated VTC rooms (ISDN), but some students choose to use desktop VTC units—either ISDN or IP. Desktop units are recommended for sites with only one student and/or if there is no dedicated room at the sponsoring company.
All VTC equipment must be certified through our video services provider prior to participating in classes. Certification involves testing equipment and connections by registering and calling into the bridge, as well as the bridge calling into your chosen videoconference system at all speeds at which the equipment is capable of broadcasting. Contact William Foley for the Certification Form or for answers to bridge compatibility questions.
Some helpful URLs for equipment selection criteria and specifications are:
Neither MIT nor the SDM program advocates one product over another.
Please contact your IT/IS or telecommunications person for assistance if needed.
Videoconference fees
Course-site fee: A "course-site" is defined as any site used for taking an SDM class, whether it’s a full-featured videoconference room for multiple participants or a single desktop VTC unit used by a single student. The current fee is $800 per course-site for a full-term course, or $400 per course-site for a half-term course or equivalent. The fee will be charged to sponsoring companies by the MIT SDM program at the end of each term. As a minimum, this fee structure will be reassessed on an annual basis. If a course-site withdraws from a course during the term, assessments will be based on the MIT Tuition Proration Table.
Network charges: The video bridge is compatible with both ISDN and IP (Internet-based) videoconferencing. However, rather than dialing out and charging a networking fee, SDM expects each site to dial into the bridge. The method of connection is left up to the sponsoring company or individual.
For IP videoconferencing, there is no additional network charge from your network provider. For ISDN videoconferencing, the sponsoring company or home network provider rates will apply, and the connection speed determines these rates. (Typical commercial rates, i.e. Verizon, for 384k ISDN calls are about $0.12 per minute, or $7.20 per hour.) The total cost to connect via the MIT video bridge is likely to range from $39 per hour (IP) to approximately $46 per hour (ISDN).
Note: There is an advantage to having multiple students at a single course-site, since the charge is per site, not per student.
Contact
William Foley
SDM Distance Learning Coordinator
Phone: 617.258.0291
Fax: 617.258.5229
Email: wfoley@mit.edu
