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Virtual Learning Community offers learning alternatives
Program expands from its 1999 beginnings
By Carrie Hamilton, Summer Intern, System Office,
Public Affairs
RALEIGH - Debbie Kennedy, the virtual campus content
coordinator at Randolph Community College knows the value of
distance learning. At 38, Kennedy received her associate degree in
college transfer from Randolph, a feat she would have considered
impossible without the college’s distance learning (DL) program.
Kennedy’s story is one of many in the North Carolina Community
College System. Developed in 1998, the Virtual Learning Community (VLC)
is the collaborative initiative of the State Board of Community
Colleges and the participating community colleges to share resources
and expertise for the purpose of expanding access to quality online
courses and support services. Each of the system’s 58 colleges
participates in the VLC, sharing curriculum and providing distance
learning classes.
Dr. Linda Nelms, the system’s distance learning coordinator, said
distance learning classes are a vital resource for community college
students but are often confused with traveling courses. Distance
learning is defined by the interaction between a student and
instructor who are separated by place and/or time, not when students
travel from one school to another to take classes.
Several types of courses are encompassed by distance learning.
Digital media, hybrid, information highway, internet, telecourses
and teleweb courses are all part of the VLC.
Nelms said that in planning the courses, administrators and
instructors from around the state look at what is in high demand and
can be delivered in an online environment. They focus on meeting
several needs including transfer student programs, job training and
partnering with the community.
“We have a wide mission in providing courses,” said Nelms. “Each
school is participating.”
While some schools have more resources to apply to online courses,
Nelms said it does not mean they lack dedication to the VLC. “Just
because they are smaller schools does not mean they are not just as
committed,” she said. The commitment of the system is apparent and
students are responding rapidly to this ever developing kind of
learning.
The expansion of programs and courses demonstrates the importance of
the VLC. Currently, the system offers 208 curriculum courses, 21
programs and 15 continuing education courses compared to 10 courses
in 1999.
Enrollment in DL courses is further proof of the program’s success
rate. The 40,392 DL course registrations in 1999-00 pales in
comparison to the 201,626 registrations in 2005-06. Occupational and
continuing education DL courses saw a growth rate of 43.85 percent
between the 2003-04 and the 2004 -05 school years.
Registration increases and program expansion in individual colleges
are equally as impressive as the system’s increase. Beaufort County
Community College experienced an enrollment increase in online
courses of more than 400 percent between fall 2002 and spring 2007.
Randolph Community College only offered eight DL courses when their
program began in 1998, but now offers 64 online and hybrid courses
with a total of 78 sections. Kennedy says she believes the increase
is due to high student demand. “While it is still a pretty new
concept, students are on board and clamoring for more,” she said.
Melissa Vrana, the eLearning development and delivery director at
Central Piedmont Community College, said that their eLearning
program continues to grow also due to student demand. In spring
2004, Central Piedmont had 3,380 registrations in their eLearning
program. That number shot up to 9,000 in the spring of 2007.
With these numbers, it’s clear that DL courses and the VLC have
become an integral part of the learning process for students at
North Carolina community colleges. Nelms said distance learning
provides students with a different kind of format for learning and
offers more flexibility for all, not just “non-traditional”
students.
Flexibility is what prompted Kennedy to take online courses. “I
place a huge personal value on distance learning,” Kennedy said. “It
allows students to succeed who otherwise wouldn’t be able to.”
Teeku Patel, a student at Central Piedmont, said he opted for online
courses because of convenience. “I can concentrate on the material
in my own time when I'm ready and at my own speed,” he said. “When
taking online courses, it allows me to work full-time or part-time
and to be with my family.” Patel, who went back to school after
graduating from University of North Carolina at Charlotte, said that
traffic and parking also played a role in selecting DL courses.
While some students will succeed more than others in these courses,
Nelms said they teach necessary skills in time management, creative
and critical thinking, learning styles and group work. “We want
students to take these skills and translate them into the world,”
she said.
These skills will continue to be taught as the future of the VLC is
growing brighter. Colleges are already using state-of-the art
technology. The North Carolina Information Highway allows courses to
be distributed to all 58 colleges at the same time. More
developments are on the horizon. Nelms said that currently the
system is working on bringing instructional gaming to students. “Say
you struggle with math. Instructional gaming allows you to see it
from a different perspective, like playing basketball, and still
gain the same objective,” she said.
Although new technology is underway, Nelms said the VLC will always
focus on student needs first. “We won’t change our high standards,”
she said, “but will continue to expand so that we have a much richer
online environment.”
For more information, visit the VLC website at
http://vlc.nccommunitycolleges.edu
Note: While working on this story more developments in the VLC took
place. Please see the following and visit
http://vlc.nccommunitycolleges.edu/LaE/ for more information.
Thanks to the leadership of Gov. Mike Easley and the NC General
Assembly, North Carolina high school students can earn college
credits through a special Learn & Earn Online initiative beginning
in the 2007-08 school year. Registration for these courses is
currently underway. Check with your guidance counselor if you are
interested - even if your school's formal course registration
deadline has passed.
Qualified students in participating high schools can take a variety
of online college-credit courses at no cost to them or to their
families. Students can earn both high school and college credit for
completed courses. Access to these courses is provided during the
regular school day and an online course facilitator will assist
students in the classroom.
The North Carolina Community College System is a strong and active
partner in this initiative and its member institutions offer a wide
range of college courses to assist students in meeting their
educational goals.
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