| For Release: AT WILL | Contact: Public Affairs |
| Date: February 8, 2000 |
Distance Learning Explosion at Community Colleges
Virtual Learning Community to Equalize Internet Education
RALEIGH – Distance learning is thriving at North Carolina’s community colleges. According to a new report, 33,745 students utilize various methods other than face-to-face teacher contact to take courses at most of the 59 institutions in the North Carolina Community College System.
"College personnel realize different students have needs beyond traditional methods," says Fred Manley, Distance Learning Director for the North Carolina Community College System. "Colleges are in competition for students, so they see the need to offer courses in a most convenient way."
Distance learning involves three primary methods of distribution: Telecourses, Internet and the NC Information Highway.
The use of telecourses, broadcast on public television, cablecast or videocassettes, has grown exponentially over the years. The first telecourses were offered in the early 70’s with only a few students. In the last decade enrollment has mushroomed from 634 students in the 88-89 academic year to 17,496 students last year.
Catawba Valley Community College, ranked 14th largest by enrollment in the system, leads in the number of students enrolled in telecourses with 2,908. "We do distance because it is the right thing to do for our student population! Attitude is everything; faculty and staff must simply think ‘outside of the box,’" says Linda Lutz, Dean, Educational Support Services at CVCC. "These partnerships have also prevented unnecessary program duplication, thus resulting in dollar savings for the college while at the same time, increasing opportunity for additional programming," she adds.
The second most utilized resource, and certainly the fastest growing, is online courses. The first two online courses were offered in the spring semester of 1996 by Fayetteville Technical Community College. In the last three years, the increase in the number of courses offered and student enrollment is impressive.
Fayetteville Tech is by far the leader in online education in the system with more than 60 classes offered this academic semester. Virtual Campus Director Sam Zahran says the reason for the emphasis is simple, though teaching the courses isn’t. "The main advantage to students and to faculty involves learning at times and places convenient to both student and teacher," says Zahran. "Online courses are just as rigorous--often more so--than face-to-face classes, but they are offered so that working adults can continue their education."
Last academic year, North Carolina’s community colleges offered more than 250 different titles from 68 different subject online. There have been more than 600 versions of these 250 online courses. The most popular course is CIS 110 (Introduction to Computers) with 32 different versions, followed by ENG 111 (Expository Writing, the introductory English course) with 25 versions. Other courses available represent the myriad of subjects available at community colleges. They include foreign languages, art history, embalming, psychology, literature and statistics. In 1998-99 alone, nearly 10,000 students took online courses at a community college.
The increase in online students, however, illustrates one major problem -- the disparity among the colleges in accessibility. In the fall of 1999, three colleges offered more than 50 courses online and 36 others had fewer than 10. At that time, five offered no online courses.
The NCCCS is now developing the Virtual Learning Community (VLC), which will enable smaller colleges the benefit of the experience of the larger schools already succeeding in Internet education. The idea was developed in 1998, when 58 community college presidents agreed to form a distance learning consortium and collaborate in the creation of this online learning community.
In late January, 100 faculty from across the community college system came together to share in the creation of the first ten courses for the VLC. The goal is to have the infrastructure and the courses ready by fall of 2000. If adequate funding is secured, plans call for the development of 50 more courses in 2000-2001.
Every North Carolina community college is a member of this electronic community and will share in its results. The VLC will help colleges share work already occurring. It will also provide a library of ready-to-go and easy-to-adapt online courses. Instructors can offer them as they are or make adjustments. Both curriculum and non-credit courses will be included.
"The tremendous increase in distance learning, particularly online education, is a simple reflection of the mission of the North Carolina Community College System. We are finding new ways of taking education to the people," says Janyth Fredrickson, Associate Vice President for Academic and Student Services of the NCCCS.
The North Carolina Information Highway (NCIH) is another way the NCCCS ensures accessibility for every student. The NCIH enables smaller classes to combine with others via two-way interactive video. Students in one part of the state can learn with others at a different community college.
The North Carolina Community College System serves more than 747,000 students, making it one of the largest systems in the country. The System is the primary agency for delivery of job training, literacy and adult education in North Carolina.
For more information contact Dr. Fredrickson at (919) 733-7051, extension 414.
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