Administrators, instructors and students from Central Carolina Community College (CCCC) in Sanford answer these questions and share their distance learning success stories on UNC-TV's EdForum: Journey To Opportunity on Saturday, August 4 at 10:00 AM.

Distance learning works for a rapidly increasing number of North Carolina's community college students. Enrollment in distance learning rose almost 33 percent between the 98-99 and 99-00 school years. The North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS) provides courses via the Information Highway and the Internet and also partners with UNC-TV to offer distance learning telecourses.

One segment of this EdForum: Journey To Opportunity focuses on Curriculum distance learning programs and process. Panelists include Nancy Turner, Dean of Liberal Arts, Commercial and Business Programs, and Jane Strother, Distance Education Coordinator. Firefighter Tommie Ann Styons, a former telecourse student, and current student Delcenia S. Turner share their personal experiences with distance learning.

The second part of the program explains how Basic Skills opportunities are available through distance learning. Don Buie, Dean of Continuing Education; Carlene Dixon, Adult High School instructor; and Jeannine Miley, a student who received her Adult High School diploma on-line, are the panelists for this segment.

Nearly 20,000 adult learners used telecourses offered on UNC-TV to pursue their educational goals last year. This represents a six-percent increase over the previous year. Enrollment growth in Internet-based courses is explosive. Enrollment rose from 9,600 to more than 17,000 in one year, a 79% increase. The development and growth of the Virtual Learning Community, a catalog of Internet-based programs offered by the NCCCS, has contributed to the growth of on-line course enrollment.

The North Carolina Community College System enrolls more than 760,000 students each year in 59 institutions. The "open doors" of community colleges are among North Carolina's most important gateways into employment and quality educational opportunities for adults.

Diane Lucas, UNC-TV Director of Programming and Outreach hosts Journey to Opportunity. UNC-TV is North Carolina's statewide public television network.

-NCCCS-

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