ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, July 24, 1996 TAG: 9607240039
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: PHILIP WALZER AND DAVE MAYFIELD LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
A DEAL BETWEEN Virginia colleges and two phone companies may bring higher education closer to home - maybe even inside.
Not so far down the road, a Fairfax resident may be able switch on his computer and take Psych 101 - offered by Virginia Tech.
Tech, Old Dominion University and the state's community colleges are expected to announce details of an agreement with Bell Atlantic Corp. and Sprint Corp. today that education officials say will rapidly expand the growth of computer and telecourses in the state.
Under the contract, the schools will use telephone lines to establish a ``broad-band interactive network'' to transmit courses, perhaps across the state.
For students, that could increase their options for taking courses off-campus as well as their ability to communicate with professors, education officials said. For institutions such as Norfolk's Old Dominion University, considered a leader in Virginia in ``distance learning,'' the network could dramatically reduce costs.
Students might be able to go to a college classroom and watch a professor live on a TV screen, with the opportunity to ask questions. That's the way most of the state's distance learning programs now operate.
Or, under the new setup, they could log on to their computers in their dens - or on campus - and see their professors delivering lectures on their computer screens. And they could send questions to the professors via the computer, as well.
Students might also be able to communicate with professors through e-mail, said Peter Blake, senior finance coordinator for the State Council of Higher Education. Schools would also be able to transmit documents and photos from their archives via the Internet, he said.
``It will vastly improve the access, the speed of that access and the availability of information to students, faculty and researchers,'' Blake said. ``The second thing it can do is bring instructional programs and courses to students at locations across the commonwealth.''
He cited the agreement in a report to the council Monday on the growth of telecommunications in higher education. But some leaders also worry about the increasing reliance on technology.
At the council meeting, the newly elected chairwoman, Elizabeth McClanahan, expressed concern that the expansion of distance learning hindered the state's efforts to avoid course duplication.
The council has no regulations concerning program duplication for distance learning courses. It has not prohibited any school from providing such courses if the school already offers them on campus.
McClanahan could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Blake said: ``One could argue competition is good, but you can turn right around and say duplication is bad. Sending three different nursing programs in one location might increase student choice or it might be an awful waste of money. ... It's one of the issues we'll be looking at over the next few months.''
Anne Raymond-Savage, associate vice president for academic affairs at Old Dominion, said the network would be tested for the next 18 months. She said other colleges, state agencies and public school systems could also join the network over the next several years.
Financial details of the five-year contract were unavailable Tuesday, but officials said it could provide a cheaper alternative to the use of satellites - the method Old Dominion currently uses to send telecourses.
Blake said satellite costs paid by colleges average nearly $700 an hour. Under the contract with Bell Atlantic and Sprint, ``you pay a flat fee for access to the network and it doesn't matter whether you put up one hour or 1,000 hours; you pay the same rate.''
Raymond-Savage said: ``It will be cost-effective. But more significantly, it will be more effective communications.''
In his report to the council, Blake outlined four major programs offered in Virginia:
* Old Dominion's Teletechnet program, which beams courses in 12 bachelor's programs to more than two dozen sites, primarily community colleges, including Roanoke's Virginia Western Community College. Enrollment is about 2,500, he said.
* A graduate engineering program, offered by four schools - Old Dominion, Tech, University of Virginia and Virginia Commonwealth University - to 1,100 students.
* CNU Online, Christopher Newport University's program offering a bachelor's degree in government administration to 400 students. Unlike the other programs, Christopher Newport's is offered on the Internet.
* Tech's master of business administration program, offered to 85 students.
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