THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 24, 1995 TAG: 9507240056
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
Five thousand students will attend Old Dominion University this fall without ever setting foot on campus.
They are earning degrees through ``distance learning'' courses taught via live TV - a growing trend across the United States, according to a survey conducted by the American Council on Education.
``Campuses are on the brink, if you will, of a real technology transformation,'' said Elaine El-Khawas of the ACE.
And it's not just classes beamed in by satellite.
Nationwide, students are frequently turning in their assignments by computer. They use computers during class time for hands-on assignments. And they use computers to register, avoiding the long, start-of-semester lines of yesteryear.
A few campuses have pushed ahead with technological changes for a decade or more, the survey noted. But the pace of change and its spread to campuses quickened in the last few years.
The spring survey of 407 four-year, two-year, private and public colleges found:
At more than 80 percent of the institutions, at least half the faculty routinely use personal computers.
At 66 percent, at least half the full-time students routinely use computers.
At 40 percent, at least half the part-time students routinely use computers.
In addition, more than one-third of the colleges said they make extensive classroom use of electronic technology. And in the next five years, many said, they plan to offer more distance learning, more electronically submitted assignments, and more computerized registration.
Some of the new technology has created efficiency, El-Khawas noted. For example, many instructors had previously resisted recording grades on computer.
``What that meant for campuses was that they always had to plan both ways - both hard copy and computer - for everything they did,'' El-Khawas said.
Distance learning programs like ODU's create new opportunities for people living in remote areas. The Norfolk college beams classes to 16 community colleges across the state, offering undergraduate degrees in 10 fields including nursing, counseling and criminal justice.
``We're reaching out to students who wouldn't have had access to our programs before,'' said John R. Broderick, assistant vice president for institutional advancement.
But the greatest potential for campus technology lies in the nature of learning itself, El-Khawas predicted.
Soon, universities may allow students to set their own pace, sprinting ahead to a new class if they finish a course early, for example.
``Self-paced learning is the real possibility of computer learning,'' El-Khawas said. ``That is the transformation.'' by CNB