Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Distance Education broadens students’ options
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Governor Mitch Daniels has proclaimed October 9-13 Distance Education Week in Indiana. Colleges, universities, and learning centers throughout the state will celebrate the week by sponsoring open houses and outreach activities to encourage Hoosiers to investigate their options when it comes to higher education. USI is a participating institution in the Indiana College Network (ICN), a cooperative distance education service operated by the Indiana Higher Education Telecommunication System (IHETS) which also includes Ball State University, Indiana State University, Indiana Tech, Indiana University, Indiana Wesleyan University, Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, Purdue University, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, Taylor University Center for Lifelong Learning, University of Indianapolis, University of Saint Francis, and Vincennes University. “USI students might be living on campus or within Evansville, but they have other restrictions on their time, so distance education courses are well suited to them,” said Dr. Saxon Reasons, Instructional Technology Services programming manager. Distance education classes are listed along side campus-based courses in the printed course schedule. In addition, USI offers entire distance education programs, which are largely comprised of distance education courses, in nursing and health professions and social work. There are undergraduate, graduate, and certificate programs available. For more information, contact Reasons at 812/465-1061 or go to www.usi.edu/distance. USI students also benefit from the course offerings of other ICN institutions. “If we’re not offering a course but another university is, a student’s program of study doesn’t have to be interrupted. Distance education broadens the choices that USI students and students statewide have to a great degree,” Reasons said. “We want students to know they can tap into this resource. If students plan ahead we can likely facilitate the inter-institutional registration. Those kinds of registrations take more time because they involve more than one campus.” According to Susan Scott, director of e-learning at IHETS, some 40,000 people enrolled in distance education classes from ICN’s members last year. By delivering high-quality educational programs at a distance, Indiana’s colleges and universities are helping the state address critical needs, including reducing workforce shortages, retraining, and increasing the supply of college-educated workers needed to keep Indiana competitive. Since 1994, Indiana’s colleges and universities have responded to the demand for convenient access to higher education by delivering more than 3,000 classes and nearly 220 degree, certificate, and licensure programs through a variety of technologies throughout the state. ICN also partners with learning centers in 53 Indiana counties to provide support services to distance learners, such as access to equipment that may be needed to complete coursework; to collaborate with other students and the instructor; and to conduct research online. Many of these centers also serve as focal points for lifelong learning in their communities, often developing their own local continuing education opportunities, identifying community needs, and working with ICN member institutions to meet those needs. For more information, visit the Indiana College Network at www.icn.org. |
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