Describes the evolution of distance education courses at the University of South Carolina and the results of a study of students who participated in those courses. Highlights include student performance and reactions of both students and faculty to the telecourses. (Author/CLB)

Learning by television is not a new phenomenon and, as an educational medium, it has gone through some severe growing pains. Unfortunately, while advances in technologies (cable, home recorders, satellites, teleconferencing) have contributed to an increase in the number of telecourses since the mid-1970s, faculty are often unprepared to teach…

This examination of the educational and economic advantages of using videocassettes instead of broadcast television for Open University distance education begins by noting that, while the potential importance of television in distance education is widely recognized by educators, students appear to be less appreciative. The Video Cassettes Loan…

This study offers descriptive information about distance learning courses and the faculty who teach them, and explores faculty members' opinions about distance learning. The report focuses only distance education as taught by full-time National Education Association faculty members at traditional two- and four-year colleges and universities to…

Describes the origins and operations of the Iowa Communications Network, an interactive distance learning program. Presents several examples of how the network can benefit music educators in college and K-12 institutions. Maintains that the system can be a model for similar distance music education networks. (CFR)

Describes an instructional model for a sustainable agriculture telecourse offered nationally by Iowa State University. Includes preproduction activities; technology employed; budget; time requirements; course content; student postevaluation results. Provides information and suggestions for individuals and institutions considering production or…

Asserting that the traditional system of higher education is not capable of meeting the ever-increasing demands of a developing country such as India, this paper suggests possible alternative methods of higher education. In addition to in-depth descriptions of the United Kingdom's Open University at Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, and the Regional…

This report provides Pennsylvania state legislators and educators with policy-relevant information about the distance learning needs of rural Pennsylvania school districts. Two surveys, covering rural and urban-suburban Pennsylvania school districts, examined distance learning programs and technologies currently being used and the possibility of…

Designed primarily for use by potential users of telecourses produced by other institutions or production houses, this guide provides fundamental information on the design, use, and management of telecourses, and describes experiences of successful telecourse users. It is noted that this guide is also applicable to radio courses, and the…

The purposes of this paper are: (1) to investigate the effects of SQUARE ONE TV on children's problem-solving behavior and their attitudes toward mathematics and (2) to indicate some connections between the result and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)'s Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics. This paper…

Describes the production of a telecourse for early childhood literature, including the rationale for the telecourse, planning and development of the course, the production process involved, and the components of an accompanying study guide. Some general evaluations of the telecourse, which has been taught for four years, are reported. (CLB)

A total of 155 educators in rural Kentucky participated in 4 inservice education sessions on learning disabilities and adaptive teaching, delivered via an interactive telecommunications network. Participants' reactions indicated that interactive television was an acceptable format for delivery of inservice education. (Author/JDD)

In 1990 a comparative analysis was conducted of North Dakota student achievement across three forms of distance education: instruction by satellite, audiographic tele-learning, and two way interactive educational television. Based in part on the 1988 study of a German by Satellite program in Missouri and North Dakota, this study mailed…

This handbook gives the historical background of a 2-year project conducted in a rural Wisconsin school district, outlining the planning and actual construction of a high school satellite receiving station. It is written to aid rural school districts in purchasing, installing, and using a satellite receiving station to improve the quality of…

In an interview, Lucinda Roy, a professor of English at Virginia Tech who teaches online courses in creative writing, the civil rights movement, and literature, discusses the risks and dynamics of this style of teaching and the need to maintain some personal interaction with students. She notes that technology liberates learners, giving them a…