Alma Mater leads state in distance ed.

There was an article in Thursday's East Carolinian, ECU's campus newspaper, that discussed their wide variety of distance ed. options. ECU offers more than 40 degree and certificate programs via the Internet. I salute my Alma Mater and their efforts to extend education to non-traditional students. See full article here.

My first experience with distance learning was in high school; three of us ventured into the unknown and took Latin with the help of an in-class "facilitator" and an instructor whom we never actually met face-to-face. Magistra Pope, as she was called, sat in front of us each day--a face on a TV. She would say, "Salve, Aurora!" That meant hello, (Aurora High School). We could hear other schools, though we never saw them either, and we used the telephone to ask and respond to questions. Overall, I'm not sure that it was totally effective, but it was a good learning experience. It was a precursor for what was to come later when I took online tech writing classes at ECU. Luckily, the masters program was set up for the working professional; lit majors usually taught classes on campus while we, the techies, had outside jobs. I wrote forklift manuals for a local manufacturing plant. Except for one night class and my independent studies, all of my graduate classes were taught online. It was a wonderful option that allowed me the flexibility to work and finish my education. That experience also helps me teach my own online/hybrid classes at Lenoir. This summer I'm developing a fully online version of English 114 Professional Research & Reporting, which will supercede the current telecourse.