College Students Head Back to School

News Release
Date: August 10, 1998
Contact: Tiffany Capuano, 757-683-3100, [email protected]

College Students Head Back to School Without Setting Foot on Campus

Old Dominion University

NORFOLK, Va. - This fall, thousands of college and university students will be heading back to campuses across the nation, but some will go "back to school" without ever setting foot on campus.

Many students across the country, including some 3,000 students enrolled at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., are part of a growing number taking courses through distance learning, either via satellite, the Internet or through online courses.

Distance learning programs have gained in popularity because students, like those enrolled in Old Dominion's distance learning program (TELETECHNET), do not have to pack up and move to campus nor leave full-time jobs or family to earn a bachelor's or master's degree.

The largest distance learning program of its kind in the nation, TELETECHNET was established in 1994 in partnership with Virginia's community colleges, which provide the first two years of a bachelor's degree, while Old Dominion provides the last two years. Old Dominion offers 17 bachelor's and eight master's degree programs through TELETECHNET, with live courses now beamed to more than 55 sites in four states. In addition to community colleges, students are taking classes at military installations and corporations and even aboard Navy ships at sea.

TELETECHNET courses, which originate in Norfolk, are transmitted via satellite utilizing a two-way audio and one-way video distance learning system. Through state-of-the-art technology, students not only see and hear their TELETECHNET professors based in Norfolk, but also take an interactive part in the classes. More than half of Old Dominion's faculty have taught a TELETECHNET course.

TELETECHNET has expanded rapidly; more than 16,000 course registrations are expected for the1998 fall semester, the equivalent of about 3,200 full-time students.

-tjc- Old Dominion University Office of University Relations Room 100 New Administration Building Norfolk, Virginia 23529-0018 Telephone 757-683-3114 Old Dominion University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action institution.