From satellite broadcast to online and video-streamed courses, ODU’s Distance Learning Program reaches out to students across the state and beyond

By Lisa Snowdy

In the early 1990s, Theresa Cox was a mother with three young children, a full-time job and a dream of one day earning a college degree and becoming a teacher. After her employer, Geico, invited representatives from Old Dominion’s Distance Learning Program to speak with its employees in Fredericksburg, Va., about taking college courses via satellite broadcast, Cox kept it in the back of her mind.

When her children reached middle school, Cox decided the time was right for her, and she enrolled as an ODU distance learning student. “I knew it was such a good opportunity and that it was tailored for the working person,” said Cox, who liked the convenience and accessibility.

Cox, who took her ODU classes part time at the Germanna Community College Teletechnet site, as well as courses online via her home computer, graduated in December with a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies (elementary education emphasis).

ODU’s Distance Learning Program makes university coursework available to students like Cox via several modes. Historically, course delivery has been by interactive television via satellite broadcast from the main campus to sites throughout Virginia and around the country. In recent years, ODU has expanded its use of delivery modes to offer two methods of Internet-delivered instruction – online and video streaming – plus courses via CD-ROM.

Online courses are convenient and flexible for students, since they are accessible at any time of day or night from any location with Internet access. Video-streamed courses are offered in real time via computer. In these classes, the students can see their instructor, but the instructor cannot see them.

In addition to the traditional, newly minted high school graduates, the demographics of today’s college students include full- and part-time workers, members of the military, parents and others with commitments that preclude them from attending college full time. Moreover, their busy schedules make traveling to attend classes inconvenient, if not at times impossible. ODU’s Distance Learning Program helps these students bridge the geographical distance from the university campus by offering curricula through the use of technology.

Old Dominion, a national leader in distance learning, has been involved in technology-delivered curricula since the mid-1990s when it established Teletechnet, a satellite delivery program, in partnership with the Virginia Community College System to provide quality higher education to students at a distance, especially in areas with limited educational opportunities.

Of the 22,000 students ODU currently enrolls, 5,849 of them do not set foot on campus. The university offers 38 different programs through distance learning, including 16 bachelor’s degrees, 19 master’s degrees and three doctorates.

When Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine gave one of the keynote addresses during ODU’s commencement exercises in December, he recognized the university’s reputation as an innovator in distance learning. “One of the things I like about ODU is that it has been a leader in access,” said Kaine. “ODU has been a leader in reaching out to students in different ways. The Teletechnet program of ODU, the delivery of curriculum by satellite and by streaming on the Internet is a very innovative strategy that is being copied and used by more and more institutions, which will enable more and more people to get their degrees.”

Although ODU’s Distance Learning Program has been demonstratively successful, some might wonder about the quality of instruction and the overall learning experience in the absence of a traditional classroom environment. Nancy Cooley, ODU’s vice provost for distance learning, explains how distance learning offers instruction of the highest quality.

“There are many advantages associated with these new methods of teaching and learning,” said Cooley. “They typically use technology to enhance communication and collaboration among students and faculty, and faculty often report that they develop stronger relationships with their students at a distance because they are interacting regularly with them via e-mail. Distance learning courses are archived, so students can view the course content after class to clarify difficult concepts, to review for a test or to catch up on a class they missed due to illness or work-related travel.”

Don Smith, director of ODU’s online Criminal Justice Program, has taught in both the traditional classroom and online. He has now transitioned to full-time teaching online and has found he prefers the digital environment.

“While I don’t have personal face-to-face contact with online students, I learn more about them than I did the traditional students,” he said. “When the bell rings, traditional students move on to the next class. Online students want to engage you and the material at a different level. Most of the online students are people with complex lives and jobs in addition to being students. They bring a great deal to the class and, in the end, I suspect I learn more from them than they learn from me.

“It is great fun watching a grizzled older police officer, a 30-year-old Marine NCO, single parents with all kinds of jobs and traditional students engage in complex discussion questions. Everyone benefits from the exchange.”

Karen Crum, an assistant professor in ODU’s Department of Educational Leadership and Counseling, is another proponent of distance learning. “Next year, I project all of my classes will be online,” said Crum. “Using the Internet to conduct classes allows me and my students to participate from any location with a high-speed Internet connection. Our students no longer have to worry about leaving work early or having to navigate traffic to attend class on time. They can participate from their work locations if they choose, or from their own homes.”

Crum also likes how using technology can help her add “layers” of different media to her course presentations. “I can create a ‘lecture’ using a dynamic learning tool and post this for students to review. The lecture can contain written material, Internet links, video and other learning resources. Students can then attend the real-time course having reviewed the lecture, allowing us to begin actively discussing the material and participating in problem-based learning activities. I believe this allows us to better explore the course material at a much deeper level.”

The technology used in providing distance learning content is cutting-edge and constantly evolving. ODU’s Office of Distance Learning maintains a support system to help faculty optimize the technology so that they’re not swept away by the fluidity of its nature. “Our technical team has done a great job of creating environments that support faculty,” said Cooley. “Of course, with great change in technology comes some adjustment during the adoption period, and that’s where our Center for Learning Technologies staff comes in. They provide faculty support systems, training, and even do development work, graphics or whatever else the faculty need. We continually work to help faculty and to improve all of the tools they can use to enhance instruction at a distance.”

ODU’s acting president, John R. Broderick, even teaches an online graduate school course in School Community Relations and Politics from his office on the second floor of Koch Hall. Although he admits there was a transition period for him to adapt to the new technology, he says his students are more than comfortable in the distance learning environment.

“The intriguing element of the Web-based instruction for me is how much the graduate students like it and relate to it as a learning approach,” said Broderick. “While it took some getting comfortable for me, the students were fully engaged in every aspect from the opening introduction to the concluding presentations.”

Satisfaction and participation are two key factors in gauging the success of ODU’s Distance Learning Program. Since 1999, 46,600 students have taken at least one course via distance learning from the university. And, according to a recent survey, 92 percent of distance learning students would recommend this mode of instruction to a friend.

Now working on her master’s degree in education to obtain her teaching licensure, Theresa Cox is just one of many students who give ODU’s program a ringing endorsement year after year. “I recommend it to anyone who is interested,” she says. “Old Dominion is fabulous.”