ACC’s Distance Learning Serves as Virtual Campus

AUSTIN – When Austin Community College first began its distance learning program in 1979, the Internet and the World Wide Web were not even words in the dictionary. Initially, ACC only offered two courses and had 225 students enrolled. Now, the number of students taking advantage of the flexibility the virtual classroom offers rivals those who attend classes in person.

During the 2001-2002 academic year, 21,299 students enrolled in distance learning courses. This is a dramatic increase from the 13,750 who took virtual classes in 1997-1998.

“The most exciting aspect of distance learning is that we’re able to bridge the gap to rural areas like Lockhart and Bastrop, which makes ACC education more accessible,” says Shane Forrest, ACC’s director of distance learning. “Not everyone can make it to campus classes. We currently offer online, real-time tutoring for students and are working on creating more support services for the distance learning population.”

The name distance learning applies to several modes of virtual instruction. One of the most popular ways is through interactive videoconference (IVC) courses where students at a remote location can see an instructor lecturing at another campus and participate in discussions. Students often opt to take instructional television (ITV) courses where they view prerecorded video programs instead of attending class. Online courses or web-based courses are conducted entirely via Internet and e-mail.

Some use an online course delivery system called Blackboard, where students can participate in discussions, ask the teacher questions, and review the syllabus.

ACC adjunct instructor Becky Villarreal teaches English composition and American literature online. As early as 1997, Villarreal was putting course materials online for students to reference. Villarreal says that teaching online courses is definitely challenging because it’s harder to become acquainted with students and assess their learning styles. However, Villarreal’s finding that she often has more participation during office hours from students in her virtual courses than those who attend campus classes.

“In lieu of office hours, I host a chat room every Sunday night for students in my online courses,” Villarreal says. “Students talk about the stories we’re reading, ask questions about grammar rules or discuss their papers. I use a chalkboard online where I can type up sentences for them, and they can see it. It’s very interactive. All the chat room sessions are archived so students can go and see what we’ve talked about at any time.

“One exciting aspect of distance learning is that almost every semester we have someone taking the course who’s from another country. Another is that many of my online students would not be able to participate in college if it were not virtual because of their family and job responsibilities.”

In 1995, ACC received approval from The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to allow students to earn any Associate of Arts, Sciences, or Applied Science degree entirely via distance learning. Because that approval is so recent, current degree options are limited to an Associate of Arts in general studies and a certificate in vocational nursing.

The admission requirements and the tuition are the same for distance learning courses as they are for classroom courses. Courses in many disciplines are available through distance learning. Some new distance learning courses for fall 2002 include, American Literature II, Intro to Literature I, Medical Terminology, Mental Health Nursing, Spanish I, Web page programming and community resources in corrections.

For more information, visit ACC’s distance learning website: http://dl.austincc.edu.

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