Courses and complete programs -- generally using a combination of the Web, videotape, and interactive television, are now offered by professional groups, colleges, and for-profit organizations. In addition, virtual organizations such as the National Technological University (www.ntu.edu/) and the Western Governors’ University (www.wgu.edu/wgu/index.html) offer complete programs without traditional campuses, and the new group of for-profit universities, such as the University of Phoenix, (www.uophx.edu/uop/gettokno.htm) are making a substantial commitment to virtual degree programs.

The most comprehensive and detailed source for this information is the October, 1998 issue of Training. In brief, it says that 70% of all corporate training is still based in the traditional classroom. About 20% involves students working alone with computers. 10% is not clearly identified. Of the 20% involving computers, 8% involves use of the Web, 26% involves use of the corporate Intranet, 28% involves CD’s. The rest is unidentified.

We know that more college courses are using more technology. According to National Center for Education Statistics, the percentage of classes using e-mail jumped to 44.4 percent this year, up from 32.8 percent in 1997, 25.0 percent in 1996 and just 8.0 percent in 1994. One-third (33.1 percent) of all classes are tapping into Internet resources as part of the syllabus, compared to one-fourth (24.8 percent) last year and just 15.3 percent in 1996. And almost one-fourth (22.5 percent) of all college courses are using "WWW pages for class materials and resources", compared to just 8.4 percent in 1996 and 4.0 percent in 1994. According to Peterson’s Guide to Distance Learning more colleges are offering more DL courses. We don’t know how many students are taking these courses.

The picture in graduate education is a bit clearer. Stanford is offering graduate degrees in engineering as is RPI. (Georgia Tech will soon do so also.) Duke is offering an MBA through distance learning. (Kennesaw State University here in Georgia will also begin offering an MBA). There are lots of others. I would guess that graduate education, especially in very defined disciplines assume a common body of theoretical and practical knowledge in their entering graduate students and strong, practical motivation to complete the program (management. engineering, nursing, etc.) will provide most of the near term success in degree programs.

Distance Education in Higher Education Institutions a statistical analysis from the National Center for Education Statistics http:/nces.ed.gov/ pubs98/distance.

There are three primary areas for the use of DL in K-12. Probably the largest and best known are the programs for providing AP courses to schools without qualified AP instructors. See how the state of Virginia is doing this at through satellite television @ http://www.pen.k12.va.us/go/VDOE/Technology/VSEN/#VSEN HISTORY Georgia is doing the same thing, and Georgia Tech is providing a Calculus course to a number of high schools through interactive television.

For more about this see Cable in the Classroom @ www.ciconline.com/home.htm

The second key area is home schooling, which has grown substantially as part of a more critical attitude toward the public school system. According to the Home Education Research Institute, K-12 homeschoolers have grown from 300,000 students in 1990 to 1.5 million in 1998. Home schoolers have traditionally been dependent on a printer curriculum, but the Web is providing an increasing range of home school resources.

For more about this see the cover article of Newsweek magazine October 5, 1998 and the American Home School Association home page

@ http://www.home-ed-press.com/AHA/aha.html