Online, Other Distributed
Learning Programs Growing
May 22, 2003
Bowling Green, Ky. - An online degree program for employees of Weyerhaeuser Corporation is the latest expansion of Distributed Learning at Western Kentucky University.
Distributed Learning programs have grown at Western in recent years as the Council on Postsecondary Education has pushed to increase access to higher education.
Besides on-campus classes, courses are available via correspondence, interactive television, the Internet, evening/weekend courses, extended campus sites or onsite training.
Western has been among the leaders in courses and enrollments in sections offered through the Kentucky Virtual University. This semester 37 of the 157 online sections at Western were offered through the KYVU.
In the spring 2003 semester, Western had 2,500 enrollments in online courses. That's up from 1,200 last spring.
WKU's online programs (75 percent online with some ITV courses) include Undergraduate Certificate in Canadian Studies, Master of Science in Communication Disorders, Associate of Science in Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education, Associate of Applied Science in Paramedicine Completion, Undergraduate Minor in Library Media Education, Master of Science in Library Media Education, Non-credit Continuing Education Online Courses, Master of Public Health (collaborative program between Western, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville and Eastern Kentucky University), Gifted and Talented Education Graduate Teaching Endorsement, Family and Consumer Sciences Education Graduate Teaching Endorsement and Master of Arts in Exceptional Education.
At the May commencement ceremony, the University recognized five students for being the first at Western to fully complete online a web-based master's degree program in communications disorders. The students are from West Virginia, Maine and Texas.
For more information, contact Beth Laves at (270) 745-5308. More WKU news is available on the World Wide Web at www.wku.edu. If you'd like to receive WKU news via E-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.
