Penn State York has recently developed a teleeducation program for their students who have limited time to attend classes due to other commitments and responsibilities. This program is deisgned to deliver credentials to their adult learners. These new real-time and interactive classrooms will allow students working toward a degree or certification to take courses through video conferencing.
The program started with Penn State when employers requested training for employees, including a certificate, in less than one year. Typically getting a diploma or can take four or five years – definitely too long for what was needed. After this, the school used the teleeducation program to teach the Pennsylvania World Trade Center members Chinese and to tutor students in select math classes. Through threes initiatives, the school found great success and more requests for similar programs.
Through these teleeducation solutions, Penn State offers seven-week courses which can be applied toward a degree or certificate. Students and their professors meet via video connection for two hours each week and are free to complete their assignments throughout the week as they have time. As with the rest of the Penn State York campus (a commuter campus), these courses are a low-cost option aimed at adult students with families, jobs or career commitments who are unable to attend a typical college 5 days a week for four years. Tuition costs the same regardless if students are taking regular on-campus classes or through the virtual classrooms.
Through shortened or eliminated commute-time and the flexibility of these new-age “online” classes, many students are eager to sign up. And Penn State isn’t the only school using video conferencing. A public K-12 school district in Colorado is using video as a solution to better connect students, staff and administration due to long distances and poor weather conditions. Teleeducation resources are also allowing schools and organizations to take advantage of Grants and funding.
