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UNITED STATES DISTANCE LEARNING ASSOCIATION
140 Gould Street, Needham, MA 02494 800-275-5162

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Use of Distance Learning Network Doubles By Bill Cissell, Rapid City Journal Staff Writer

Rapid City, SD October 10, 2001 – Use of Distance Learning Network Doubles By Bill Cissell Rapid City Journal Staff Writer RAPID CITY, South Dakota. The number of South Dakota schools offering courses using the state's Distance Learning Network (DLN) has more than doubled in just one year - from 46 schools in 2000 to 96 schools this year - Gov. Bill Janklow told educators Tuesday, Oct. 2, in Rapid City. "This is the only technology I've heard of being led by grade-school children," Janklow said. "You teachers are truly giving students the tools they need to go compete anywhere." Janklow made opening remarks at a conference bearing his name. The "Governor Janklow Distance Learning Showcase" brought together more than 200 educators involved in distance-learning technology from across the state.

Distance learning involves teachers and students who are in different locations. It allows students to take classes by computer that their own schools don't offer. The state, and especially rural schools, need to take advantage of current and future technology, Janklow said."We're looking at a significant change in rural high schools, and it's a human-resource problem. The only way to solve that, even if we had all the money, is to utilize technology," Janklow said. But, even with today's technology, "You still have to have capable teachers," the governor said. And he sounded one concern: South Dakota students must be protected from what Janklow called the "slimy bastards" who put pornography on the Internet.He didn't say more about Internet porn, but that is certain to be a topic at a state conference on Internet security Oct. 17 in Sioux Falls.

Also speaking Tuesday was Tim Westerberg, principal of Littleton (Colo.)High School. "The purpose of education is to help kids understand themselves and the world in which they live," Westerberg said. He said schools need to move away from getting students to understand the world as they (the teachers) understand it. Teachers need to be more of a coach, not a performer."Littleton offers 135 courses on line. Westerberg said Littleton district officials found that some students "participate more online than they ever would in a class of their peers."

Schools using South Dakota's DLN can sign up for classes taught by another South Dakota teacher in a different community, said Melody Schopp, a curriculum-technology specialist with the state's Office of Technology. By using teachers already in a state school district, the question of certification and qualification to teach doesn't come up, she said. Giving students credit for DLN classes "is still up to individual school district officials," she said. DLN courses allow students to take classes they wouldn't otherwise be able to access, but an adult still has to be in the room, Schopp said. "We use mentors who handle discipline and hand out materials and tests. "We don't foresee DLN courses replacing the classroom. This is a supplement, not a replacement," Schopp said. "In places like Harding County, where we offer seven such classes, it helps keep the high school open," Schopp said. "As educators, that's our responsibility - to keep the doors open."

Promoting distance learning, in various forms, is at the heart of the United States Distance Learning Association, said executive director John Flores. "Distance learning is global. The mission of USDLA is to support the development and application of distance learning for education and training," he said. Total enrollment in courses offered by distance learning centers more than doubled between 1995 and 1998 - from 754,000 to 1.6 million - at universities across the nation. "It's nothing but a vertical climb ahead of us," Flores said.

Comments or questions on this story? Contact reporter Bill Cissell at (605) 394-8412 or bill.cissell@rapidcityjournal.com.

For more information regarding the South Dakota Distance Learning Association, please contact Tammy Bauck, the Director of Technology at the South Dakota Department of Education and Cultural Affiars at tammy.bauck@state.sd.us.