Conference Papers

| paper |

This interest in distance education is borne out of a University of Wisconsin system wide project I was asked to become a part of in early 1996. Political Science and Social Science faculty attending a technology conference on our campus voiced similar concerns about less-popular, lower-enrollment area studies courses which are deemed important for our students in order that they could effectively function in an increasingly global community. System institutions encourage the broadening of students' limited, parochial experiences by offering them options in international courses. However, limited budgets and expertise do not allow them unlimited, varied choices.

Thus, a group of faculty members from the University of Wisconsin - River Falls, Stevens Point, Eau Claire and La Crosse with a common interest in Asia got together in August 1996 in order to plan for a collaborative effort at putting together an Asian Studies minor using distance education strategies and tools. This paper is the evolving product of that effort.

In this paper I will examine various concepts of distance education and lay the theoretical foundations surrounding the project. It will entail defining what is meant by distance education, determining what tools are part of the strategy of delivering education at a distance, providing the advantages and disadvantages of such a strategy and updating the reader about the status of the project.

{ Top of Page }

Copyright on these papers is held by their authors or by the professional society which sponsored their original presentation.

Teaching Politics is published by William J. Ball (ball@tcnj.edu)