About Distance Education

More and more, students are seeking opportunities to reach their educational goals without giving up professional and family responsibilities.  Advances in distance education technology are helping the University to reach beyond the barriers of distance and time constraints and giving students the tools they need to conveniently interact with professors, fellow students, and educational resources. 

Distance Education facts for Fall 2006:

Enrollment in online courses is up 27% over Fall 2005

There are 2,260 enrollments in online courses equal to 3.9% of total SFA enrollments

There are 5,763 SCH generated in online courses equal to 3.96% of total SFA SCH

365 students (3.21% of SFA unduplicated head count) are enrolled in online courses only

An additional 1,145 students (10.07% of all SFA unduplicated head count) are enrolled in both on-campus courses and online courses

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board defines distance education courses or programs  as those in which more than 50% of the instructional time in the course or program is offered at a distance.  Distance education options are available at SFA in the following formats.

• Interactive Video (ITV) - Instruction is delivered through interactive video in specially equipped classrooms at both the local and distant sites. Those students not in the room with the instructor are registered in the distance education section of the course. ITV provides for live video and audio interaction between students and professors.
• Web-based - 100% of the instruction is delivered via the Internet and may include Web pages, e-mail, chat rooms, streaming video, discussion boards, etc. Students with access to the Internet may participate at any time of day from anywhere in the world.  SFA uses WebCT to develop and deliver web-courses.
• Hybrid - A course that is a blend of online and face-to-face instruction in which at least 50% of the instruction is delivered online, or a course that has not been approved as a fully developed Web-based course.
• Multiple/Other - More than 50% of the instruction is delivered at a distance in a combination of methods such as ITV, Internet, videotape, or face-to-face meetings.
• Face-to-face - Currently the Coordinating Board also defines off-campus face-to-face delivery as distance education. For this type of course, the Office of Instructional Technology is involved only in the collection of course information for reporting purposes.

SFA's Distance Education Coordinator is Gail Weatherly.  You may contact her at gweatherly@sfasu.edu or phone 468-1818.