PROMOTING HIGH-QUALITY DISTANCE EDUCATION

Congressional Web-Based Education Commission: The Internet is in the process of transforming American business, culture, and society. Its potential as a learning tool is just beginning to be tapped.

As educators turn more attention to online learning, individuals and organizations develop more Web content, and government supports these efforts with additional resources, leaders are searching to understand the real potential of the Internet, and the obstacles that inhibit students from realizing that potential.

To help America's policymakers make informed choices, Congress established the Web-based Education Commission. Its purpose is to ensure that all learners are able to take full advantage of the educational promise of the Internet. The Commission will report its findings to the President and Congress by November 2000.

Distance Education Demonstration Projects: On June 30, 1999, the Secretary of Education announced the selection of 15 participants in the Distance Education Demonstration Program. The Program participants were comprised of institutions and/or systems and consortia of institutions. These schools were chosen to participate in an experiment to help determine the most effective way of delivering quality education via distance learning.

Currently, a number of statutory and regulatory requirements relating to the delivery of student aid prevent some distance students from obtaining financial aid and restrict institutions in their ability to design distance education programs. The Distance Education Demonstration Program allows the Secretary to waive certain statutory and regulatory requirements for institutions participating in the program and to monitor program participants to guard against fraud and abuse.

Also being studied in the Program are the specific student aid requirements which should be altered to provide greater access to distance education programs, and the appropriate level of federal assistance for students in distance education programs. In the third year of the program (effective July 2001) the Department will expand the program to an additional 35 participants.

Distance Learning Headlines...

Application guidelines for the Learning Anytime, Anywhere Partnerships Grants Program for FY2001 are now available online.

The final report of the Web-based Education Commission, The Power of the Internet for Learning: Moving from Promise to Practice, was released on December 19, 2000.

Up to 35 new participants will be selected for the Distance Education Demonstration Program beginning July 1, 2001: The Secretary of Education invites institutions of higher education, systems of institutions, and consortia of institutions to submit applications to participate in the Distance Education Demonstration Program. Under this program, selected institutions providing distance education programs may receive waivers of specific statutory and regulatory provisions governing the student financial assistance programs authorized under Title IV of the HEA. For further information, go here.

Information about the FY2000 innovative distance learning projects supported by the Learning Anytime, Anywhere Partnerships Grants is now available online.

Department of Education Grant Programs for Distance Education

Learning Anytime Anywhere Partnerships (LAAP): Under LAAP, colleges, universities, companies, and non-profit organizations join together to expand access to high-quality learning opportunities students can access "anytime, anywhere."

"All Americans deserve access to educational opportunities that will help them get ahead. We must make it possible for adults to learn at a time, pace, and location that works around the constraints of their daily lives," said Vice President Al Gore. "At a time when what you earn depends on what you learn, we need to promote innovative ways of educating Americans so that they can compete for the high-wage, high-skill jobs that our economy is creating in record numbers."

Star Schools: The U.S. Department of Education's Learning Technologies Division awards grants to telecommunications partnerships to operate Star Schools projects that deliver distance education courses and services. Partnerships include local school districts, state departments of education, public broadcasting entities and other public and private organizations.