Students who select courses taught through the IVN systems are more likely to be self motivated and higher achievers. Thus, while there is some controversy, experts in distance education believe it can be as effective an educational mode as traditional methods. This study will identify perceptions of students in IVN courses with respect to the educational quality of the courses offered and their satisfaction with the educational experiences in the distance learning programs. The Greater Southeast ITV Consortium has studios in ten rural secondary schools and two vocational centers in the Southeast corner of North Dakota. This consortium is struggling to provide educational equity and access to students within the consortium enrollment area.
Financial constraints make it impractical to offer courses at each location.
Examples are Spanish, College Algebra, AP English, and Calculus. The system is two-way interactive network. Students and teachers at all locations can see, hear, and talk to each other over the system. Each classroom has at least four television monitors in the room for the students and two monitors located on the ceiling over the students' desks for the teacher. Every classroom has the same equipment and every school can be an originating site.