As part of my job as systems coordinator, I set up electronic course material reserves for The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania's well-known and highly respected executive programs. I also secure permission to store materials and allow access through a secure Web site for the students. However, because we use technology in innovative ways, we sometimes cannot deliver the latest information as quickly as we would like. The distance-education courses are offered through Wharton Direct. Typically 50 to 100 students take a course at a time.
Online courses use streaming video for live and interactive Web casts and chat rooms.
The Wharton Direct Web site functions as a classroom, library, professor's office, and study hall. It allows working adults to enhance their business education without coming to the campus for a week or more. Professors use the same material for distance education as they do for our traditional courses. A professor may find an article in a financial journal while riding home on the train and want to share it with a finance class the next day. Under certain circumstances, college and university professors copy and distribute works without permission from copyright owners if the four factors set forth in section 107 of the Copyright Law apply.