Background Distance Education in Higher Education Institutions 1. Publications such as the Chronicle of Higher Education regularly feature articles about the distance education efforts of various higher education institutions and systems, states, and consortia.
Many states have active distance education programs.
Colorado took a somewhat different approach when it established Colorado Electronic Community College as the state s 12th community college. Among the other notable education networks for distance education run by states and higher education systems are EdNet in Oregon, the Iowa Communications Network, the TeleLinking Network in Kentucky, and BadgerNet in Wisconsin. This virtual university will have no campus and will rely heavily on computers and other technology such as interactive video to deliver instruction. Other states and institutions have joined together into cooperatives and consortia to support and offer distance education. PBS has offered telecourses through PBS stations and local colleges since 1981, but students could not use them to completely fulfill degree requirements.