Newsroom

CORVALLIS - A national conference on "distance education" will be held March 3-6 in Portland, Ore., with more than 50 presentations outlining the latest trends, technology and other advances in this field.

Sponsored by the Office of Continuing Higher Education at Oregon State University, the conference is designed for K-12, university and community college educators, business and industry leaders and the general public.

Information about the conference topics, speakers and registration costs can be obtained by contacting Dan Dunham at OSU, telephone 541-737-1287; or conference registrar Lisa Farquharson, telephone 541-737-5238.

Titled "Sharing the Experience III - Beyond the Rhetoric," this third annual conference on distance education will include presentations on:

• Enhancing the quality of teaching and learning with distance education
• Desktop video conferencing
• Preparing faculty to teach using interactive television
• Distance education policies in higher education
• The right "mix" of technology to use in delivering courses
• Extending student services such as libraries and financial aid
• Graduate programs via distance education
• Accreditation issues and solutions
• Delivering high school classes over the Internet
• Producing a low budget math telecourse

Presentations will be made by speakers from 25 states and Canada. About 300-350 educators are expected to attend the conference, officials say.

At the Sunday, March 3, presentations preceding the main conference, an afternoon panel discussion will be held on the topic "The Changing Culture of Education: Implications for Distance Education Now and in the Future."

The panel will be composed of several presidents and other leading administrators from several universities, including Joy Hughes, OSU associate provost for information services; Betty Youngblood, president of Western Oregon State College; and George Connick, president of the University of Maine.