New wave of technology hits Yuba College

It’s 6:00am and your alarm clock has just gone off. You hit the snooze button several times before you drag yourself out of bed for that 8:00am class you have every week.

Now imagine rolling out of bed at 7:59am and still making to class by 8:00am. Sounds impossible right? Well, it’s not for Yuba College students.

According to Steve Cato, Coordinator of Media Services, Yuba College students can take most, if not all, of their transferable general education classes without actually coming to the campus.

Forty-seven Yuba College courses are broadcast each semester by Yuba College Instructional Television, and 36 courses are taught online.

This new wave of technology is part of the Yuba College

Distributive/Distance Education Program. “Distributive Education is the program that connects faculty and students and allows students to be taught in a non-classroom environment,” said Cato.

Now, classes are broadcast to homes all over the Yuba-Sutter area, other colleges including Clear Lake and Woodland Community College, and to designated centers across the mid-valley.

In the mid-1990s, the program was granted two broadcast licenses, which allow Yuba College to broadcast not only through local cable systems, but also through an ITFS system located in the Sutter Buttes.

“Now we’re trying to stream out ITV courses onto the internet,” said Cato. “That’s our goal for the next generation of ITV.”

According to Cato, the Distance Education Program has already been able to archive the televised Math 50 classes on the internet for online students to view. “This addresses everyone’s learning style,” he said.

Yuba College’s online courses began in the Fall of 2000 with just 8 courses. By the Spring 2003 semester as many as 37 courses will be taught online.

According to Cato, students taking online courses have easier access to the CMS/Web-CT Software if they use either Netscape or Explorer as a browser.

An advantage to the online courses is that “students can do their coursework at anytime during the designated time frame set by the instructor,” added Cato.

With the combination of television and online courses, Yuba College offers more distance education courses than most colleges. By next semester, Yuba will offer more than 80 courses through the Distributive/Distance Education Program.

“What enhances our program is that we have the ITV courses and online courses,” said Cato. “That’s unique.”

For the Fall 2002 semester 1,198 students were enrolled in ITV courses, and 1,030 students were enrolled in online courses. These numbers are expected to grow each semester.

Students sign up for the distance education courses just as they would any other course offered at Yuba College. Jeanette O’Bryan, Distributive/Distance Education Specialist, will send out information packets upon request.

According to Cato, the Yuba College faculty voluntarily teach the television and online courses. “Over 30 percent of our full-time faculty teach in the Distributive Education Program,” he said.

For more information the Distributive/Distance Education Program, contact Jeanette O’Bryan at 741-6754.