HOME  |  Search
History

History of Distance Learning at Del Mar College

Del Mar College broadcast it's first distance learning course, English 1301, in the spring semester of 1985. Thirty-one students were enrolled in this initial offering. By the following year, BUSI 1301 and GOVT 2301 were added to the list of televised courses with a total of 230 students enrolled in televised classes for the 1986-87 academic school year. Enrollments continued to grow, with the student population breaking the 1,000 mark in the 1997-98 school year when 1,016 students enrolled for courses delivered via distance delivery methods.

1998 was a busy year for distance learning at Del Mar College. This marked the year that Del Mar began using the internet and interactive video classes as alternative to telecourses. In fall 1998, a total of nine courses were offered via internet delivery, with 17 additional courses scheduled to open for the spring of 1999. Also in the fall of 1998, approval was granted to offer the Registered Nursing program via interactive video to Coastal Bend College sites in Beeville, Alice , and Kingsville . 1998 also marked the year that Department of Distance Learning began overseeing off-campus college courses to various remote sites across the college district.

Administratively, the Department of Distance Learning was formally placed under the Center for Business and Community Education in June 1998. The Assistant Dean for the Center was at that time given interim responsibility for distance learning. In late August 1998, the Assistant Dean was charged with managing the Distance Learning Department on a permanent basis. In the Fall of 2004 a major shift in emphasis occurred when department responsibility was moved from the Department of Workforce and Economic Development to the Vice President of Instruction, placing core emphasis on teaching effectiveness rather than teaching technology.

The following articles from the Del Mar College Foghorn student newspaper illustrate some of the earliest history of distance learning at Del Mar College. Please note that Adobe Acrobat Reader is required for viewing.