EPC Spotlights the Texas State Technical College Waco 
Submitted by Lacy Orpin, TSTC

Texas State Technical College Waco has been "doing" distance learning since 1996. The TSTC Distance Learning Department’s courses are designed to offer students with conflicting work schedules and lifestyles more flexibility in planning a course load which they can complete in their own homes and within their schedules. Below is a closer look at the areas that TSTC has placed emphasis on in creating a successful distance learning program.

In keeping with its mission of providing students with a quality education, TSTC offers two degree programs completely online and offers approximately 70 class sections to 750 - 1,000 students each semester.

From a Student’s View
Because TSTC distance courses are aimed at flexibility for TSTC students, the instructor’s are an integral ingredient. Each TSTC instructor developing or teaching an online class is required to attend the college's OnLine Academy. The academy is an online professional development class teaching online pedagogy. And, it is taught online, giving the instructors the experience of being an online student.

System Effort
As a leader in technical education, TSTC also prides itself in maintaining that effort in the distance learning program. In helping to provide the most up to date advancements in distance learning, the TSTC System recently purchased WebCT Vista for all of its colleges. According to the WebCT Vista web site, WebCT Vista is the industry's premier Academic Enterprise System (AES) and is specifically built to address the mission-critical challenges of enterprise-scale deployment. WebCT Vista provides a state-of-the-art teaching and learning environment that streamlines course management for faculty, offers capabilities to help improve student outcomes, and creates powerful efficiencies institution-wide.

Setting Goals
It is TSTC Waco's goal for every class, whether distance learning or not, to have a web presence starting in the fall of 2007. Web presence would mean a minimum of an online syllabus, and an online grade book and class calendar. Because of the college's hands-on philosophy of instruction, not every class lends itself to complete delivery via distance learning. The college is encouraging the development of hybrid classes where lectures would be delivered online and students would attend lab work in person. This would also lend itself to more flexible scheduling where students could "attend" lectures online during the week and then come to campus on the weekend for lab work. The college receives numerous calls from outside the area from students who really want to attend TSTC, but can't move to Waco and give up their jobs.

Something to Think About
Imagine as a student being able to go back and experience a particular lecture all over again, in the comfort of your own home, at your convenience, as many times as you want. TSTC recently signed an agreement with Tegrity to use their technology to digitally record lectures and synchronize them with power points, graphics, software, and students’ digital notes. The technology provides pod casting and allows students to access their lecture 24 hours a day and seven days a week from anywhere they have internet access. It is an incredible learning tool that is being driven by demand.

Distance Learning on Campus
There is little doubt at this point that the technologies being employed for the distance students are also improving the quality of education for the on-campus students. Using conference-based systems for regular face-to-face classes makes a significant improvement in the learning process if the instructor has the right training and skills to employ the technology.

Integrating distance learning students into regular classes is also a way for TSTC to be able to support small numbers of distance students who are interested in specialized electives without large student classes. The technology may very well make more diverse course offerings economically feasible. 

Less Lecture Time
Another option that is also feasible is that some courses can get along with fewer hours of lecture during the week, given the sizable online discussion and assignment activities in the conferencing environment. Lecture time can be less because many of the discussions can now be done online. With the merger of the two, the time normally utilized for in class discussion can be reallocated to online discussions, to actually reduce the hours physically in a class. 

Opportunities Increasing
Ultimately, TSTC’s three-semester system provides an extremely desirable opportunity for distance learning courses. In our ever changing environment where a majority of students are working full-time and/or have families, the concept of three equal semesters a year has many desirable qualities.

TSTC’s Continued Improvement
TSTC is constantly looking for ways to improve tracking and measurement systems that truly track performance type measures such as throughout times for degrees and more comparative information about student performance correlated with types of instructional delivery and programs. This information is used to improve the quality of the experience for the student.

Quality Education … Anytime, Anywhere
Texas State Technical College students will become intelligent consumers and will seek information by which to evaluate their perspective purchases of courses and programs. Because students have many options when choosing their educational future, TSTC has adopted the motto of making its quality education accessible “Anytime and From Anywhere.”

For more information, visit the TSTC's website at http://www.waco.tstc.edu/ .