| Telecourses
What are
Telecourses?
 A telecourse uses television (or
video-taped) programs to deliver the "lecture" portion of the
course. The number of television programs varies from course to
course, but each is generally about a half-hour in length.
Delivery of the television program today is primarily through
videotapes. Except for the difference in presentation and
delivery, the telecourse is very similar to and meets the same course
outcomes as its classroom-based version of the same course.
Benefits of
Telecourses
The student can view the television program at his or her
convenience rather than attending class at a specific days and times.
Telecourses at KCC
At Kellogg Community College, students can enroll at anytime in the
semester and take 20 weeks to complete the telecourse.
If
faculty are interested in teaching a telecourse, first talk with the
department chair or director about the opportunity. Faculty can
contact the Director of Learning
Technologies (x2378) to help research what telecourse materials might
be available for particular courses.
History of
Telecourses
Though some colleges create their own telecourses by taping their
instructors in the classroom and other course related sites, most
colleges use television programs created by PBS Adult Learning Service,
Dallas Community College. These professionally produced television
programs have ancillary materials such as faculty manuals, student study
guides, and test banks. The student study guides mesh the
television programs with the textbook for the course.
When telecourses first
became popular with faculty and students in the early 1980s, the primary
mode of delivery was via a local PBS television station. Each week
the television station would broadcast the television programs that the
instructor thought appropriate for that week of the semester.
Usually each program was shown more than once to allow for variable
viewing opportunities of students (and some students could afford
videocassette recorders to give them even more flexibility).
Eventually PBS television stations had more options for programming and
telecourses moved to the public access or college channels on the newly
installed cable television systems. Telecourse publishers have in
the last few years permitted wider distribution of the television
programs on videotapes, either through checkout from libraries or rental
from commercial companies. Delivery of the television program
today is primarily through videotapes.
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Last updated
July 08, 2004
learntec@kellogg.edu
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