York U. Readies Itself for Student Applicant Crunch in 2003...
Technology Enhanced Learning Open House to Showcase $1,000,000 Expansion in Internet, Distance Education

TORONTO, November 9, 1999 -- With an anticipated 33,500 additional high school students seeking opportunities at Ontario universities in 2003, and an increasing number of mature student applicants seeking flexible learning opportunities, York University has invested $1 million to expand and consolidate its Internet-based learning and distance education programs to help offset the burgeoning demand for first-year class spaces.

To demonstrate its preparedness in dealing with this surge in applications and to showcase innovations in Internet-based courses and distance education, York University's Atkinson College will be holding a Technology Enhanced Learning Open House Wed., Nov. 10, 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. The Open House, which will include working Internet course demonstrations and tours of Atkinson College's expanded computer facilities and labs, will commence in the Harry Crowe Room (room 109), Atkinson College, 4700 Keele Street.

"A substantial growth in the 18- to-24 year-old population, increasing rates of participation in university education, changing workplace demands for higher education among working adults, and the enrollment swell anticipated for 2003 -- all these elements have precipitated this growth in what is an academically sound and creative way to teach and learn," said Atkinson College Dean Ron Bordessa.

Said Michael Stevenson, Vice-President (Academic Affairs): "The delivery of courses over the Internet represents a tremendous opportunity for the enhancement of the learning experience. It provides students with greater access to courses and instructors, greater flexibility as to when and where they learn, and unprecedented control over the pace and process of their learning. Internet courses at York have proven to be extremely popular, with the result that students taking Internet courses yield better grades than traditional correspondence courses and achieve as good or better results as in-class lectures," he said.

Some of the Internet courses York University offers through Atkinson College include: Administrative Studies 3480, Introduction to Human Resources Management; English 3100, Healing Fiction: Literature and Medicine; History 2210, History of Canada; Natural Science 1790, Science and the Environment; Nursing 2720, Perspectives on Health Care and Health Promotion; Philosophy 2075, Introduction to Practical Ethics, Psychology 3140, Animal Behaviour; Social Science 3720, Canadian Social Problems.

Internet courses allow students to study in a guided self-study mode at home. Instead of regular classroom attendance, students work through the text and on-line course materials specifically designed for academic self- directed studies. Like students in traditional classrooms, Internet students must submit written work on time and write supervised exams. Their courses are exactly equivalent to those offered via classroom instruction, cover the same subject matter and academic content, and appear on the student's transcript in exactly the same way as other courses.

The $1,000,000 investment to expand technology enhanced learning and distance education infrastructure includes:

four tenure-stream appointments devoted specifically to distance education ($400K)

investments in York's computing server infrastructure with York's technology partner IBM ($250K)

investments in York's software infrastructure with York's technology partner Lotus Canada ($75K)

a re-furbished and state-of-the art Distance Education Computing Support Unit ($75K)

additional technical personnel ($200K)

Atkinson College is also planning to offer its Bachelor of Administrative Studies degree program and Bachelor of Arts degree program (in Public Service Studies) entirely online by the year 2001.

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For more information, please contact:

Prof. Ron Bordessa
Dean, Atkinson College
York University
(416) 736-5220
email: bordessa@yorku.ca

Prof. Suzanne MacDonald
Associate Dean, Atkinson College
York University
(416) 736-5220
email: suzmac@yorku.ca

Ken Turriff
Media Relations Officer
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22086
email: kturriff@yorku.ca
YU/120/99