Florida Colleges Offer New Distance Learning Options

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- New technology at Florida community colleges will provide distance-learning courses for students and continuing education for faculty and staff.

The Florida Community College Distance Learning Consortium, which represents 28 community colleges and more than 800,000 students, signed a three-year contract with e-learning provider Element K for custom continuing education courses and blended online learning solutions.

Colleges throughout the system can use the new technology to give students access to self-study courses, which can be combined with traditional classroom instruction. Miami Dade Community College, the largest community college in the United States, has developed an entire course around such a blended solution. Furthermore, Element K has developed customized continuing education sites for 19 of the district's campuses.

We recognize that IT training is critical to the state of Florida moving forward in the education and economic sectors, and we're pleased to help meet these needs through our community colleges and continuing education programs, said Susie Henderson, associate executive director of the Florida Community College Distance Learning Consortium. Element K reached out to identify the consortium's unique needs and met them through a cost-effective package combining superior customer service and curriculum.