ECU to Expand On-line Courses

East Carolina University has signed a contract with a Colorado company to significantly expand the university’s on-line course offerings.

The company, Real Education Inc. of Denver, will help the university make 20 courses available on-line by the beginning of the fall semester of 1999. The $30,000 contract runs for three years.

Real Education is viewed as the leading provider of on-line services to higher education institutions. ECU is the first public university in North Carolina to reach an agreement with the company. ECU already offers several dozen courses on-line, which means that students at virtually any location worldwide can complete the course requirements over the Internet.

Because of the company’s resources, it will be more economical to add the courses with its help than to develop them in-house, officials said. ECU faculty members will provide the content for the on-line courses developed with Real Education and will have complete control over all academic and curriculum matters. The course content will remain the property of the faculty member who develops it.