Old Dominion University/Teletechnet

I'm sure I'm not the only fan of this board who has taken a course at Virginia's Old Dominion University via distance, but haven't come across any comments about ODU's teletech format (televised classes broadcase to community colleges in Virginia).

I am really enjoying my first semester doing a web-based course with ODU, and would like to see the school offer more online course availability. So far, 90% of the courses are not set up like that in my major (psychology). It may be coming in the future, but they aren't making any promises!

Anyone out there care to comment about classroom versus web format courses? Does the teletech format have advantages over studying by yourself at home in your PJ's?

 

I started one course through ODU’s TELETECHNET in January 2005. I didn’t feel as though the professor was well prepared nor that he was going to keep his students well informed. I felt as though I was going to be left high and dry so I dropped the course after the first class.

I did actually take a course through ODU’s TELETECHNET this past summer. I had been admitted to one of their PhD programs in March 2005 and I decided to give ODU another chance.

The classroom aspect was nice but the professor was not a good teacher at all and I feel as though he did a poor job of keeping his students (other than those students on site) informed. One of my exams took three weeks to reach the professor and another three weeks for me to get it back. In the meantime my professor never informed me of my grade or that he had ever received the exam. I took the final exam mid-August and have yet to hear from the university. I could ask for my grade but, at this point, I could really care less.

Also, the book that the professor chose for the course was worthless. He used other references to make up the course so there was no way to follow along or study anything other than his lectures and PowerPoint presentations for the class which were atrocious.

One good aspect of the course was with the delivery method. ODU seem to have one problem after another with delivering the course live via VTC to my local TELETECHNET site. So they decided to broadcast the course via satellite to my site but it never worked for more than 15 minutes when it did work. It would end up switching to another class after 15 minutes. Also, since I was the only student in the class that didn’t have a VTC connection, the broadcast was only one way (i.e. I couldn’t talk with the professor or the class real-time). ODU found a solution to my problem. They set up a special link for me to view the classes via video streaming. Still no real-time communication, but it was better than nothing. Of course, not having a high-speed connection at home, I had to use my local library’s WAN connection to view the classes.

Nonetheless, after the summer semester, I did not return to ODU for anymore courses.

Hopefully your experience with them is much better.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience - not surprising, really.

I get the impression that DL is still in its infancy at ODU, despite the blurb on their website about their being one of the longest providers of DL coursework in the USA. Probably, as many schools, we'll see more course offerings and better formats as time goes on.

Best of luck to you, in any case.

 

One of my current coworkers and former graduate program professors had told me that the ODU TELETECHNET system isn’t all it’s cracked up to be when I went to ask him for a letter of recommendation for the ODU PhD program. I guess I should have listened.

I really like having “taught” classes even if they are viewed on DVDs or by video streaming but IMHO ODU’s DL program leaves a lot to be desired. If ODU can get their DL program act together, they will be a formidable force in the DL market.

 

I agree! Tuition is like $177. / credit hour in-state. They have a full complement of courses but just don't offer them around the state. I am finding myself signing up for the one or two courses in my major that are currently offered, taking a wait and see approach to final school of residency.

I also heard some negative feedback about "teletechnet" from the Dean of a competing public U. in Virginia so I considered it a biased comment. Unfortunately, your story sounds like what I heard and don't want to experience.

On the other hand, I have noticed full classes at our local cc site for day-time broadcasts. It must work for some folks!

 

Tell me about it…

Doctoral level courses at $915 a class (TELETECHNET USA RATE) [and I am out of state]...unheard of!

 

That comment from the competing public university is nothing but unwarranted bias. Teletechnet does work for many people, the center here in Loudoun (right by the NVCC campus I attended) is very well organized and has a decently large student base.

ODU is a very well respected university in Virginia, so a degree from them is RA (and probably professionally accredited in whatever area you chose) and will garner positive name recognition.

 

^Bump!^