Distance Learning, Live From St. Croix

Many online courses were designed to reach students in relatively remote locations, but some professors have found that distance education lets them teach from far-flung locales, too. Sarah Nordin, an instructor at Solano Community College, in California, will lead an online criminal-justice course this summer—while she and her husband spend time in St. Croix.

At the community college, and at many other institutions, online classes have become popular with military personnel deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.