Friday, January 11, 2002

America Online Seeks to Steer Subscribers to Distance-Education Providers By MICHAEL ARNONE America Online, the nation's largest Internet provider, has opened a portal to market distance education to its subscribers. Called AOL Online Campus, the portal connects members to online degree programs and courses offered by the University of Phoenix, Western Governors University, and the University of California Berkeley Extension, as well as several for-profit education companies. "We're going to raise the level of awareness" for online education, said Elizabeth D. Ward, director of the company's Research & Learn channel, where the Online Campus is located. "We're a big fish, and we make waves." Available solely to AOL members, the Online Campus is a Web page with links organized around three different types of courses: accredited degree programs, career-advancement courses, and personal-enrichment courses. Subscriber interest among the three areas is about equal, Ms. Ward said. The participating institutions pay AOL for placement on the Web page. Officials at AOL and the institutions declined to provide details. The largest academic provider for the Online Campus is the University of Phoenix, which announced last October that it would market online courses and degrees through America Online. Members ofAmerica Online have access to bachelor's degrees in business and nursing, and master's degrees in business administration, nursing, and education, said Tony Digiovanni, chief executive officer of the University of Phoenix Online. Subscribers interested in University of Phoenix courses click on a link that takes them to a Web site that mirrors the university's standard site but carries an America Online banner. "We want to give it an AOL look," Mr. Digiovanni said. The partners for the Online Campus complement one another and don't compete with one another, Mr. Digiovanni said. The Public Broadcasting System will offer a GED examination and other services, and Embark, an online college-admissions service, will provide application advice to students. Participants can take noncredit courses for career development and personal enrichment through Barnes & Noble University, a Web site where the bookstore giant offers distance-education courses, and the Private Lessons Channel. America Online created the Online Campus to respond to subscribers' desire to enhance their personal and professional lives through distance education, Ms. Ward said. In a recent poll the company made of its members, 63 percent expressed interest in taking an online course, she said. America Online also hopes that providing access to distance education will encourage more people to subscribe, Ms. Ward said. The Online Campus is intended to complement the AOL@School channel, which provides homework help for K-12 students, said Terry Crane, vice president for information and education products, in a statement. The opening of the portal on December 10 was the culmination of more than a year of effort to get the Online Campus going, Ms. Ward said. She declined to reveal how many America Online members have used the service so far, or how America Online chose the participating institutions and companies. Background articles from The Chronicle: University of Phoenix Markets Its Courses on America Online (10/5/2001) Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

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