Colorado University Online

Colorado University Online (CU Online) was one of the first fully accredited online education programmes in the United States, created in 1996 by the University of Colorado - Denver (UC-Denver). CU Online allows students to pursue the same University of Colorado Denver courses and degrees, taught by the same faculty members, as those attended by students on campus.

CU Online is based at the University of Colorado campus in Denver, Colorado, US. It employs two distinct course delivery platforms, eCollege and Blackboard. CU Online presently offers over 350 online courses, with 10 full degree and six certificate programmes. CU Online had 62,033 enrollments from 1996-2006, and 12,455 enrolled for the 2007-2008 academic year. The typical class has about 30 students enrolled. Four out of five full-time faculty members hold PhDs.

The CU Online Web site is at http://www.cudenver.edu/academics/cuonline/Pages/default.aspx

Other Details

CU Online classes involve a strong emphasis on participation in threaded, asynchronous discussions. Courses run in parallel to those offered at the physical Denver campus, and so are not "self-paced." Examinations may be online, “take home” (in which a hard copy is delivered to the university), or proctored at a physical location.

A precedent-setting relationship with the private US firm Real Education, Inc., was established in 1997. The agreement stated that while Real Education would provide online course development and delivery, the university retained "authorship" and therefore the copyright to course materials and content. Other universities worldwide seeking to enter the online course delivery market would subsequently follow CU's lead.

Today CU Online courses may utilise digital media including streaming audio and video; discussion boards and blogs; "multimedia" slide shows; and email.

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