TROY – Two administrators from Troy University delivered key addresses to Chinese government and higher education officials in Beijing on distance-learning management.

Dr. Susan Aldridge, vice chancell or f or University College and eCampus, and Dr. Sallie Johnson, dean of distance learning were invited to make their presentations at the first Distance Learning F or um.  About 70 Chinese universities are part of the F or um, Aldridge said.

“ China ’s student population is growing and over 2,000 new universities would need to be built to serve the students who want a college education.   China views distance learning as an opp or tunity to expand educational opp or tunities f or w or king professionals, and f or residents along China ’s eastern seaboard and in the country’s western region,” she said. “Dr. Johnson and I were hon or ed to have been invited to share our experience and insights about Troy University ’s eCampus with the Chinese government and universities.”

About 2.8 million Chinese students take distance-learning courses, and Troy University is recognized internationally as a leader in the field, having pioneered distance learning through eArmyU and the University’s eCampus programs. 

Aldridge said she and Johnson were joined by fellow distance-learning educat or s from Boston University at the Forum, which she hopes to bring to TROY in 2006.

“We have extended an invitation f or the 2006 China-U.S. F or um on Distance Learning to be held at Troy University .  The Chinese government will send a team to Troy to meet with us in September,” she said.  “The U.S. can study the engineering courses with remote control experiments and the language courses designed in China .”

The Forum, initiated by the Higher Education Committee for Distance Learning of the China Association for Educational Technology and the China Youth Centre for International Personnel Exchanges, promotes distance learning in China and serves as a platform to promote cooperation between Chinese education officials and their counterparts in the United States .