How to Offer a Telecourse

1. Decide which courses will best fit the needs of your students and curricula.

2. Preview course and material by calling (410) 581-4185 or by emailing coa@mpt.org.

3. Approve the selected telecourses with you curriculum committee.

4. Assign a course title, course number and credits to be listed in the college's class schedule.

5. Contact Maryland Public Television via our Web site http://www.mpt.org/, by email, or by calling Christina Bildstein at (410) 581-4185, to request a license and set of master tapes to dub.

6. Decide how the telecourse will be made available: Broadcast/Cablecast or Videocassette.

Broadcast or Cablecast: Video programs reach students through a public or local broadcast, cablecast or instructional television fixed service.

• MPT Broadcast: MPT broadcasts selected courses, based on the needs of the schools. Courses are selected for broadcast one year in advance to enable colleges to decide the best way to offer the courses they have selected.
  
  
• Cable Broadcast: Many colleges opt to air selected courses over local broadcasting services. MPT maintains a tape library of master tapes for the telecourses. Colleges request the master tapes from MPT and then proceed to have dubs made from the master tapes for broadcast. The colleges are asked to immediately return the tapes to MPT to make them available to other Consortium members as needed.

Videocassette: Colleges that expect low enrollments or who are unable to acquire cable or broadcast delivery may still have the option to offer the courses as "College By Cassette." The course tapes would be made available to the students by the colleges to view on video cassettes.

7. Order Course Material: MPT will facilitate the ordering of faculty guides and Test banks for the courses licensed through College of the Air. Prior to each semester, MPT will post an updated book list, detailing the text books the distributors recommend for use with each telecourse. The individual college bookstores are responsible for the ordering and stocking of course text books.

8. Tape programs to make copies for use in libraries, and learning centers so enrolled students have access to videos for make-up or review.