Yellowknife (Nov 01/04) - Students in the NWT will soon have the option of taking classes from Alberta teachers.

The territorial Department of Education just finalized an agreement with the Alberta Distance Learning Centre, which will allow NWT students to take one credit online each year at no cost to the student.

"It's fantastic," said Greg Storey, principal of the Diamond Jenness school in Hay River. "It gives us more flexibility."

Small schools with few teachers can't always offer the variety of courses available to students in larger communities. As well, courses are often only offered once every school year, so students who fail a course are forced to wait an entire year to catch up.

"We've always had kids who fell outside, who ended up having to take an extra semester because they couldn't get the courses in time," said Storey, who has 22 teachers for 357 students. "There are definitely limits to what we can offer."

The Alberta Distance Learning Centre, which is part of the Alberta school system, has been offering distance courses since 1921, through the mail until 1997 and over the Internet since that time.

Ralph Helder, director of ADLC, said bringing the service online has led to a better relationship between distance education teachers and students.

"Each teacher has to call their students," he said. "If you don't submit for two weeks, you get a call asking, 'Where's your work?'"

He said the new approach has led to a dramatic increase in ADLC's successful completion rate -- from 47 per cent a few years ago to 79 per cent in 2003.