FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 29, 2002
CONTACT: SID GAULDEN, 803-896-8755
SCDPS CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACADEMY UNVEILS DISTANCE LEARNING CLASSROOMS IN COLUMBIA, MYRTLE BEACH
COLUMBIA – The South Carolina Department of Public Safety’s Criminal Justice Academy Division today unveiled its new interactive Distance Learning Training Program classrooms at its main campus in Columbia and its satellite campus at Horry-Georgetown Technical College in Myrtle Beach.
The Distance Learning Training Program uses an Internet protocol infrastructure that permits video broadcasting/conferencing among multiple training sites. The newly installed technology permits one instructor to simultaneously teach students on-site as well as in multiple regional classrooms. Students in the remote location(s) can see and communicate with the instructor and the students in the main classroom as well as view any audio-visual instructional materials used by the instructor.
“CJA has an ongoing responsibility to develop training programs, provide resources and establish a network of delivery systems that meet the training needs of South Carolina’s law enforcement community,” said DPS Director B. Boykin Rose. “The new interactive training provided by the Distance Learning Training Program is an excellent example of CJA’s innovative ideas for fulfilling its mission.”
“Our new Distance Learning Training Program is a win-win situation for CJA and for local law enforcement agencies,” said CJA Deputy Director Bill Neill. “Our training volume increases because one instructor can teach multiple classes at the same time and local law enforcement agencies with limited budgets save money because their officers can be trained close to home instead of in Columbia.”
The Distance Learning Training Program is funded through a Drug Control System Improvement Program grant. The Columbia and Myrtle Beach classrooms are the first ones outfitted with the new Distance Learning technology. CJA plans to expand to two more sites in the next several months, with an additional five sites being pursued through a third year grant proposal to be submitted in January 2003. Two videoconferencing trainings, initiated out of the Columbia site, have been conducted so far, with a third one planned for Nov. 12.
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