The President of Ireland, Mary McAleese will officially open the new building of Oscail, the National Distance Education Centre, on the campus of Dublin City University on June 14th in the presence of distinguished guests from Ireland's higher education sector and European distance teaching institutions. This new 5-storey building will enable Oscail to enhance greatly the service and the opportunities that it provides for some 3,500 students nationwide.

Oscail, established in 1982, has a mission to widen access to third level qualifications for Irish adults nationwide regardless of location, previous qualifications and domestic or personal circumstances. This is achieved using distance education courses developed in collaboration with academics from most Irish universities and third level colleges, both from the South and the North. Oscail currently offers programmes of studies in Humanities, Information Technology, Nursing and Management.

Distance Education on the Oscail model allows considerable freedom with regard to time, place and pace of study. Instead of attending lectures or face-to-face training sessions, students study specially prepared course materials written by senior academics and professional experts. A range of media is used, including written course texts, textbooks, videotapes and audiotapes. More recently, the use of technology-based media has grown, with the increased accessibility of the Internet. In addition to the learning media provided, all Oscail students have tutors who provide personal support. Tutors and Oscail's Student Advisory Service ensure that the 'human' aspect of learning is not neglected.

Recognising the financial difficulties experienced by some students, Oscail has in place a supported study scheme to provide some assistance with the costs of courses, books and travel. In fact, Oscail has recently benefited from the Higher Education Authority's Targeted Initiative Fund. This has enabled Oscail to offer additional support and improved service.

The President of DCU, Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski, welcomed the new facility for Oscail on the DCU campus. He paid tribute to past and present staff of Oscail and of DCU in developing the National Distance Education Centre. He also emphasised DCU's commitment to close collaboration with Oscail, other third level institutions, the HEA and the Government in widening access to higher education and ensuring that distance learning is available as widely as possible and with the highest quality standards.

The facilities offered by the new National Distance Education Centre building will assist Oscail in its plans to improve its service to students and the development of new courses. A new course starting this year is an MSc in Internet Systems, which is the first online programme of its kind in Ireland. As Oscail's contribution to the European Year of Languages, it will later this year offer a basic level French course in co-operation with the French National Centre for Distance Education and the Alliance Francaise. Future developments will include graduate programmes in the management of information technology (available from 2002) and an extension of health-related courses for nurses. With the new building Oscail is even better placed to deliver on its aim of 'Bringing University to Life.'

Dominic Martella
Publicity & Promotions
Oscail - The National Distance Education Centre
Dublin City University
Dublin 9
Ireland

Tel: 00 353 1 700 5481
Fax: 00 353 1 700 5494
URL: www.oscail.ie
E-mail: dominic.martella@dcu.ie