Outreach Communications Center
Student Educational Advancement
A Division of Student Affairs
Six Colleges  - One Great University

Studies have shown that access to computers is important for enhancing student entry and academic success in such highly technical fields as science, math and engineering. But access to computer technology is often difficult for students in low-come families and schools - a situation that has been termed "the digital divide."

To help address the problem in San Diego and Imperial counties, the Office of Student Educational Advancement (SEA) at UCSD is exposing students at distant academic locations to comprehensive online instruction in math and science during class and after school. The initiative makes use of computer "web cams" which allow students working from their computer stations at school to simultaneously see, hear and communicate in writing with their UCSD undergraduate math and science tutors located at the university miles away.

SEA first launched its Online Distance Learning Program in the spring of 2001 as a pilot project at Gompers Secondary School, a math and science magnet school in the San Diego Unified School District, in partnership with Cal-SOAP (California Student Outreach and Access Program) and the school district. The program was further fueled by a $30,000 grant from the Verizon Foundation. The project's use of live, interaction with UCSD students, combined with its interactive mathematics software, had a noticeable effect on many Gompers students participating in after-school tutoring sessions conducted under GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs), a federally funded college-prep program administered by SEA with Cal-SOAP.

In the Gompers pilot project, which was successfully concluded in the fall of 2002, many students experienced significant, even dramatic, improvement in academic performance and learning motivation in math and science. This led to the program being later instituted, with the help of federal funding, at two additional sites located more than 45 miles northeast of UCSD: the Pala Library (located on the Pala Indian Reservation) and Pauma Elementary School (located near the Pauma Indian Reservation). In 2003, the web cam program is scheduled to be expanded to Imperial County, more than 100 miles from UCSD.

An integral partner with UCSD in the Online Distance Learning effort is Academic Systems (a Lightspan Company), based in San Diego, which provides the program's highly acclaimed academic software.

"This is a prime example of how universities, business and K-12 schools can collaborate to enhance academic performance in critical areas such as math and science, in addition to motivating students toward college," says Loren Thompson, UCSD Assistant Vice Chancellor of SEA. "Through the online program," he says, "we have seen that students become more engaged and enthusiastic about learning, and teachers and instructors have witnessed significant increases in math and science grades among students."

UCSD tutors (mostly undergraduates majoring in science and math) operate out of SEA's new specially-equipped Outreach Communications Center located on campus in Student Center B, and also often act as mentors to youngsters online, informing them of college life and what is needed to prepare for college admission.