What Is Distance Ed?

The Fort Berthold Indian Reservation lies in the north western corner of North Dakota. Fort Berthold is the home of the Three Affiliated Tribes which are comprised of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara tribes. Historically the people of the Three Affiliated Tribes developed their agrarian towns & communities along the bluff's, flats, and cottonwood groves of the Missouri River for protection from the winter elements and access to the rich bottomlands. After the creation of the Garrison Dam in the 1950's and the flooding of their communities, the people of the Three Affiliated Tribes were forced to move up onto the plains into new communities now separated by the Garrison Reservoir (Lake Sakakawea). The Fort Berthold Community College (FBCC) created in 1973 and located in New Town developed an infrastructure of satellite campuses in Mandaree, Twin Buttes, and White Shield to bridge the barriers of distance and provide higher education reservation wide. Instructors often had to travel anywhere up to 328 miles round trip to teach at these satellite campuses. Many students had to travel to the main campus to get the courses they needed to graduate.

With the acquisition of videoconferencing & Online technologies FBCC saw the area of Distance Education explode with innovation, collaboration, and service to the student. Collaborations with the North Dakota Interactive Video Network (NDIVN) & North Dakota Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network (BRIN) brought students together from across the state. FBCC is also a member of the North Dakota Association of Tribal Colleges which allows FBCC to share Online courses with other ND tribal colleges.

A new component of FBCC Distance Education is the Blackboard Learning System which provides the ability to offer totally Online, Webflex/Hybrid, and Web-Enhanced/Augmented courses here at FBCC. FBCC has made the commitment to become competitive within the field to provide the tribal college student of the 21st century with what he/she demands and meet the demands of FBCC's mission.