LINCOLN, NEB ? An education revolution is happening across Nebraska, and it rarely involves a classroom.

Distance education classes, frequently accessed via a personal computer at home, are becoming more widely available and popular.

An ever-growing familiarity with computers is helping to fuel the increase, said David Powers, executive director of the Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education.

The biggest boom as tracked in the commission’s annual report on distance learning was seen in classes that strictly involved interaction with a computer, particularly over the Internet.

“The emerging technologies are letting this be a real revolution,” Powers said.

Courses where students have no direct contact with an instructor increased 72 percent, from 699 in 2001 to 1,200 in 2002. Those courses have increased almost four times from the 317 offered in 1999-2000.

Roger Wess, a professor of education at Chadron State College, said last semester he offered four classes via distance learning either over the Internet or via two-way audio and video.

The distance learning option helps bring the classes to students who are limited in how far they can travel to take a class, Wess said.

Chadron State offers 34 classes entirely online with hundreds of others that have some element of the class taught over the Internet.

Class offerings through the Internet will only increase, predicted Dennis Tyson, who coordinates the distance learning program through Central Community College in Grand Island.

“I don’t think it will ever replace the college campus, but it is a good tool,” he said.

The Coordinating Commission’s annual report found that more than 58,600 students took distance learning classes last year, including about 5,300 high schoolers. The number of high school students taking classes was up 30 percent over the previous year.

The report tracks activity at the University of Nebraska, Chadron, Wayne and Peru state colleges and at community colleges.

Distance learning includes classes taken by students at a remote location with an instructor present, classes taught via video link, and those available over the Internet or with compact discs that involve no instructor presence.