(NAPSA)—The next time youre surfing YouTube or similar sites on the World Wide Web for informational video clips to help with a work responsibility, school assignment or home improvement project you may want to give some applause to Dr. Herman DeVry. It was 95 years ago that his portable movie projector technology pioneered the concept of “visual distance learning.” THEN: Ninety-five years ago, Dr. DeVry, a budding motion picture technology engineer in Chicago, unveiled the prototype of his soon-to-be-famous Model E 35mm portable movie projector, or as Dr. DeVry liked to call it, his “Theater in a Suitcase.” For the first time, moving images, whether of foreign societies in motion or step-by-step instruc- tions for complex tasks, could be distributed to student audiences regardless of their location. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, where the projector is part of its Photographic History Collection, called DeVry’s 1912 silent movie projector the most advanced educational-enabling technology of its time. NOW:Today, his legacy continues as DeVry University has grown to becomeoneofthe largest degree-granting higher education systems in North America, with more than 52,000 students enrolled in programs online and on-site at its 88 locations in 25 U.S. states and Canada. Recognition of Dr. DeVry’s portable projector innovation comes during a year when the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA)is celebrating the tremendous growth and accomplishments occurring today in distance learning programs offered by schools, businesses and governmental departments. According to the USDLA, there are currently more than 2.5 million college students taking online courses and/or earning online college degrees, and over 700,000 high school students are taking one or more courses online. For more information, visit www.devry.edu or www.usdla.org.
