WCET - the Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications, founded by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education in 1989, is a membership-supported organization open to providers and users of educational telecommunications. Members represent the higher education community, nonprofit organizations, and corporations. WCET’s members span the globe, but most are in the U.S. Collectively, they represent the most innovative thinkers in the use of educational technologies, either on-or-off campus, that can be found anywhere.
WCET responds to its members’ needs by anticipating and directing change. It conceptualizes new institutional frameworks and delivery systems, assesses the potential of new technologies and learning resources, explores the needs of tomorrow’s learners, and proposes appropriate public policy directions. It serves as:
- A premier organization addressing the effective use of telecommunications technology in learning.
- A dynamic clearinghouse of information and expertise.
- A catalyst for creating multicampus, multistate, and international alliances in telecommunicated education.
- An advocate for effective policies and practices supporting distance education.
- An evaluator and researcher on the best uses of educational telecommunications.