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MANKATO, Minn. (AP) ― Crista Browne-Krosch teaches American Sign Language and has her fingers full with a complicated lesson on signing the days of the month when she encounters a problem.

Nothing major, but one of her students is not using the correct technique. Given that this is an upper-level ASL class, there is no talking -- which presents its own peculiar classroom challenges -- so Browne-Krosch uses her hands to stop class.

Turning her back to the classroom, Browne-Krosch demonstrates the correct technique. The guilty student adjusts quickly and class moves on.

Minutes later, the lesson ends with Browne-Krosch smiling and motioning as if cracking her knuckles. The students share in the moment of a job well done and Browne-Krosch is satisfied she's navigated another of those intimate classroom challenges teachers face every day.

She then reminds her pupils of the next day's homework, disconnects the video link and powers down the Smartboard in her small office at the South Central Service Cooperative building in North Mankato. Some 55 miles away at Granada-Huntley-East Chain High School, her half-dozen students shuffle to their next destination.

"This is a culture we know is coming quickly," said Glenn Morris, director of technology and applied academics at the South Central Service Cooperative. "Twenty years ago, it was just about distance. But now, it's about remaining competitive."

The term is "distance learning" and it encompasses just about any class in which the teacher is not physically in the classroom. Distance-learning courses include interactive-TV classes -- where classrooms at several locations are linked through video feed -- and online courses in which students attend virtual class through a computer.

In this area, Project SOCRATES is responsible for most distance-learning opportunities. With South Central Service Cooperative as its fiscal agent, SOCRATES provides telecommunications support and video connectivity to about 30 school districts, 34 public libraries and several cooperatives and service agencies.

This year, SOCRATES is offering 35 video classrooms to school districts with class offerings ranging from agriculture and Chinese to higher-level courses in the core disciplines.

"These classes are really crucial for school districts," said Dave Henning, SOCRATES E-learning manager, "especially some of the smaller ones in the region who don't have enough students to fill an entire class or have lost electives because of budget cuts."

Take Mandarin Chinese, for instance. As awareness of the cultural and economic superpower grows in classrooms, so too does interest in its language. Finding a teacher, however, poses a significant challenge.

So when Chinese professor Bai Bing came to Nicollet High School on a grant program, SOCRATES was able to secure her as an instructor for an interactive-TV course. Nineteen students signed up, making it one of SOCRATES' most popular offerings.

There's also High-Step, a job exploration program in the health science field that includes internship and certification opportunities. Like Chinese, a certified teacher with the proper expertise is a difficult find. So SOCRATES hired a single teacher to teach High-Step through interactive TV. The response was overwhelming with about 70 students from several high schools enrolling.

"Otherwise, we couldn't offer this course," said Alan Fitterer, principal of Montgomery-Lonsdale High School. "And as public educators, we have to stay on the cutting edge or we'll get passed by."

According to a study released this month by the Sloan Consortium, which researches distance learning in higher education, more than 20 percent of all post-secondary students are enrolled in at least one online course -- double the percentage from just five years ago. But Fitterer said in addition to preparing students for college realities, high schools also have to prepare for competition among themselves.

Fitterer said that he is ever-mindful of the fact Montgomery-Lonsdale is in a constant enrollment battle with nearby school districts such as Northfield and New Prague. Distance learning, he said, offers a way to augment programming as well as balance budget cuts that almost always affect staff and elective offerings.

"We have to always be looking for ways to keep students here," Fitterer said. "And hopefully draw more."

Questions remain, however, about the effectiveness of distance learning. Browne-Krosch, who teaches five interactive-TV sign language courses, said it's harder to build personal bonds with students. Other educators worry about knowledge retention and skills testing.

John Trnka and Ashlea Pan are Montgomery-Lonsdale students enrolled in High-Step. Both said the interactive-TV setting took some getting used to, but they also said very little is lost in translation.

"I don't see much difference," said Trnka, a senior considering a pharmaceutical career. "I mean, the teacher can still yell at you through the TV."

Pan, who is a junior and took High-Step to get a closer look at OB nursing, said technical glitches are rare and that class, for the most part, operates much the same as in traditional classrooms.

"I don't even notice it anymore," Pan said. "I absolutely love this class because it's given me a chance to see what's out there and see a little bit behind the scenes."

Dale Ericson, video services manager, said SOCRATES' services are always expanding and evolving.

For High-Step students, Ericson coordinated a live autopsy last year and a knee replacement surgery this year. Recently he coordinated a video conference with the University of Guam on cochlear implants. And he's already expanding conferencing capability to teachers and administrators who want to link with experts and guest speakers.

But, Ericson said, the possibilities don't end there.

"If a school makes a request or wants something offered, we'll try to put something together," Ericson said. "We're always finding more and more need."

(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)