In 1967, Memorial University's Extension Service organized and maintained a learning process entitled FOGO, named after Fogo Island and based on community use of videotaping local experiences. Over a short time, it became a valuable tool for rural and semi-rural community development in Newfoundland.
In 1969, Memorial University's Extension Service expanded its course offerings because ninety-nine per cent of its courses addressed teachers as the major group of students. Each off-campus centre with at least fifteen students registered had a part-time local co-ordinator. They acted as registrars, collectors of fees, comptrollers, librarians, bookstore managers and liaisons between instructors and students. The program at Memorial U, which initially was famous for the use of slow scan video to provide a consulting service to doctors in remote communities, eventually led to the development of an extensive number of audio-conferencing and more recently video-conferencing sites throughout the island.