From memory, Cesar Reyes ticks off all the names of South Bay forefather Manuel Dominguez's six daughters, in order of their birth.

The Guatemala native also recites details of the famous land feud between the early-California Dominguez and Sepulveda families.

He has first-hand knowledge of other shapers of the Western frontier such as Lewis and Clark, and he understands the geographic boundaries of the American West.

"I remember seeing 'Little House on the Prairie' and I thought North Dakota was the West," said Reyes, seated in the Hawthorne Senior Center computer lab.

The 57-year old retiree learned this and much more last semester from California State University, Dominguez Hills professors such as Judson Grenier, a long time (now-retired) history professor; Abe C. Ravitz, emeritus professor of English; and Alexander I. Burckin, coordinator of the university's applied studies program.

Reyes' tuition fee for participating in the fall semester course on the American West was exactly zero. Furthermore, he didn't even have to drive to the Carson campus to attend classes.

He simply tuned in to the 14-week series, "The Promise of the American West," which was offered during the fall 2003 semester.

Reyes, along with other students, had the choice of viewing the lectures live over cable television or accessing the class live onliwne in the Hawthorne Senior Center's computer lab. Had he owned a computer at home, he could have joined in the classes online in his pajamas if he wanted to.

Having been turned on by the American West series, Reyes is looking forward to the spring semester class, "The Promise of American Education," which will be broadcast live from CSUDH's television production studio beginning at 1 p.m. Wednesday. The series scheduled for fall will focus on "The Promise of Eastern Europe."

Like Reyes, anyone can benefit -- free of tuition fees -- from professors speaking on these and future topics through the university's OLLIonline program, which is funded by a $100,000 grant from the Bernard Osher Foundation's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI).

CSUDH was named by Fortune magazine as one of the top 10 cyber universities in the country, according to Jim Bouchard, program development specialist with the university's division of extended education.

Though the program originally was aimed at retired people over 50, who are home-bound and unable to drive to university classes, people of all ages and abilities are welcome to participate. However, classes are for general knowledge, not for college credit.

OLLIonline brings people of all physical abilities into the mainstream academic community, almost as if they were attending class in person. During class they not only can call or e-mail the professor with questions or comments, but they can have a discussion with others in a chat room.

If they miss the live lecture, they can access previous topics through archives by visiting the OLLIonline section of the CSUDH Web site. Course topics were selected by members of Redondo Beach-based Omnilore, a learning in retirement organization of about 300 members, affiliated with CSUDH and Elderhostel, Inc.

The spring semester education series will be televised live from 1 to 2 p.m. on Wednesdays, Feb. 11 to May 12, over participating cable stations. Viewers can call in or e-mail questions or comments to professors or join in a cyber/cable discussion in which a moderator reads e-mailed or phoned questions, which the professor addresses live.

The upcoming series, "The Promise of American Education," will be hosted by National Public Radio personality Gene Parrish. Among the topics are: "How are Changing Demographics Changing Education?" "Teaching Music Through Movement," "How Does Partnership Create a Successful High School?" "Charter Schools and Alternative Education," "Is Technology Transforming Education?" "The Courage to Read," "What is a Qualified Teacher?" and "How Do We Get Students Engaged in Learning," among others.

Parrish, a Manhattan Beach resident and a member of Omnilore, will be on live from the campus studio. He will introduce the professors and select some of the more pertinent questions or comments from at-home students' e-mails and phone calls to be introduced for the professor's comments or general discussion.

"This program is experimental -- a work in progress," he said. "We may change the format to make it a little more exciting, possibly an interview format."

The university is aiming to perfect the classes for its growing audience. At present, every time a course is televised from CSUDH, 75,000 to 125,000 viewers are watching in the Los Angeles area. Additionally, 108 community college stations statewide have been carrying the broadcast since the beginning of the fall semester.

The programs can be seen on television channels 36 in Los Angeles, Channel 16 (City View) in Santa Monica and Channel 6 in El Segundo, Gardena, Hawthorne, Lawndale and Torrance. Organizers are working to try to convince cable companies serving the Palos Verdes Peninsula and South Bay beach cities to carry the OLLIonline series of classes.

OLLIonline is just one of the programs CSUDH offers to off-campus students.

The university is a pioneer in what it calls "distance learning," the concept of extending access to university resources beyond its traditional campus to a broad base of constituencies.

In addition, viewers at home can access a variety of distance learning classes offered for credit, including art and biology, by visiting dominguezonline.csudh.edu.