Distance Learning Proves Popular with Students
- By Linda L. Briggs
- 10/17/05
Melissa Grill is exactly the sort of student who benefits when colleges and
universities put together solid distance learning programs. Grill, returning
to school for a graduate degree while working full-time, took 12 courses from
Capitol College over two years to earn her graduate degree in information telecommunications
systems management, all via a broadband connection from home.
Grill lives in North Carolina; Capitol College is a small, independent college
in Laurel, Maryland, focused on engineering, computer sciences, information
technologies and business. More than half its students continue to work fulltime
while earning an undergraduate or graduate degree.
Since 2002, Capitol has offered online learning solutions using Centra Software,
which provides software and services for online learning and training. Using
Centra, Capitol now offers all its graduate programs as e-learning courses rather
than through a classroom, and is now starting to offer undergraduate sessions
as well.
Grill’s accelerated eight-week courses were in the evenings, so she avoided
having to drive to class after work. Instead, she logged on through her home
broadband connection to listen to lectures, view interactive PowerPoint slides,
ask questions verbally by pressing a key on the keyboard, chat with classmates
through a text function, and give presentations to the class. Online exams were
administered using another product, the Blackboard Learning System. “We
had students from Cuba to Hawaii to California,” Grill says. “It
was a wonderful experience. I graduated June 25… I’m considering
going back because I liked it so much.”
Among the advantages, Grill said, was the ability to replay taped sessions
of her class presentations, to critique her own performance.
Capitol College began moving some of its graduate courses to Centra Software
two years ago, after trying other online learning software. They quickly discovered,
according to Dianne Veenstra, Capitol’s vice president of planning and
assessment, , that students chose the online classes. “It was a natural
progression,” she says. “Students found [online] learning equal
to the classroom setting, with the convenience of no commute.”
Another benefit of Capitol’s the extensive e-learning offerings: Instructors,
many of whom are part-time as well, enjoy teaching without having to commute.
“It’s opened up opportunities for recruiting nationally known professionals,”
Veenstra says. “We have an amazing network security faculty, for example.”
Are the online offerings drawing new students? “Absolutely,” she
says. “The combination of online programs and a unique delivery system
is opening up new markets for us.”
The experience works well for students because it mirrors a classroom experience
in many ways, according to Danielle Faison, director of online support at Capitol.
She says training in using the software takes perhaps an hour—although
Capitol students are admittedly generally already technically savvy. Students
have ready access to peers, classrooms and professors, Faison says, as well
as the ability to listen to lecture recordings again after the fact.
The synchronous communication mode that Centra uses is perhaps one of its strongest
points. Students listening to a lecture can click an icon at any point to raise
a hand, be called on, then verbally ask a question that everyone can hear. Other
students can indicate confusion with the same area by checking a box at the
same time. “You don’t get that with other online environments,”
Faison says.
Capitol has developed all of its own online courses, Veenstra says. The process
takes about a year, six months for the professor to develop the online course,
and another six months to fine-tune it for online use. “We’ve tried
to mirror the on-campus environment. We find that students bond with each other,
ask questions, work on projects together, and learn through their peers.”
With its graduate program firmly in place, Capitol offered an undergraduate
program
this summer that combined online and face-to-face sessions in advanced junior
level math course, alternating weekly between Laurel and the school’s
satellite campus in Southern Maryland. “That went very well,” Veenstra
says. “We can serve three markets that way”—students in either
of the two areas, and online learners. This semester, Capitol is offering two
more undergraduate courses online.
Because Capitol’s students are often fulltime professionals, Veenstra
says, the backend systems need to be transparent and easy to learn. “They’re
busy people. We have to make it as simple as possible for them—they don’t
have time to fool around.” Training on Centra, Faison says, takes about
an hour for students, slightly more for faculty.
Meanwhile, schools considering boosting their online learning programs might
consider Grill’s feedback. She now plans to enroll in the school’s
business administration program. “I just enjoyed the [distance learning]
experience so much—I could be a lifelong student. It’s so much more
relaxing to me. I don’t feel like I miss anything. I call the instructors
a lot. They call me back, spend a lot of time on email. Great access, great
responses. It’s just a great learning tool.”