UIS puts courses online - School's move part of trend to increase class availability

By JASON PISCIA, STAFF WRITER

Becky Morris was on her way to earning a bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois at Springfield last year when she and her husband decided to change careers and move to Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

The switch was bittersweet for the lifelong Decatur resident. She landed a position as an operations manager for a company that makes oil and water pumps for diesel engines. But she really wanted to finish her management degree in her home state.

"Illinois is my home," said Morris, 44, who moved in December to Gladstone, Mich. "I just always wanted my degree from the university."

Thanks to an emerging trend in higher education, Morris can work toward completing her UIS degree - while sitting in front of her personal computer at home.

UIS, like many other colleges and universities throughout the country, is putting its courses online.

From classes in computer ethics to public relations skills, students can complete UIS course work by dialing into the Internet and, in most cases, rarely stepping foot into a classroom.

UIS offered about 15 online classes this spring, including the entire management information systems degree program. The three-campus U of I system as a whole has more than 120 courses on the Internet. And plans are in place to put even more classes online for future semesters.

The burst, officials say, is partly due to making higher education available to everyone, regardless if they live miles from a college.

But colleges and universities also are concerned about potentially losing students to schools that can offer more classes or even entire degrees online.

"This whole movement to deliver online courses has gained momentum because of a sense of competition and defending turf among universities," said Ray Schroeder, director of UIS's Office of Technology Enhanced Learning.

Indeed, Schroeder explained, if someone in Springfield can get a master's degree online from a top-notch institution elsewhere, why even bother driving to UIS to sit in a class?

Some regions have already recognized that competition. In California, for instance, the state has put all of its schools' online courses in one place - a Web site found at http://www.california.edu.

There, potential students can browse through the courses and more than 100 complete certificate and degree programs available online.

It's the basic premise behind the Illinois Virtual Campus, which is currently being developed.

Although the listing of online courses at public and private schools is still a few months from being unveiled, basic information about IVC can be found at http://www.ivc.illinois.edu.

The cooperative Internet program has been approved by the state Board of Higher Education and will be administered from Urbana offices at the University of Illinois.

Several community colleges throughout the state have been enlisted to provide live counseling and technical support for students who opt for Internet learning on the virtual campus.

The local colleges also will allow students without home computers to use terminals on their campuses.

Lincoln Land Community College has been tapped to be one of those partners.

So how does online learning work?

For Morris, who's currently taking two UIS courses, she dials up her class' Web site and downloads a recorded lecture. She then completes assignments, which may consist of researching a topic on the Internet or writing a paper and posting them on a "Web board" - basically a public forum where the teacher and class can read and exchange ideas.

"At first, I was scared to death," Morris said. "I mean, I just didn't know enough about the Internet to do this."

Morris said at this point she won't be able to finish her degree online, but she is hoping the other courses she needs go on the Internet soon.

Online courses also change the face of the traditional college experience - no sitting in a crowded lecture hall or interacting with students face to face.

Critics say the loss of personal contact is one downfall to this phenomenon.

But Schroeder said the student known for hiding in the back of the classroom actually opens up more in an online forum.

"Some of those students do that because they're shy or because, in the case of international students, some of them feel reluctant about speaking in English," he said.

In fact, one of Morris' online courses - Communicating through the Internet - is taught by Schroeder. The two often exchange messages about course work several times throughout the day.

For Jim Cox of Virden, taking online courses to earn a master's degree in computer science is centered more on convenience than geographical limitations.

"It's just a lot more convenient than attending a regularly scheduled class," said Cox, 48, a computer programmer for the state Department of Revenue. "But there are good things about a regular class, like more personal contact with everybody."

Cox said he also enjoys working on assignments at his own pace.

While the courses seem convenient, some instructors have concerns about how to ensure the student, and not a Rhodes scholar-relative, is doing the work.

Lynn Pfannkuche, an English and humanities instructor at LLCC, said she's had few, if any, honesty problems with the online composition class she teaches.

"For experienced teachers, especially those in composition where there's a lot of writing, you have a fairly good grip on who's doing the work," she said.

She said some online teachers opt to make students come to school for written tests to help keep things honest.

Pfannkuche isn't teaching the composition course this semester, but she is spending a lot of time helping other teachers at the college put materials and courses online.

Right now, LLCC offers three courses over the Internet in math, philosophy and office systems technology.

Despite the online craze, Schroeder doesn't think it will ever lead to the demise of the traditional university setting.

"I don't think the institution will go away altogether," he said. "But I think some of that presence will shift to online discussions, chat rooms and Web sites."

For more information about UIS' online class offerings, go to http://www.uis.edu/home/online_courses.htm . For courses within the entire U of I system, point your browser to http://www.online.uillinois.edu . Lincoln Land's Internet courses can be seen at http://www.llcc.cc.il.us/class .

Jason Piscia can be reached at 788-1525 or at jpiscia@sj-r.com

Jason Piscia © Copyright 2001, The State Journal-Register, Springfield, Illinois. Reprinted with Permission.