Online classes popular on WMU campus

By Daing S. Nasir
Western Herald

Between balancing jobs, school, homework and studying, students may opt to take classes in the virtual world instead of literally walking into a classroom.

With 154 online sections open in the recent spring semester for students to register, some courses ran multiple sections of the same class so that the actual number of individuals per course is lower.

“Academic Technology & Instructional Services (ATIS) has run online classes for approximately eight to nine years and the feedback has been positive. The flexibility of scheduling allows students to plan accordingly within the week as opposed to when they interact with course content, classmates and other students,” said Craig Kaml, interim associate provost for Extended University Programs (EUP.)

Online classes here at WMU also allow students who are geographically removed from the main campus to carry on with their studies while being away from the campus atmosphere.    “Online classes allow me the ability to get on with my studies even when I am out of town or even out of the country,” said Laurel List, a global and internationals studies major, “I will be in Morocco for summer 2 and fall doing study abroad and plan to take the necessary classes online that I need. Plus I also get to learn and maximize my time as a student and be abroad at the same time.”

Online classes are to accommodate students who have work, family, or other obligations that would otherwise prohibit them from attending face-to-face courses on main campus. This may be a good thing for students whose learning styles may not be contusive to lecture style courses.

“Extended University Programs has instructional designers who work with faculty members to create online course materials and courses. Ultimately the faculty members determine the structure of their courses – we [ATIS] provide support services to faculty and students,” Kaml said.

Enrollment in online courses has grown significantly over the past few years, and it appears that online courses enrollment will continue to grow as faculty members are responding to student requests for online opportunities.

Online courses remove visual and auditory social influences that face-to-face courses inherently have. People are empowered to connect on an intellectual level with the superficial interference to the learning process.

“EUP continually works with faculty members to provide quality courses, including faculty development workshops, and working with the Faculty Senate to investigate best practices,” Kaml said.

EUP has an instructional design staff that is available to help students with technical issues. They can email, call or make an appointment (for students within a reasonable driving distance).

Any formal required meeting is at the discretion of the instructor, however, this approach (a hybrid course model) will limit the distance away from Kalamazoo where students will enroll.

EUP does hold orientation sessions at regional sites across Michigan at the instructor’s request. These sessions allow instructional design staff to walk students through the online course
environment. Students can contact the ATIS office directly regarding any technical issues. All academic issues on the other hand need to be discussed with the instructor.

“Online classes are perfect for students wanting to complete their graduation requirements while remaining at home for the summer,” said Kirk Sunderling, ATIS CVIT (Compressed Video Interactive Television) manager.

For some students, this may mean taking an online course or two in the summer to make sure they fulfill the 30-credit requirement and stay on track towards graduation. For more information, students can go to http://www.wmich.edu/edge/.

Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=6119

Posted by HeraldAdmin on May 21 2009. Filed under Campus, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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