Education online expanding as Southeast widens its Web

COMPUTER STUDIES

SEMO classes on the Web

Fall 1999: 10 classes, 150 students

Spring 2000: 11 classes, 179 students

Summer 2000: 5 classes, 53 students

Fall 2000: 19 classes, 349 students

Spring 2001: 23 classes, 461 students

Summer 2001: 22 classes, 344 students

Fall 2001: 28 classes, 471 students

Spring 2002: 36 classes, 801 students

By Mark Bliss ~ Southeast Missourian

Hope Hendricks doesn't bother to show up for her philosophy class.

She just logs onto her computer while at home or even at work.

Of course, none of her classmates show up either. All are taking the course online through Southeast Missouri State University.

The class is one of 36 being taught entirely online this semester, and university officials and students predict virtual classrooms will become increasingly common.

Southeast began with 10 Web classes with a total enrollment of 150 students in the fall of 1999. Two years later, the number of classes have nearly quadrupled and enrollment has jumped to 801 students, school officials said.

Offerings this semester range from biology to business ethics.

Students say Web classes are convenient. Students can "show up" and do the assignments online when it fits their schedule, whether it be early morning or late at night. They must get their assignments done by the teachers' specified deadlines, but there's flexibility within those time frames.

Mother's schedule

A 35-year-old mother with two sons ages 3 and 4, Hendricks is nine months pregnant and expecting a girl.

She works 32 hours a week in a clerical job in the university's computer science department. She's also taking four classes, including the Web class. She's planning on graduating in December with a criminal justice degree.

Hendricks, who has taken several online courses in recent years, likes learning online.

"It is really good for me," said Hendricks, who lives in Pulaski, Ill., a 45-minute commute one way. "When I go on maternity leave, the class goes with me."

She said the multiple-choice tests she takes online in her philosophy class are graded instantly by computer, allowing her to immediately know how she scored on those tests. Essay responses have to be graded individually by the teacher.

Hendricks said she logs on and does classwork during lulls in her office duties or at home. "I do some of it late at night after the kids have gone to bed," she said.

She and other students do class or group projects through computer bulletin boards that allow them to share their thoughts and ideas with each other. It's the Web version of classroom discussion.

Todd Marchi, a senior from Jackson, Mo., is taking an American government class on the Web this semester, his fourth Web class in the last two years.

Marchi, who also works as a salesman in the construction industry, likes the convenience. "It allows time for me to work during the day."

He plans to take several Web classes this summer as he pursues an industrial management degree.

Marchi said the only drawback is the lack of personal interaction between students and the teacher.

Teaching challlenges

Dr. Judy Wiles, associate professor of marketing at Southeast, said it's challenging to teach online.

"It is a little more tedious in that you have to type everything that you would say in class," said Wiles, who is teaching two business ethics classes online this semester.

"In teaching on the Web, you have to pay much more attention to detail."

But students and teachers say there's learning taking place online.

Wiles believes students have more thorough discussions online than in classrooms where comments are more spontaneous.

Angie Cockrell, a junior from New Athens, Ill., is taking a Missouri government class on the Web. She said the class this semester is only offered online.

Cockrell, who lives in Dearmont residence hall on campus, likes learning online.

"I like not having to go to class," she said. "For me, this is better. I can work at my own pace."

Even so, students still have assignment deadlines. "You have to be quite responsible and know the schedule," Cockrell said.

A Southeast survey indicates many of the Web students live outside the area. Some students are pursuing studies from abroad. One student lives in the Netherlands and another is in Germany.

But most live in the region.

Forty-seven percent of 279 Web students surveyed by the university last year reported they live within 25 to 150 miles of Cape Girardeau. Another 29 percent live in Cape Girardeau. Only 8 percent said they live in campus residence halls.

Dr. Dennis Holt, vice provost at Southeast, teaches the philosophy class that Hendricks is taking and supervises the university's growing online courses.

Holt doesn't envision online classes totally replacing brick-and-mortar campuses. But he said such classes offer a way to extend higher education to students who would find it hard to commute.

Students like Web classes for the convenience, he said. "It doesn't require being in the same place at the same time," he said.

Southeast is gearing up to offer a master's degree in elementary education entirely on the Web in partnership with Central Missouri State University and Northwest Missouri State University.

"What it does is leverage resources because it is very expensive to start a whole master's program online," Holt said.

As for its online offerings in general, Southeast wants to encourage students to take Web classes from home over the summer.

Southeast plans to offer 39 classes online this summer, the most in any semester since the inception of Web classes at the school.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123