Dispatches From Distance Education, Where Class Is Always in Session
Seven students discuss how they learn - and live - through a regimen of online courses
By JEFFREY R. YOUNG
Yes, when you take a university course online, you can go to class in your underwear.
But that doesn't mean the courses are comfortable or easy, according to seven online students interviewed by The Chronicle. The students, who are taking courses from colleges and universities across the country, were asked to describe their experiences. The common refrain was that this new mode of education takes more time and requires more reading than they had bargained for.
"You don't realize how much is involved until you get into it," says Chuck Kurfman, a 33-year-old youth pastor in Jerseyville, Ill., who is taking two online courses from the University of Illinois at Springfield to finish his bachelor's degree. "With this kind of class, there are things you could do every day. It's almost worse than going to class every week."
Traditional college students are familiar with the feeling that they should be working on this paper or studying for that test. Distance-education students talk of yet another source of nagging guilt - that they should be logging on to their courses' Web pages more often. Though every online course is different, just as every traditional college course is different, most have some form of online discussion area where students are encouraged or required to post their ideas about assigned topics. And because students can log on anytime, class is always in session.
"If you don't log on a couple of times a week, you're going to be left behind," says Kelly Crawford, a single mother in St. Alban's, Vt., who is taking three online courses offered by Champlain College.
The seven students, selected because they are doing well in online programs, are the kind of people that distance-education administrators dream about - too busy or too remotely located to attend traditional classes, but determined to do what it takes to get a degree. Not all online students are so intent on succeeding, as evidenced by studies that show unusually high dropout rates for distance-education students (The Chronicle, February 11). But the students interviewed for this article agree that the benefits of online education far outweigh the drawbacks.
Getting started
Mr. Kurfman says his online courses began much as regular courses would, with introductions. Each student was asked to write a short autobiography and e-mail it to his classmates. Mr. Kurfman told of his job as a youth pastor, and added that he is a communications major.
"I am looking forward to this class," he wrote. "Hopefully I'll be able to be 'online' at the right times!"
He ordered books for his courses via the Internet, from barnesandnoble.com. But the shipment was delayed by a week because of snowstorms, he says. "That put me a little behind."
Ms. Crawford, who is taking two courses on Champlain's campus in addition to the three she is taking online, says she drove the 30 miles to the college to sign up for all of her courses, and bought books at the campus bookstore. The college later e-mailed her information about how to connect to the virtual courses.
Patti Sallee, a manager at a public library in Paducah, Ky., says she got a package in the mail soon after enrolling in an online library-science course offered by Kentucky Commonwealth Virtual University. The package contained a syllabus and introductory materials that explained how to log on to the Web site for the course.
Many of the students said they were excited to be back in college. "It's something that I've talked about for years," says Karen L. Nelson, a clerical supervisor at a mental-health agency who lives in West Branch, Mich. She is taking two courses from Michigan Virtual University - an introduction to philosophy and an introduction to Microsoft office. Her daughter just graduated from Central Michigan University, and Ms. Nelson felt that distance education would be a convenient way to finish her own bachelor's degree. "I just decided it's now or never," she says.
Developing a routine
Even though online students can log on anytime they want, the seven students say they've developed a regular schedule for working on their courses.
Alicia LePard, who calls herself a "late owl," does most of her course work at night. "I'm quite brilliant at 3 a.m.," she says with a laugh. Ms. LePard, a nurse who lives in Gillette, Wyo., is taking four graduate-level nursing courses from New York's Regent College. She talks about perfecting the art of taking courses online - she's been doing it through Regents since 1990.
"My typical school day usually varies, depending on my schedule," she says, "but I could spend three to four hours on the course Web sites just looking at what other students have posted, making my replies to their postings, or just searching, looking for information."
Joe Traut works on his online courses at night, after he and his wife, Jane, have put their four children to bed. The Trauts, who live in Tulsa, Okla., and work full time, decided to go back to college together, and are taking courses from the University of Phoenix to earn business degrees. They're often up until midnight reading, working on papers, and participating in online discussions. That doesn't leave Mr. Traut time for sleep; he has to get up at 4 a.m. to head to his job as a manager for United Parcel Service.
Ms. Crawford, in Vermont, says she generally logs on in the morning, just after sending her 7-year-old son off to school. Her computer is in the kitchen of her two-bedroom home. On a recent Monday morning she fixed breakfast - yes, in her pajamas - while waiting for her computer printer to make a hard copy of the week's lecture notes from a course Web site. Her plan for the morning was to read the notes and the assigned textbook chapter. Later she would be off to one of her part-time jobs, teaching a cardio-kickboxing class at a local gym.
Ms. Sallee, in Paducah, doesn't have a computer at home, so she keeps up with her courses at the library where she works. She often arrives a half-hour early to log on to her course Web page and check for school-related e-mail. Then she'll stay after work for an hour or two, doing her assignments and participating in discussions. She's not alone. Eight of her co-workers are also taking various online courses, and they all talk and share their experiences.
Communicating online
What these distance-education students say is missing from their virtual courses is instant feedback from a professor. "You can't just raise your hand and ask a question," says Lisa L. Lindsey, who lives in Woodlands, Tex., and is taking an art-history course from Montgomery College, part of the North Harris Montgomery Community College District.
Mr. Traut remembers the night that he and some other students gathered in the virtual chat room for their course, frantically trying to figure out what the professor meant by the question he had posed.
"You can wait days to get a response, and by then you've moved on to something else," Ms. Nelson says of one of her courses.
Some faculty members, however, take pains to make themselves available to their online students.
One of Mr. Kurfman's professors encourages students to contact him anytime during the day via instant-messaging software, which allows users to type messages back and forth in real time. Mr. Kurfman hasn't tried that yet, but he has talked to the professor by phone a few times with questions about assignments or course material.
Though most of the students have not laid eyes on their professors or their classmates, many say they've developed close friendships online. After all, the students regularly e-mail messages as well. "There are two people I've never met who I consider to best friends through these classes," says Ms. LePard.
Ms. Crawford thinks of one of her online professors as a mentor. She is working to start her own business, and says the professor is helping her to write a business plan.
Testing
Students say they find exams a logistical challenge. Some colleges are struggling to make sure that students don't cheat or have someone else take online tests for them.
Last semester, when Ms. Nelson took her first online course, she was surprised to learn that she would have to show up in person to take the tests. She drove 60 miles to a testing center at the nearest community college several times during the course. There, several students were taking tests for various courses at Michigan Virtual University. She told the proctor what course she was taking, and he handed her the test that she needed.
"That wasn't something that really thrilled me," she says. "I just assumed, 'It's an online course, so you do it through distance education.'"
This semester, she is taking her tests over the Web, using a password. "Now I know, if I sign up for a class, to find out how their testing is handled," she says.
Ms. Crawford says Champlain simply reminds students of its academic-honesty code when it's time for a test. Some of her exams have been multiple-choice tests given on Web pages, and some have been essays that she could e-mail back when she was finished with them.
Several of the students say taking a course online feels different than it does in the classroom.
Reflecting on the experience
"I have to teach myself, literally, everything," says Ms. LePard, in Wyoming. "They provide me with the tools and the feedback, but there is nobody saying, 'This is going to be on the test.'" In her eyes, that is a positive development. "A lot of times you end up learning lots more than you needed to know for a particular assignment or subject."
Besides, she says, she needs the advanced degree. "I'm tired of rotating shifts nights and days. If you want to get beyond a staff nurse, you're going to have to have the initials behind your name."
Some of the students noted that online education probably isn't for everyone. "If you don't like to read, I would not advise anyone to take an online course," says Ms. Lindsey.
And, she adds with a laugh, taking courses from home can have unintended consequences. "I've put on, like, 15 pounds," she says. After all, her classroom is just a few feet away from her kitchen.
Seven Who Are Succeeding in Distance Education
KELLY CRAWFORD
AGE: 27
HOME: St. Alban's, Vt.
INSTITUTION: Champlain College
COMMENT: "It is hard to be a single parent and be in school."
CHUCK KURFMAN
AGE: 33
HOME: Jerseyville, Ill.
INSTITUTION: University of Illinois at Springfield
COMMENT: Says that he recently moved and wanted to finish his degree without transferring to another college.
ALICIA LEPARD
AGE: 38
HOME: Gillette, Wyo.
INSTITUTION: Regents College (N.Y.)
COMMENT: "I don't plan to be 60 years old and pulling night shifts and weekends."
LISA L. LINDSEY
AGE: 45
HOME: Woodlands, Tex.
INSTITUTION: Montgomery College (Tex.)
COMMENT: "If you don't like to read, I would not advise anyone to take an online course."
KAREN L. NELSON
AGE: 48
HOME: West Branch, Mich.
INSTITUTION: Michigan Virtual University
COMMENT: "It was just something I needed to do for me."
PATTI SALLEE
AGE: 33
HOME: Paducah, Ky.
INSTITUTION: Kentucky Commonwealth Virtual University
COMMENT: She says that the nearest college campus is an hour's drive away.
JOE TRAUT
AGE: 40
HOME: Tulsa, Okla.
INSTITUTION: University of Phoenix
COMMENT: He says that he and his wife, Jane, are taking online courses together.
Source: Chronicle Reporting
Section: Information Technology
Page: A41
Copyright © 2000 by The Chronicle of Higher Education
