UC distance learning up 15%

Enrollment in distance-learning programs at the University of Cincinnati has increased 15 percent since last year, reflecting a national trend of increased reliance on Internet learning.

In 2008, just under 3,000 students participated in distance education at UC according to the Office of Institutional Research. Distance learning means more than 70 percent of the teaching and learning activities occur away from the classroom.

Despite the growing prevalence of these courses, not everyone thinks that they are the best way for students to learn.

“I took one and kind of had a bad experience,” said Spencer Young, a second-year geology student. “It’s a lot better actually going to a class and being able to talk to someone. You can still learn [in an online course]; it‘s just not as good.”

Despite Young’s experience, distance learning is becoming an integral part of the university’s approach to meeting the diverse educational needs of its students, possibly because Americans in general are using the Internet more in their everyday lives.

In 2003, nearly 25 percent of Americans used the Internet for more than an hour a day, according to a poll conducted by Gallup. In 2009, the number hovers just under 50 percent.
The demographics for those who are more prone to use the Internet for at least an hour per day include relatively affluent, educated young people, according to the Gallup poll.

Many students seem to prefer online classes, according to Melody Clark, academic director of the Office of Distance Education, who has both taken and taught distance-learning classes.

“Online students reported being more satisfied with their educational experience than regular or hybrid students,” Clark said. Hybrid students are those who take classes in both traditional and online classrooms.

Clark also said students perform just as well in an online forum as they do in a
traditional classroom.

“In our latest study, we defined success as retention and graduation,” Clark said. “We compared the [distance-learning success] rates to non-distance learning, and it is comparable. Over 85 percent of our students finish successfully.”

This type of data is encouraging UC administrators to put more classes on
the Internet.

“What we’re doing in [the College of] Arts and Sciences is to get a lot of general education classes online,” said Terri Premo, assistant dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “They fill up almost immediately.”

These classes include English Composition I and Basic Spanish III, which are introductory-level courses that fulfill A&S graduation requirements.

The College of Nursing has gone as far as offering a Clinical Nurse Specialist-Nurse Educator major entirely online.

“Online education is not easier than the traditional educational process,” warns an online brochure from the College of Nursing. “In fact, many students say it requires more time and commitment.”

The advantages of distance learning boil down to convenience and flexibility, according to Clark, while one of the disadvantages is lack of face-to-face contact with professors. She said that some of these advantages could be considered disadvantages by certain students and vice versa, and that “it depends on the student population.”

Occasionally, there are also kinks to work out in the distance learning system, according to Clark.

“There may be some technical glitches,” said Clark. “I’m not saying it happens often, but it is frustrating.”