Amy Cross couldn't have done it any other way.
The University of Maine student had two children at home when she
enrolled in online courses. She had left a career in commercial
insurance and risk management, and wanted to return to school to earn a
degree in education. Though she lives in Brewer, Maine, just a few miles
south of Orono, a daily commute to campus wasn't an option.
"If it weren't for distance learning, I don't think I'd be in school.
Distance learning was the only way I could afford to do it without
having to pay exorbitant daycare fees," says Cross, who has been taking
an average of four classes each semester since 2005. "I fell in love
with it."
Cross is far from alone. This semester, 3,255 students accounted for
4,315 separate course registrations for distance-delivered UMaine
classes - up 1,000 from spring 2008.
The reasons for the increase are myriad. The slumping economy has made
travel to campus cost-prohibitive for some. In a state as large and
rural as Maine, distance is always an issue. For those who have a day
job, a traditional course schedule may not work. And many prefer the
convenience of taking a course when - and where - they want.
"As a land-grant university and the flagship campus of the state, the
University of Maine's mission is one that is statewide," says Robert
White, UMaine associate provost and dean of the Division of Lifelong
Learning. "The resources of our faculty have been extended, allowing
more people access to UMaine's offerings."
Since 1989, when Maine invested heavily to create off-campus centers for
an instructional television network, access has been at the heart of
distance learning. Though instructional television (ITV) sites are still
a vital component, course slots were and continue to be a limited
resource. Advances in technology and a focus on Internet classes have
made UMaine's offerings more appealing, accessible and plentiful than
ever.
"We are serving students regardless of where they are, who they are or
what age they are," White says.
What started with two ITV classes has grown to 250 distance-education
courses annually, delivered through ITV, video conferencing, the
Internet or any combination of the three. Videoconferencing allows
students in Maine to connect with other campuses in the United States
and abroad. Asynchronous online courses combine video, audio, online
content and text to provide a rich experience for students and faculty,
and are a growth area at UMaine. Because Internet access varies
throughout the state, courses are offered in a variety of formats to
accommodate a variety of computers, connection speeds and platforms.
Today, about 11 percent of the university's total credit hours come from
such courses, delivered from the Orono campus as well as the Frederick
Hutchinson Center in Belfast, Maine. The offerings are varied and, at
times, unexpected - from music appreciation, physics and nursing to
electrical and computer engineering. Maine high school students can get
an early jump on college through UMaine's Academ-e program. Students of
all ages can enroll in certificate programs, such as Maine Studies, or
one of dozens of classes in the arts, humanities and sciences. Though
many courses of study require on-campus classes, there are options for
those who want to pursue a bachelor's or master's degree through
distance learning. One undergraduate and five graduate degrees are
offered online.
UMaine has twice been recognized by the University Continuing Education
Association for its programs in liberal arts distance education, and the
Hutchinson Center received a New England Board of Higher Education
program achievement award.
"UMaine has been a regional and national leader and innovator in the use
of technology in distance teaching and learning from 1989 to present,"
says James Toner, director of distance education at UMaine.
When it comes to technology, the University of Maine is well ahead of
the curve - but not so far ahead that it leaves people out. Justin Hafford, the assistant director for distance education, is always
looking for new, more effective ways to deliver content to students.
That could mean downloading a lecture on iTunes U and watching it on an
iPhone. It could mean broadcasting a live course over the Internet. It
may mean teaching a class in Second Life, a virtual world. Or it could
involve a podcast.
"They're all good for different reasons," says Hafford. "We really need
to have all these options so we can accommodate people with different
learning styles and lifestyles."
And those people are as varied as the course offerings: There are
farmers and nurses and stay-at-home dads. Soldiers and veterans and
artists. Lawyers and high school students and homebound adults. Some may
not thrive in a large lecture class. Others may only have time for
classes at
2 a.m. There are students for whom coming to campus is physically
challenging and others who can't bear the financial burden of travel.
Many ROTC students have kept up with their studies while they were
deployed.
Distance learning is a way of life for David Uber, who lives on Swan's
Island, Maine. Uber has spent the last 27 years as a Methodist pastor,
and his work entails regular moves from parish to parish. In nine years,
he earned his bachelor's in university studies from UMaine, mostly
online, while living in seven different towns throughout the state. He
had such a good experience with the undergraduate work he completed in
2007 that he recently enrolled in the master's-level Peace Studies
Program.
"I've lived in other states, and this, to me, is the best setup," Uber
says.
Though island life makes online courses a necessity for Uber, they
aren't just for students who live far away from campus. Increasingly,
"traditional" students choose to take one or more courses a semester
online. Giang Vo, a sophomore accounting major from Hanoi, Vietnam, is
one of them. Vo only takes electives online, as she'd rather interact
with her business professors and classmates in person. But she loves
asynchronous courses because she's a night owl, so she can sit through
lectures when she's most alert.
"You remember the material more," says Vo, who generally takes one or
two online classes a semester. "Plus, it saves a lot of time. But it
takes a lot of self-discipline. You have to schedule yourself."
Online courses work particularly well for students of Vo's generation,
according to Tina Passman, a classics professor who was one of UMaine's
pioneers in distance learning. She introduced her first online Latin
class in 2000. Because the language isn't spoken, it doesn't lose
anything in an all-text presentation. And because the flagship is the
only campus in the University of Maine System that offers Latin, Passman
saw an opportunity to make the course available to students statewide.
She has since developed 15 online courses, including several in peace
and reconciliation studies, and one in universal design.
Passman is the first to admit that certain subjects, such as Latin, lend
themselves more to an online format. But she is convinced that online
courses are a perfect fit for today's multitasking, computer-savvy
students.
"There's a different kind of richness," says Passman. "I have a
one-on-one relationship with every single student, because they e-mail,
they hand in their work, they do all kinds of things, like upload photos
of their dogs. It's a different kind of relationship. It's the kind of
relationship that the student of the 21st century is really comfortable
with and actually likes."
For those who teach UMaine's distance education courses, the experience
is equally rewarding, once they get used to the idea. Music professor
Anatole Wieck wasn't wild about offering his music appreciation course
online. For the live class, he plays violin, brings in musicians, and
often plays recorded music and movies.
"My class is a multimedia event," he says, laughing.
The course, which launched in 2002 and is one of UMaine's most popular
online classes, required a huge investment of time up front. But now,
because everything is organized digitally, Wieck says it has improved
the quality of his live class.
"The online version of my class works very well, particularly for
students who live very far away. I've had students in my class who were
studying abroad in Vietnam and Germany," he says. "I do believe if a
course is online you don't have the vibes from the teacher or the
performer, but it does have its own advantages."
Though distance education is growing in popularity, don't expect online
courses to replace traditional classroom learning anytime soon.
Even Cross, who has taken the majority of her courses online, needs to
come to campus once or twice a week. She is switching to an
interdisciplinary bachelor's degree program, and has found her calling.
Her own experience showed her what is possible worldwide through
distance education.
Cross, who plans to graduate in 2010, recently founded the International
Collaborative Educational Alliance, a virtual education initiative
centered on sustainable community building and nonviolent conflict
resolution. The school will reach out to individuals at risk to offer
technical and academic courses.
"It's literally all because of distance learning. With distance
learning, there's so much more you can do," she says.
by Kristen Andresen
May - June, 2009
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