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February 26, 2001

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE
Colleges Master Online Learning

From registration to advanced degrees, E-learning broadens scope of higher education

By Marianne Kolbasuk McGee (mmcgee@cmp.com)

Illustration by Lorraine Tuson

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE CONTENT:

Tips For Maintaining E-Learning Momentum

E-Learning Crossfire

More on E-learning:

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New Set Of ABCs For E-Learning (2/19/01)

Intel Offers Staff Customized MBA (1/8/01)

Be All You Can Be (12/27/00)

ompanies aren't the only ones using E-learning. Online learning programs are becoming an attractive way for students to take classes and even earn degrees from universities and colleges. In fact, the number of college students enrolled in distance-learning courses is expected to climb to 2.2 million in 2002, up from 710,000 in 1998, according to International Data Corp.

Most universities that offer online degree programs do so as part of their continuing-education programs, which are generally geared to working adults seeking graduate degrees or career changes. These online curricula are offered as an option to traditional classroom programs. Most schools that offer online courses have limited numbers of degree programs available, mainly because of a lack of faculty to create and teach the courses.

"Demand for online courses is much greater than our ability to create and staff classes," says Bob Tolsma, executive director of Colorado Online, the University of Colorado at Denver's E-learning program. Colorado Online began offering classes in 1997 and, like most schools, uses its existing staff to teach online.

While some students attend online or distance-learning classes because they live far from college campuses, most who prefer the online curricula do so for other reasons. "For many students, online learning is the only way to fit in classes," says Tolsma. That's because many students participating in E-learning are also holding down part-or full-time jobs or have families, which restricts their ability to commute to campus regularly. Plus, like many states, Colorado has a low unemployment rate and tight labor market, making it even harder to take time off from work to get to class, he says.

Convenience is certainly a key reason why Michael Tigges, a full-time computer development trainer at financial services firm Janus, is working toward his third online master's degree from Colorado Online, this one in multimedia Web development. Tigges also holds master's degrees in organization development and training and in management.

"I'd get burned out working and going to campus for class twice a week," says Tigges. "This gives me the flexibility of developing my career, and practicing what I preach at work" to Janus employees, whom Tigges trains in IT. In a year or two, Tigges and his wife plan to relocate into the mountains of Colorado, taking him even farther from campus. And he isn't stopping at three master's degrees. He's interested in eventually working toward a doctorate in IS. "When that time comes, I'll also look for a school that has an online program," he says.

Tigges has lots of company. The E-learning market is growing about 100% a year, in part because of the variety of classes being offered, says Howard Block, a financial analyst at Banc of America Securities. "Sooner or later, all students, including traditional on-campus students, will be taking a class online," Block says. "At the very least, they'll be registering for classes and buying their books online."

The University of Massachusetts at Amherst offers three continuing-education online degree programs: master's degrees in business administration, public health, and nursing and community health. Those disciplines were chosen for online programs based on the demand for distance learning by people working in those fields and seeking career advancement, says Deb Davidson, distance-education coordinator at UMass Amherst. The university also offers a variety of online courses that aren't part of degree programs.

Columbia University in New York recently launched several online continuing-education programs whose course content mirrors that offered in the classroom. Columbia's new online certification programs include database design, networking, E-commerce, and C programming. "We're in the early stages of offering these programs to see what works best," says Art Langer, faculty chairman of curricular development for IS at Columbia. "We're looking for ways to reach new audiences of students, including those in remote areas and those who can't travel to classes for other lifestyle reasons."

Despite their convenience, online courses require special effort on the part of students. "There are some criteria for success in online education," says Philip DiSalvio, director of Seton Worldwide, the online education program of Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J. "A student needs to be disciplined, committed to getting the degree, and committed to new technologies."

Teaching online courses also requires special commitment by faculty, who must adapt lessons and lectures for online media. "When teaching an online course, there are no classrooms, no physical boundaries. It takes reengineering and a lot of planning to present course content online," says Donna Zucker, an online faculty member and coordinator of UMass Amherst's RN program. "But it makes you a better teacher. You're not just a talking head," she says.

Although expectations vary from course to course and school to school, most universities present online material over the same time period--a semester, for example--in which classroom instruction is offered. Even though online students may be expected to attend an online class weekly, the day, time, and place they attend is left to their discretion.

For universities that offer online programs, most use third-party authoring software to create the course content. Many schools also use services companies that act as application service providers, hosting the courses and providing student-tracking services. Many online courses feature multimedia elements such as threaded discussions, as well as online professor lectures.

"We help build the courses with the professors, but the faculty or school owns the content," says Oakleigh Thorne, chairman and CEO of e-College, a provider of E-learning services to universities. E-College provides services to 180 schools offering 140 degree programs to 34,000 online students, says Thorne.

What do companies think about employees who get advanced degrees online? "I've had a couple of employees who got their MBAs online," says Linda DeBerry, managing director of human resources at Federal Express Corp., "and I haven't seen that their knowledge is any different from someone who got their MBA in a traditional program."

"There's no stigma about getting a degree online," says Banc of America's Block. "Nothing on the diploma says the degree [was earned] online--a degree from the University of Michigan is a degree from the University of Michigan." Still, like any credentials, he says, "if you get a degree from a rinky-dink school that no one has ever heard of, then there will be questions."

In addition to universities offering online degree programs to the general public, some schools have forged relationships with companies to develop online courses geared specifically to that company's employees. Intel, for example, recently signed Babson University in Wellesley, Mass., to develop a hybrid online/classroom MBA program tailored for Intel employees.

Stephen Laster, chief technologist at Babson Interactive, a wholly owned Babson University subsidiary that offers online learning, says the new MBA program courses being developed for Intel employees will include case studies and projects geared to Intel's business.

The first group of 30 to 40 Intel employees to take the 27-month program are still being chosen by Intel, Laster says. Those students, who need their managers' approval to participate in the program, include Intel managers who want to accelerate their careers, and engineers who want to move to a management track, Laster says.

The hybrid program includes three eight-hour days of classroom instruction from Babson faculty who travel to Intel facilities every month. The rest of the course content, including the case studies and threaded discussions, are available online.