Colleges and universities nationwide are increasing their online curriculum as students demand more flexibility, according to a study released Sept. 3 by Babson College in Wellesley, Mass., and the Sloan Consortium, an organization promoting standards for online learning.
According to the survey, the quality of online instruction at institutions nationally is equivalent to its counterpart in the classroom.
Professors at UW-Madison agree.
\I think students are coming to expect technology in the classroom, either as a class Web site or use of increased quality audio/visual materials. They are becoming less receptive to the standard lecture materials,"" said Barbara Ingham, professor in the UW-Madison food science department.
Currently 84.3 percent of UW-Madison teachers use e-mail to communicate with students and 70 percent provide access to online resources on course Web sites, according to a 2003 UW-Madison faculty computing survey.
Additionally, a third of Babson College's survey respondents predict the quality of online education will exceed that of in-class instruction at their institutions in three years.
However, according to Brian Rust, spokesperson for the Division of Information Technology, this does not mean the traditional lecture courses will soon fall by the wayside at
UW-Madison.
""[UW-Madison] is not moving in the direction of providing online classes in place of existing classes,"" he said.
Kathy Christoph, director of DoIT Academic Technology Solutions, said instead of offering online courses to traditional students, they are mainly geared toward attracting new students to UW-Madison such as working professionals in need of a work-friendly schedule.
She added that cost factors influence the types of online courses offered by the university.
""The expense of creating online courses is substantial,"" Christoph said. ""You need a very large up-front investment.""
Ingham can attest to the financial difficulties of creating a technology-rich class.
""I actually have my class funded a little bit differently than most classes are,"" Ingham said. ""And I would say that the budget [for my class] is probably triple my entire department's budget.""
However, another challenge of distance learning cannot be overcome by increased funding. Ingham cited the difficulty of making connections with students at a remote learning site.
""I don't know, maybe some of the students are glad not to get to know me,"" Ingham joked. ""But it's a lot easier to work with students and sense where they're having trouble if you can see them.\
