During the past decade, the University has tried its hand at online classes through its Distance Education program. But as the classes’ popularity grew, the program struggled to offer enough courses to meet an increasing demand, said University Continuation Center Director Sandra Gladney.
The reason, she said, partly stems from a lack of faculty available to teach the classes.
“You need to have instructors to teach courses. A lot of our faculty are involved in research or other commitments,” Gladney said. “There’s a learning curve. For some of them, making that transition is just too big of a burden with their workload.”
Many professors teaching an online course for the first time must adjust to finding new ways to connect personally with students, and to reformatting assignments to fit the digital realm, Gladney said.
“It’s taking what you do in the classroom, and figuring out how to do it in the online environment,” she said.
University physics professor Greg Bothun, who is currently teaching an online version of Astronomy 121, said the transition might not be as difficult now as it was when the program began in 1997.
As online programs and learning sites become more commonplace, it’s less of an issue for students to adjust, Bothun said.
“In the past, students weren’t as Internet-savvy, but that’s pretty much cleared up,” he said. “It’s not really a problem.”
Bothun has also taught traditional classes, which he said are not different from their respective online versions, something he said is a common misconception among other professors.
“The students can access the information whether their butt’s in a seat in a classroom or somewhere else,” he said. “The faculty don’t really understand that.”
The University will offer 21 different course titles online next spring in several departments. Geology offers the most courses online with seven, with economics and arts and administration also offering multiple classes. Though students can’t earn an undergraduate degree exclusively with online classes, the University does offer a graduate Master’s degree in Applied Information Management.
When the Distance Education program began in the fall of 1997, fewer than 10 total courses were offered online, Gladney said.
University senior Justin Luttrell, who said he took an English class online at Portland Community College before coming to the University, said his busy schedule prompted him to opt for the digital alternative over an in-person class.
“I was working at the time, so I thought it would be easier,” Luttrell said. Still, he added that he prefers the more traditional class format, finding it easier to stay focused in a classroom.
“I’d rather go to class and listen to lectures than try to read the lectures,” he said. “I just get distracted.”
There are several other reasons why students participate in Distance Education at the University, Gladney said, but Luttrell’s case is not a rare one.
“We’ve been tracking data and tracking students for a number of years, and the number one reason is schedule conflict,” she said.
Other students in the program include those who simply don’t live close enough to campus to come regularly or those with heath conditions that limit their ability to attend physical classes, Gladney said.
As the program continues to grow slowly but steadily, Gladney said, Distance Education is still actively talking to different departments to recruit willing professors who will accommodate the demand for online learning. And while professors might not benefit from it, students will, Bothun said.
“There’s nothing in it for me to be doing this,” Bothun said. “I think it’s a good service for students.”
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