Online courses provide options

Imagine this scenario:

You want to start taking college classes again and finish your degree, but you live about an hour’s drive from the nearest campus.

Considering gas prices, it’s an expensive proposition.

Besides, your children are in preschool so you’re juggling their schedules with yours.

If that’s the case, then Midland Lutheran College might have an option for you. Just this month, the Fremont college began offering online courses. More than 30 students are registered for classes via the Midland Lutheran College Online program.

This fall, students will be able to take part in various degree-completion programs including business, creative writing, criminal justice and other areas. Courses are eight weeks long and students can complete two sessions in the time of a traditional semester, thus allowing people to move quickly through the programs.

"The hope is that folks are able to complete degrees at a more accelerated pace," said Allyson Backstrom, associate dean of students.

Classes are offered during the day, but also in the evenings and on weekends.

"We have very flexible scheduling so folks in the work world who have family obligations - and aren’t able to be part of a traditional residential college experience - will still have access to the personal attention and quality faculty and coursework that a college like Midland has," Backstrom said.

Courses are taught almost entirely by Midland faculty. The college also has a good core of part-time instructors who have long associations with Midland.

"Our students routinely report that one of their highest points of satisfaction with the college is their interaction with the faculty, so we’re excited to have our faculty and academic programs available to a wider audience," she said.

Students and faculty will log onto their computers at the same time so they can interact with each other live.

"So you don’t just send something via e-mail and a few days later get something back. There is some of that, but we will have some of that live interaction with each other," Backstrom said.

Through a type of technology called Wimba, students and faculty and communicate via Web cams and voiceover IP (Internet Protocol), so they can talk over the Internet instead of over the phone and there aren’t any of the associated long distance phone charges.

The technology allows literature students to have the closest thing to a face-to-face discussion. Students in a creative writing class could critique each others’ writing.

Such technology is key for certain types of learning such as a first aid and safety course where, for instance, an instructor must watch a student demonstrate the ability to put a splint on an athletic injury, Backstrom said.

Courses offered to students will allow them to obtain a post-baccalaureate secondary education degree. For instance, someone who earned a degree and became a chemist and now wants to teach at the high school level, could become certified to do so.

The college is offering a program which allows nurses with an associate’s level of training to earn a bachelor of science in nursing degree.

Midland also is offering a writing certificate for people - who may or may not have a degree - but who want to improve their writing abilities or be able to show an employer that they have a certain level of proficiency in writing. Students in this course would take classes in English, business and journalism so they could learn a number of different styles of writing, she said.

The college is still in the enrollment process and fall classes won’t begin until Aug. 20, but already a good deal of interest has been shown in various programs.

Backstrom believes online courses will help students who started a family but want to continue their education or who need a degree to be promoted to the next level in their career.

And for those who live far from the campus, the online courses provide many benefits.

"Nebraska is a big state and on this end of the state we have a lot of institutions of higher learning, but more rural areas may not have as many four-year colleges," Backstrom said. "I hope this will really provide better access to higher education for our more rural population."