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Stan State eyes online classes: Trial run with Net teaching has some faculty nervous(Modesto Bee, The (CA) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) May 20--TURLOCK -- Call it an experiment. This summer, California State University, Stanislaus, will try out an online learning program called eCollege. Internet classes target several kinds of students, including those who work during traditional class hours or have extraordinary commutes. But classes taught solely online have some teachers worried about loss of intellectual property rights, the lack of student-teacher interaction and the possibility of Stanislaus State becoming a diploma mill. Faculty members have exchanged flurries of e-mails voicing concerns in recent weeks. Peter DeCaro, a communications professor and the coordinator of the trial program, said the exchanges are healthy. "We're laying the groundwork for future policy," DeCaro said. In one form or another, distance learning has been at Stanislaus State for about eight years. People take classes from satellite locations via interactive TV programs, and the college uses a program called Blackboard for a few "hybrid" classes that allow students to do most of their work online and only meet on campus a few times a semester. But like almost all the other CSU campuses -- and most colleges across the country -- Stanislaus State wants to work toward offering full degree programs online. Perhaps the most well-known online college is the University of Phoenix, which offers about 40 degree programs, from associate to master's, in a variety of disciplines. But getting to that point takes time. California State University, Chico, has had online courses for several years and has just a handful of degree programs. Stanislaus State is working with Colorado-based eCollege on the experiment. The process starts with a test run. DeCaro said the school wants about a dozen e-courses for each of the next four semesters and will evaluate the program along the way. E-students would work from computers, logging in to a class network set up through the university's enrollment services office. They must have access numbers to get into the classes, and students can only access courses they are enrolled in. From there, the course is up to the teacher: He or she can hold class discussions in chat rooms or on message boards, give timed tests and show video. "We're only limited by our own design," DeCaro said. For students such as Crystal Jack, 22, who lives in Amador County, online classes are more than welcome. Success depends on students For three semesters, she has driven two hours each way to attend Stanislaus State. She crams her classes into two or three days, staying with relatives two nights a week to make it work. "I love this school. I've been here for a year and a half," Jack said. "Online would make it so much easier. I could do more." She's two classes from her bachelor's in business management and human resources; the Society for Human Resources Management recently named her National Human Resources Student of the Year. She was home-schooled for a couple of years and took several online courses at Columbia College. She said students like her might have an easier time in e-classes because they know how to work independently. DeCaro said success is dependent on the students. "Self-motivated students will always do well," he said. Jack said she plans to take one of her last two classes online this fall and finish the other at the university's Stockton center. Online learning at Stanislaus State was inevitable, said Al Petrosky, speaker of the faculty senate. The test run will help the university figure out how to do it right, he said. President Hamid Shirvani said he anticipates the trial period will cost about $25,000 between the program, training and stipends for teachers to develop curriculum. Like musicians who worry about illegal music downloads, teachers have been concerned with what could happen when their work is placed on the Internet. They don't want to see their curricula farmed out to others for delivery to students. "For a lot of us, that is our property," said technology Professor Steven Filling. "Courses are created by people who really care about the subject, and it is a lot of work." Shirvani and others promise professors will not lose rights to their work. Teachers also have written about the small school's reputation for student-teacher interaction. Many of the 8,500 students say that's what they enjoy the most. "One of the things I've always enjoyed is the classroom conversation," said Nancy Taniguchi, a history professor. "I like that face-to-face." The interaction is important, Filling said, because it helps an instructor know whether students understand the material, both by what they say and their body language. Some have taught online Online classes are not taught in real time; students can watch a lecture, get assignments or send a professor a question via e-mail at 3 a.m., if they want. They just have to make class deadlines. DeCaro said he taught an online communications course at a college in Iowa for a semester. Several other Stanislaus State professors have taught online courses, as well. DeCaro said first-time online teaching requires learning to navigate the computer system. Teachers also have to learn the "online language" students might use -- the abbreviations often used in e-mails or text messages -- and do more direct inquiry to make sure students are learning. But as Stanislaus State works to develop its latest distance-learning option, DeCaro said, integrity is going to be the ultimate goal. He said some teachers have e-mailed him privately, concerned the university could become a "degree mill." "It's a valid concern," DeCaro said. "There are outfits out there that will sell you a degree." He and others want to make sure there is strict oversight for all e-classes, and that quality is the ultimate goal. "There's a big difference between the home environment and the classroom environment," Filling said. "We should throw some money at figuring out how to do this. "We're so enamored of the Internet. Everyone thinks it's the answer to every problem, and it's not. It's a tool." Bee staff writer Lorena Anderson can be reached at 667-1227 or [email protected]. |