APRIL/MAY 2001
FSU HAS THE SECRET TO SUCCESSFUL DISTANCE EDUCATION
By Reinhart Lerch
Marketing coordinator
Office for Distributed and Distance Learning
The race among universities to go online is nearly over. Hundreds of schools offer courses and even full degree programs that students can complete using a computer and the Internet. They make it possible to earn a college degree without attending on-campus classes.
But, like the dot coms of the business world, some will survive
online and many will soon be going offline. Judging from current
indicators, FSU's distance-learning program is a success.
How has FSU distinguished itself ?
"We have 150 years of experience in developing and maintaining a first-rate educational and university experience, and that helped us realize early on that one of the cornerstones of a distance-learning program needs to be full support for our distance learners," explains Chris Lacher, director of FSU's Office for Distributed and Distance Learning. "And the response to our efforts confirms that. We've increased our enrollment in online degree programs by more than 50 percent between 1999 and 2000."
FSU's system of student support has leveled most of the obstacles
students at a distance once faced. FSU distance students don't
have to make the drive from Orlando or the flight from Colorado
to complete orientation. They can do that online. And they can
use their computers to get academic advising and register for
courses. They can call up a help desk to get answers about their
hardware and software or solve problems with their access to
a course Web site.
"In short, we're making sure that distance learners are
not second-class students." Lacher said. "We've built
a virtual campus that our distance learners could access anytime,
from anywhere."
"The entire (distance) support staff at FSU has been incredible," graduate student Leslie McComsey Bushe wrote to FSU. "I have never felt more 'waited on' in a college situation."
McComsey-Bushe is completing a master's degree in educational leadership. Other master's distance programs include criminal justice studies, library and information studies, mechanical engineering, open and distance learning and risk management/insurance.
Students who enter FSU with an associate's degree can complete a bachelor's degree at a distance majoring in computer science, information studies, interdisciplinary social science, nursing or software engineering. Other programs are planned for upcoming semesters.
"We've built bridges among students and between students and the university by helping our distance learners develop and sustain real learning communities, just as we do for on-campus students," Lacher said.
The distance-learning students, for example, can get into class discussions on the Internet, join chat groups and interact with professors and other students asynchronously - that means the conversation can happen at 3 a.m. for one person and 3 p.m. for the other.
"We want these students to feel confident and comfortable while they attend FSU," Lacher said. And the numbers suggest that the support is making a difference: Nearly 90 percent of those who enrolled in the 1999-2000 school year completed their courses.
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