July 31, 2007
Big Illinois Online Degree Program Gets Thumbs-Up
The University of Illinois Board of Trustees today set tuition and approved financing for Global Campus, the state system’s major program to offer online degrees and professional-development programs.
In January 2008, the university will enroll students in its first four offerings:
• A bachelor-of-science completion program in nursing.
• A master’s degree in education with a concentration in online learning.
• A graduate certificate in foundations of online learning.
• A graduate certificate in technologies for online learning.
Illinois residents taking master’s or graduate-certificate courses will pay $382.50 per credit hour. For the bachelor’s in nursing, the cost will be $616.50 per credit hour. (Nonresidents will pay 10 percent more.)
The board also approved $6.4-million in financing to cover the program’s start-up costs, which will have to be repaid to the state system by 2021.
The university decided to focus on nursing and online-education development because of market surveys showing high demand for those skills. Soon, officials said, it plans to offer 11 more online degree programs in areas such as business and engineering.
Read The Chronicle for more about Global Campus.—Josh Fischman
Posted on Tuesday July 31, 2007 | Permalink |Comments
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As a professor and developer of an online program and courses, it is with a great deal of anticipation and appreciation that I note that online education as a specific field of study is gaining validity and respect. I am convinced that this is indeed the wave and hope for the future of higher education in the United States and represents opportunities for not only greater accessibility for more individuals seeking to continue their education but a demand for our K-12 level schools to meet the absolute necessity of technologically competent young people ready and poised to be successful in the online classroom. Online education is not an “easier” education, it instead represents a respected and rigorous venue that provides ease of access, not ease of education.
— Dr.Christine M.Wallace Jul 31, 06:57 AM #
As a patient and community college faculty member, I am frightened at the thought of nurses whose education is carried out online. I have the same concerns about true learning in other fields, but my health is not so directly at risk.
From both students and teachers, I know that cheating is very difficult to monitor among on-line students; many involved admit that it is rampant and that administrative enrollment pressures discourage attempts to limit it. I assume that the clinical area will not become a virtual space, but the pressure to produce more nurses will undoubtedly cause accommodation to be made for those whose “classroom” prep was online and did not include essential give-and-take with students and professors. What about science labs?
An old question about academic integrity is “Would you want to be treated by a doctor who cheated his (sic) way through medical school?” Perhaps the new question will be, “How do I know that you, RN, actually earned/learned your nursing credential?” And if I can’t be sure, how confident or safe will I be?
— k judd Jul 31, 07:51 AM #
As one who teaches in an RN-BS online program I can say that our education is of high quality and patients have nothing to worry about. All clinical education takes place with qualified preceptors and is supervised with fully qualified faculty. Our program is a rigorous and is equivalent in quality to our excellent on campus program
— Betsy Frank Jul 31, 08:15 AM #
I would like to see some kind of distinction on the diplomas between an online program and a face-to-face program. They are just two different animals and we need some way to make that distinction clear. I’m very interested in the future of online education, but there is no denying that it cannot substitute for hands-on learning; that is, learning in a real social environment. We are different people online vs. in person. Someone that achieves a high level of success in their online persona may be a failure in a normal social situation. Until online programs can address this lack, I believe there needs to be a line drawn between these two types of learning. I think there is also reason to be wary of these degrees because the format is much more profitable to the university. Who really thinks these are great— the universities or the students?
— Aaron Lohmeyer Jul 31, 09:03 AM #
Aaron Lohmeyer shown as 4. in this comment section has a point but his jargon is wrong. There are many colleges that are starting to recognize the difference between synchronous and asynchronous education models in distance learning. Technology has now taken us to the point where the majority of college courses can be offered to students at a distance but they can still be in a live, real-time setting over the Internet. Systems now allow fellow students and their instructor to interact just as if they were in the traditional classroom . In the setting of a live online environment I beleive there should be no distinctions drawn between the physical and web classroom. But I do agree that when a mode of education ignores half of the different teaching and learning styles that describe a quality education experience then everyone should acknowledge the differences. It’s the difference between watching a concert on TV and actually being in the band on stage producing the music. The two modes of interaction hear the same sound but the experience in how they are participating are totally different. One is passive and one is totally active and participatory. I’d prefer to make music. I think most individuals desiring a college education also would.
— John Wabel Jul 31, 11:01 AM #
I have worked in the online environment (teaching and administration) for 15 years. There are just as many high quality regionally accredited online programs as there are on-ground programs. If one has never taught or taken an online course they need to do so before they pass judgment.
— JKW Jul 31, 03:48 PM #
I have taken—and taught—classes in person and online. And I have learned more from the online classes than any in-class courses. Most Luddite professors who vilify online instruction usually still instruct by lecture. And that certainly isn’t teaching. I’ve “earned” many A’s in lecture classes while sleeping through most and saying not one word in class the whole semester. Because lectureres typically hate questions that interrupt the flow of their monologues.
I’ve taken nearly 2 dozen online classes through undergrad and grad schools and EVERY one required participation and interaction among the students. They have all been enriched learning experiences. I can’t and won’t say that about my traditional classroom “learning.”
— darrell in dallas Aug 1, 03:32 PM #