Online learning expands in South
BYLINE: Nick Todaro
More university students in northeastern Louisiana and around the state are turning to the Internet for classes.
The trend mirrors a recent Southern Regional Education Board report on the growth of college-level online learning in its 16-member states. That report states the South's online class efforts are growing at almost twice the rate of other regions of the country.
"It's becoming more and more of an important factor in how colleges and universities are going to serve students," said Bruce Chaloux, director of electronic campus for the SREB. "In particular, how they serve more rural populations of adult learners who don't have easy access to local schools," or who like the ability to work from wherever they choose.
Mike Abbiatti, associate commissioner for information and learning technology at the Louisiana Board of Regents, said 70 of the state's campuses have joined rank in offering online classes.
From 2004 through the 2005 hurricanes and up to the most recent data in March 2007, the state's online classes have produced nearly half a million credit hours for more than 150,000 students.
Area universities' online campuses have seen strong growth since the period just before the storms, as well.
In the 2004-05 academic year, Louisiana Tech University offered 114 courses and enrolled 1,573 students in the three academic quarters from fall to spring.
After the hurricanes struck in fall 2005, those numbers jumped. For the 2005-06 academic year, Tech offered 135 courses and enrolled 1,800 students.
For the fall quarter 2006, the school offered 62 courses and enrolled 703 students.
Tech's offerings include biology, education, food and nutrition, health information management and geographic information systems courses, mathematics and merchandising and consumer studies.
David Cargill, Tech director of the Center for Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, said the program has come into its own in recent years.
"It's the proverbial anytime, anywhere philosophy," Cargill said.
The university also offers three totally online degree programs through health information management.
Students can study to get an associate's degree in health information technology, a bachelor's in health information administration and a master's in health information management.
The University of Louisiana at Monroe has also had big gains.
For the 2004-05 academic year, ULM had 110 courses with 2,121 students enrolled. In 2005-06, the university had 143 online courses that enrolled 2,387.
This academic year, 2006-07, the school has offered 177 courses that have enrolled 2,741 students. ULM offers three online-only degrees. Students are able to pursue a master's degree in gerontology and criminal justice, as well as a certificate in gerontological sciences attainable after only 18 credit hours of study.
Paula Thornhill, electronic learning facilitator, said ULM also offers a variety of courses in almost every academic area.
"Our students are to the point where they're pretty much demanding online courses," Thornhill said. "They want their information anytime, any place. They expect that from the university."
Grambling State University offers online learning initiatives but did not provide information despite repeated request.
The incredible flexibility of online learning has been a huge factor in helping the state higher education system recover from the 2005 hurricanes, Abbiatti said.
McNeese State University, for example, relocated its entire online learning infrastructure to Louisiana Tech University when Hurricane Rita battered the Lake Charles university, Abbiatti said.
"When the storms hit, the servers became the institutions in many cases. Students dispersed all over the United States could still be connected to their home campuses electronically," Abbiatti said. "As far as they knew, everything was fine."
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For more information on the University of Louisiana at Monroe's online classes, access the class schedule listing off the homepage at www.ulm.edu.
For more information on Louisiana Tech University's online classes, go to www.latech.edu/citdl/courses.