Organization gives students chance to earn degrees on the Internet

Thursday, Dec. 3, 1998 | 11:33 a.m.

The Community College of Southern Nevada soon will become part of an organization that will enable students anywhere in the world to enroll in some of its courses.

In early 1999, Western Governor's University -- a so-called "university without walls" that offers courses and degrees over the Internet -- will merge with the Open University of the United States, another university without walls that was created earlier this year as an affiliate with the 29-year-old Open University of the United Kingdom.

The new organization will be called the Governors Open University.

CCSN's role in the new university has its roots in the creation of Western Governor's University in 1995 by the Western Governor's Association, an organization of governors from 17 Western states, including Nevada, and Guam.

Western Governor's University was set up to provide classes over the Internet to a vast rural population within the 18 member states.

Thirty colleges and businesses in the governors' association area began developing Web-based classes that would be provided to the on-line university, giving it a core curriculum of more than 200 classes.

CCSN, representing Nevada, created 10 online classes for Western Governor's University, including classes in English, astronomy, math, sociology, political science and philosophy, according to Brad Bleck, head of CCSN's distance education program.

Six more CCSN classes will be offered in the spring, but by then the merger between the regional organization and the international one should be complete.

While Western Governor's University has been accepting students since September, said spokesman Jeff Xouris, the new organization will be ready for online classes early next year.

Xouris said the merger greatly expands the number of degrees and classes available through their Internet system -- the Open University of the United Kingdom offers more than 300 courses and a dozen degree programs. In the past seven years it has awarded an estimated 100,000 bachelor of arts degrees.

The merger also it enhances Western Governor's University's international standing.

The Open University of the United Kingdom "is well known internationally and among corporations, but not with the general public," in the U.S., said Xouris.

The merger, he said, will offer even more opportunities for distance education to students, giving them a broader range of courses from a greater number of sources.

Distance education has come a long way since the days of correspondence courses delivered by the Postal Service and is taking on a more important role in education as a result of technological advancements.

Brad Bleck says the online university is taking full advantage of the advancements.

"The goal is to get away from the traditional notion of seat time," he said.

The Internet, web sites, e-mail, videotapes, two-way television, fiber optics and satellites have revolutionized the way education may be delivered.

Today, a person can take a class anytime, day or night, weekend or weekday, offered by the Governor's Open University or such diverse universities as Penn State, Stanford, Oklahoma State University, the University of Nebraska and the University of North Dakota, to name a few.

Whether working on a high school diploma, a college degree, a certificate or keeping up with developments in a profession, anyone with access to a computer and a telephone can enroll in a course.

In 1997, the Nevada Legislature allocated $3.5 million to develop the infrastructure for high-tech distance education.

And none too soon. Katrina Meyer, director of distance education for the University and Community College System of Nevada, says high-tech distance education is everywhere.

"Research says (high-tech) works just as good as traditional models of higher education, " she said. "It works very good for certain sets of people, and really well with some populations we need to have access to.

"We need to know where it belongs in the curriculum."

Anymore, that place is not at the bottom of the academic status ladder. With the right credentials, getting an education over the Internet doesn't carry a stigma among professional educators, said Marsha Bankirer, senior academic adviser for Western Governor's University.

"In the academic community, we are well known," she said, emphasizing that the university is not a diploma mill.

Xouris said a major issue is transferring credit.

"It's called credit articulation, and it's not just an issue of our university but for higher education in general," he said. "If we start out at one place, will the credits transfer?"

Xouris said because our society has become so mobile, higher education is being forced to look at students differently and to be more lenient toward transferring credit.

"We need to address the needs of more transient students," he said.

Using technology to meet those needs is part of a "revolutionary and evolutionary" process, said Bankirer.

"Teaching and learning are happening in different ways today," she said. Even traditional campuses, she noted, are using distance education.

While CCSN developed a handful of Web-based courses for the online university, the two-year college offers enough distance classes using other technology that a student can get an associate degree in general education without ever stepping foot in a classroom.

"Potentially, every course could be offered on the Internet," said Bleck.

Of 1,100 students enrolled in the CCSN distance education program, about 500 take Web-based classes.

"About one-fourth of the distance education students are in rural areas, but the remaining are from Las Vegas Valley," said Bleck.

Firefighters, police officers and casino workers are among local people who take distance education classes because of convenience.

"It's ideal for people who work swing shifts and graveyard," said Bleck. "We also have a lot of mothers home with their kids.

"We just have a large number of people who see they are getting a quality education without having to drive across town."

But, said, Robert Silverman, CCSN's senior vice president of academics, distance education is not for everyone.

"It doesn't have the feel of college," he said. "Our experience has shown it's much better for the adult than the young high school graduate. It takes a great deal of discipline and commitment. You really have to want to do it. It's not fun. I see it much more for people who are highly motivated."

The lack of personal contact is often cited as the biggest drawback to distance education.

Chat rooms, e-mail, telephones and talk-back TV are the closest an Internet student comes to meeting classmates and instructors who may be on the other side of town or the other side of the world.

Bleck says electronic communication, whether chat rooms or e-mail, lessens the feeling of isolation.

"It creates a social element," said Bleck, who teaches three English classes using the Internet. "One of the primary complaints we hear about distance education is that it can be impersonal. This way, it puts a human face on it, making it more of a social experience."

The physical isolation is not a problem for everyone.

"That makes it easy, in a way, to concentrate," says 19-year-old Krista Pope, who currently is enrolled in three Internet classes offered by the CCSN -- 120 miles south of her home in Pahranagat. "But it would be nice to have a teacher there to help you. You don't have interaction with teachers."

Pope, who wants to be a dental hygienest, said if not for CCSN's distant education program, she couldn't afford to go to college right now.

"I didn't have the money to come down (to Las Vegas) to live," she said. "So this works out great all the way around."

She is enrolled in three Internet classes -- English 101, Psychology 101 and American Sign Language.

Eventually, though, she plans to complete her education by attending on-campus classes at CCSN.

Beside isolation, other drawbacks to distance education include malfunctioning equipment and potential for cheating.

Not much can be done about computer crashes, but to deter potential cheaters, tests sometimes are designed to be open-book, test monitors may be hired to monitor, or if students live close to a campus, they may be asked to come to the classroom.

Bleck doesn't see a significant difference in learning achieved by traditional students and distance education students.

And there is no difference in cost, but for the equipment the student needs.

"Tuition is the same, about $39.50 per credit hour," he said.

But, it is more work for the professor. According to Bleck, about 10 percent more.

A UNLV professor says it's more like 10 times.

"It's an enormous amount of work," said Professor Russell T. Hurburt, who has been programming computers for more than 30 years and developed the Statistical Methods in Psychology Web-site class.

Hurburt's psychology course is one of two Web page classes at UNLV. The other is a course in environmental studies. Eight people are enrolled in the Hurburt's class.

UNLV is not involved in the Western Governors University project and offers only two classes over the Internet, though it does offer a variety of distance courses using other technology to between 200 and 300 distance students.

It took Hurburt 2,000 hours to create his Web class, he said, and he isn't sure it's cost effective -- though he finds it gratifying.

"I figure I will break even about the time I retire, 15 years from now," he said.

But he is sold on the technology.

"My interface is pretty sophisticated," he said. "It allows you to jump back and forth, open and close the transcript, start and stop the audio or request no audio."

Charlotte Farr, head of distance education at UNLV, said part of the goal of the university is to "develop degree programs we can take off campus for non-traditional students."

Barbara Cloud, UNLV's associate provost for Academic Affairs, isn't concerned that the Internet will ever replace the classroom lecture, but she does foresee a mix.

She says greater use of the Internet and video would result in reduced seat time for a student who combines regular lectures with lectures on a web site -- which would result in smaller class sizes and less need for space.

While most classes can be adapted to a web site or video, Cloud noted, she doesn't believe they ever will totally replace the traditional lecture.

"There's nothing more efficient than a lecturer in a room full of students," she said.

Prof. Smith Holt, Dean of Arts and Sciences at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Okla., has been a supporter of distance education for years.

OSU, with a large rural student base, is a leader in the field.

"We really began pushing the Internet hard two years ago, and now we have a group working full time developing courses," said Smith, co-founder of the United States Distance Education Association.

OSU will have 100 classes available on the Internet by next September and ultimately may offer 600.

Smith says the Internet and other sophisticated methods of delivering information is becoming an integral part of a student's education.

"There's no question that the student on campus with me is going to be much better for the experience," said Smith. "But (high-tech lectures) will enhance a person's education."

The new technology allows the use of powerful animation that isn't possible in the traditional classroom.

"You can provide a very rich visual image of stimuli and all the time have voice-over and also have the text off to the side," said Smith. "You can show an experiment, and everything will be there. It makes no difference if you are on or off campus.

"And a professor can spend time doing things other than lecturing -- like answering questions."

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