HIGHER LEARNING MADE EASIER ONLINE COURSES A VIRTUAL REALITY IN LOCAL COLLEGES.Byline: Mariel Garza Staff Writer With two young children, a full-time secretarial job, and a husband who works 60 hours a week, Lisa Frakes feared she would never complete her bachelor's degree at California State University, Northridge CSUN offers a variety of programs leading to bachelor's degrees in 61 fields and master's degrees in 42 fields. The university has over 150,000 alumni. It's also home to a summer musical theater/theater program known as TADW (TeenAge Drama Workshop) that leads teenagers through an . Then she discovered she could take Internet classes from home, allowing her to pursue her degree without sacrificing her job, family or sanity. ``Since I'm an older student in my 30s and returning, it was easy because I am so focused,'' Frakes said. ``It worked out really well.'' Frakes is among scores of college students in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. who are taking advantage of the convenience of online courses. Students said online courses allow them to access course material from anywhere, discuss problems with instructors via e-mail, check their grades and even take quizzes. And as more and more students wire their homes for Internet access See how to access the Internet. , online courses have soared in popularity, giving students an option to the labs and lectures already offered by universities and colleges. At CSUN CSUN California State University Northridge , the number of online classes has doubled in one year to 18 this fall semester se·mes·ter n. One of two divisions of 15 to 18 weeks each of an academic year. [German, from Latin (cursus) s . And with the demand has grown the waiting lists for those classes, said Catheryn Cheal, director of online instruction at CSUN. ``We could easily double the enrollment,'' Cheal said. ``Students really want to take (online courses).'' Mission College in Sylmar also has seen spectacular growth. The campus offered its first online course in 1997. By fall 2001, the course catalog Noun 1. course catalog - a catalog listing the courses offered by a college or university course catalogue, prospectus catalog, catalogue - a book or pamphlet containing an enumeration of things; "he found it in the Sears catalog" featured 16 online courses. And while online education is a growing phenomenon, some say the courses will never replace the traditional classroom where students have the benefit of face-to-face contact with their professors. ``I don't see online doing away with brick-and-mortar classrooms,'' said Marion Heyn, director of Academic Computing and Distance Learning at Los Angeles Valley College LAVC redirects here. For the software library, see libavcodec. The university is adjacent to Grant High School. Often called "Valley College" or simply "Valley" by those who frequent the campus, it opened its doors to the public on September 12, 1949, at which time the campus was in Valley Glen, a job created only months ago to coordinate the school's new online effort. ``I see it augmenting them. I think the future is hybrid classes - face-to-face programs with significant technical aspect.'' Online courses at CSUN and the Valley's community colleges have emerged somewhat sporadically within the past few years. The revolution began in isolated academic departments as instructors began asking students to ``meet'' online or use Internet resources to study. And though online courses seem a natural evolution of technology-enhanced classrooms, initially not everyone was sure it would be succeed. An early concern about online courses was that the Internet might diminish the quality of lessons and prevent students from engaging in lively debates with their professors and classmates Classmates can refer to either:
``I've taught face-to-face for 25 years, and I worried a lot about making (my) online course as equivalent as possible as what I did face to face, with just as much quality,'' said Cheal, who was among the first to teach a full online course at CSUN. What she discovered was just the opposite. ``After all that worrying, the first time I taught online I found it was not necessary,`` she said. ``The students said the course was just what they were looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. .'' Despite their time-saving advantages, online classes are not for everyone. ``I think it fulfills a certain need,'' said George Ogar, coordinator of Distance Education for Pierce College In 2006 the Library won a national Excellence award. Academics Pierce College offers associate's degrees, mainly in the arts and sciences. There are also certificate programs in early childhood education, social services, dental hygienist, and others. in Woodland Hills, which just began a coordinated online course effort this fall. ``It's good for some students, not good for others.'' Allen Mekhtarian, a Pierce College computer engineering student who works full-time and has taken two online chemistry courses, agreed. ``It's more difficult for students because there's no lecture,'' he said. ``You gotta got·ta Informal Contraction of got to: I gotta go home. want to learn.'' Frakes, for one, said she's hooked. ``For me it meets a need. I'm learning information, and I'm going through and getting what I need to get complete education.'' CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1) George Ogar is the distance-learning program coordinator at Pierce College. (2) Pierce College's Distance Learning Coordinator George Ogar demonstrates their online chemistry course Saturday. Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer |
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