Thirty students log into a chat room as 20 students fill seats in a classroom.
The Meriam Library basement is equipped with microphones, televisions and cameras to let Chico State Distance and Online Education students experience the sociology of "Population" as students in the classroom do.
When in-class students want to speak, the professor reminds them to press the green button on the table so the online students can hear.
Online students have no such guidelines. They can attend class any time of the day or night with streaming video. They can roll out of bed and drink their morning coffee while taking the class live. They can chat and instant message one another whenever they feel it's appropriate.
Technology makes an education more accessible to students in rural places who are unable to attend classes. But, many online students never take a closed-book exam, benefit from hand-written feedback on a paper or hear the flow of Big Chico Creek under their feet as they cross the bridges at Chico State.
Yet they graduate with the same degree as the students who sit and participate every day.
Jeff Layne, director of distance education, said many on-campus students don't like to compete against online students who are more dedicated than many on-campus students.
"These are students that understand why they are in school," Layne said. "Sometimes I think people 18 to 20 don't have a grasp of why they're in school."
He said online students are older and want to earn their degrees to land jobs.
There were 342 students taking online classes in fall 2004 who will never attend class at Chico State, yet will earn their degrees in social science, computer science or liberal studies.
According to an online student survey, 93 percent of online students plan to earn their degree this way. And 89 percent of online students responded that they think they can reach their academic goals online.
Comparatively, when the program began in 2001, 76 percent said they thought they could reach their academic goals online.
Layne said the coolest statistic is that 99 percent of program participants are satisfied with the program.
Layne said, "The people that are in the program really like it and are committed to it."
Brea Jones can be reached at:
bjones6@mail.csuchico.edu
Other stories in this series:
Learning technology to learn sociology
Be the first to comment on this article!