BusinessTN

Distance learning has come a long way since the days of watching a videotape of the professor’s lecture and slogging through a textbook on your own. Since the explosion of quick Internet accessibility, technological advances in audio and video have made it so that anyone interested in distance learning today has richer, more engaging offerings from which to choose.

Online distance learning grew out of a need by adults who could not afford to quit their daily jobs to pursue advanced degrees. Those seeking online distance learning programs in Tennessee have a plethora of options, including the Tennessee Board of Regents Online Degree Program, offerings in the University of Tennessee’s system, proprietary schools, such as the University of Phoenix, and some independent colleges and universities.

According to Mary Larson, associate director of the Electronic Campus at the Southern Regional Education Board, the Tennessee Board of Regents Online Degree Program (RODP) represents a unique electronic campus for students. While other states in the South may have more university participation or degree programs listed, “the majority of public, regionally accredited colleges and universities (two-year, four-year and graduate institutions) have joined together to assist students with obtaining their education goals—regardless of where they live in the state,” Larson says.

RODP began Sept. 4, 2001, with the goal of meeting the needs of Tennessee residents whose previous access to higher education had been limited. Robbie Kendall-Melton, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs, points out that it is particularly geared toward adults who have some college experience but had to stop their pursuit of graduate degrees because of family or job responsibilities.

"The program is unique in that courses are available to RODP students through an asynchronous delivery system that allows them to complete assignments at their convenience and when their schedule allows. Also unique is the fact that students choose a home institution for admission, registration, and the award of their degree from among all of the TBR system-wide institutions,” Kendall-Melton adds.

As well as online course offerings, RODP is launching the Virtual Career Center in May. “This career center will give our students information about what jobs to search for, what jobs relate to their majors, where to search for jobs, helpful links, and tips on résumé writing, job interviewing and a career assessment test. The site will contain content about job searches specific to each county in Tennessee,” Kendall-Melton says.

The electronic campus incorporates offerings from a number of schools, including Austin Peay State University, Belmont University, Middle Tennessee State University, The University of Memphis, and the various schools within the University of Tennessee system.

Two of the online programs in the U.T. system—the physician executive MBA and several offerings in the statistics department—grew out of a need to reach busy professionals who could not leave their jobs to pursue a traditional two-year master’s degree.

U.T.’s programs strive to take advantage of the latest technology to enhance the online classroom for their students. Michael Stahl, director of the physician executive MBA program, says, “We were the first accredited graduate degree program in the world to use the synchronous two-way audio and two-way data technology starting in 1998.” In April 2004, Modern Physician magazine recognized the program as the number one program for physician executives.

In U.T.’s department of statistics, operations, and management science, Mary Sue Younger believes the success of the statistics program has been mostly due to the method of delivery: “Classes are delivered live, in real time, with two-way audio. Students hear the teacher’s lecture while watching PowerPoint slide presentations. Students may raise their electronic hands in order to ask questions and may be given control of the software to perform their own analyses. The sessions are recorded so that students may play them back to clarify points or review material. The live, regularly scheduled classes are much more effective than the typical online course in which the student is just given a set of notes to read on his or her own.”

Of course, in the world of online learning, you can’t ignore the University of Phoenix, which was the first university to offer complete degree programs online prior to the advent of the World Wide Web. According to Terri Bishop, senior vice president for public affairs, the company has had many years to refine its teaching learning model and technologies. Much of its strategy lies in having a group-learning environment.

“The unique and enduring quality of our online programs is our adherence to small classes and our insistence on collaborative learning. Our courses are not designed to be independent learning environments,” Bishop says. “Preserving small-group interaction and discussion is key to the academic integrity of these programs.”

Because the “university” includes students from all 50 states and 20 foreign countries, the classroom experience has a diversity of influences.

Strayer University Online is another player in the proprietary realm. Strayer offers online courses in two formats—as a real-time course or as a time-independent course. “It is imperative to understand the time demands on working adults,” states Pam Bell, vice president of online operations. Students in Strayer University’s online program also benefit from two-way audio, using voice over Internet protocol (VOIP), in real-time classes. This format allows the professor to call on students throughout the lecture and the entire class can hear the students’ oral responses. “We believe this technically enabled Socratic method will enhance our learning outcomes,” Bell says.

Moving closer to home, the American Graduate School of Management (AGSM), based in Nashville, offers an alternative to professionals who want to pursue a traditional MBA but need it delivered online. Provost Rick Oliver says there are two things that make AGSM unique: “First, our students are working professionals holding senior positions at companies such as Microsoft, JP Morgan, and Johnson & Johnson. They demand, and get, great student teamwork and intense faculty interaction via our weekly classes held online with two-way rich media. Second, our faculty have excellent academic credentials—almost all have Ph.D.s and a few hold professional designations such as a CPA—but also have great practical experience.”

Online distance learning programs become a bit sparser when looking at independent colleges/universities in the state. According to Claude Presnell, president of the Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities Association (TICUA), about seven to eight years ago many private institutions jumped on the distance learning bandwagon, only to jump back off after discovering it costs almost more to operate than a physical classroom and requires more intense faculty time. Many of the campuses, however, continue to seek innovative ways to deliver their courses to those unable to enroll as traditional on-campus students.

For example, Vanderbilt University’s School of Nursing offers a master’s degree program that awards an MSN for nurse practitioners, informatics, and health management majors. Vanderbilt University also partners with Central Michigan University in offering a four-year doctoral degree in audiology (Au.D.). Both the audiology and nursing programs grew out of specific needs. The doctoral degree in audiology aims to bring most practicing master’s-level audiologists up to doctoral level as soon as possible. The MSN in the School of Nursing helps with the shortage of nurses—allowing them to continue to work in their home environments.

Betsy Weiner, senior associate dean for educational informatics at the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, says, “We have the same expectations for our distance students as we do for those who complete our face-to-face programs.” Weiner also points out that the school takes advantage of the latest technology to enhance the program. “We have recently started taking the audio from the video classes and changing the sound files into MP3 format so that the popular MP3 players provide yet another opportunity for our students to fit learning into their busy schedule.

From Collegedale, Tenn., Southern Adventist University offers an online MBA with a management emphasis. Dan Lim, director of the office of online learning and faculty development, believes that through online learning they can serve students across the United States and internationally, thereby providing a cross-cultural learning experience. Lim says that several new technologies have impacted how they run their program. “WebCT CE 6 will make it easier for more faculty to design and deliver distance courses. Additional degree programs are more likely to go online with this major release. Macromedia Breeze Live will further strengthen real-time teacher presence. Students can interact in real time with professors through applications sharing, videos, audios, and chat,” Lim says.

The current state of technology makes one thing clear: the physical walls to the traditional classroom are crumbling and as they do so, more educational institutions are likely to explore full online degree possibilities. The working adult in Tennessee who is looking for a graduate degree should have no problem finding a program that meets his or her educational needs.