By Kiku Beaufort

Education is leaving tradition behind, allowing students the opportunity to attend lecture in pajamas or even do homework in bed. Although classes are still offered in traditional classroom settings, learning is evolving and advancing right along with technology.

"There are some things you can do online that you just can't flat do it in the old way," said Jessica Draper, a BYU instructional designer who works with Independent Study and professors to design online tools for classes. Draper went on to explain that professors and students alike are demanding more learning to occur in online formats.

This may be the motivation behind the booming growth seen in online learning in the past five years.

In Fall 2002, an estimated 1.6 million students in the United States were enrolled in at least one online course, according to a study conducted by the Babson Research Group and The Sloan Consortium titled, "Making the Grade." In just three years, this number grew by 35 percent. In the winter of 2005, enrollment was estimated at nearly 3.2 million students. And the number is anticipated to keep rising.

Online at BYU

BYU is keeping up with the trend.

"More of the professors are starting to realize, 'Hey, I can use animations and illustrations instead of drawing on a blackboard," Draper said.

These teachers come to the Center for Instructional Design with proposals for online links to diagrams, illustrations and demonstrations that provide an interactive and more effective route to learning, Draper said.

In addition to professors' requests, BYU administration is pushing for more classes to incorporate online education, said Patti Collings, assistant teaching professor in the BYU Statistics Department. But, it's not only the administration - students would like more online courses, too.

"I just wish they offered more online classes," said Tara Wilkinson, a communications student from Riverton and mother of four children. "It would save me so much time and money."

Wilkinson said she spends about $1,800 a year in gas commuting to BYU campus from her home three days a week. She is a full-time student on campus, but enrolled in Independent Study for Summer term.

Independent Study is -as defined by the Babson study - a complete, online course. It offers students around the world an opportunity to earn college credit away from campus. Other courses, like many offered through BYU, are defined as hybrid courses that use the Internet as a supplement to normal course work. These include the use of Blackboard or class-specific Web sites.

Online learning has many other titles as well, one of which is termed "distance learning." This was the case with exercise science major Katie Butterfield, who took time away from campus Winter 2007 to visit her family in Peru.

"I wanted to keep going with my schooling," Butterfield said. "I decided to take Independent Study courses because you can do it anywhere. You don't have to go to class, and you can go at your own pace."

This raises the question of whether online learning attracts a new sector of higher education students, or if it is supplementing learning to students who enroll on campuses across the nation.

"We see ourselves as supplementary and complementary to the campus," said Dwight Laws, Independent Study director. "Students who need an extra course, which doesn't fit their campus schedule, often use our courses. Our courses also benefit those that cannot come to campus or have work schedules and need to study at their own pace and at their own time."

BYU Independent Study alone enrolled 144,051 students in this past year from all around the world, Laws said.

Pros and Cons

A major setback to the incorporation and use of more online material is the time and effort it takes to develop a successful course.

"It usually takes a professor about five months to put together a course manuscript," explained Jessica Draper, an instructional designer who works with professors to create online material for their courses. "When we get the manuscript, it usually takes about five months to develop the course. Then, we add two more months for the course to run through quality assurance. So, total it may take seven to nine months to create a course."

Other disadvantages are voiced by students.

"There's no teacher when you take an online class," Tara Wilkinson said. "Some things teachers do help to make concepts stick ... hearing others explain difficult concepts helps me to remember."

In addition to the lack of face-to-face interaction, Katie Butterfield said it was difficult to set aside time to do the coursework.

"A disadvantage is that it's hard to stay dedicated to it," Butterfield said. "And, if you have questions, you have to figure it out on your own."

Despite the flaws, programmers, students and faculty are working out the bugs.

Draper said the Center for Instructional Design is developing discussion boards in some classes and is currently creating a program that works like Wikipedia.com. Students will be able to post ideas and research pertaining to assignments in class, Draper explained. Teammates will then have access to the text and be able to add and edit material.

"I think the first wave of adopters has adopted and become comfortable and familiar with it [online learning]," Draper said. "Now, the latecomers are jumping on the bandwagon and the learning curve will take off from here."

Online Degrees

The spread of online education is opening up opportunities in unimaginable ways. U.S. News and World Report said 263 accredited online graduate degree programs alone were offered in 2006. This number doesn't account for the numerous undergraduate programs available to students as well.

Carrie Nelsen, 51, is a recent graduate of Western Governors University - an accredited online university. Nelsen earned a normal, four-year business management bachelor's degree in 20 months.

Nelsen said she made the decision to go back to school to complete a college education she had abandoned to become a mother. As a mother of five, grandmother, employee for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and stake Young Women's president, Nelsen realized attending school online was the only way to squeeze education into her hectic life.

"To me it was a statement to my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren that education is important," Nelsen said. "The sign as you enter BYU says, 'The glory of God is intelligence.' You know, you only take with you what you have in your brain."

Copyright Brigham Young University 23 Jul 2007