NIU students give ‘thumbs up’ to online courses

by Mark McGowan

Online learning is a hit at NIU, according to a pilot survey of 149 students who have taken some classes via their computers.

The report, issued this fall based on surveys taken near the end of the Fall 2003 and Spring 2004 semesters, shows overall satisfaction varies with the level of the students surveyed.

More importantly, however, most are willing to enroll in more online courses.

Students also are pleased with the degree of technology support they receive, the survey found, and the majority of the students believe the completion of their online courses improved their ability to master technology.

In Fiscal Year 2004, more than 1,800 course sections were delivered via Blackboard to an enrollment of 34,790 undergraduate and graduate students.

The survey covered 16 course sections from the 300 to the 600 level in four colleges. Response to the survey accounted for 45 percent of the 328 students enrolled.

“Northern’s been offering online courses in some format for quite a while, either blended or all online, but we had no idea what students thought of that,” NIU Assessment Coordinator Craig Barnard said. “The impetus for the survey was to see what we were doing, and what students thought about it.”

“I was impressed with students’ perceptions of technology support at NIU,” said Murali Krishnamurthi, director of the Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center. “After we spent all this money for hardware, software and staff support at NIU, we wanted to make sure students are receiving the support they need.”

According to the survey, the benefits of online learning are many: Students can work independently and at their own pace. They enjoy a flexibility of scheduling. They can access course materials from anywhere at any time. For off-campus students, primarily the graduate population, they do not need to drive to campus and hunt for parking.

Disadvantages proved few, the survey found, with only “limited face-to-face meetings” surfacing as the greatest drawback.

Before the survey could begin, Barnard needed an agreement across campus on what constituted an online course. NIU’s deans concur that an online course requires students to work online, he said, and that their contact with the instructor is primarily through the computer.

The survey did not attempt to evaluate faculty.

Krishnamurthi calls the report a “confirmation of our expectations.”

“Students want to see more courses online. They think it’s convenient. It’s helping them to learn, obviously, so the learning aspect is similar to face-to-face courses. We must encourage departments and faculty to develop more online courses,” Krishnamurthi said.

“We also should be enhancing the teaching possibilities to deliver courses online. By saying that, I mean we really have to develop innovative strategies for developing courses online. This is something we do from our office through all the training programs we offer,” he added. “For some courses, it’s easy to do online. For certain disciplines, it requires a lot more innovation. If we do that, there is a definite niche for us – for NIU – for meeting our students’ needs.”

Frequent surveys of students are a priority, he said: “It’s tricky to predict what students want to see as far as the trends go.”

“It seems like the trend now is handhelds, PDAs, cell phone technology. Even Blackboard has a PDA version being developed,” he said. “It’s important to know how students are accessing technology and making use of technology, and it’s important for institutions like ours to place ourselves properly and look at the proper investment. Do we develop hardware labs and then see students are going with wireless and handheld? We really have to look ahead.”

Carol Scheidenhelm, assistant director of Faculty Development, said the survey results did open her eyes.

“One thing that continues to surprise me is the number of students who are on campus who want to take online courses. We didn’t anticipate such a high interest level,” Scheidenhelm said. “Our assumption all along was that they would be useful for non-traditional students, those who couldn’t get to campus. It tells me our students are thinking differently about classes and have different learning needs and interests.”

Scheidenhelm said the report also offers a message to professors called to action by President John Peters a year ago during his 2003 State of the University Address.

“President Peters challenged faculty to look at the changing needs of our students and how they learn, and to address those needs,” she said.

“Many times, faculty think that in order to use a lot of technology, they need to teach online. What this survey suggests is that there are components of online technology students really enjoy, such as discussion boards or the availability of the materials all the time, and those could be used in traditional classes.”

Virginia Cassidy, associate vice provost for academic planning and development, said the next step is to distribute the report. Copies were sent to the Office of the Provost, Information Technology Services, members of the graduate studies council and the general education committee and to computer lab managers across NIU’s colleges and departments.

“One of the things we need to keep an eye on is the number of courses added in an online format, and how enrollments will increase,” Cassidy said. “We may be able to serve the students’ needs now, but as more and more enroll, we’ll need to monitor that.”

Barnard believes the survey also will become a valuable tool for undergraduate advisers whose students are asking questions about online courses.

“It’s important to share with people who are considering taking an online course what it requires,” Barnard said. “It’s different from taking a traditional class. You need self-motivation to be able to stay current with your assignments.”

An upcoming study will poll those students who began but failed to complete an online course to determine what went wrong, he said.

11-29-04