Going The Distance:

Launched during the fall quarter with 63 class sections available via the Web, the program will expand to 127 class sections in January. Course OnLine marries traditional classroom presentations with technological components to provide an added resource for student learning and instructors, according to Olivier Petinaux, CTI’s distance learning project manager.

“The Course OnLine project’s goal is to create a system for making classes reviewable and more accessible while being the least intrusive for instructors,” he says. “CTI’s challenge has been matching the needs of the professors with affordable technology.” The system that makes this possible links together five components that record aspects of the classroom presentations: a video camera, audio microphones, a document scanner, instructor PC screen capture, and instructors’ notes written on the whiteboard using a pressure-sensitive mechanical pen.

After class, all captured information is downloaded into a production PC, which synchronizes the five elements of the classroom experience and uploads them to a server within six hours. Petinaux notes that Course OnLine’s complete automation keeps it cost-effective and less time-consuming, compared to the cost of taping and editing each class or transcribing the entire lecture for a Web broadcast.

So far, most instructors and students using the online option have given it positive reviews. Petinaux says that professors like it for several reasons: it aids students without impacting teaching styles; teacher self-review helps improve course content and delivery; and the system helps keep track of what course material has been covered each session.

Students use it primarily as a review reference and a study aid—“value added to the course,” Petinaux says. It also can be a tool for students who must miss an occasional class. “Technology is not the driving force [of this initiative],” he says. “Student need is the driving force.”

Despite the technological advances, the Course OnLine program will not replace the classroom experience or faculty, according to Kelley Prosser, distance learning editorial manager. She notes that branches of the armed forces using distance learning found that they needed more faculty to handle more students and additional class offerings in various subjects. Because learning was compressed, students had more time to pursue additional courses.

Prosser and Petinaux are working on plans to expand Course OnLine in the spring. In a handful of sections, CTI will test the effectiveness of distance learning classes that offer a mix of Course OnLine recordings and online class interaction. Its primary users would be graduate level students—likely at suburban campuses—who need a particular course for graduation but cannot make it to campus due to distance, work or family responsibilities.

Prosser said one of the challenges is incorporating interactivity into the distance learning model through instructor virtual office hours, Internet chat rooms and threaded discussions. A survey of 40 percent of CTI students showed that many are accessing the online courses from campus computer labs or from their workplaces. It also showed that more people accessed recorded classes—and for longer periods of time—on weekends.

Petinaux says studies have shown that if an online presentation of a class is of adequate quality and provides interactive tools and support, the amount of learning is the same for those in actual attendance and those viewing the class in cyberspace.

For more information, go to www.cs.depaul.edu. Course OnLine content is available under Programs.