SWCC online credits reach an all-time peak

With more than 500 online courses to choose from and an ever-increasing number of non-traditional students, online credit hours are at an all-time high at Southwestern Community College (SWCC).

This semester, online credits make up nearly 30 percent of the total credit hours students are collectively enrolled in at SWCC.

“Online (education) allows students the flexibility to take classes in their own time frame,” said Bill Taylor, SWCC vice president of instruction. “This new generation is used to online learning, and I think it is a good tool for them.”

While taking classes online may be second nature at this point for millennials, many colleges and universities are still exploring the realm of online education and working through its kinks.

New learners

Historically, community colleges have attracted non-traditional students, which can mean anything from a young student working full time while in school to a middle-aged student with a family taking classes. So, offering online or distance education is important at community colleges, where non-traditional students are prevalent.

“I think community colleges are in a good position because we’ve always been the ones who respond to industry needs and who can put together a program quickly,” said Doug Greene, SWCC director of distance education. “We were online before anyone was online.”

Many community colleges are focused on non-traditional students and “new learners,” or those well versed in using technology as a learning tool.

“At a conference I was at recently, it was interesting that four-year schools are just now starting online programs, and they’re where we were 15 years ago,” Greene said. “The question is whether those four-year schools will be able to catch up quickly enough to adjust to the new learner.”

Teaming up

SWCC is part of the Iowa Community College Online Consortium with five other institutions: Western Iowa Tech Community College, Northwest Iowa Community College, Iowa Lakes Community College, Eastern Iowa Community College and Southeastern Community College.

“Back in 1999, the smaller schools in the state knew we probably couldn’t do (online education) on our own because we didn’t have the resources, but we could work together and put all our instructors, classes and students into the mix,” Greene said. “It means we never have a wait list.”

This semester, in the 16-week term alone, the consortium offers 495 online classes. That figure doesn’t include the 12-week or 8-week terms. Through the consortium, the colleges share instructors and students for online classes, so a SWCC instructor could be teaching students from other colleges or even international students.

SWCC online credits

At SWCC, online courses are available for most majors. Additionally, there are a few programs – agricultural business, business and accounting – that can be done entirely online.

During a SWCC board meeting Feb. 10, Beth Kulow, dean of student services, reported the total number of credit hours to date for the spring semester was 15,145. As of Friday, SWCC data shows 4,535 of the 15,145 are online credit hours. That means about 30 percent are online credits.

“I think that’s pretty typical across the nation in community colleges,” Greene said. “At the conference I was at, I heard we may be coming to a point where three-fourths of students will be non-traditional. If that holds true, there may be even more so of an increase in online credits.”

The number of students in online courses has been increasing since the inception of distance education at SWCC. In the spring of 2000, there were just 46 students taking online courses. In spring 2005, there were 238 students, and in spring 2011, there were 835 students taking online classes.

This spring semester, there are 879 students in at least one online course at SWCC. Of those, nearly half (421 students) are in only online courses.

Benefits of online courses

One obvious benefit of online education for students is it gives them the flexibility to take classes on their own schedule. This is helpful for students who work full time, have a family or maybe are on a sports team at SWCC and travel often.

“Sometimes people think online classes are very impersonal, but I’ve found the opposite is true as an instructor – I actually get to know these students better,” Greene said. “I interact more with my online students than I do with my face-to-face students. In an online class, you get a chance to hear from everybody and respond to everybody.”

Greene said online classes can also be a good fit for students who don’t like to speak up in an educational setting.

“I think there’s a certain student who really thrives in this environment, and it may be that quiet student who’s not necessarily going to be the first person to raise their hand, but in an online environment, they can throw out their opinions and talk to their peers and instructor,” Greene said.

On the administration side, Taylor said online education allows SWCC to have accurate data to help instructors help students succeed.

“We can tell exactly how many minutes a faculty member has been logged in for the class and how many minutes students have been in the class,” Taylor said. “We know if a student spends 48 hours in a class, they’re probably going to get an A. If a student hasn’t logged in for a week, we get a notification, and the instructor can call them and ask what’s going on.”

Challenges

In online education, Green said the No. 1 challenge is technology is constantly changing.

“Every time Mozilla or Google Chrome updates its browser, the online system has to update,” Greene said. “It means if students aren’t good at problem-solving, they’re coming in a couple times during the semester.”

SWCC offers a 24/7 help desk for students to contact with technology issues. Greene and other staff members are also willing to help students troubleshoot.

On the administration side, a major challenge is ensuring the student who is enrolled is actually the one doing the work.

“We have authentication, and the federal government requires that,” Greene said. “There are proctored exams, which means you need to go to a testing center to take your mid-term and final. If you’re in the military and are in, say, Afghanistan, maybe a commanding officer or supervisor can be your proctor.”