Nursing degree on line

Virtual learning gets high marks from students

CLASSROOMS WITHOUT WALLS may sound like something from The Jetsons, but they're not. Distance learning (think correspondence courses) has been around for years, but a new crop of students are studying everything from nursing to law and earning undergraduate and graduate degrees via the Web. Such classes are easily accessible and time-effective for, say, a busy sister juggling family and career. Analysts predict that by 2002 some 2.2 million folks will enroll in on-line programs.

For Lisa Beal, a lobbyist for environmental issues and an M.B.A. candidate at the University of Phoenix On-line (www.uophx.edu), Web education was a perfect solution. Before becoming a cyberstudent, the Washington, D.C., resident registered for conventional business courses, but with a job that required frequent travel, she found it difficult to keep up. Now Beal clicks into her classes on her own time five days a week, even if it's from a hotel room in Japan.

Cyberschool Days

Logging on every day and reading 10 to 15 chapters or an entire book in six weeks (as Beal does) require discipline and commitment, which some claim is

best left to older, mid-level career people. Bruce Francis, chancellor of Capella University (www.capella.edu), who has more than 30 years of distance-learning experience, disagrees: "The desire to do something isn't related to age. [Many self-motivated people in their twenties who prefer the Net are out there in the workforce.] Who wants to sit and listen to warmed-over lectures?"

Virtual learning is divided into two categories: synchronous (pupils attend classes simultaneously) and asynchronous (on their own schedules). E-mail, bulletin boards and chat rooms are the core tools for many universities. Some use "streamed" video, in which networks like Educational Video Conference, Inc., bring live interactive broadcasts to institutions. Students are able to see, hear and communicate with their instructors and colleagues.

Adelphi University (www.adelphi.edu) uses this technology, but many schools don't benefit from interactive services yet. Some critics contend that this lack of face-to-face interaction in Net studies impairs its efficacy. Francis counters, saying that the Capella model is rich in communication. He explains that scholars engage in a constant back and forth of ideas--through E-mail, bulletin boards and weekly written assignments--and, according to the chancellor, this sustains the strong social connection that detractors complain is missing. Francis adds that the skepticism simply means that "Web-delivered education is a competitive threat." There is some truth in his words. Institutions that once dismissed virtual instruction, such as Stanford and Duke universities, now embrace it.

Two concerns about on-line education are cost (it's often more expensive than the traditional route) and accreditation (it differs from state to state). Do your homework before you apply. Check out Barron's Guide to Distance Learning: Degrees, Certificates and Courses (Barron's Educational Series, $15.16), and research accredited schools on-line at www.detc.org and www.chea.org, The Distance Education Training Council and Council for Higher Education Accreditation, respectively. To stay abreast of advances, send E-mail to E-letter@intered.com or call (480) 894-5550.

Taiia Smart Young is the new-media editor for ESSENCE.