In recent years, John Carroll University has taken strides to upgrade the convenience of obtaining a higher education by offering online classes. This summer, seven online classes were added to the schedule. The classes include two MBA programs, four undergraduate courses and one graduate class in education. Professors have also been teaching many hybrid courses (involving some on-campus class meetings) through Blackboard, an online academic communication Web site.
The Carroll News believes that JCU has done a good job increasing the number of online courses. However, we also think there is room for improvement. So far all online courses offered at JCU are during the summer terms. We believe that JCU should offer more online courses for undergraduates and do so during the school year. JCU has a large local population, and enrollment would rise as the number of courses increase. The school would also increase its enrollment outside of Cleveland and hopefully attract a larger audience nationwide.
The cost of offering more online courses would not be astronomical, especially if these costs were offset with the tuition for online students. In the past at JCU, all minimum enrollment rates for online courses have been met, and a course has never been cancelled to date.
The main concern of offering more online courses would be the possible loss of academic standards for the online classes. However, there are solutions to avoid a loss of quality. Identical syllabi to that of classroom courses would be provided and additional interactivity between online students and the professor.
Such additions would be weekly conference calls with the professor during which students could ask the instructor questions over the phone. Online quizzes could become a weekly part of the classes to ensure the students are reading and keeping up on the work. This is easy-to-achieve and inexpensive, considering discussions and videos are posted regularly on Blackboard. Students in online courses would have identical assignments and due dates to those in the classroom, forcing the same level of effort to be put forth in seeking the degree.
Maintaining the level of academic excellence JCU is known for while introducing more convenience with online courses would put JCU ahead of many similarly ranked schools. For example, Baldwin-Wallace College, according to their Web site, offers a limited number of online courses and hybrid Blackboard courses during the year. Cleveland State University, although much larger, offers 14 eLearning Programs for both the undergraduate and graduate level during all semesters of the year. The Carroll News feels that the University can maintain its academic quality while offering more online classes during both the school year and summer.
