Sgt. Shawn Guillereault can take his Washington State Community College English composition course at midnight while sitting at home in Dayton.
Kim Johnson starts her Intro to Theater class right after she puts her two kids to bed in Newport.
Both Guillereault and Johnson never see their teacher or step foot into the classroom, but they pass their courses thanks to new alternative classes offered by Washington State through the Internet. The school is giving such students with demanding schedules the flexibility to get a college degree.
“It’s a great advantage,” said Guillereault, who constantly travels as a U.S. Army recruiter. “There’s no way I can make the time for class.”
The 27-year-old hasn’t even been to Washington State. Guillereault registered online, purchased the textbooks and, throughout the week, receives his assignments from professors through e-mail. He said he completes the assignments on his own time and submits them for critique and a grade.
Washington State began the alternative Internet classes solely for military students a year ago during the 2001 winter term. Fifty-five students in the service signed up with 43 living outside Ohio, said Washington State Dean of Continuing Education Mike Bankey. One Ohio student moved to Washington, D.C., and “there was no disruption in his education,” Bankey said.
Bankey heads up Washington State’s online courses and said the program’s popularity has led the school to recently open the alternative classes to all students. About 60 students are taking part in one or more of the online classes this spring term. The school offers PC application, English composition, interpersonal communication, sociology, general psychology and even intro to theater. How can students learn theater online, one may ask.
“It’s not an acting class,” Bankey said. “They receive exercises on how to critique performances.” As part of the class, the students rent videos and attend local play productions, writing up their critiques and submitting them for grade via e-mail.
Living with two kids as a single mom in Newport, the online courses allow Johnson to save the cost of a baby-sitter and to spend more time at home with her children. Johnson, 38, is working toward her liberal arts degree focusing on psychology. She takes half her classes 25 minutes away at Washington State, while her kids are in school and the other half at home on the Internet, while her kids are in bed.
“The flexibility is really nice,” Johnson said. Experiencing both types of classes, Johnson said she learns equal amounts. Instead of raising her hand to ask a question in the classroom, she just e-mails the professors and they get back to her usually within a day.
Washington State’s Ralph Tepe is one of the professors at the college who deals with both classroom and online students for the same English composition class.
“For any given assignment I put in writing what I would cover in a lecture,” Tepe said. “It’s parallel to what I do in the room, but it’s via keyboard instead of face to face.”
Tepe said students need to be self- disciplined if they want to venture into the online world of education.
“There’s no one breathing down your neck every day saying ‘you need to do this,’” Tepe said.
The relationship between online students is “pretty businesslike,” Tepe said. He said only a few of his students ever include personal information along with their assignments. One of the few disadvantages of dealing solely through e-mail is that technology can sometimes flop, Tepe said. However, technology is improving.
An added bonus: tuition costs for the classes match regular fees and include no extra out-of-state fees.