Online-based classes continue to increase in enrollment and popularity at WSU due to the flexibility and convenience it offers students in fulfilling their General Education Requirements (GERs.)
Enrollment in online courses and in WSU’s distance degree program rises an average 10 percent each year, Debbie O’Donnell, director of marketing and student experience for the Center for Distance and Professional Education said.
“It’s a national trend that WSU will also be participating in,” said O’Donnell. “I think that the institution can expect growth in the online programs.”
In addition to online GER courses for on-campus students, WSU also has numerous online degree and certificate programs for students who are unable to attend an actual university campus.
“Overall, the appeal is the flexibility online courses offer,” O’Donnell said.
Another attraction is the quality of the online classes, she said. The same WSU professors and instructors who teach the on-campus sections of the class also teach the online ones as well.
“The reality is that an online course is as really as good as the instructor makes it,” O’Donnell said. “We have ways of making online courses very interactive and very engaging. It’s not like you sit in front of a computer and have no interaction with your classmates or instructor.”
Danica Goodman, a junior art history major, is currently enrolled in the online Spanish 101 course in order to fulfill the foreign language requirement for her major. However, she said she would not recommend a taking a language class online.
“It’s not what I expected,” Goodman said. “I realized that taking a foreign language should be done in a classroom.”
She said she chose to take Spanish to fill her language requirement because she already took two years of it during high school.
Even though she was already familiar with basic-level Spanish, she said taking the course online was much more difficult than it would be than if she were in an actual classroom.
“There is no way to figure out pronunciation unless you find someone to help you or have taken classes before,” Goodman said.
It’s a lot to learn in a short amount of time without a lot of help, she said.
Spanish 102 is also offered online, however Goodman said she plans to take it next year in an actual classroom instead.
“It’s just easier to learn a foreign language from a person than from a computer,” she said.
Spanish 101 was not Goodman’s first online course she had taken at WSU.
“I have taken online history and online math and those were alright,” she said.
Goodman is one of 70 students enrolled in either the online sections of Spanish 101 or Spanish 102. Each individual class can have up to as many as 100 students.
Laurie Heustis, the Academic Coordinator for the Department of Foreign Languages & Cultures said Spanish 101 and Spanish 102 are the only two language classes at WSU offered online.
The Spanish classes, she said, were created for students who needed to fulfill the university’s language requirement but attended WSU campuses that did not have language classes, like the Tri-Cities campus.
Overall, Heustis said had heard mixed reviews from students regarding online classes.
It’s a good way for students to get their foreign language university requirement done, especially if they have conflicts in their class schedule, she said.
She said often times however students are hesitant about taking online classes.
“I really think it depends on learning style,” Heustis said. “Some like that learning style and some would rather be in the classroom.”
In the future, Heustis said, the foreign language department may look to offer more online classes, however not for the more advanced language courses because of the importance of one-on-one interaction.
Sources
Debbie O’Donnell
Director of marketing and student experience for the Center for Distance and Professional Education
509 335-3557
Danica Goodman
509-953-3235
danica.goodman@email.wsu.edu
Laurie Heustis
Academic Coordinator for the department of Foreign Languages & Cultures
509-335-4136
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