The number of Century College students who took at least one class fully online more than doubled this school year. In fall 2004, 316 students took one or more online classes, compared to 747 students in spring 2006.
In a recent survey conducted by Noel-Levitz, Inc., Century students who are taking online courses identified the following strengths of the online course offerings:
Brenda Lyseng, dean of behavioral and social sciences, mathematics and science, said the challenges that students identified, such as offering sufficient courses online and providing timely feedback to students, would be addressed by the college. Focus groups will be used to also gather more information from students.
Students in the survey indicated that they were satisfied with their college experience and if they had it to do over, they would enroll at Century again. Respondents also said convenience, their work schedules, flexible pacing for completing a program, cost of attendance and future employment opportunities were the top five factors influencing their decision to enroll in an online course at Century. Other influential factors included ability to transfer credits, distance from campus and college reputation. The survey response rate was 21 percent, with 161 respondents.
Arlynne Wolf, the director of the Century College Kitchen and Bath Design program, which offers a completely online certificate, said students need special characteristics to be successful online learners. "Online students must be self-motivated and driven," she said. "They must have good time management skills, be willing to discover new things on their own, be very computer savvy and very independent. These are all traits that are desirable in the kitchen and bath industry, so those individuals that completed the program went on to obtain very good positions in the industry. This year, we saw more students choose the online option since it is easy to manage their own time, works well with working part or full time, saves on gas and saves on child care."
Century student Kelli Fitzmorris of Scandia, who will graduate Friday, May 12, from the Century Kitchen and Bath Design program with straight-A grades, said she has two teen-aged daughters at home, so she needed to fit her education around her home life. She said her background in computer-assisted drawing and mechanical drafting helped her learn the new material, but what helped her most was her self-discipline. "You have to be pretty resourceful," said Fitzmorris. "You really have to figure out a lot of things on your own, but I think that's a good thing. All the assignments and expectations are laid out very well, so you just have to do the work and put in the hours."
Fitzmorris said the only time she went to class was during the first week when she wanted to put instructor's faces with their names. "From then on, it was a piece of cake," said Fitzmorris. "I never had a problem getting online. I never had any issues."
Kate Ternus of the Century College marketing program said she loves teaching online. "I find that sometimes students create a better, more enduring sense of community and collaboration online then they do when they're zooming in and out of classes on campus," she said. "Sometimes students in a regular classroom take less time to interact because they're shy or feel inadequate in a face-to-face conversation, or are just plain in a hurry to get to work or to pick up a child from day care. Online, they often have deeper subject-matter-related conversations when they don't have to respond in real time."
Laurie Lykken of the Century College English Department said this semester she had several students who work during the day and take some course on campus at night in addition to taking courses online. "I had one student in Kentucky, and as time goes by we will be seeing more students in other states and even other countries taking online courses at Century College," she said. Support services such as the Technical Support Guide that is mailed to all online students, the IT help desk and the new online writing center are some of the projects that Century is continuing to develop and improve for online students.
This fall, Century will be offering fully online courses in areas such as biology, career studies, computer application technology, economics, English, health, kitchen and bath design, mathematics, marketing, nursing, office technology, philosophy, political science, psychology, radiologic technology and women's studies. Web-enhanced courses, also known as hybrid courses, offer a blend of instruction online and on campus. The college will offer web-enhanced courses in areas such as English, information and Telecommunications technology, marketing, microcomputer support technician, reading and sociology.