After absentmindedly missing an exam in his online TC 201 class, Jacob Shutty is re-evaluating his summer academic plans.
The media and information freshman is one of many students who are considering taking a summer class — a move becoming more common among MSU students, according to the Office of the Registrar.
According to the office, throughout the past 10 years, total summer class enrollments have increased steadily, reaching 48,695 total enrollments in summer 2012 — an increase of 2.5 percent from summer 2011.
For the first time in summer 2012, the number of undergraduate student enrollments in online classes, which was 16,301, surpassed the number of undergraduate enrollments in face-to-face on and off-campus courses by a margin of about 2,500. The numbers illustrate an upward enrollment trend in online summer courses, University Registrar Nicole Rovig said, predicting numbers to increase in summer 2013 as well. Summer 2013 enrollment opens on March 11.
“I do expect it to increase based on the past years’ trends,” she said. “I don’t see anything that would keep that trend from going forward.”
When spending the summer off campus, Associate Provost for Academic Services Linda Stanford said students are likely to enroll online for various reasons, such as getting ahead for graduation, wanting to take a course in a more condensed format or students such as Shutty who need to retake a course.
Although Shutty recognized the convenience of online courses, like many other MSU students, he said he was unsure how to pace himself. He prefers receiving a face-to-face education in the traditional classroom setting.
“(Physically) going to class every time we have class just reminds you that you actually have it,” he said. “Online, you can forget you even have the class sometimes.”
Stanford said any form of learning is based on the preference of the student. Some online courses can be interactive with the use of email and Desire2Learn, she said.
“It was much more static that you might look at a bunch of pages, but now … you can have conversations virtually,” she said.
Economics professor Jeff Biddle teaches an EC 420 online summer course and said he feels as if every student should try the online format at least once.
He said the work load is the same as traditional courses, and online courses allow students to work on their own time — which he said can be the Achilles’ heel.
“Students need to think of their own habits before they even sign up,” Biddle said. “If they usually procrastinate, online classes are not going to work.”
Staff writer Christine LaRouere contributed to this report.
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