The information superhighway will be driving right through Lansing Community College’s campus.

Starting with restructuring its Web page this fall, LCC’s E-campus initiative intends to reshape the Internet’s role in higher education.

Combination Internet-lecture classes, 24-hour computer enrollment via the Web site and Blackboard, an online program that allows students to access class notes, discussions and schedules, are features students can access.

And there is more to come.

“This is our chance to take a step back and see what do students really want in the Web site,” said Lucian Leone, director of marketing at LCC. “The redesign of the Web is just the tip of the iceberg in a effort to use the Internet much more significantly on the campus.”

Byron Brown, coordinator of instructional technical support in the Libraries, Computing and Technology Department, said MSU also uses Blackboard and other course management programs. The College of Natural Science is developing a lecture online network through its Computer Assisted Personalized Approach system.

“We have literally more than 10,000 students that are in classes that use one or more of these tools,” Brown said. “We also have 130 classrooms that use computer projection so you can show tapes or campus cable and a computer that has access to Internet so you can show them software and Web sites.”

Brown, also an economic professor, teaches an online course, and said they are a great time-shifting device.

“Many of them enjoy the convenience of not having to go to class, but they can still watch lectures with streaming video,” he said.

LCC is offering eight Internet-lecture classes in subjects ranging from chemistry to humanities. Laura Cottrell, lead support staff of the distance learning office at LCC, said the classes make learning more accessible and convenient for students.

“It works well for students who like to be online but also enjoy personal interaction,” she said. “It frees up classroom space, which helps with scheduling, and people don’t have to pay for parking and day care 50 percent of the time.”

If successful, up to 30 combination classes will be offered next spring.

Enlighten, an Ann Arbor-based interactive design, development and consulting firm, worked with LCC to develop E-campus and its Web page.

“We are going to try to more fully integrate (online) with the whole college experience,” said Dave Antil, vice president of strategic development for Enlighten. “The goal is making the Internet the main point of communicating between the college and the students outside the classroom.”

And Antil said other colleges are interested in applying the same holistic approach as LCC.

The E-campus system is also set up to add financial aid and career counseling to the Web, when resources become available.

“A lot of the features we are talking about now are plans for the future,” Antil said. “But they now have a road map to get where they want to go.”