According to an annual survey led by the College Board and funded by the Sloan Foundation, a philanthropic nonprofit organization, overall enrollment in online courses jumped 35 percent last year.,”

With college students currently living large portions of their lives online, it seems only logical that this lifestyle extends to attending school online as well.

According to an annual survey led by the College Board and funded by the Sloan Foundation, a philanthropic nonprofit organization, overall enrollment in online courses jumped 35 percent last year.

The survey found that 3.1 million students took an online course in fall 2005. The previous year, there were 2.3 million students enrolled in online courses.

Some feel there are plenty of advantages to online courses when compared to classroom courses.

"Online courses offer a lot more flexibility for both students and teachers," said Joan Whipp, associate professor in the Department of Education Policy and Leadership.

Whipp, in the School of Education, teaches an online course at Marquette and said online courses allow teachers and students to do work for courses when they want to, rather than having a set time.

Online courses also allow for more discussion on course material because of required discussion.

"The level of interactivity is equal to or better than a face-to-face (lecture) course. Every student is required to have a voice in class," said Heidi Schweizer, associate professor in the School of Education. "I've had students tell me they got to know their online classmates better than face-to-face classmates."

However, taking an online course can also be more challenging than taking a regular course.

"It's harder because you have to be extremely organized, set schedules for yourself and it's harder to catch up if you miss part of the course," Whipp said.

Whipp also said the courses can be isolating because students are alone and not in a classroom.

When tests are administered online it can be hard to enforce academic honesty.

"You can't ensure that the person taking the test is in fact who they say they are," Schweizer said.

Marquette has offered online courses since 1997 and currently has 56 courses available to take online, but there are only a few offered each semester. This semester there are eight courses being taught online. Next semester there will be 12.

Online courses are offered in three main areas within the university: nursing, education and professional studies.

Most of the courses taught online at Marquette are only available to graduate students.

Online courses also allow students to be much farther away from a school's actual campus. Schweizer said Marquette has had students take online courses not only in other states like Louisiana and Michigan, but in countries like Kuwait and Italy as well.

Online courses "open up opportunities for people not otherwise able to participate in higher education," Schweizer said, referring to students who might be working full-time or in the process of raising a family.

According to Associate Vice Provost for Educational Technology Jon Pray, Marquette is currently discussing adding more undergraduate online courses.

"I don't think they will replace a college experience, but they might make it easier to fulfill a few course requirements," he said.

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