FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 17, 2004

CONTACT:
Daniel Alexander, (515) 3764, daniel.alexander@drake.edu
Lisa Lacher, (515) 271-3119, lisa.lacher@drake.edu

DRAKE UNIVERSITY'S ONLINE CLASSES GIVE CURRENT STUDENTS AND OTHERS FLEXIBILITY TO EARN CREDIT AND ENJOY SUMMER

Drake University's online classrooms are changing the way people think about summer school.

Convenient and flexible, Drake's online summer courses let students and others attend school from their homes, offices, and even on vacation because they can log into "class" anytime and anywhere. The classes are taught by the same professors who teach during the fall and spring semesters, and faculty members are available to interact one-on-one via e-mail with students as needed throughout the summer.

"Online courses are a great way for students to continue their education throughout the summer," said Daniel Alexander, Drake University's director of the Center for Digital Technology and Learning Curriculum.

Alexander, who also is an associate professor of mathematics, said the online classrooms are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, making it very easy for students to fit them into their schedules.

"Keep in mind, however, that Web courses are concentrated in that they typically last five to six weeks, and although it's up to each student on when he or she chooses to go to class, they do require the same amount of work as any other course."

This summer, Drake will offer more than 65 online courses ranging from Accounting and English to Biology and Chemistry. A couple of unusual courses will explore the impact of pop music on culture, and three Women's Studies classes will address Women in Politics, Gender and World Politics, and Educational Equity and Social Justice.

Enrollment for online summer courses for current Drake students began two weeks ago. However, the university has a policy of open enrollment, so, space permitting, Drake courses are open to anyone who meets the prerequisites for a given course. Non-Drake students can go online at onlinelearning.drake.edu/summer/Registration03.html for more information on how to enroll.

From 1997 to 2000, the number of students taking summer online courses at Drake nearly doubled each year. In each of the last three summers, the university offered about 60 different summer online courses to about 1,150 students from 40 different states and 12 countries. About 90 percent of those students were already enrolled at Drake, while 116 non-Drake students completed an online course.

According to a 2002 program assessment, the student satisfaction rate is more than 75 percent. Additionally, more than 50 percent of students would not take the same summer course if it were not offered online, about 67 percent feel they learn equally well or better in a Web course, and a whopping 91 percent found the Web courses more convenient than regular classes.

"The Web-based course I took last summer was very convenient for me," Drake student Beth Grote said. "I wanted to take a summer class, but still being able to work full-time was very important. The Web-based course allowed this, and let me do the work and check my assignments on my own time, whether it was early morning or very late at night. It was definitely a positive experience."

Another Drake student praised the program while offering some insightful advice for future participants in Web-based classes.

"Anyone who takes the online courses through Drake will have to be a fairly disciplined self-starter, but by the end, you'll understand the subject better than you would ever have imagined," Drake student Jonathan Zerr said.

"The professors and grading assistants were prompt and thorough in answering student questions and supplying the students with the necessary lecture notes and guidance," Zerr added. "The computer support staff was courteous and understandable for even the most novice computer users, going out of their way to make sure that copies of material were easily downloadable and sent in an operating format that the individual students' computer could open. Overall, two thumbs up on Drake's entrance into the future of online courses."