A postcard collection of Victorian artist’s perceptions of the year 2000 depicts a futuristic classroom. A student cranks a large machine, resembling a meat grinder, while the teacher shoves books into it. The books’ information is then transmitted via wires and metal helmets to the other students in the room.
Methods of education have not come quite this far yet. But certainly any Victorian would be stunned by the idea of receiving a degree by sitting at home in front of an electronic box, a practice becoming increasingly popular as schools take their classes online.
Keller Graduate School of Management, located in Irvine, Long Beach and Pomona, offers its six graduate management degree programs online, making advanced degrees more accessible to those who travel often, live too far from a campus, have family obligations or want to learn at their convenience. Because the online classes are synchronized with those at their educational centers, students can complete their entire degree online or attend any combination of online and classroom sessions.
“The idea of attending classes online is appealing to a lot of professionals because they don’t have to worry about commute times or rearranging their schedules to fit their classes,” said Cecil Horst, director of operations for Keller’s California sites. “Many people want advanced degrees so that they can contribute more to their jobs or to help them receive a job promotion. We have always tried to find ways to make it easy for people to do that, without having to sacrifice any aspect of their daily lives.”
In the early 1970s, Keller was a pioneer in offering flexible class hours for full-time professionals seeking to earn advanced degrees. The school provided evening and weekend classes to appeal to businesspeople whose schedules did not allow them to attend traditional full-time graduate programs. Today, Keller is one of the largest part-time, evening graduate schools in the country, with more than 6,000 students at 34 sites.
Online instructors are selected from Keller’s nationwide faculty of over 800 instructors based on their track records of excellence in teaching. They are also specially trained in the use of online teaching methods. The class assignments, syllabi and class discussions are all posted on the password-protected class Web sites. Students interact with their instructors and peers through threaded conversation and message boards. Projects and tests are submitted via the Internet. To insure academic integrity, all final exams are proctored at a time and location convenient to the students.
“Taking courses online is a great way to learn. Classes sizes are kept small, so it’s easy for everyone to participate in class discussions. Also, students can get feedback from instructors and other students by posting questions, something that doesn’t always happen in a traditional classroom setting,” said Horst.
Horst added that online learning can compliment anyone’s traditional education, but warns that exclusive online learning is best for students who are very self-motivated.
“Online courses are convenient, but students need to be sure they can motivate themselves to take their education into their own hands. Some people think taking classes online will be easier than in a classroom, or that they can take shortcuts. That just isn’t true. If anything, online courses are slightly more challenging because of the motivation factor,” said Horst.
“… attending classes online is appealing to a lot of professionals because they don’t have to worry about commute times or rearranging their schedules to fit their classes.”
For more information, call the Irvine center at (949) 752-5631, the Long Beach site at (562) 988-0162, the Pomona school at (909) 865-0402, or visit Keller online at www.online.keller.edu.
