University's 'World Campus' opens, offers new options

Virtual roll call for Alfred Turgeon's turf grass management class began this week, as 13 students logged onto the Penn State World Campus for the first time.

- Stephen Wright, director of distance education programs

The University plans to expand its distance education program by developing a series of degree or certification programs available to students worldwide via the Internet, said Stephen Wright, director of distance education programs.

Students may complete course work, attend lectures, research and respond to discussion topics whenever and wherever they find convenient. Except for proctored exams, students will determine their own schedules and paces, he said.

Turgeon's class is the initial result of a project to build a virtual University commissioned by Univeristy President Graham Spanier and supported by a $1.3 million grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Wright said.

The grant allowed for market research to determine course demand and format classes to the new technology, Wright said. The University will offer World Campus courses in areas of its known specialties, such as turf grass, he said.

"This is a way to grow the revenue base of the University without undercutting the classes on campus," Wright said. "This is an addition, it's not something that's going to take students away from resident instruction courses."

People learn differently, and the new World Campus will give individuals more scholastic options, said Jenn Belzner (junior-accounting), a member of the Undergraduate Student Government Academic Assembly.

"What if you're a night owl? (World Campus) just allows people to better suit their own learning needs," Belzer said.

As computers equipped with Internet access appear everywhere across the United States, from libraries to post offices, a virtual University will appeal to increasing numbers of people, Belzner said.

The University plans to introduce two more electronic courses this semester and three others in the near future, Wright said.

On Feb. 16, anyone with computer access may begin his or her University noise control engineering certification, Wright said. By March 2, the first digital chemical dependency counselor education program will premiere. Plans for a noncredit certificate program in geographical information systems, as well as a program in conjunction with Hershey Medical Center, are in progress, he added.

The electronic classroom also allows for a completely new learning experience, Turgeon said. Teachers may effectively track and record every step of a student's involvement in a subject, he said. Teachers will have the ability to monitor students as they work on homework problems.

"You don't try to teach on the web the way you teach in the classroom," Turgeon said.

The Internet enables him to monitor a student's entire academic performance as opposed to solely their exam performances as in traditional classroom settings, he said.