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On October
10th, the UW-Platteville Alumni Association
(Dane County Connection) and the Distance
Learning Center co-sponsored an open house at
UW Learning Innovations (UWLI). The
purpose of the event was to describe the
partnership between UWLI and UW-Platteville,
demonstrate online courses, and connect with
alumni, potential students, and current
students. More than 50 people attended
the event and found it to be very interesting
and informative. Several current
students talked about their experiences in
their online courses.
Deb Rice, a
student in the online criminal justice
program, loves the course she's taking because
of the wide variety of opinions it exposes her
to. "In my course, there are
students from North Carolina, Virginia,
California, New Jersey, and Texas," she
said. "When they write about their
criminal justice experiences, I am able to
learn from professionals in the complete range
of ages, from right out of college to people
who have seen a lot. It's amazing the
experience you receive in an online course
with ideas from all over the United States and
from people with a variety of work
experience. I really, really enjoy
it."
Ryan Melbard,
a student in the engineering program works
full-time and found it difficult to take
traditional college courses that are offered
on-campus during the work day. For Ryan,
an online program provides the flexibility he
needs.
"Online
courses allow me to access the class anytime
from anywhere," said Ryan. "I don't
have to worry about meetings or appointments
conflicting with my class schedule.
UW-Platteville works hard to provide the small
classroom feeling even though classmates are
often spread out throughout the country and
the world. I was surprised how much
group work and communication between group
members is possible in an online class. I have
been able to learn more about my professors in
an online format than I ever did in a
traditional classroom setting."
It was fun to
watch the current online students connect with
one another. For many, this was the first
time they were able to meet their classmates
in a face-to-face situation. It was also
exciting to see the conversations between the
faculty and the students explode as they
talked about their classes and the
experiences
they have had.
Although the
event was scheduled to go from 5 to 7p.m.,
numerous people remained at the event until
nearly 8:00 p.m. talking about the exciting
future of the online programs.
Alumni from UW-Platteville asked several
questions of the current students, faculty and
staff involved in the online programs.
As one alumnus remarked: "It makes me
proud to be a pioneer to hear such positive
remarks about this new form of education
happening at my alma mater!"
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