Online learning at Carleton has been steadily growing, according to a report presented Oct. 25 to the Senate, the university’s highest academic governing body.
With online courses increasingly defining students’ learning experience, Carleton University Online (CUOL) course enrolment increased 40 per cent, from 5,379 credits in 2009-10 to 7,532 credits in 2012-2013, according to the Carleton Academic Plan.
CUOL is Carleton’s online course distribution system.
The flexibility CUOL offers to students in Ottawa and beyond has resulted in the increase in enrolment, the report states.
Provost and vice-president (academic) Peter Ricketts provided the report to Senate. He said improvements in technology allow students more options in mixing online with traditional in-class courses.
CUOL director of teaching and learning Patrick Lyons said CUOL classes offer great advantages to students, mostly in terms of flexibility.
He said the flexibility benefits students who face class conflicts, work, have family commitments, or come from remote areas outside the Carleton campus.
“They provide different ways for students to learn and express ideas, i.e., they provide ways for students to learn at their own pace through the ability to review videos or instructional materials multiple times,” Lyons said.
Maria Brocklehurst, a supervisor at CUOL’s student centre, agreed with Lyons.
She said CUOL lets students flex their schedules, shape their learning environment, learn at their own rate, and avoid distractions.
Lyons said Carleton’s academic departments are offering more courses through CUOL, for a wider range of choices for students.
He said summer registration for online courses tripled between 2009-10 and 2012-13.
Some courses offered online will generate a higher enrolment than when the same course was not offered online, Lyons said.
“We have observed that as more courses are offered online, enrolments have increased,” he said.
Students from all over the world, as well as many from Ottawa, enrol in CUOL courses, Brocklehurst said.
“It makes an interesting and varied community of students,” she said.
The number of enrolled students in CUOL located outside of the Ottawa area has been steadily growing, about 300-400 students per year, Lyons said.
However, he said it still represents a small number compared to how many students enrol in CUOL from campus.
Lyons said he supports a mixed approach to learning as an effective tool.
Brocklehurst said students must make sure they actively engage in online courses and must be responsible for reviewing required material and meet course assignment deadlines.
“There is a temptation to procrastinate in an online course when there is no fixed class time,” she said. “Cramming 10 lectures into one week at the end of term never pays off.”
