For people who have work responsibilities or distance constraints, online courses have become an increasingly prevalent way to earn an education.

These courses at the University of Wisconsin System have become more popular, Roger Maclean, UW associate dean in the Division of Continuing Studies said.

“These courses offer people the opportunity to complete a degree without leaving their jobs,” said Maclean. “For people who have work or have activities with school, these courses give more flexibility than juggling five classes that meet at a certain time every week.”

Currently, the UW System offers individual undergraduate courses, graduate degrees and non-credit courses via distance education. Associate degrees are also available online through UW System two-year campuses.

The course topics of these classes are far-reaching for all types of majors.

Undergraduate courses cover such topics as agriculture, architecture, foreign language, business and more. Students can take these courses for credit or non-credit.

Masters degrees are offered in the engineering and education departments at UW.

Courses are online and usually feature web lectures using streaming video. Some course websites offer study guides and online quizzes to help students review the material.

Food Science 120 is a popular online course that about 600 UW students take per semester. Non-traditional and UW students take the course largely because of its convenience, Susie Cheleszig, UW outreach specialist for the course, said.

“Most students really like the format because it’s convenient. There are web lectures, videos and CDs available at libraries for the course. They can watch the show at midnight if they want,” she said.

Most of the students that take Food Science 120 are on-campus students. Chelseszig said the course’s popularity has increased, usually reaching its maximum enrollment of 600 students, and enrollment is now capped as a result.

However, distance education courses have to overcome several obstacles. Exams are harder to administer, and there is always the possibility of cheating.

“It’s always a concern. Often times we’ll select a proctor to administer the test. If it’s online, we’re trying to build things into the programs to prevent cheating,” Maclean said. “However, even if you’re taking an exam in a lecture hall as a student here, you can always be guaranteed at least one person is cheating there, too.”

Cheleszig said exams are usually difficult for Food Science instructors. Because there are 600 students, the exams must be administered at two different times in one night in two large lecture halls.

“It’s awkward for both students and instructors, because they don’t know where the rooms are, because they only go there three times per semester,” Chelseszig said.

Another difficulty of distance education is the lack of instructor-student interaction. Cheleszig said she misses meeting the students since the course is watched online or on television.

“The instructor doesn’t see the majority of students like they would in a traditional course. They’re out there in TV land,” Cheleszig said.

With different learning styles, some students require individual attention that is hard to establish in distance-education courses.

“I think for people who are location-bound, I’m not sure it’s their first choice to take an online course. I think people prefer face-to-face interaction,” Maclean said.

Students must be highly motivated to finish on-line course work, because classes do not meet at the same time every week. The next best thing distance instructors can do is communicate with students via e-mail or on-line study groups, she added.

“There’s a level of personal commitment. You’re not bound to a classroom; you have more flexibility in completing assignments. For a person that is not self-disciplined, it could be a challenge,” Maclean said.