The virtual student body got a lot bigger last semester at Oakland University. Nearly doubling their 2004 enrollment, 1290 students participated in completely online courses ranging from journalism to political science to philosophy. 89 classes, all told, are currently on tap at OU with another 577 traditional courses offering supplemental material via the web.
The university's new learning management system --Moodle-- was introduced last winter; allowing faculty members to post online polls, wikis, journals that can be shared privately with students, workshops for peer evaluation and quiz-based lessons. Furthermore, Moodle gives distance education a more personal feel by providing students with chat sessions, discussion forums and instant messaging.
Students and teachers can also make use of the University’s Elluminate system, a video conferencing tool that provides synchronous audio along with PowerPoint presentations or other digital content. This allows instructors and students to discuss course work online.
Currently, OU's graduate level classes are the most popular online offerings, but undergraduate interest has increased with the addition of courses in art history, international studies, sign language, religion, rhetoric and women’s studies. There are even entire programs offered online, including the RN to BSN degree program from the School of Nursing and the School of Education and Human Services’ Education Specialist in School Administration program.
As an incentive to further develop the university's distance learning program, OU offers additional stipends to faculty and staff who teach online classes.
For more information on Oakland University’s online course offerings, or to teach an online course, contact eLIS at (248) 370-4566.
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