A new frontier of online learning in Minnesota

On a trip around the state, Gov. Tim Pawlenty laid out a new goal: By 2015, students in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system would earn 25 percent of their credits online.

But each part of the challenge seemed to raise a new question.

Why 25 percent?

Why 2015?

What, exactly, do you mean by online?

The answers will define the new frontier in the quickly changing e-learning landscape. Although many praise the goal as forward-looking, some officials at Minnesota's public "brick-and-mortar" schools are concerned that quality could be lost in this quest for quantity. Or that forms of e-learning could be squashed by a restrictive definition of "online."

The idea that "you have online over here and face-to-face over here is a simplistic view," said St. Cloud State President Earl Potter, gesturing right and left. "Most courses today have a website, a discussion board -- even if they're not 'online.'"

At St. Cloud State, the number of online courses has nearly doubled since 2004, with several degrees available completely online.

Numbers are rising elsewhere, too. About 22 percent of U.S. college students took at least one Web-based class in the fall 2007 semester -- up 12.9 percent from fall 2006 and far more than the 1.2 percent rise in total enrollment, according to the Sloan Consortium, which studies online learning.

In the MnSCU system, which includes 32 public two-year and four-year colleges, 9.2 percent of registered credits for the 2007-08 year were predominantly online.

But the percentage varied dramatically from school to school. Students at Lake Superior College in Duluth registered for 23.6 percent of their credits online. The figure was 1.6 percent at Winona State and 7.1 percent at St. Cloud State.

"We're going to use some of the institutions that are doing really well to help other ones who aren't," said David Olson, chairman of MnSCU's Board of Trustees. He, with Pawlenty, announced the 25 percent goal in November.

Lessons from Lake Superior

Lake Superior College's experience could be telling for others. The school dived into online classes about 12 years ago as a way to increase access for would-be students.

For years, its efforts were "really about quantity, growing a critical mass in online course offerings and the faculty to teach them," said Barry Dahl, vice president of technology.

"For the last four to five years, the growth has slowed quite a bit, partly because other schools started to catch up, but also because we really focused on quality," he said.

The school can up its percentage further, said President Kathleen Nelson. But "I think we have to be careful as a state that we don't just put out a bunch of courses" without focusing on quality and unique programming, she said.

The November announcement didn't include the University of Minnesota's system, but it provoked a response from the U anyway. In a four-page letter to Pawlenty, President Robert Bruininks outlined the U's online and e-learning opportunities, pointing out that "the e-learning story -- both at the University and for the state of Minnesota -- cannot simply be about volume."

The university's new Digital Campus centralizes its online courses; there were more than 600 of them system wide this fall. That number includes "hybrid" courses, in which students are expected to be on-campus occasionally or often for hands-on labs or exams.

Some programs and courses aren't -- and shouldn't be -- online-only, said vice provost Billie Wahlstrom. She cited geology and medical fields, among others.

"Most students who come to the U of M aren't looking for a 100 percent online degree program," said spokesman Daniel Wolter. "They can get that from one of many online universities as there's no shortage of those kinds of programs."

The university appreciates Pawlenty's interest in online work, he said, "but hopes to be able to broaden the vision beyond 100 percent online credits and courses."

The U has targeted its online-only courses for students looking to complete abandoned degrees and to areas where it has a "comparative advantage," Wahlstrom said.

Online reaches into homes

A significant chunk of the people who take online courses do so because life -- work, children, distance -- makes it difficult to be on campus from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Friday.

"I couldn't tell you how many times, traveling around the state, I had people come up to me and say, 'I've got a full-time job, I'm raising two kids, and we sit around the kitchen table with my kids and we all do our homework,'" said Mn- SCU's Olson, who is also president of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.

Providing options to help them upgrade their skills or finish degrees is particularly important in today's economy, he said.

Equal costs to teach student

Online courses are the reason Jennifer Haag -- 39, with on-call work and two young children -- was able to go back to school, this time for medical administration. She's taken 22 classes at Anoka Technical College, 14 of them online, and has just eight credits left to graduate.

"For me, it's been huge," she said. "If I didn't have the opportunity, I probably would not be where I'm at right now. I'd be at another office somewhere thinking, 'Oh my God, I hate my job.'"

Providing more online courses will "maximize efficiency and use of taxpayer resources," according to Pawlenty's office. Systemwide, that's probably true, MnSCU officials said. For example, if one school offers a course online, others wouldn't have to.

But the cost of educating a student online is the same as educating one in person, said Lake Superior president Nelson and others. Creating new online programs will require new technology, they said.

Olson said MnSCU has upgraded those systems in recent years but acknowledges there are "fairly sizable investments" left to make.

At St. Cloud State, where 5,967 students enrolled in online courses during 2007-08, Potter sees demand as the key.

"Most of this movement has taken place in response to student demand," Potter said. "If we set a number that's faster than students are able to absorb, it does a disservice."

Jenna Ross • 612-673-7168