THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 6, 1994 TAG: 9409060038
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: NEWPORT NEWS DAILY PRESS
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
Virginia now has a college program that can award a bachelor's degree to students who attend classes at 2 a.m. in their underwear, or naked at high noon in Timbuktu.
Or dressed any way they like at any time of day or night anywhere in the world - and the same goes for their instructors.
The only requirements: a hard-disk computer with modem, access to a phone line and enrollment at Christopher Newport University. With that, students can attend all their classes at home, without ever entering a classroom.
CNU Online was made possible with a special appropriation from the General Assembly, with orders to provide a pilot degree program for the state.
The system will improve teaching and learning if only by eliminating some of the drawbacks of the traditional classroom, said CNU Online's program administrator, Buck G. Miller.
In a traditional setting, students with handicaps or who are timid in class may do poorly, Miller said. With the computer network, teaching and learning are removed from these distractions. Grading is based solely on the quality of the messages that students write in their courses.
When these messages are sent is up to the individual student and teacher. A student who can work only late at night can send messages then, to be read and answered the next day, Miller said.
The academic emphasis is on formal, structured essay-type responses to problems. Students work in teams in some classes, while teaching in some areas is coordinated among several teachers.
Research for assignments also can be done via computer, using the Internet link CNU Online will provide. Students can even order textbooks by computer from CNU's bookstore, he said.
Informal messages can be sent via the network to and from anyone in the program. Access to messages can be restricted according to the wishes of the sender, said Harvey Williams, chairman of CNU's department of government and public affairs.
This one-on-one relationship between students and their teachers forces each student to participate. ``What we essentially have is that each student has his own private tutor,'' he said.
Used computers that are compatible with the system can be found for as little $50, Miller said. The standard tuition - $133 per credit hour for in-state students, $327 for out-of-state students - will include all costs of using the Internet system and the 1-800 access number, he said.
CNU is considering tuition discounts in the future for Online students.
``That would be fair,'' Miller said. ``If the student never comes on campus, doesn't park in the parking lot, sit in the classrooms, play on the ballfields or drink out of the water fountains, it costs the university less.'' by CNB