When I was selecting a school, I did consider whether the school had a local presence or not. In my area, there weren’t a lot of options for PhD programs. I could choose to do a face-to-face program at our public universities - one was close by, the other was about 90 miles away. Neither school had exactly the program I was looking for. The online schools I was considering had no local campus presence anywhere, they were fully online. So my options were somewhat limited, but that made the decision easier.
I know that it can be reassuring to have a local campus nearby. Several of the schools I teach for have online and face-to-face components. The students do feel a benefit from being able to go to a campus, see real people, and get the help they need.
In my situation, that wasn’t the case. That’s not to say that having some resources close by wouldn’t be helpful, but we’re so accustomed to doing correspondence via the phone or the web, that in-person contact seems to be a thing of the past.
I actually treasure the fact that my school is fully online and has no local campuses. It puts everyone on the same playing field. We all have access to the same resources. Knowing what I know now, I would still choose Capella.
Our world has flattened, so to speak, thanks to the internet, and I’ve had opportunities to talk with people from around the globe. Some of these people have become quite dear to me. One such person is Srini from India. He was complimentary of the slideshows I posted on Slideshare.net and an email friendship developed.
Srini connected me with a young woman from the Netherlands, and the three of us created an inspirational slide show and posted it collaboratively. We never sat down face to face, but together we created a project thousands of miles apart. When I viewed the recent violence India I emailed Srini to make sure he was okay. He said he was safe and that many others from Slideshare had also expressed concern. I feel like he is “local” just as all my online classes and communities feel local. Columbus never found India, but I did!
Two of my first online classes were not local, and one was. In all three, I developed intellectual relationships. I have been keeping in touch via email with one teacher I met in a since 2001 non-local class. Since the class, I haven’t had contact with any of the students from my local class. After my experiences I have no preference as to whether the classes are local or not.
What is important to me is content. I want classes that specifically help me improve my skills as a teacher. As technology changes, I find it important to stay ahead of my students, many of whom are learning on their own. Interestingly enough, I am looking at a progam in e-learning offered through a state university system here in Wisconsin. The consideration of this program has nothing to do with the location of the university. So far, it’s the program that piques my interest. I have read all the course descriptions and what fascinates me is that many of the skills I already learned through online classes were provided by my very own school district.
