Going back to college can be a challenge for those who have settled into their careers. Just ask Helen Keier. She is juggling a full-time job, the mother of a 20-year-old son, and also is engaged. She has a lot on her plate right now, all while pursuing a Master’s Degree at Purdue.
"Yes you can say you can carve out time to do things, but it's also important for any student to discover those pockets of time,” she said.
Keier is pursuing her Master’s in learning design and technology, but has never set foot on Purdue’s campus.
In fact, she doesn’t even live in the state of Indiana.
The New York resident is participating in the university’s new online program that began last semester and says it’s the perfect offering to accommodate her hectic schedule.
"Right now there are not many actually instructional design, learning design programs in New York City. They are in person, not online," she said. "I thought Purdue, I thought it was a better value for my time, effort and money. I thought it was a more complete package.”
And Tim Newby says that is exactly what the program is intended to be.
"The first thing that always jumps out at you out is the convenience of it,” he said.
Newby is a professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and helped developed the learning design and technology online master’s program over the past three years.
It is the first totally online program offered at Purdue.
Initially, Newby expected enrollment to be about ten-students, but there were more than four times that in the first semester and another 40 signed up this semester.
"So in a matter of a few months we are up to almost 80 Master's students in this program," he said. "So that's been very effective."
Many of the students participating are like Keier in that, they are trying to balance school with full time jobs and family.
Robin Cunningham is the Associate Director for Distance Learning at Purdue, she says the programs flexibility is what makes it appealing.
"They might have the need to sign online and do their course at 10 p.m. So it gives them that flexibility," said Cunningham. "They can do it from home. They can do it while they are traveling if their work requires them to travel a lot, so I just think its more flexible and it's the way people, in this fast paced society, it's a great way to get your education at the same time.”
And Keier has taken full advantage of not being confined to a classroom and being able to get some of her course work done in some interesting places.
"In the line at the supermarket," she laughed. "For awhile we were using Purdue's mixable program and I was able to access a course thread from my cell phone in the line at supermarket.”
The program is convenient, but not easy.
Keier has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and she works as an administrator at John Jay College in New York City.
She decided to pursue her Master’s to get ahead professionally by making herself more well-rounded.
She says Purdue’s program has challenged her academically in ways she’s never experienced.
"I have taken graduate level study before, in a traditional brick and mortar classroom, and comparing the two experiences, I think I am actually developing a deeper understanding of the material by being an online student as opposed to my in-person classes because of the requirements of the program.”
The learning design and technology online master’s program is designed to take two years to complete.
Although she will never pull up a chair in a classroom at Purdue, Keier says part of the reason the initiative is so effect is because of the various resources for interaction with her peers and instructors, including multi-hour Skype sessions to prepare for finals.
"I've got a great bunch of people I'm in classes with," she said.
" These are people who if I met in other means or other walks of life, I think would really enjoy knowing them. They are great people. Those four and five hour sessions on Skype go by very quickly and we have been very lucky in how we've worked together, but they can be intense. Some of the work is very challenging.”
She admits there are times when she wishes there was more personal interaction and says one of the primary goals of the program moving forward should be to establish a deeper feeling of community among its participants.
Cunningham says the one-on-one interaction in a traditional class setting is still very valuable, particularly for undergraduate students, but says this program caters to a different set of needs.
"They are geared toward the professional whose already out there working and doesn't have time to be a traditional student," she said. "I would think they would have a lot of these social skills already built up and their just looking for the flexibility of getting a degree done to move forward in their careers.”
While Purdue’s program is more for upper-level students, Newby says we are not far away from seeing online courses play an even greater role in high education.
"I can see a time when a university student will pick the English class from a professor at one university and a science class from another university and part of a program here and part of a program there where they kind of just hodge podge and put it together from very, very high quality places," he said.
"We need to be in the game and producing very high quality product from that."
And Keier says more options for education for people like her is an encouraging sign.
"I didn't want my time down to say Tuesday and Thursday nights for the next two years in a classroom where I wouldn't see my family. This way I go home, I make dinner, we sit down, we can eat, and then I get online and do work for maybe an hour or two and I am still engaged," said Keier. "It's a great avenue for students that way."