Last fall, I blogged about the healthy enrolment in online classes in geography. Well, I moseyed over to the schedule of classes to see if spring term classes have attracted good numbers.
Bottom line: it is working well :-)
- My online class in spring is GEOG315D, which is about the Indian subcontinent. The last time I offered it, which was last Spring, it was a "regular" class, and only three or so students had enrolled by the first week in March. So, the very responsible faculty that I am (or pretend to be?) I canceled it.
Based on that fall term experience, I had a thought: why not slowly move the potentially low-demand courses to the online format? If there is really a demand for online classes, then maybe students will sign up because of the convenience factor. It is a win for them.
It is a win for me, because I then get to engage students on topics and issues that I believe every student ought to be familiar with. (Would you be happy with graduating students not knowing anything about India/Pakistan/Bangladesh/Sri Lanka/Nepal, which collectively are home to more than a quarter of the world's population, and with quite a few geopolitical and economic issues with global implications?)
It is a win for the university in terms of enrolment management.
As of today, there are 15 in the class, and I won't be surprised if it reached 20 by the first day of Spring--quite a contrast to the four the last time around, eh!
- There is one other upper-division geography course that is offered online (by my colleague), and that is already closed; all filled up and no space left.
- The university gains even more: no need for classroom space for two sections!
The world is changing, even at WOU: one small geography class at a time :-)
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