CSUN Will Offer 7 Courses Online

Testing the Internet’s ability to extend the traditional classroom model, Cal State Northridge will launch a pilot program in the fall to teach classes online.

Although students and their instructors will meet in person on a limited basis, much of the class will be conducted by computer, using e-mail, newsgroups and the World Wide Web.

“In terms of providing opportunities for students, I don’t see any pitfalls,” said math professor Elena Marchisotto, faculty advisor to CSUN’s developmental math program. “It provides yet another avenue for learning.”

Born out of a university project to create class resource lists on the Web, seven courses will be offered online in the fall: Advanced Expository Writing for Teachers, Review of Precollege Mathematics, Interpersonal Communication and Technology, Computer Applications in Health Science, Social Statistics, Understanding Music: Western Traditions and the UNIX Environment for Programmers.

Sociology professor Jerald Schutte, who will teach the statistics course, said that although students will spend less time together in the classroom, the global computer network actually surpasses the limits of face-to-face instruction.

“The most obvious is the time- and space-independent nature of the Internet,” he said via e-mail. “Students can log in at their convenience. They have virtual access to the instructor via e-mail and they tend to participate in discussions . . . more in the anonymity of cyberspace than in the classroom.”

Faculty members noted that as computers continue to occupy more places in people’s lives it makes perfect sense to introduce that technology to students. If successful, the program will probably be expanded to include offerings from additional departments.

“The online courses are an extension of the logic of the Internet,” explained John Hartzog, director of CSUN’s Learning Resource Center. “We are just beginning to explore the implications of this.”