increarse the level of online education

BY MADDY GLOVER
The number of online courses offered at UMaine has increased from 12 courses to 277 in 12 years. This increase correlates with the growing number of students, but according to James Toner, director of UMaine’s Distance Education program, “students are really voting when registering [for online classes]. They’re voting for usefulness, time, convenience and flexibility.”Toner said it is practical, both economically and environmentally, for someone living in Dover-Foxcroft, for example, to choose distance learning rather than driving to Orono three times a week for an introductory level class such as Biology 100, which has approximately 800 students this semester.Jeremy Dubois, a fifth-year German student, took an online introductory English composition class his first year at the University of Southern Maine. Students in his class were required to post responses to articles and other materials two to three times a week, usually having a larger assignment due on Fridays. Dubois and his classmates were required to critique each other’s work in a virtual interactive setting.Dubois did not like the lack of social interactions with classmates and said online classes are “cold and dead. I didn’t even see anyone.” He said a math class might be more conducive to online learning, but an online English class was difficult to learn from.