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M“ aintaining a career
, going to school full
time, and taking care
of two small children is
virtually impossible,” said Kimberly
Lennon-Mclntyre a Fayetteville State
University junior in the online degree
program. “Online classes are suited
for the flexibility of your schedule and
help you better manage instructional
time with other obligations” she added.
For several years online classes have
provided institutional instruction with
the convenience of being outside the
classroom. Online classes are mostly
thought to fit non-traditional students
but they also accommodate tradition
al students. A non-traditional student
is primarily an older degree seeking
student who may commute and at
tend classes that evolve around their
personal life because they commute.
A traditional student attends college
right after graduating from high school
without taking time off. Online classes
deliver a learning experience via a com
puter and the Internet. Course work is
conducted through discussion groups,
external resources, exams, quizzes, so
cial rooms, blogs, wiki’s, learning activ
ities and online submitted assignments.
Online learning is essential for those
who are not able to go to school and
have already branched off into their
careers or job fields. Online classes aid
you through the learning process but
teaches you “self-help”. Classes con
ducted online have the same standards
as any instruction offered on campus.
In order to be accepted into the univer
sity students must have taken the core
curriculum set by the university and
not have any holds on their account.
In order for a student to qualify for the
Online Completion Program for upper-
division,junior and senior level, instruc
tion online ODC students must already
have completed the University College
Core Curriculum, or be dual enrolled
with a partnering community college.
Mrs. McIntyre is already a gradu
ate of Campbell University, where
she took online classes and attended
classes in Campbell’s off-campus
base located on Fort Bragg’s Base .
“The reason I am attending classes
again online is because I am well
into my life and have already evalu
ated my goals,” said Mrs. McIntyre.
“Attending instructional courses in
the classroom does not suit my flex
ibility and ultimately will delay my
graduation process.” Mrs. McIntyre
seeking a degree in psychology.
Along with being a little annoyed some FSU
professors are questioning the rights of this
ontrol implementation. Information Technol
Dgy and Telecommunications Services repre
entatives suggested that their goal is not to
prevent students from gaining access to web
sites, but to simply protect students against
potentially hazardous “computer bugs.”
I tried to pull up a website to show my students
and I couldn’t access the website,” said Dr.
Todd Frobish, associate professor and FSU’s
Communications Department interim chair.
‘As a state institution and a public school
nobody should be blocking websites for
adults. This raises the issue of government
ensoring. This is what China is doing.”
Sociology professor, Dr. Heather Griffiths
also expressed her concerns about the
boundaries of censorship. “This can cer
tainly be perceived as violation to our
1st Amendment,” said Dr. Griffiths
However ITTS representatives sug
gest that this is not the case. “We love
the Internet,” said Payam Damghani,
FSU’s operations and systems analyst.
The school’s policy is not to block web
sites, but to protect students from entities
that can be hazardous to school and per
sonal computers. We are simply being pro
active versus reactive,” said Damghani