BS in Marketing Online
"I never went to college after high school — I wasn't ready for it at the time," says Nichole Stauffer, a 37 year-old living in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
"If I had tried to go I'd probably have failed out, quickly. Then I got married, kids, work, bought a house. You know, it just never seemed to be a good time." That all changed about a year ago when some old friends began to finish their degrees. "I'd been tossing around the idea of going back to school. It just sort of clicked — this is what I needed to do for myself right now."
Stauffer heard about Full Sail University from her husband, a computer programmer. She compared Full Sail's B.S. in Marketing with a program at a local college, and ended up choosing what she felt was a better program, for less than the cost of the local school. "The one that was at the local school catalogue had a lot of the same components, but wasn't as specifically geared towards Internet marketing," says Stauffer. "The other part of that too, is that the one local was going to be a four year bachelor program." With Full Sail, she says, she will have her full bachelor degree in two years. Stauffer plans to follow her Bachelor's with a Master's the following year.
Braving the New World of Online Collaboration
To finish a Bachelor's in two years instead of the usual four, Full Sail uses a very different course structure. Classes last four weeks each and are held back to back. "It's all laid out, these are courses that you will have and the order you will take them, and this is the month that you will be taking them."
Stauffer says that the pace can be challenging and active participation is crucial. Full Sail uses a virtual collaboration tool called Wimba. "It's basically an online blackboard and we all log in at the same time and we all interact and talk and our teacher is up on our screen," says Stauffer. "We can see her and next to her is a whiteboard. She is able to put up examples or a slideshow she wants us to see." The teacher can also see and hear the students, for Stauffer it's like she is attending a regular class.
Questions for teachers and technical support for Stauffer's courses are handled via iChat. "All of our teachers have iChat addresses so that we can quickly IM a teacher. We also have our full webmail program." Twitter comes into play as well. "We can follow our support people on Twitter and see if there are any problems," says Stauffer. "Like, today their service is down. I couldn't figure why I couldn't get in, so I ended up just calling my teacher on her cell phone."
Exam formats vary by class. "Most of my classes," says Stauffer, "you can actually go in and copy all the other questions down and figure out the answers before you go in and start." She finds this especially useful for subjects like for physics in which you need to work out a lengthy equation. Once you begin the exam in the online classroom, you typically have an hour to complete it. "It's basically like filling in an online form — you just click on the correct answer and then hit next until you're done, then you hit submit."
Online Learning a Good Fit for "Real Life"
Stauffer, at 37, is the oldest of the three students who began the marketing program at the same time, but she says that isn't always the case. "I actually found there are some classes that I've had classmates anywhere from 25 years old to ones in their fifties, sixties. So it's all age ranges." She says her largest class has been 15 students.
Even though the pace is accelerated, professors understand that most of the students lead busy lives. "They understand that you're a full time employee and you have a family," says Stauffer. "When my mother had a stroke, I was at the hospital for a week. I contacted both of my teachers and they were all very understanding and give me a week extension."
The ability to do coursework whenever it is convenient for her has made Stauffer extremely happy that she chose to get her degree online. "With two kids, trying to find four hours to go to a class every week, it's impossible," she says. "Up until this past August my husband was working out of state during the week. So it was just the dog, two kids and I. Leaving them would have been impossible." She feels that she can adapt classes to her rhythm. "I can work on my discussion board and then get dinner on the table. And then come back and look at my next assignment and start my reading, take the dog out," she says. "I have the ability to wear the different hats that I have to wear and still be able to get my degree."
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