Is there student interaction in online graduate DL programs?

Hello,

Could folks who have learner experience with 100% online DL graduate degrees comment on the level of interaction that they had with other learners either at their school or through other means?

In particular, does Northcentral University promote learner interaction in newsgroups, etc. through the tech platform provided by the university?

A doctoral effort is a long road and I think being connected to others in this process would be beneficial if such a think exists. At the PhD level, I wonder if there are any "portals" or other resources to soften the isolation that may be evident in 100% DL programs.

I suppose that Touro and Northcentral are the only 100% online DL PhDs, so I'm wondering if the other schools know something that these two have yet to figure out. Alternatively, Touro and NCU may simply be on the cutting edge of a more progressive approach.

My thread does not seek to a debate over the merits of residency vs. non residency as much as it is a request for those that are in 100% online programs to share their insights and advice about how to succeed in this environment.

Comments and/or suggestions greatly appreciated.

 

I don't know about Northcentral or online doctorate degree programs, but in the online MBA studies at Aspen, we've got something called the interactive learning option. Students participate in online discussions, (which is mandatory,) and there are group projects in some courses, which make student interaction a requirement. Further, I've known many of my fellow-students who had decided (with the permission of the profs) to discuss their assignments after they had been handed in, and also how they would apply such concepts in the workplace. Hence, in addition to student interaction, a free flow of ideas was readily available if you wanted to benefit from it.

Regards,
Mahmood

 

Every student (learner in NCU's lexicon) has a "Learner's Page" which a very simple, folder style bulletin board on it. There is some interaction there, and the psychology students have a Yahoo group that one can join (I have) which provides some interaction between students.

Additionally, when you enroll in a course, you can see who the other "learners" are in that particular course, and you could choose to e-mail them.

I've just started my first course with NCU, and I'm in contact with one other student there via email, and I've found that this interaction is valuable. Whether I'll continue to interact with other students in other courses, I cannot say.

I would not say that NCU actively promotes interaction, but there is some medium for it to take place.

 

my perspective

Hello,

Although I attend Capella, not NCU, I thought I'd chime in (now that I can access the board again ) and tell you of my experiences.

At Capella, we are required to post a certain amount (and length) of postings each week for each class in our online "classrooms". Some classes I've seen just the bare minimum of postings; others, you'll be reading (and writing!) for hours, as the discussion threads get really involved. Actually, from a very non-scientific point of view, it seems that the level (and degree of quality) of postings is positively correlated with the quality of instructor input.

I don't know if NCU has such a format, but I for one would agree that it is very beneficial to 'connect' with fellow Ph.D. learners that way -- I've gotten great insights from my classmates, and it's certainly helped in the bumps along the learning process -- it's always nice to have someone to help cajole, encourage, or just have a friendly bitch session with.

My two cents,
Adrienne

 

Re: my perspective

During my one and only PhD course at NCU students were required to post on a course bulletin board every few classes.

 

I took some on-campus and online classes at Keller Graduate School of Management (not PhD level courses since they don't have PhD programs, but thought I'd share some thoughts anyway), and found that interaction was actually GREATER in online classes. This was primarily because the only way the professor would know about one's existence was by posting -- and since posting SEVERAL TIMES A WEEK (pretty much like attending the same classes many, many times a week) was mandatory, and since the threads were generally very interesting and engaging, one ended up "talking" (and in many cases revealing stuff about oneself) more than one would expect. You couldn't be passive (typical in many on-campus classes) and expect to pass the course.

I don't think that regular interaction (typical of bachelor's and master's level courses) are absolutely necessary at the PhD level (many European and Australian PhDs are purely research undertakings), though I'm not surprised that it's a major concern among American doctoral programs (which I personally think treat students like babies that require a lot of hand-holding).

Anyway, back to interaction in 100% online classes, I think that all the talk about online classes being necessarily less interactive (ergo, of lower quality) whether at the bachelor's, master's, or doctoral level is pure baloney, a result of thinking which I call "very 20th century American" -- my term for dinosaur-age thinking in this new milennium.

 

Weekly Paticipation Required

NCU has a policy that learners must ensure weekly course participation. That includes: posting an assignment, posting an assignment to be shared with the mentor and other learners, posting in threaded discussions on the course website, or viewing a presentation by the mentor.

I have had mentors who require different levels of participation in their specific course forum. Each mentor has their own format.

 

I also came across a student from the upper-tier-ranked (US News & World Report), regionally-accredited state-run University of Nebraska-Lincoln last year. He was doing his PhD in education and he said that he was in the online version of the program, which he was pleased with support- and interaction-wise (regular postings required; emails and chats common). He said that the only thing he didn't look forward to was the short residency requirement (he didn't want to spend on airfare and hotel, etc.). Last time I checked, however (several months ago), the university was already waiving its residency requirements for students who'd like to complete their programs 100% online. For those into doctoral study in education, UNL might be worth checking out.

 

comments so far

thanks everyone for the input. this is helpful and I suspect that newsgroups like this one will grow. I've written before about publication and this pertains more to doctoral level work, but I hope that the future of DL education includes more sites and collaberative efforts via sites, portals, libraries or whatever, to promote publication among DL learners. ultimately, publications, or the lack thereof, will be the biggest drawback to getting hired in academia with DL degrees.

the thrust of these degrees now is in the applied world - job promotion, consulting, etc. and that's practical and understandable. this is especially true since many B & M phd's are being tailored to the more applied world to deal with the general over supply of phd's in the academic market. but even so, I think more effort by DL schools to promote, support and develop publications by their learners would be good. the joint ventures of schools like Capella and Walden with respect to their association with B & M research libraries is a good move.

I am encouraged to hear that folks share ideas during these DL courses.

 

In a master's program, it would be important for student interaction, but I do not think the interaction in a school setting for the PhD is important, nor in some cases even possible. In the PhD, the studies are so apecialized, that an advisor, or maybe one other professor is able to interact with a student with a certain topic. The interaction with other students would come in during the publishing process in conferences, discussion forums on the topic, dinners held by the institution that has interest of the particular topic.

I guess the general discussion of how to complete a doctorate is helpful, but I found that here, with references to books and advice.

 

Golden Gate University, a well-regarded private RA school in San Francisco that caters to full-time professionals, has 100% online graduate programs (master's level) that require extensive interaction. The networking, I'm sure, is especially useful for students in its highly respected taxation programs who want to penetrate the Bay Area's largest firms. The school also offers a DBA, but it's currently in-residence only.

Those who want to check out GGU (and the many other online schools/programs) will find comments on epinions.com and studentsreview.com to be quite enlightening, too (though some of them tend to be dated).

 

re: interaction

I'm a distance MBA student at Colorado State University. We use EMBANET for assignments, questions, projects, buying and selling textbooks etc. We also use telephone conferences when needed for group projects. Faculty are extremely prompt in responding to questions and in advancing discussions of particular topics.

 

Re: Weekly Paticipation Required

c.novick,
My current class utilizes the course discussion board quite often now that the weekly participation requirement has gone into effect. It does provide a much greater sense that we are in a "class" and I am enjoying it and participating in it myself more than I did, previously. I would, however, advise Messagewriter to consider this aspect carefully if it is important to him due to the nature of the self-directed work at NCU.

Messagewriter,
If you are really saying that group activities and the type of interactions you found at a B&M school are very important to you then NCU may not be your ideal. It is still very self-directed. There are forums provided by the school for interaction and you may email other students but it is definitely different from what you would have found at NYU. Personally, I find this a better option for learning and I am diving into statistics much more deeply than I did at Columbia (where I had three graduate level statistics courses) and I am finding that I am in much greater control. Perhaps I am just a better teacher.

 

Re: Re: Weekly Paticipation Required

Thanks. I've had discussions about the benifits of residency vs. 100% online. I can handle the self direction for sure. I'd be happy to absorb material designed for one person. Group work seems to be assigned in obscene proportions and is often unevenly distributed; sometimes to the disfavor fo those seeking the best grades.

What I think I'd like best about NCU is controlling the course pace. I realize that learners can't bang a course out in 6 weeks and start another, witout having first registered for 2 courses at the term's beginning. But, my guess is that these courses could not be as difficult as more theoretical PhD courses, as they appear to be the same ones used in the MBA program. For example, the courses appear to be driven by text books, rathr than a list of journal articles. I wonder if the statistics courses could be near as hard as your Columbia courses.

For example, are you deriving the estimators mathmatically and/or solving the OLS regression equations using linear algebra. Or, are they teaching statistics in a very applied way such being able to produce an SPSS output and understand it is the most important element? If its the latter, I'd think a person who was good with numbers, etc. could manage the pace of the courses around life's event more easily, rather than having to follow the tune of a classroom directed course.

Are you in the PhD Business Adm Health Admin program?

Sorry for the long windedness.

 

Han posted ...

"In a master's program, it would be important for student
interaction, but I do not think the interaction in a school
setting for the PhD is important, nor in some cases even
possible. In the PhD, the studies are so apecialized, that an
advisor, or maybe one other professor is able to interact with
a student with a certain topic. The interaction with other
students would come in during the publishing process in
conferences, discussion forums on the topic, dinners held
by the institution that has interest of the particular topic.

I guess the general discussion of how to complete a doctorate
is helpful, but I found that here, with references to books and advice."

Maybe it's because it's Christmas time ... but I am in 100%
agreement with Han on her post as to the PhD level of
interactions. So Merry Christmas Han! B-)

As to undergrad and masters ... the DL formats do allow for
interactions, Touro requires each session to include Threaded
Discussions ... interactions on a forum to the prof's questions.

Keep in mind, that's the MIN. The MAX is really determined by
how much the student desires to put into the process. When
I was a grad student, we used email, and <GASP> even the
telephone to stay in touch and encourage each other. Ditto
for the time I was a Graduate Assistant ... with different folks
having different learning styles ... I quickly discovered to try
and match how I communicated with how they learned best.

Season's Greetings to ALL!

Billy

 

Merry Christmas to you too.... and I do sometimes use..... the telephone too !!!!

 

Re: Weekly Paticipation Required

Messagewriter,
Yes, I am in the PhD BA, Health Admin program.

I am still quite new at NCU so my experience with courses is not extensive, however, I would say your thinking is generally on the right track. The statistics course I am taking at the moment is very basic and I am only required to take it because all my statistics courses were more than 10 years ago (10 exactly, in fact). It is applied statistics and SPSS is part of the curriculum. (The usual applied statistics course for business does not include SPSS.) I specifically petitioned to be allowed to take this course (usually for Psych program) and I was pleased that the NCU staff seemed genuinely concerned with my needs. The basic stats course I am taking and the Research Strategies course everyone takes first are brilliantly designed. They are so masterfully done, they look simple. The syllabus for my stats class includes three research paper assignments in addition to text problems and SPSS work. The design of the syllabus is so simple it is genius. You have suspected rightly that it is not nearly as hard as my Columbia courses but I am actually learning more here.

I think the two courses I have had contact with so far could be done very quickly by someone who wanted to do that - but unless enough hours were devoted to the project, I suspect that person might be sacrificing depth of learning for speed - and it would be reflected in the grade and it would be an opportunity missed.

 

Deborah's comments

Thanks Deborah,

I just paid my fee for the NCU application and will hear from them in a couple of weeks based on what Susan Penn indicated. I applied for the PhD BA Finance program. I also applied to Nova Southeastern for their DBA Finance. My decision to do NCU's program will depend on the number of hours credited towards the 30 tranferable hours from my MS.

It's very helpful to hear from someone in the program like yourself. I am happy with the fact that these DL doctoral programs are applied in nature, rather than theoretical. Because the syllabi are "propietary property", prospective learners can't evaluate the syllabi for article lists, book lists, etc. Basicaly unless students like you offer advice, I can't see how prospective learners could know much at all about the courses at any DL university. They post the general description of course, but without knowing the specifice, the difficulty remains unknown.

Good luck to you. I may PM you later if I have questions, if you don't mind.

 

Messagewriter,
No problem. I find it difficult to notice if I have a PM on this board so if I don't answer right away, just shout.