Classes to be offered via cell phone
Print
Email
Save
Reprints
Twitter
Share
Del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Reddit
Students with newer models like iPhone and BlackBerry phones can choose in January from 21 pilot program classes in business and general education, the Louisiana Community and Technical College System, or LCTCS, announced Tuesday.
The classes will be available through one Web site — www.lctcsonline.edu — at Baton Rouge Community College or any of the state’s nine community colleges.
“It’s exciting when it’s a vision you’re not sure is genius or half-baked,” LCTCS President Joe May said.
But after partnering with AT&T and Pearson education firm and its eCollege platform, May said he realized the new LCTCSOnline project is the future, if not entirely the present.
The goal is to provide educational access to more geographically-bound students who have children and jobs, May said, particularly in the 25-to-64 age range.
“We realized it was a big vision, and we realized it was something that hadn’t been done before,” May said.
Cell phone-accessible classes are a new trend in Japan, but not in the United States. May, as well as Pearson and AT&T officials, said they are unaware of anything similar in the U.S.
LCTCS campuses enroll nearly 60,000 students, but the goal is to have 160,000 by 2013.
“We’re not going to get there by traditional means,” May said. “We’re not going to get there by opening buildings.”
The Louisiana Board of Regents invested the first $500,000 in the project and Pearson will be paid from a portion of the $63 per credit hour tuition costs, May said.
State Commissioner of Higher Education Sally Clausen called LCTCSOnline an “amazing” achievement.
But she tempered the initial expectations. Problems and challenges are inevitable, she said.
“We’re celebrating the possibilities of what may come in the long run,” Clausen said.
May said the goal is to enroll about 1,000 students statewide in the program initially, and then grow from there.
Eventually, entire associate degrees will be available online and on cell phones, he said.
While nearly 70 percent of the Louisiana population has cell phones, May said most people do not have newer touch-screen or full-keyboard phones that are necessary to take the classes.
But prices are constantly dipping and it is just a matter of time before most people have capable phones, he said.
After all, “these phones really are computers,” May said. Today’s nicer phones are more powerful than early desktop computers, he said.
Mary Beth Susman, LCTCSOnline interim executive director, said the new project is practical because students can do coursework on their computers at home and continue their studies on the road.
“It looks very good on your little 2-inch screen,” said Susman, noting that the format must be particularly arranged for each cell phone model.
Students will be able to register for classes, access study materials, submit assignments and go to the online bookstore all from the palm of their hand, she said.
 | ||||
| Most Popular | Most Emailed | Hot Topics | ||
