A student utilizes an online class on his iPad. Photo by Nicholas Nelson/The Dakota Student.

UND recently was ranked 19th on a list of most affordable online schools. The list, which was compiled by Edudemic.com, commended UND’s out-of-state tuition rate and the wide variety of degrees it offers.

“Many institutions around the country charge more for students that are out-of-state,” said Timothy Pasch, assistant professor in the communications program.

At $322 per credit hour, the price for online courses runs the same for in-state students as it does for out-of-state.

But if price isn’t a selling point, perhaps technology is.

“Not only is it less expensive, but they’re getting a lot of cyber value in addition,” Pasch said. “Basically, we have some tools on our campus that aren’t available at other campuses of our size.”

One of these tools is Citrix, which allows students to remotely access various applications from any location on campus that has an internet connection. Microsoft Office and multiple Adobe products are among the programs available through Citrix.

Tegrity is another tool that Pasch mentioned. With Tegrity, students are able to view recorded lectures while also being able to view what the instructor is doing on his or her computer.

“We offer all of those free of charge to students,” Pasch said, who also praised the work of Director of the Center for Instructional & Learning Technologies Lori Swinney and Vice Provost Josh Riedy, who previously held the position of chief information officer.

“We get a lot of support from CILT,” Jill Shafer said, who teaches online courses in the teaching and learning department. “They are very supportive of faculty and there are online program designers and they will work with us and talk about what we’d like to accomplish.”

CILT works with the university by providing support for students, faculty and staff when it comes to teaching and learning with technology. Part of this includes application support for Blackboard.

“We offer a lot of online student services,” Office of Extended Learning Director Lynette Krenelka said, citing ProctorU and Smarthinking as two examples.

ProctorU is a service that allows students to take proctored exams from home by using a webcam so a proctor can monitor them and their computer screen in real time, Smarthinking is an online tutoring service available at all hours.

Even though online courses can lack the level of intimacy achieved in a physical classroom, there are plenty of resources and support provided to help make the experience as real as possible. However, online programs aren’t without their criticism.

“Some people don’t count online classes as actually going to college,” Senior Kirsten Lollar said. “I would see it as working harder because you’re not getting as much help.”

“Some of the classes I was interested in taking were only offered online,” said Alexis Whie, a UND student who has taken multiple online courses in the psychology program. The online option is nice when she’s stuck in a situation where there are two classes she wants to take but they’re held at the same time, she added.

“I think people who are critical of online courses don’t realize how much writing takes place,” Shafer said.

Jamie Hutchinson is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected].