Contact: Bob Ratliff
A new electronic learning option soon will be available for persons wishing to take courses at Mississippi State University.
MSU is among 50 universities and the only one in Mississippi participating in the Southern Regional Education Board's Electronic Campus. Debuting in January, the Internet site will include 100 classes offered for a fee via computer or video.
"The advantages of the electronic classroom include the opportunity to provide courses for many students who cannot come to the Starkville campus," said university Provost Derek Hodgson. "This program extends the 'people's university' tradition of Mississippi State."
Mississippi State's course offerings will include the areas of education, arts and sciences, architecture and engineering. One, a seminar in planning for instructional technology, will be available on the Internet. Others will be available on videotape.
Atlanta-based SREB, which was founded 50 years ago to further education in 15 Southeastern states, will monitor the courses' quality. Thousands of classes already are available on the Internet, but Lynn Cornett, the board's senior vice president, described the current offerings as "electronic chaos."
"Prospective students often cannot find what they are looking for and do not know if the classes offered are high quality," she said. "There is an assurance of quality with the SREB courses that you might not have among the myriad of other courses offered on the Internet."
While students cannot yet earn a degree through the Electronic Campus, they can find classes not available at their schools or that are related to their career or personal interests.
"There is a trend in education toward lifelong learning experiences," said MSU's Hodgson. "Participation in the SREB Electronic Campus is one way the university is helping provide Mississippians with opportunities to continue their education in nontraditional ways."
The website will list available courses and links to Internet sites offering them. Each school will set its own fees and decide what is acceptable as transfer credit.
The SREB web address is www.srec.sreb.org. The MSU web site address is www.msstate.edu.