After successfully integrating online courses into the Bachelor of General Studies curriculum, the University of Miami and the UM Division for Continuing & International Education's Distance Learning Institute are ready to offer online course options to more students than ever before.
Rebecca Fox of the Division for Continuing & International Education says "this is designed to give students something extra, it's about giving students access to what they need." These online classes are not meant to be a replacement for the University's traditional education system, but they enable students to take courses from esteemed UM faculty anywhere they may be.
Bottleneck courses are classes that prevent students from graduating because they are required for a cognate or major. When these classes are full a student is unable to register and that can impact their graduation date. Thanks to the success of opening up online courses over the summer, UM has granted the Division the ability to offer these bottleneck courses as online classes to all undergraduate students during their regular semesters. There are nearly 100 online undergraduate courses now available, across multiple UM schools and colleges.
Manuel Sicre is a fulltime lecturer at the Miami Business School, and one of the first to adopt online teaching at UM. He agrees with Fox, who states that the faculty who participate in online courses are teaching with the same pedagogy that is applied to in-person classes. Sicre believes online courses offer students a lot of flexibility and says "I do it because I love it...I do not allow my online classes to effect my in-class teaching."
Read the full article over at The Miami Hurricane.
About the University of Miami Division of Continuing and International Education
The Division of Continuing and International Education at the University of Miami aims to empower people to reach their full potential through lifelong and lifewide learning. With more than 70 credit and non-credit programs, the Division focuses on creating continuous learning experiences that transform individuals, organizations, and entire communities. For more information, please visit dcie.miami.edu or call (305) 284-4000 and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.
