| University of Colorado Denver: CU Online | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1996 |
| Students | 9,647 for the 2008-2009 academic year |
| Location | Office and administrators in Denver, Colorado, United States |
| Technology | Blackboard Inc and eCollege |
| Website | http://cuonline.ucdenver.edu/ |
CU Online is one of the first fully accredited online education programs, created in 1996 by the University of Colorado Denver (UC-Denver). With CU Online, the pedagogy of UC Denver faculty has been extended globally, allowing local students as well as international students to partake in the same education.
Initially launching with three online courses, CU Online has expanded its catalog to over 450 UC Denver online courses, with 14 full UC Denver degree programs and 10 certificates that can be completed entirely online. The online courses themselves are considered just another option for UC Denver students, as they offer the same credit and are taught by the same on campus professors. The student-faculty ratio also remains the same for both on campus and online courses (roughly 15:1). In all, there have been 37,096 students from 1996-2009 who have taken online classes at UC Denver.
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The online courses run on a traditional semester schedule, where they start and stop at the same time as the on campus UC Denver classes (Fall, Spring, Summer). As such, the online courses are not "self paced", but rather are "asynchronous", which means students can login anytime of day or night. The amount of time students are expected to be logged in is dependent upon the professor.
Each online course is developed to convey and teach the same content and material as its on campus counterpart, but in a way that’s conducive to the electronic medium. Each student is assigned a homepage in order to:
CU Online employs two distinct course delivery platforms – eCollege and Blackboard Inc. eCollege is typically used for the completely online courses, and Blackboard is used to supplement the on campus courses in the form of blended learning, which means it doesn’t distinguish between supplemental course use and blended/hybrid courses.
Online courses are typically divided into units of class discussions (ongoing posts of classmate queries and comments), downloadable assignments and quizzes. What students are actually graded on is based on the course and the professor, however, class participation is usually required in the form of threaded discussions. Similar to a traditional on campus course, the content of the course is subject to the discretion of the professor.
With CU Online, lectures are delivered from various formats, such as:
Exams are taken and administered in a variety of ways. They can be administered "online" by using course software with an internet browser (Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, etc), as a “take home” exam where the exam is printed out and handed in, or "proctored" by outside parties, instructor, or the teaching assistant (TA) at a designated location. A 24/7 help desk is also available for both students and faculty.
All online courses may be applied to a degree program at UC Denver or may be transferred to a student’s home institution, pending approval. The credits earned through CU Online are identical to credits earned through traditional on-campus courses; even if a student completes an entire program online, the degree is awarded with the same benefactor, University of Colorado.
CU Online offers courses in liberal arts and science, arts and media, business, education, engineering, public affairs, and architecture and planning. Below are the complete degree programs and certificates that can be completed exclusively through online courses:
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