By: Dennis Gosnell   Assignment Editor

In an era of Internet revolution the online classroom presents an alternative learning solution for students that may find it difficult to attend normal classroom education.
The RSC online course program utilizes the Desire to Learn (D2L) classroom management tool. This allows students twenty-four hour access to classroom information, course work, and exam dates.
In the Instructional Support Center, Dr. Dana Lindon-Burgett, instruction design coordinator, knows what it takes to succeed in online classes. “The students that do well in this program are the ones that feel they belong to a community.” Lindon said, “Most students that do not do well, are those with limited time, personal struggles, or the program doesn’t match a person’s learning style.”
Online classes can save students money by limiting the cost of transportation and potentially, childcare. Angele Fahay, RSC student, described her experience as interesting, convenient, and pretty good. “It’s great if you have kids and no child care.” Fahay said.
To achieve higher quality in online classes and classroom education, the Instruction Support Center uses an online quality assistance system called Quality Matters. Peer reviews are performed to gather appropriate information on the quality of an online course.
There are 11 Quality Matters certified Instructors on campus who use an eight-stage assessment platform to perform their peer review. This involves a course overview and introduction, learning objectives (competencies), assessment and measurement, learner engagement, course technology, learner support, and accessibility.
This program helps both the online course and classroom instruction students by providing the educational institution with assessments of its online courses.
The Internet seems to be the next stage in education. With many students flocking in to participate and seek a higher education, the benefits of online education give people more room to excel. According to the Instructional Support Center 20% of the student population of RSC takes an online course or courses. With the growing participation in online courses, the sky is not the limit but an opportunity to a wider world.

To find what courses are available online, a student just needs to go to the Rose State Oasis website and follow these steps:

1.  Select the semester of attendance and click the Go tab.

2.  On the next page select the Additional Search Criteria tab.

3.  Select Computer Based in the Mode of Education field and click on the Search tab.

4.  Choose course from the list of possible online courses and submit.