CU Online is one of the first fully accredited online education programs, created in 1996 by the University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver). With CU Online, the pedagogy of CU 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 CU Denver online courses, with 18 full CU Denver degree programs and 12 certificates that can be completed entirely online. The online courses themselves are considered just another option for CU 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 17:1). In all, there have been 160,002 students from 1996-2014 who have taken online classes at CU Denver.
Course structure
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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 CU 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:
- Access courses
- Participate in class discussions (threaded discussions and ‘chat’ with peers)
- Find assignments, lectures and exams
CU Online employs Canvas by Instructure. Canvas is Cloud based, and CU Denver uses it for its completely online courses as well a supplement for the on campus courses in the form of blended learning, which means it doesn’t distinguish between supplemental course use and blended/hybrid courses. With Canvas, professors can record audio and video messages, utilize IOS and Android, RSS support and web conferencing.
Assignments
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.
Lectures
With CU Online, lectures are delivered from various formats, such as:
- Streaming audio, video, YouTube, etc.
- Discussion boards and blogs
- Multimedia slide shows
Exams
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.
Programs
All online courses may be applied to a degree program at CU 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.
Accreditation
- The University of Colorado Denver was founded in 1965 and is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.
- The ECE program is accredited by National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and nationally recognized by CEC and National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).
- The Library program is a nationally recognized NCATE-AASL Revised & Approved School Library Media Education Program.
- The Business School at CU Denver is accredited by AACSB International (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business). This distinction is bestowed upon less than 30% of all business programs in the U.S.
- The Accounting program is accredited by AACSB International.
- The Health Administration programs have been recognized by the ACEHSA (Accrediting Commission of Education for Health Services Administration).
References
External links
- Official website
