The main focus in providing such courses has been on postgraduate education, Sherwood said. He said graduate students, probably more than the traditional freshmen, have a fairly brief window of available time to take classes, as most of them have job. By simply clicking on the appropriate site, graduate students can take part in online discussions with classmates and can review assignments at any time of the day. All or most of the courses required in the master s of human relations and family science and journalism programs, as well as the doctorate of education program, have Web-based counterparts, Sherwood said. Web-based instruction saves time for faculty members as well as students.
Instructors can just click on the home page rather than hand out assignments or other paperwork.
Sherwood said although the use of Web-based instruction will continue to increase, care must be taken in developing curriculums to ensure that the delivery of the learning material is not compromised. Taking the technology learned through college instruction to the work force has been important to students enrolled in UNO s Information Science and Technology Department, according to Dean Michael Mulder . He said not only does the college send its students to work on internships, but the department also recruits people in computing industry to assist in the classroom. Degree programs offered through the department include bachelor s and master s degrees in management information systems and in computer science. An undergraduate program in information systems engineering could be added sometime next year, Mulder said.