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Published in the September edition of 
Computer Link Magazine

When I came across the headline: SUNY Online Enrollment Soars in the newspaper recently, I was reminded of just how powerful the Internet can be. According to a press release from the SUNY web site (www.suny.edu), enrollment for the SUNY Learning Network (SLN), the online learning arm of the State University of New York, has reached an all-time high of 40,000 students this year. Compare that with the first year of the program, 1995, in which they had only 119 students enrolled in 8 courses! I expect that in the early years of the program (enrollment didn't exceed 5,000 until 1998) the SLN might have qualified as one of the dotcom failures, but clearly their perseverance has paid off.

An example of how online courses work
While I am by no means an expert in online learning, I did have an opportunity to participate as a guest lecturer in an online learning course at the Rochester Institute of Technology a few years ago.

In that class, the professor used a wide variety of technical tools to facilitate lectures, interaction, homework, and testing. The core component of the class was a tool call "BlackBoard" (www.blackboard.com). To attend classes students could log in to their class area, download presentations and assignments, upload homework and communicate within class groups through online forums.

I began my guest lecture by meeting the professor at his office and sitting down in front of the computer on his desk. I then proceeded to open up my PowerPoint presentation and I did my presentation as if I was standing in front of a classroom of students. We used a tool called "RealPresenter" (which has since been replaced with a new tool available at www.real.com) which recorded the audio and video of my presentation through a simple Logitech QuickCam and synched it up with the slide presentation. The strangest part of this presentation was the fact that no one was watching, I was just sitting in a room talking to myself.

The next day, the professor posted the presentation in the online classroom with instructions to the students letting them know I would be available for an online chat discussion the following week. A week later, I logged in to the BlackBoard classroom one evening from home and interacted with a group of 15 or so students. My hands were tired from all that typing, but in the end it turned to be a great way to exchange ideas and information. The chat went so well, we ended up doing another one later on in the semester, so I could help provide some real world expertise to some of the class projects the students were working on.

In recent years, the technology has improved dramatically and we now see classes able to interact without all the tedious typing, attend live video classes, and communicate instantly through instant messaging. In addition, widespread broadband access (cable/DSL) enables home users to share large amounts of information quickly and easily.

Is online learning effective?
According to the SUNY press release, "Approximately 86 percent of students reported spending more time studying online due to the "anytime-anyplace" nature of the courses. Of those students reporting additional study time, more than 91 percent felt that the additional time helped them learn more." Given the chance to study at their own pace, with the flexibility to interact personally, is generating higher student satisfaction. The overall SUNY program currently has 388,000 students with over 10% (40,000) participating in online learning.

Why is online learning so successful?
At first, it might appear that the technology has been the key driver in the success of online learning. My personal belief is that the technology has only been a facilitator and that the real benefits of online learning are driven by students needs. In today's busy environment, students are feeling like they are learning more, and are able to better fit the time requirements of education into their lives through online learning.

In addition, online learning meets the needs of the educators as well. Now colleges and universities are no longer limited by geography, as students can attend classes anywhere they can get Internet access. In addition, delivering classes over the web is a lot less expensive than building more facilities and can easily be expanded or modified as needs change.

Online learning's impact on eBusiness.
When I started this article I talked about the "power" of the Internet. As we can see by watching what's happened in online learning, the real power of the Internet for SUNY came from making classes more effective and efficient by focusing on the needs of both the students and the educators. Similar to many dotcom's, the SUNY online learning program started out with low acceptance (and most likely a large investment based on the early number of students) but it is now paying back, not because of the technology, but because it improved the way they do business. Another important part of their success is that they've continued to expand and enhance their traditional means of education at the same time.

What you can learn from online learning.
The most important thing to take away from this is the fact that the Internet can help any business or organization improve their success. So don't be afraid to make that investment, as long as you remain focused on your customer's needs, your business needs and never forget the core foundation of what has made your business successful.