Tanya Marsh

Internet courses also help reach those not able to physically attend a university.

“We offer more Internet courses than Dakota Digital Network courses at this point,” Josh Riedy, distance education coordinator said. “The reason is convenience.”

He said Internet courses are much like correspondence courses, and last one semester.

“Students in Internet classes have to be more motivated. It’s more on the students’ shoulders,” he said.

As with DDN, a broad range of people take internet courses, for a broad range of reasons. “There’s quite a wide variety of people that take these courses,” Riedy said. “For nursing, a lot of the components are available over the Net, and a lot of people take those.”

He said those courses are popular for a number of reasons.

“People who have their associate’s degree traditionally are working people with families that don’t have time to go on campus. We have people that prefer to take classes in the privacy of their dorm room or house.”

However, those that prefer to take Internet courses are the exceptions, he said.

“Most students, if they had their choice, wouldn’t be taking long distance courses.”

But they are growing in popularity, and Riedy said Internet courses have had students from as far away as California, Alabama, and Germany.

The DDN and Internet courses are coming into their prime.

“I think the campus realizes that distance education is one of its areas of growth, with the explosion of technology,” Riedy said. “SDSU has to be one of the best–if not the best–prepared universities in the state to offer distance education.