Technology Courses Offered

Students see benefit in programs offered by ASU with for-profit company

ASU's contract with Academic Partnerships  (AP)  has been a hotly debated topic for a variety of reasons. One of those arguments is that online education offered in coordination with a private, for-profit company devalues the degrees the university is handing out.

Students enrolled in these classes and those who instruct them paint quite a different picture.

Mitch Holifield, chair of the Educational Leadership, Curriculum and Special Education Department, said that when students complete a degree offered by ASU in conjunction with AP, at least 90 percent of the students who respond to the exit survey agree or strongly agree with the survey's quality indicators.

One student, Suzanne McDermott of Jonesboro, said the classes were very rigorous and time-consuming.

When she compared a class syllabus from her online class to that of a friend taking the same class on campus, the two were identical, except that McDermott's course was scheduled for a five-week period instead of a semester.

The disadvantages she identified about taking these courses is that it is difficult to find out, in a timely manner, the answer to a question about an assignment, or if you do not understand the content and there is little contact with classmates.

"I truly believe the program is preparing me for the position in which I am seeking in educational leadership," McDermott said. "If I did not know that to be true, there is no amount of money I could have saved by being in this program which could have enticed me to be a part of it."

Another student, Sandy Funderburg, stressed how applicable the knowledge gained from the program was and the benefit of not having to commute to campus. Funderburg is an assistant principal at Monticello Intermediate School.

Holifield also said students expressed similar levels of satisfaction concerning individual courses. Julie Lamb Milligan, an associate professor in educational leadership, curriculum and education, had some figures to offer that are an example of students giving positive feedback for a specific course offered by ASU through AP.

She taught Gifted Children in the Regular Classroom, an introductory course about teaching gifted and talented students that ended in March. Milligan said her end-of-course evaluation showed that students had a very positive experience, but she wanted to emphasize that this might not be the case for all other courses.

Milligan said 430 students responded to the evaluation survey. Of those 430, 157 chose to leave detailed comments and 154 of those comments were "extremely positive." She also said 85 percent of her students strongly agreed and 14 percent agreed that the course was beneficial.

Summer and Fall Course Registration is Open!

Offered this summer, so if you have managed to miss taking this course in your first year of Library Information Technology coursework, OR if you're a new student planning to take LIBT 1100 this fall, this is a great time to work it into your schedule. One of the online sections has already filled, but there are still "seats" in the other two online sections. There are four face-to-face sections offered. Be sure to let your student colleagues know, and remind them that students should take INFS 1000 in their first 24 credits. , four of which are online. If you're planning to start the program this fall, we strongly recommend that you make INFS 1000, which is required for both the Public Information Services and Technical Information Services certificates, and the A.S. and the new A.A.S, one of the first courses you take. It will help you with success in your subsequent program and liberal arts coursework. We will consider some of today’s collection challenges such as: What is the role of print resources in the modern library? How do digital subscription packages affect collection building? Which new trends like patron-driven acquisitions and Ereaders will prevail? How will the relationship between libraries and publishers shake out? Take this class and explore together! is required for our LIT A.S., A.A.S., and Technical Information Services certificate. This course is only offered fall semesters, and is a great class for those wishing to learn more about metadata and indexing. If you work in editing or other publishing fields, or work in programming and database management, this is a great course to take as a continuing education course. LIBT 1200 Introduction to Technical Information Services is a prerequisite, or you can receive permission of the instructor to enroll. is another great class to take as continuing education. If you're working in a library or other position where you're asked to work on research projects, this course can be a lifesaver! It is required for our LIT A.S., A.A.S., and Public Information Services certificate, and is only offered fall semesters. LIBT 1300 Introduction to Public Information Services is a prerequisite, or you can receive permission of the instructor to enroll. . Completing the internship is required for students completing the A.S. or A.A.S., and for our certificate students, it is highly recommended for anyone not currently working in the library field.

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