It’s funny to think about what we consider to be a standard part of life these days, thanks to the pandemic. Masks, quarantine, sanitizer stashes everywhere. COVID-19 certainly demands attention in so many aspects of our lives. One of the saving graces was the emergence of Zoom to increase our capacity for remote communication.

You know how I feel about being in digital meetings all day, but I can still appreciate what it’s done for us, and for education.

Most of you know that we shifted our classes to an online format most people could take advantage of at the end of Spring semester.

This online format not only allowed us to finish courses but also got us thinking about how best to address the issue in the new year. It was amazing for me to learn that 36,000 students took at least one course online and 8,000 went to remote learning for 2019 and 2020. Graduations of online students increased 10.5% over the previous year.

Our campuses now offer 30 new online courses in 16 different areas of study. And we’ve also been about to increase the number of certificate courses in both graduate and undergraduate programs.

Another thing I’ve discovered is that online programs drawn an interesting demographic of students. A recent publication by the university breaks them down this way: 

The average age of online students is 33-years-old, 64% are women, and 68% are Nebraskans. We also serve international students from more than 100 countries.  Our university reach truly is worldwide

The benefits (and drawbacks) of this form of study are still being discovered, but our students tell us that the freedom of scheduling allows them the flexibility they need to manage classes and all the other responsibilities in their lives.

There are all sorts of exciting possibilities here, if we embrace them. Hybrid schedules (some in-person and some online classes), fast-tracking, or even shifting out semester start and end time to add two sessions of course/certificate work between fall and spring.

But one big thing has to happen to make this effective. We must bring this technology to the whole state. Every Nebraskan should have the ability to access the internet for health and safety, as well as education.

As the pandemic has thrown us into an era of IT, it seems wise to me to open ourselves to big ideas and new innovative ways of teaching, researching and learning. As always, we have a lot to learn… and that’s not a bad thing.

I look forward to continue exploring curiosity with you in the new year, and in the meantime, I hope you have safe and happy holidays!

*Barbara’s thoughts as written by Kate based on weekly (fascinating) conversations.