Faculty members are now able to receive help and advisement with developing online classes through a new facility located in the Science II building.

Tom Ingebritsen, associate professor of zoology and genetics, has been involved with distance learning since technology has made it possible.

He is the director of ProjectBio, which offers 10 different courses via the Internet. ProjectBio has been in place since 1996 and has served more than 6,000 students.

Ingebritsen said he saw the need for the facility, called the Liberal Arts and Sciences Center for Online Learning, that would aid faculty with the use of new technology available to help setup online courses and make existing online courses better and more efficient. The center can be found in Room 38 of the Science II building.

The goal of the center is to have a “nationally, and potentially internationally, recognized center of excellence in the scholarship of technology-based instruction,” Ingebritsen said.

Online learning provides students with more control over their learning, he said.

“One positive aspect has to do with flexibility. All course materials are available, including lectures, 24/7, and this gives students more power over their own learning environment,” Ingebritsen said.

He also said with the students gaining more control over their learning comes a greater responsibility on their part to keep up with their studies.

Michael Whiteford, associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said he is excited about the new options available for students thanks to online class technology.

“All kinds of fascinating potential exists of how we can deliver information to students,” he said.

For example, the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures has implemented a “smart board” in class to provide a digitally enhanced learning environment last fall. The smart board makes it possible for students at Iowa State, the University of Northern Iowa and the University of Iowa to take courses in Slavic languages. Without the technology these courses would not be available to students, Whiteford said.

Students learn in many different ways and online learning is a way to provide many teaching methods to enhance students’ learning, Whiteford said.

Taking large lecture classes online could also help make the class seem more personal, Ingebritsen said.

The center will be a tool to help faculty provide more classes for students online, he said.

“Iowa State University is a college based on science and technology and the LAS Center for Online Learning will help us be on the cutting edge of online learning,” Whiteford said.

Aaron Anderson, junior in mathematics, said he has taken several online courses.

“I took a couple classes online last summer and taking the classes at my convenience helped me be able to maintain a job and still take classes,” he said. “I did have a little problem figuring out how to take the online tests, but overall I enjoyed taking the classes online.”