1
TEACHING AMERICAN NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
ONLINE
By Chunmei Yoe
The powerful trend to “online anything” has been moving forward at a dizzying speed.
Higher education has been part of the trend, especially since 1997. Nationally more than
2320 2-year and 4-year degree granting colleges and universities offered 127,400
distance courses in the 2000-2001 academic year (internet was the primary means of
delivery).
1
Ninety percent of public 2-year and 89 percent of 4-year public universities
offered online education. The estimated enrollment reached 3,077,000, representing over
twenty percent of the total enrollment in the same year
2
. The number of students enrolled
in online classes has been growing dramatically. In the State University of New York
system, online enrollment grew from 119 students in 1995-1996 to more than 38,000 in
2000-2001. The University of Central Florida enrolls approximately 4,000 students each
semester in their fully web-based courses.
3
In Oklahoma, since the inception of the
Learning Site Initiative of the Oklahoma State Regents of Higher Education in 1999,
almost all colleges and universities in the system have offered selected courses via
internet. Virtually courses of all disciplines, including political science, are available
online. The growth rate of online education is remarkable in Oklahoma as in the nation.
In 2001-2002, the system offered a total of 1846 online courses, enrolling 26,518
students. In 2002-2003, 2567 courses were available online with 38, 466 students
enrolled, representing a thirty nine percent increase in course offering and a forty five
percent growth in enrollment compared to the previous year.
4
In 2003-2004, the number
of online courses increased to 3398 with 58,325 students enrolled.
5
Within just three
years, the number of courses offered online nearly doubled while enrollment more than
doubled. The courses in the catalogue of Oklahoma College Online (OCO) have grown
19.5 percent between 2004 and 2005.
6
The number of online courses on
government/politics and public administration has also grown. OCO posted eight political
science courses in 2004. It has eleven in 2005, representing a thirty seven percent
increase. Most of these courses are the survey American National Government.
Academic studies on online teaching are young and few, compared with other inquiries.
Yet it is growing, and controversies seem abundant and sharp. This paper is based on
1
Another four hundred and ninety five institutions in the same category planned to offer online courses
through 2003-2004 academic year.
2
National Center for Education Statistics, Report on Distance Education at Degree Granting
Postsecondary Institutions in 2000-2001, 2002, p.4, p.6.
3
Duffy, Thomas M. and Jamie R. Kirkley, ed. Learner-Centered Theory and Practice in Distance
Education, Cases from Higher Education (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, 2004), p. 3-4.
4
Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, LEARNING SITE AND ELECTRONIC MEDIA REPORTS
AND POLICIES, 2001-2002 & 2002-2003, February 13, 2004, ps. 21, 22
5
Data from Unitized Data System of the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education.
6
Oklahoma College Online is Oklahoma State virtual campus. It coordinates Oklahoma online courses
with no enrollment limits. At the time when this research was conducted, Oklahoma College Online had
nine participating state colleges and universities.
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