With advancing technology, students can work from the comfort of their room and take classes online.

Online classes are available to students 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“They are especially convenient for students during the summer months,” said William Weber, associate vice president for Academic Affairs. “Students can be away from Charleston during the summer, at home or at a summer job, but by using online courses, students can still use that time to pick up a course they might need.”

Students must be registered for online classes seven days before the first day of class and should contact the instructor through e-mail.

Other universities, such as Northern Illinois University, only offer major-specific upper level classes.

Last summer, Northern offered classes from June to August for one section and from June to July for another section.

Eastern’s Registrar Sue Harvey said, “I do sometimes recommend that students check for available online classes if they cannot come to campus or find a course that fits into their schedule.”

Online students are required to put in more time and have the syllabus on hand, just as in classroom courses.

Like fall and spring semester classes that meet in a classroom, online classes also have midterm and final examinations. One difference may be that the online instructor might request another staff member to administer the test.

Online classes are not just for the academic school year.

Eastern offers three sessions of online classes for the summer. The two main sessions for summer are from May to June and June to July.

“About 35 online sections are currently scheduled to be offered in Summer 2007, although more sections may be added in coming months,” Weber said.

There are a limited number of courses and programs for the third session from June to August.

Both Kathleen Phillips of the health studies department and Jeffery Stowell of the psychology department teach their online classes during the summer.

Phillip’s online class lasts for a six-week period during the summer, but she said there is no difference between the fall and summer online classes.

The only difference in online classes for the summer and the fall is the pace of the class. Stowell usually has his online class between six to eight weeks long.

“I usually keep my summer courses shorter than the fall semester,” Stowell said.

The maximum student capacity is 20 students, but Phillips said she usually has 25 seats.

Like Phillips, Stowell has about 25 seats, but sometimes he has a couple more students than the maximum capacity.

Students must ask the instructors what software is needed for the course.

Both Stowell and Phillips use WebCT for their online classes.

However, Phillips said, “Most of the software that the student needs Eastern or a software provider will have it for them.”

All instructions for technology classes are posted on an off-campus Web site.

Students can find out the name of the Web site through their PAWS account under “Student Password and Keys.”

The school of Continuing education provides credit and non-credit options for students. Most of the online classes during the academic school year last for the entire semester.

The deadline to sign up for “Origins of Cultural Change” passed on Friday. Deadlines for other technology-delivered classes can be found on the School for Continuing Education’s Web site.