By ALICIA FEYERHERM
Tiger Media Network
Next week, FHSU Online will join the rest of the nation in celebrating National Distance Learning Week (NDLW). With the theme “NDLW: FHSUnited,” the week is full of activities to foster a sense of community and celebrate the thousands of FHSU online learners.
“NDLW is important because it gives all of us in higher education a chance to recognize the extra challenge these students decided to take on when pursuing a degree online,” said Assistant Director of Online Student Success Nikki Heitmann. “When a student is already in the workforce or has a family and is managing multiple jobs, and they add that they are getting a degree, we have to celebrate because that is not an easy goal.”
To bring the theme of connection to life, FHSU Online will send friendship bracelet kits to 100 students nationwide. Each kit contains two bracelets – one to keep and one for the student to share. The goal is to send bracelets to at least one student per state.
“When deciding this year’s theme, we built it off of how friendship bracelets can help connect people,” Heitmann said. “Being FHSUnited for us is allowing all students, regardless of modality, to feel a part of Fort Hays State University. A little Taylor Swift inspiration also never hurts.”
Throughout the week, students are invited to nominate an “Outstanding Online Leader.” This could be a professor, instructor, advisor, or any other person on campus who has made a positive impact on their time at FHSU.
Faculty and staff are asked to recognize deserving online students through the “Student Spotlight” nomination. Those students will be recognized on FHSU Online’s social media pages.
Among those celebrating NDLW is Noelle Toone, an FHSU Online Student from Clearfield, Utah.
“I received my undergraduate, graduate, and current postgraduate degrees all through distance learning programs,” Toone said. “I am a huge fan of this learning platform and love to promote it any chance I can.”
Throughout next week, Toone will be sharing social media posts about her experiences with distance learning.
“I think that higher education is something that can benefit anyone, but there are a lot of barriers that can make attending a brick-and-mortar school impossible,” Toone said. “I decided to go back to school when I had babies at home, and I knew attending classes in person would not work for me or my family.”
Balancing work and family life on top of an online education is difficult.
“Being a dedicated distance learner has a lot of challenges that you do not often experience in a traditional classroom setting, and being able to overcome those feels pretty amazing,” Toone said.
Toone graduated in May with a Master’s in School Psychology through FHSU Online and is now pursuing an Education Degree of Specialities.
“I count myself lucky to be able to attend this school and be a part of distance learning,” Toone said. “I feel especially fortunate, considering that only three schools in the United States offer an online school psychology degree.”
While Toone said there are sometimes negative perceptions of distance learning due to “diploma factories,” she is glad Fort Hays provides quality online education.
“Fort Hays is part of a growing trend to increase awareness and availability of education in these important fields that are facing critical shortages in public school settings,” Toone said. “I love Fort Hays and love distance learning.”