• Meet Dan
• Meet André
• Meet Suzanne
• Meet Niki

Dan Hilferty

Location: Little Rock, Arkansas, and Iraq
Profession: Captain in the US Air Force
Degree Program: Master of Liberal Arts in Information Technology

Q: Where did you usually watch course lectures while you were in Iraq?

Dan on duty in Iraq. Photo by Dan Hale.

A: I watched my classes wherever I could in Iraq. My deployment in 2005 was especially difficult because I needed special approval from the base commander to receive access to streaming media. Recently, private organizations have set up access points for military members to use for a small fee, so it has become much easier to watch the classes. Last rotation, I was deployed in the winter and I couldn't receive the wireless signal inside my room, so I would bundle up and watch the videos by the outdoor pool where the signal was strongest. When it got really windy, the only place I could watch them was the small smoker's huts between our dorms. I was always scouting new locations to watch classes from.

Q: How many online courses have you taken, and what do you think of the experience?
A: I have taken nine online classes. I will complete my final class next spring. I have found the professors and the teaching assistants to be very responsive to e-mail and message boards. Also, the new web equipment really puts you in the classroom with the instructor. I still wrestle with how to create more interaction between students in the class.

Q: What will this degree allow you to do?
A: I plan on using my degree to more efficiently integrate software tools and flying operations. The Air Force is consistently streamlining operations, and our ability to handle large amounts of information between multiple organizations is key to that efficiency. My degree experience arms me with the language to tell the programmers exactly what kind of tools we need to improve our operations.

Q: What have you enjoyed the most as a degree candidate?
A: I can't say enough about the professors. It has been a pleasure taking two of Hanspeter Pfister's classes online. He has changed the way I view graphics and data visualizations. I was amazed at the depth of experience and knowledge rooted in Harvard. When an instructor talks about when he designed a particular Internet protocol, it is hard not to listen with interest.

André Monteiro

Location: Brazil
Profession: Owns a software development start-up company
Course Taken: Positive Psychology, taught in the spring of 2008 by Tal Ben-Shahar

André studying at home

Q: André, why did you choose to take this class?
A: I had read an article in a famous Brazilian weekly magazine, Epoca Negocios, about Tal Ben-Shahar and the positive psychology course. I found it very interesting. When I saw the very same course available at an affordable price and to be attended remotely I had no doubt. I decided to apply and put myself in the stretch zone!

Q: Where did you usually watch the online lectures?
A: Most of the time I watched at home. However, there were some occasions when I had to go to a local wi-fi or public computer to attend the classes and sections. As long as you have earphones and a reasonable Internet connection you are all set.

Q: How has the course made an impact on you?
A: It made me think about ordinary and simple things in life like relationships, friendships, and the way I deal with myself. Today I see the world in a different way. I pay attention to simple things, and I try to make the most out of each situation. I can say I am a happier person now. And because my company is growing at a fast rate and is rapidly demanding skills that I currently do not have, I am going to take courses on finance and writing and then apply to the Bachelor of Liberal Arts Program.

Q: What would you say to other students who are thinking about taking online courses?
A: Do not misjudge a distance course. It is exactly the same content and the same exams that on-campus students have access to. Take advantage of this new technology and challenge yourself to study in a first-class university at an affordable price at home. It could not be more convenient. It could not be more challenging.

Suzanne Farver

Location: Aspen, Colorado
Profession: Board member and head of the finance committee of the Rocky Mountain Institute, and instructor at the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies
Degree Program: Master of Liberal Arts in Environmental Management (graduated in 2008)

Suzanne with fellow class marshals at the 2008 Commencement ceremonies

Q: Suzanne, what was your favorite online course and why?
A: Oh, that's a tough one. I enjoyed so many of them! Bob Pojasek's classes were probably my favorites (both ENVR E-105 Strategies for Environmental Management and ENVR E-200 Graduate Research Methods and Scholarly Writing in Environmental Management) but they were also the most work! People should be warned to put the rest of their lives on hold when they take his classes, but they are so worth it. I also love his bulletin board in ENVR E-105 because you actually have an opportunity to get to know the other classmates. I made some friends that I still keep in touch with.

Q: Did you enjoy the distance education experience?
A: I loved the flexibility of being able to listen to the lectures on my own time, and rewinding the parts that went too fast. It was excellent. The video and slide syncing works great, and I think I liked it better than sitting in a classroom for the most part. You can take a break when you want, and then go back when you have a moment.

Q: Was it easy to interact with your fellow classmates and the professor?
I developed good relationships with the TAs [teaching assistants]. They were all very helpful and responsive. I had significant interaction with Bob Pojasek, who got a teaching award this year partly due to his wonderful capability of paying attention to so many students. I was a TA for his sustainability class this spring (I think I may have been one of the first “distant” TAs), and we had over 80 students! He somehow managed to answer all their questions and grade all their papers.

Q: What would you say to other students who are thinking about taking an online course?
A: DO IT. It was scary at first, to go back to school after 25 years, but I found it very satisfying and engaging. I was able to dig into topics that I was most interested in. I even enjoyed taking statistics, which I dreaded, but it turned out to be fun.

Nikiforos Galanis

Location: Athens, Greece
Profession: Partner in an engineering firm
Course Taken: Introduction to Greek Literature: Concepts of the Hero taught in the spring of 2008 by Gregory Nagy

Nikiforos studying from home with his daughter looking on

Q: Nikiforos, how did you find out about the Extension School all the way from Greece?
A: I was searching the Web for a way to continue my education in a topic that would interest me. When I came across Harvard Extension it struck me as the right choice.

Q: Why did you choose to take this class?
A: I love cinema and came to realize that heroic movies were always my favorite genre. The course title, Concepts of the Hero, appealed to my personal interest in heroic history. Of course, my being Greek and the fact that the course is about Greek civilization made it an even better match.

Q: What was the biggest challenge with this course?
A: The most challenging aspect of this particular course was writing the papers, especially the last one. The paper topics were close readings of metaphors or similes from the ancient works. It is not easy for someone who uses English as a second language, mainly for verbal communication and in technical meetings, to express himself on literary and philosophical concepts.

Q: How has the course made an impact on you?
A: When you are interested in cultural works, you sometimes pursue your interest loosely, so you seldom get deeply acquainted with a particular work. But when you follow a course that demonstrates the interconnections across centuries of Greek civilization, then important elements of the ancient corpus are explained and revealed in modern works. When I watch a movie and find something that interests me or reminds me of the codes that Gregory Nagy provided for deciphering the heroic concept, I write it down and try to relate it with passages referenced during the course.