This summer, students will be able to register for an online speech class. The majority of the class will be online, though there are live meetings and a final on campus.

“We are a little late to the party because of our reservations about doing it right,” Associate Professor of Communication Studies Richard Herder said.

Many universities in the Minnesota State system started an online speech option before SMSU. Now that SMSU has made their own version, Herder believes in the value of the course.

“Absolutely, I think it will be successful,” Herder said. “Some students, including students with anxiety, will prefer the course.”

Though many students who take communication classes report less anxiety about public speaking after completing the course, there’s currently not enough data to say the same about online speech courses.

The online speech course will include speeches that students will record and turn in. This gives students the opportunity to do the speech over and over again until they are satisfied with the result.

Mark Fokken, an associate professor of communication studies, expressed his initial resistance to the online version of a speech course.

“I was reluctant and hesitant for years about teaching an online communication class,” Fokken said. “But I went to conferences that swayed me to believe it was defensible from an educational aspect. Students were also taking it online at other universities and then transferring it here, so we thought it was better to have our own version that we’d be able to control so we know how the class is taught.”

Part of the initial hesitation to offer an online speech course by the school was that students wouldn’t get the same experience online as in the face to face classes. To resolve this, the online course requires that three out of the five speeches in the classes must have a live audience.

“Overall, my impression is that online students will be required to work,” Fokken said.