The Northern Star incorrectly reported Lynda.com offers 35 courses in the article “Website allows NIU students to learn from home” Monday. There are more than 3,500 courses available on Lynda.com.

Students and teachers now have the opportunity to enhance their skills in various subjects including accounting, computer programming and photography from the comfort of their own homes.

NIU’s Division of Information Technology held an open forum on Thursday in the Holmes Student Center, Regency Room, to introduce Lynda.com, an online video service designed to help individuals learn the skills needed to succeed in their careers, according to the company’s website.

Lynda.com, a LinkedIn company, features 12 different subjects including business, design and IT. Each subject is then broken down into at least 10 topics. There are also walkthroughs that teach users how to use different forms of software like Photoshop. Each video is taught by a Lynda-certified industry expert, according to the Lynda website.

The website’s services were made available to NIU faculty, staff and students earlier this month.

“This is online training that can be done where it is most comfortable,” said Cindy Kozumplik, Enterprise Resource Planning Testing and Training coordinator.

Jason Rhode, an NIU instructor who teaches a web-based learning class, said he has already used Lynda.com in his class curriculum. Rhode set up a playlist on Blackboard of videos from Lynda.com that he wanted students to view to introduce them to concepts he would later teach in his class. Rhode would have students upload their certificates of completion to Blackboard for a participation grade.

“It was great. Nobody really had an issue aside from one student couldn’t figure how to print their certificate, but lo and behold there was a three minute video on Lynda on how to print your certificate,” Rhode said.

IT is exploring a direct Lynda.com-to-Blackboard integration to be used in spring 2016, which would allow instructors to create their own quizzes to be taken after the videos, Kozumplik said.

These videos are meant to complement, not replace the classroom experience, said Dan Cabrera, multimedia coordinator of the Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center.

“By developing skills in topics that may not be covered in a course, students can come to class better prepared to problem solve, apply core course concepts and principles, get direct feedback from their instructor and have an enriched learning experience,” Cabrera said.

Patricia Lantis, junior organizational/corporate communication major, said Lynda.com will be an excellent tool for students, especially with courses that require visual learning such as sign language.

“[It] can be difficult if you have a question for the professor and the only route is typing through email,” Lantis said. “Being able to physically explain a sign makes the learning process much easier.”

Because the agreement was signed late this semester, IT hopes the incorporation of Lynda.com in the classroom can take off in the spring semester, Kozumplik said.