Professors who seek to spread their knowledge through online classes may find some obstacles.

Though there are various means for college professors to teach online, the courses offered are not necessarily accredited and don’t cater to all students’ needs.

Universities and colleges like NIU can award degrees, as they are accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Degree credentials beyond this institutional structure would be difficult, media studies professor David Gunkel said in an email.

“Imagine asking your local school board to hire a ‘teacher’ who just picked up a few courses here and there on the Internet,” Gunkel said.

What is valuable for students in the current culture are degrees from institutions, said Jason Rhode, assistant director for the faculty development and instructional design center. Senior biology major Frederick Gunther said students go to school to get a degree, not enrich their knowledge.

NIU faculty are likely to stick with the universities rather than branch out, Rhode said. About 75 percent of the faculty use Blackboard, and a variety of tools such as Wimba Classroom, a web conferencing tool, are available for use. Teachers are welcome to use other tools but the university can only support so many tools and applications, Rhode said.

“Most faculty, from our experience, don’t want to be responsible for having to provide…technical support to their students,” Rhode said.

Different sites have arisen to help teachers share their knowledge. Stanford University Professor Sebastian Thrun founded Udacity, an online teaching site, on Jan. 23 after worldwide success with a previous online course, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. Thrun said he hopes Udacity’s future offerings will attract 500,000 students.

Gunkel said he doesn’t believe anyone with a full-time position at a university or college would find freelancing online to be a lucrative venture. One of the main advantages of working for a university or other institution is having access to research facilities and support.

Definitive studies that prove online instruction is better than traditional forms are lacking, Gunkel said. Online education works for some students, and for others it poses a significant problem.

“The best that can be said, given the current data, is that it is different,” Gunkel said.

Some universities see sharing educational content online for free as a great marketing opportunity, Rhodes said. The University of Illinois Springfield ran Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) in 2011 where courses were available to everyone.

“It’s showcasing the great value that institutions bring to higher ed,” Rhodes said.