Distance learning courses are still going strong
There are many types of on-line courses and distance learning courses are just one of them. Some on-line courses do not include a classroom component; rather, the student communicates with the professor via email and gets class assignments and reading material via download.
For a distance education course, it's a little different. Classroom teaching is conducted via video and students join the video from wherever they are, at home, work, or while traveling. In this sense the courses are 'live' and there is face-to-face interaction and real-time communication – it just takes place on video.
Given the propensity towards social media and the use of video on sites such as Facebook and YouTube, it wouldn't be surprising if the on-line education system started to shift more towards distance education. Millions of people are on the internet only because of the immediacy of video conferencing and real time communication. In fact, some of the younger population says that email is dead and video is in.
April 15th, 2011 at 5:25 pm
Online courses work best for those who are very self-disciplined and can absorb lots of information by reading online.
Students with dial-up or slow Internet connections or with only limited access to computers are more likely to have trouble doing their assignments on time. And many online schools require students to turn in assignments in Microsoft Word or Excel formats.