What is Distance Learning?

Distance education or online learning, is self-directed learning and student-focused instruction. It is working at your own speed at a time of your own choosing toward a goal that will enhance your development professionally and personally. Students who chose to pursue their education and training are looking to enhance their development in just those ways, and also, particularly if they are working, are often constrained by time and distance.

Distance learning enables learning and interaction to occur at any time and from any location and eliminates the traditional barriers of time-bound and place-bound education. The main goals of an online learning program are to provide convenience to learners who cannot attend traditional college campuses and to break traditional barriers of lecture-only content delivery to allow a more active, user-friendly learning environment to blossom.

Distance learning:

allows for increased accessibility to timely and relevant information

provides a platform for students to actively interact with the information by not limiting discussion to a set time and place

encourages more thoughtful formal discussions and informal communication between students and with the instructor

provides and encourages the use of web-based information sources to retrieve timely information in rapidly changing fields of study