How Does Distance Learning Work?

Video Transcript

"Hi, my name is Laura, and today, I'm going to answer the question: How does distance learning work? Distance learning is any type of learning that does not occur within the classroom with a professor or a teacher present. So distance learning is literally that -- you are learning from a distance from a professor, but not with that professor present. There are many different ways of taking a distance learning course. One could be that it is an online course where you actually will go on a program -- either WebCT or blackboard -- and actually post your assignments and papers and get feedback from the professor in that way. It could also be a DVD-ROM telecourse in which you will be turning in your assignments, you know, as you take the course from a DVD. Or you can also have a correspondence course, which is probably a little less common these days with online courses being the norm. But correspondence courses would be those courses that are taken with snail mail in which you will write letters and write assignments and send them via the postal service. If you are being taught from a distance in a distance learning course, you're going to want to try to be as involved as you would be in regular course. Try to, you know, turn in all of your work on time. Make sure that all of your work is done up to a standard to which you would do in a regular course. So you're actually going to try to get as much out of it as you can even without somebody actually present with you. And finally, whenever you're choosing your distance learning course, you've got to make sure you find one that's right for you. You know, what is your schedule like? Do you work 60 hours a week? When can you go to school, you know, per se? So going to school being from your home. When can you take that time out of your schedule to go to school, and in your free time, take that course? And really, why do you need to take the course? And what course are you going to be taking and where is the best place for you to go to get it? So those are all things to think about, and that is my answer for how does distance learning work."