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Study Guide & Strategies
Succeeding in Distance
Education courses
There are a several forms of distance
education courses:
- Independent study courses
- Courses that meet in multiple
locations at a specific time for lectures, course information
delivery, and/or student interaction
- Courses that do not meet at any
specific time, in one or many locations
"Distance education is based on the
premise that students are at the center of the learning process,
take responsibility for their own learning, and work at their own
pace and in their own place. It is about ownership and autonomy."
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The good news:
studies have shown that below grade students perform better in
distance education courses if they finish them; and that at-grade or
better students perform about the same.
The bad news:
students tend to procrastinate and drop out at higher levels than in
traditional courses, especially below grade students
Conditions for a successful
distance education course:
Course information:
- Course website address
- Instructor's name, office location
and hours, telephone number, fax number, e-mail address
- Teaching assistant name, office
location and hours, telephone, fax, e-mail address
- Tutor name, office location and
hours, telephone, fax, e-mail address
- Librarian/research assistant name,
office location and hours, telephone, fax, e-mail address
- Resource center (RC) location and
hours, telephone number; RC manager with e-mail address
Logistics
- Course materials you can expect
- How you will receive the course
materials
- How you will be notified, or
learn, of course announcements and class cancellations
Technical requirements:
- computing and internet hardware,
platform, and specifications
- software type and version
- multimedia accessibility
Schedule yourself, and stick
to an assignment schedule, that
- coincides with the course
syllabus, or that
- is negotiated or verified with the
instructor
- or both. See guide on Setting
goals and making a schedule
Schedule yourself
daily/weekly for course communications for
-
peer learning/fellow
student interaction via listservs, discussion groups, case
studies, etc.
Often you will be required to work on group projects or case
studies, whether at one location or through the Internet.
See the guides on group projects, or case studies.
- feedback to the instructor
In a face-to-face course, an instructor relies on feedback from
students, whether with questions or facial/physical expressions.
In a distance situation this is most difficult, and you carry the
responsibility to inform the instructor how you are doing in the
course, whether by appointment or through phone conversations or
e-mail..
- assignment progress and submission
- progress reports: The instructor
must provide feedback to you on your progress through the course.
Request an evaluation schedule, conditions, and methods
for your progress through teh material. Methods include
- tests reflecting knowlege
acquisition or performance of tasks
- reports, projects, case studies,
course portfolio, etc.
- qualitative and quantiative
input into course discussions and projects
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