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Introduction to Distance Learning

Online learning, televised classrooms, and home-study courses have revolutionized the way instruction is delivered, making it possible to earn college credits from the comfort of our homes or offices without regard for time and geographical barriers. Life long education can make a major difference in the quality of living for an individual or a family unit. Whether you are a professional who can study for a few hours on an airplane or during a lunch break at work, or a young mother who can attend classes after the kids are asleep, distance learning may be your answer to completing a degree or acquiring certification. With the rising cost of living, it's becoming more critical for adults to enhance their education so that they may get higher paying jobs. The U.S. Census Bureau's 2000 earning statistics shows the benefits of lifelong education.

 

What Is Distance Learning

Distance Learning is defined as a formal educational process where the majority of the instruction occurs when the learner and instructor are not in the same place and are often separated by time. The education is delivered to people instead of people to the education. So what does this means to you as a student:

  • Instead of sitting in a lecture hall or attending a seminar, you participate in an online conference through your computer, watch a videotape on your home television set, or join a video conference at a local teleconferencing center.
  • Instead of a team project where a group of students meets together in the same place once a week, you collaborate via computer conferences, e-mail, or audio conferences.
  • Instead of searching through the stacks in a dusty library, you surf the web or use online databases and research librarians
  • Instead of sitting down with your faculty advisor over a cup of coffee, you use e-mail, telephone, or live computer chats
  • Instead of handing in your homework during class, you return your assignments electronically online or via e-mail, fax, or by mail
  • Instead of testing with your class, you go to a local testing center, find a proctor at your local high school or college, or take tests via e-mail, fax, or online
Did You Know?
  • In 2001, 56% of traditional learning institutions offered distance learning programs. An additional 12% of schools stated they planned on adding distance learning programs to their curriculum within the next three years (National Center for Education Statistics, 2003).
  • Distance learning dates back more than 100 years to Europe, Africa, and Asia, where open universities offered external degrees.
  • $56,300 average annual salary of public elementary and secondary school teachers in California as of the 2002–2003 school year—highest of any state in the nation. Teachers in South Dakota received the lowest pay—$32,400. The national average was $45,900.
  • # The primary pathway to professional nursing, as compared to technical-level practice, is the four-year Bachelor of Science degree in nursing (BSN). Registered nurses are prepared either through a four-year baccalaureate program; a two- to three-year associate degree in nursing program; or a three-year hospital diploma program. Graduates of all three programs take the same state licensing exam, the NCLEX-RN. (The number of diploma programs has declined steadily -- to less than 10 percent of all basic RN education programs -- as nursing education has shifted from hospital-operated instruction into the college and university system.)