Distance Education

Originally, distance education consisted of printed materials being posted to students who were not physically attending the course. This may have been supplemented with letters or phone calls from the tutor.

Today, distance education courses may be delivered to the learner by:

• the Internet
• mail
• radio or television
• CD-ROM
• PDA or mobile phone

Depending on the mechanisms used to access course content, contact with the tutor/course leader and other people on the course may be in real time (synchronous learning) or at a time that suits the learner (asynchronous learning).

In a synchronous course you would expect to use:

• Telephone/VOIP
• Video conferencing
• Web conferencing

For an asynchronous course, communication with the tutor and others on the course can be by:

• E-mail
• Message board
• Forums

Course material may be loaded on a website (which may include access to web video and podcasts), on a CDRom, or sent out as printed materials.

If you're thinking about stepping up to delivering distance education for your learners, or you just want more information about developing effective distance learning materials, contact us today. A member of our team will be happy to talk you.

Printed workbook developed for Justices of the Peace training in NZ.