Distance learning programs are available for associate's, bachelor's and graduate degrees. In most cases, you will access each lesson from your computer and never meet your instructor. When you sign up for a class, you will be given a user identification and a password, which you will use when you sign on to your college's distance-learning website. Your course will not be offered at any particular time. You can sign on to the website and review class materials whenever it is convenient for you. Classes will have a completion deadline of a week or two and if you don't complete the class in this time period, you may not be able to make up the work. Some courses use a combination of distance learning and on-campus classes.
If you choose a video conferencing (VC) class, you may meet be required to report to a satellite classroom in order to take the class. In VC, the instructor transmits her lecture from another location and you watch the lecture on a TV monitor at the satellite location. The classroom is fitted with microphones for interaction between the instructor and students. It may be possible to take a VC class from your home if your cable company carries local college classes. If you choose to take a VC class from home, you probably won't be able to interact with your instructor.
While you may never actually meet your instructor, you will able to contact her if you have any questions. At the beginning of your class, you will be informed which contact method the professor prefers, usually email or telephone. Many colleges also offer message boards for each class. Using these boards will give you a chance to interact with your fellow students and discuss course topics and assignments.
Tests are often offered online, although some colleges may require you to go to a central testing location. If you will be taking online tests, it is important to be confident when submitting answers because once you submit an answer, you can't change it.
Many colleges and universities offer online programs and provide information about distance learning on their websites. If a local school does not offer distance learning classes or doesn't have the program you want, you may want to explore programs at other schools. You can find a list of colleges and universities that offer distance learning programs at Online Degrees and Scholarships and Petersons (see Resources).