by Natalie M. Wolverson

Created on: December 18, 2009

Distance learning is a form of learning which is aimed at people who are too busy to be able to attend college. This method of teaching may not be as effective as traditional classroom teaching but it is certainly a great alternative for people who have busy schedules or want a change in career.

Students study online although in some cases printed materials may be provided, some courses may require you to work through tasks which are on a CD or DVD. The course will provide you with information to teach you about the selected subject, as you progress you will receive assignments which combine all of the areas you have studied in the last module into one task or test. Most courses use an interactive DVD to demonstrate the lessons to you and then let you practice them by giving you an example or mock test.

Some schools may want you to submit your work after each assignment, whereas others may want you to wait until you have completed the whole course. Throughout the course you can contact your assigned tutor via email and in some cases Skype or via phone. Your tutor will help answer any questions that you may have or provide you with help on a task. You may have to wait a day or so before you receive a reply but in most cases they will reply as soon as they can and are very helpful.

Studying from home allows you to carry on working and earning money whilst training for a new career or to increase your chances of promotion. Distance learning also provides you with the freedom to choose when and where you study instead of being restricted to timetables or classrooms.

Distance learning allows students to study courses which they may not have been able to before – for example they may have wanted to study art but the closest art college may have been hours away or not provided the course they wanted; now they can study the course they want from their own home, whilst continuing to work.

Overall distance learning extends the range of learning and provides everyone with a chance to learn and educate themselves. There are multiple ways to participate in distance learning and some methods allow you to combine traditional classroom teaching with online teaching, giving you both a hands on method as well as a more personal method of learning.

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