Key Advantages

The course is available at virtually any time or location and thus is accessible to a far broader range of students.

Students can learn at their own pace (and ideally in the sequence and presentation medium they find most effective) thus improving the learning process.

Primary Liabilities

Success is dependent on technology. When the technology fails, the course can fail with it. Access to technology can impose economic barriers in some cases. Students uncomfortable or unfamiliar with the technology will either avoid the course or focus on the technology to the exclusion of the content.

When a course is presented to students outside the usual classroom environment, it demands a significant level of maturity and commitment from the students.

Some courses or programs demand additional support (library resources, counseling and registration services, etc.) which in most cases will also have to be delivered as a distance service.

From a learner's perspective

You can learn at any time (before, during or after normal school hours, at the desktop in the workplace, "just in time learning" for a particular task)

You can learn at any place (in the traditional classroom, in a dorm room, at home, at a convenient learning center, at work, on the road)

You can learn at their own pace, giving extra time to new material and speeding through material already known, with pauses for tutorial help or supplemental courses.

You can learn more efficiently when concepts are presented with multiple media so students can select those which best assist their own understanding and retention.

You can learn only what they need to know, reinforcing both retention and motivation learning and then applying individual modules of a course.

The course content and course quality are constant; organizations can document training coverage and student learning over a wide geographical or temporal area.

The course can be examined and improved. The entire course and the students' interactions exist as an artifact independent of the instructor, open to review by other educators and content experts.

The need for costly, permanent teaching facilities is reduced; learning can take place at home, in dorms and workplaces, or in temporary facilities.

Professional Benefits

Career-long learning is necessary for today's most creative, focused industry professionals.

Industry students require programs that accommodate hectic schedules, 24/7, regardless of their location.

The best distance learning programs deliver education to the student, addressing these needs without compromising quality.