Distance education can include courses and programs based on correspondence study, videotaped classroom presentations, telecourses, interactive audio and video, multimedia, and computer technology, among others. Distance education is, by its nature, a flexible form of education, as it creates options for students in terms of where and when they learn. Asynchronous communication emphasizes individual learning. Students access learning when and where they choose. Videotapes belong in this category as do email, listservs, correspondence courses, and Web-based courses.
Asynchronous communication can involve group learning.
Distance education raises unique concerns related to quality. From a student s perspective, for example, the educational experience of earning a degree at a distance via computer technology is likely to be radically different from the experience of studying on campus. Technological modes of delivering instruction change, at least to some degree, the interaction of teacher and student and the learning process itself. The technology being used determines the degree of this difference, with synchronous interactive video courses obviously more similar to the experience provided in a traditional classroom than are on-line courses in which the student works alone at a computer. It is WASC's expectation that direct contact with faculty is an essential element of all programs.