As the name suggests, some distance programs simply extend or expand the classroom to an off-site location with telecommunications technology. Kate, my spousal unit, took courses from the University of California at Santa Barbara at their Ventura satellite center, thus saving herself a two hour commute one day per week. Her course still originated at the Santa Barbara campus from the same immense impersonal lecture hall filled with the same 800 students with whom she sat at the beginning of the semester. The lecture was relayed down to the Ventura Learning Center and played over a large screen television. There's no reason another classroom could not have been linked in Lompoc as well, expanding the U.C.S.B. campus further.
Participation is a red herring.
They may have a point. As you might guess, these learning programs do not require students to be in a particular place on a certain day at a specific time. Students are given the tools they need, usually a course study guide, a course outline or syllabus , and a list of required and recommended study books. Some, like those approved by the Distance Education and Training Council, provided details lesson plans and assignments. Students are assigned a faculty member who is responsible for guiding and evaluating their work.