Traditional book-based courses require no technology investment and allow great flexibility in scheduling. However, there is no interaction with fellow students, and feedback from instructors is significantly delayed. As anyone who has tried it knows, this type of distance learning requires great motivation and dedication. Videotapes with written material. Videotaped lectures, like traditional correspondence courses, require little technology investment, but many people do not find the one-way learning process engaging enough to hold their attention.
Students can view lectures at home and work on assignments at their own pace.
Often, there is no mechanism for interaction with the professor or with other students. Through satellite distribution, students from many sites can all view the same professor giving a lecture. This format eliminates the need to attend lectures on campus, but students still must attend courses at a specific place and time. Some courses offer two-way video links, which may be acceptable for remote areas where access to the instructor is the primary obstacle, but not so effective for busy professionals who can't be tied down to a specific time and place. Lectures provided through videoconferencing eliminate the trips to campus, but most of these courses still require that students participate at a certain time, rather than having lectures available on demand.