Virtual Lessons Rather than sitting in a classroom listening to a professor lecture, online students can log onto their computers any time of the day or night, download lectures and study them as they would pages of a textbook. Students complete class assignments posted on special Web sites. They access virtual research material, participate in classroom discussions and complete group projects using chat rooms, and use special software to take tests. But often, students never actually meet professors or classmates. The level of interaction of any kind with instructors varies, and many programs offer little in the way of such student services as job placement, internships or counseling.
Some schools provide students with a virtual library.
Others provide chat rooms and message boards where students can socialize outside class. Professors use special software that allows students to monitor their own grades. A few schools even go so far as to provide students with a laptop computer. For Mrs. Wendorf, what mattered was that she could be home at night to make dinner for her children and help with their homework, and still maintain her hectic travel schedule. The idea of distance learning isn't new.