Additionally, students may enroll in open learning labs located in county learning centers. By offering free access and online lessons to anyone, anywhere, anytime, Big Sky Telegraph has helped many rural residents come online. The courses are then edited, packaged with study materials, and sent to students through the mail. The courses are also shown on public access television. Course materials include printed instruction papers, audio and videotape materials where appropriate, and books.
Students keep in touch with their instructors primarily through phone calls.
Support programs are also provided for home tutors. Barriers to access By making continuing education more accessible, distance learning programs have increased educational opportunities in rural areas. Yet it is important to recognize that many barriers to education still exist. These barriers include inadequate telecommunications infrastructures to support distance learning technologies, socio- economic barriers, inexperience in the use of distance learning technologies, and the limited availability of programming which matches the needs of rural learners. Many rural areas lack the telecommunications infrastructure necessary to support interactive distance learning.