Providing courses for underserved or advanced students is the principal application of distance learning for K-12 education. However, it is being used for rural and inner city classes, enrichment, staff development and in-service training for teachers and administrators. Faced with retraining 50 million American workers, corporate America is using distance learning for all aspects of training both internally and externally. Many major corporations such as Hewlett-Packard save millions of dollars each year using distance learning to train employees more effectively and more efficiently than with conventional methods. Programming for distance learning provides the receiver many technical and content options.
Technology offers many options for delivering and receiving education over a distance.
The ability of the teacher and students to see each other may not be a necessary condition for effective distance learning, but audio can be a critical component for interactivity. Research in effectiveness is limited in K-12 applications, but existing research, project evaluation, and anecdotal evidence strongly suggest that distance education is an effective means for delivering instruction just as it has been proven effective in adult learning and training settings. Video Teleconferencing When a live field trip is not possible- use video teleconferencing. Pacific Bell's Knowledge Network has been making a concerted effort to help California educators understand the value of distance learning through video teleconferencing. With video teleconferencing , classes can go to a local site that has video teleconferencing equipment and then connect with the remote learning experience.