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| With Campuses in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Online |
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| Online courses are those in which students and instructors
are not in the same physical space at the same time; instead,
they interact online (via the Internet) and students do
not have to come to the campus to attend class. If you
have a PC and a reliable Internet connection, you will
be able to interact with your instructor and other students
to complete the activities and objectives of the course
at any time and from any place. Many students who have
taken online courses in the past mention that they love
the flexibility that online courses offer them. |
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| There are usually weekly readings/lectures, assignments,
projects and/or journals, discussion boards and live
chat sessions throughout the term. Each of these is
worth a certain percentage of your final grade. There
are weekly deadlines for your work that will be posted
in your course site. |
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| Discussion boards are located in an area within
the course site where students can read a weekly topic
of discussion and post their comments to the course
site. They can read other classmates’ and instructor’s
comments as well and respond to their postings. This
style of communication is considered asynchronous, meaning
that you can interact with others in the class but all
of you aren’t communicating in the same space
at the same time. On the other hand, chat sessions are
opportunities to meet with your class at the same place
and time (synchronous communication) and are also an
important part of the online course. For one-hour each
week, the instructor and students may meet in a “live”
chat room within the course site and discuss assignments,
debate over discussion topics and use this time as a
question & answer session. |
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| Absolutely! All online classes meet the same course
objectives as their in-seat counterparts, and online
courses are subject to the same departmental guidelines
as in-seat classes. Most of our online instructors also
teach in-seat classes, so they often require both online
and in-seat students to complete the same assignments. |
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| Absolutely not! Unfortunately, some students often
have the misperception that online courses will be
easier than on-campus courses, and this is simply
not true. While in an online course you have greater
flexibility in terms of when you complete your coursework,
the amount and nature of that coursework will be comparable
to that assigned in an on-campus course. Additionally,
the amount of reading and writing online students
are required to do is quite extensive. Remember, one
of the biggest challenges faced by online students
is managing their time, so it is important that you
are able to manage your time wisely and maintain self-motivation.
Also COMMUNICATION IS THE KEY! Students need to remember
to stay in constant contact with his/her instructor
during the term. The instructor
won’t know what the student is thinking if the
student doesn't’t stay in communication with
him/her. |
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| Terms for online classes run parallel to terms for
on-campus classes. Like on-campus classes, online classes
have a specific start date and end date, and you are
required to complete all assigned coursework during
the specified time. In most cases, your instructor will
have deadlines set throughout the term for assignments
and course work, so you are encouraged to complete the
work throughout the six week term, rather than all at
the beginning or all at the end. Because online classes
require frequent interaction with your classmates, it
would be impossible to complete the entire class early. |
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| While correspondence courses sometimes involve
Internet use, online courses offer daily interaction
with your
instructor and classmates via email, discussion boards
and live chat sessions. Correspondence courses are
designed
to complete & mail in coursework and in most cases
do not offer the opportunity to communicate in real
time with your instructor and classmates. |
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| © ECPI
COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY |
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