Some students can choose distance education instead of on-campus one. There are plenty of reasons why distance education programs are preferable for many students from all across the world. First of all, distance education becomes a great option for all those who can not attend in-person education due to geography. There are people who live in rural areas and do not have access to higher education. Furthermore, some students prefer to study in the privacy of their own home. Sometimes students have to take care of their family members, as well as go to work, so they choose distance education because it provides them with a freedom of choosing a time and place to study. Actually, it does not matter why a student chooses distance education. The fact is that it becomes more and more popular from day to day.

Though distance education becomes the best solution for many people from all across the world, it has some drawbacks. First of all, distance education does not provide a student with communication between fellow students and the teacher. That is why distance education suits only self-sufficient and independent students. Furthermore, a student who chooses distance education has to feel comfortable with computers and be able to learn new technologies as distance education is held online and requires a student to use various types of software.

Forms of Delivery

When you sign up for a distance education course, you can receive a printed correspondence with all the materials you need to complete your distance education. There are some cases when printed materials are placed on audiotapes or CDs. Sometimes, students will have to buy additional textbooks. Also, there are some schools that offer distance education via TV! As you can see, distance education has numerous delivery options. Nevertheless, the most popular one is an on-line format that requires a student to use a computer and have an access to the Internet.

There are some cases when a number of students who live in close proximity to one another can apply for the same course. In this case, their teacher can organize mass tutorial sessions in order to make distance education more effective and to fill the gap in communication between students.

Also, there are some forms of distance education that sometimes can require face-to-face interaction. In the most cases, such interactions are held at schools during final exams.

Timelines and Deadlines

The main distinctive feature of distance education is the ability to study in the privacy of your own home. That is why most of the distance courses offer students flexible programs with specific assignment deadlines. It means that students are able to start the course at the most suitable time, except for some courses that are offered just at the beginning of certain semesters. Generally, it takes from 4 to 8 month to complete the course and to pass final exams. That is why distance education is so popular among people who have to spend a lot of time working or taking care of their family.

Subjects

Most of the subjects, except courses that include hands-on aspects, are available in a distance-education version. It means that you can study languages, economy, finance, business, social sciences, general arts and some other subjects in a distance education version.

Requirements

To take a distance course in Canada, a student must be already enrolled in the school that offers this or that distance course. Nevertheless, it is possible to register for a course if you are not already students. To apply, a student will have to follow the general requirements of the school s/he wishes to take distance education courses from. The same to a traditional in-person course, there are some specific requirements concerning each distance course. Also, in the most cases, access to computers and the Internet is required.

Graduation

Generally, after the graduation from distance education courses, students get a degree, certificate or diploma. Nevertheless, each school has its own policy regarding the number of distance courses allowed to be completed. Though there are a lot of schools that offer 100% distance education, there are some exceptions when a student will have to show up a couple of times to pass exams in order to get a degree, certificate, or diploma.

On-Line Universities in Canada

There are some completely online universities in Canada where you can take an entire degree without a need to show up in a classroom. Actually, these universities are completely virtual, which means they have no physical classrooms. These are University of Fredericton, Meritus University, and Lansbridge University. Though all of these institutions are virtual campuses, the New Brunswick Department of Labor provided them with accreditation.

Also, there is an eCampus Alberta in Canada. This online university is a consortium of 15 post-secondary schools and it offers about 400 distance courses. eCampus Alberta allows to get university distance education completely online. Furthermore, credits are transferable to other schools, so students are provided with additional flexibility.