Atlanta Metropolitan College Offers a Distance Education Program for Students

Atlanta Metropolitan State College offers courses that are taught online as well as hybrid classes that are conducted through the internet, for the convenience and flexibility for students.

Distance learning, also called distance education occurs when students choose to enroll in a course at a location that is physically separate from the professor. Atlanta Metro offers some programs that are completely online. DL can be as effective as the traditional format when the methods are appropriate to the teaching tasks.

Photo courtesy of www.england.edu illustration of online learning

 “Classes online can be good or bad, depending on the student” Dr. Christy Eves, an academic advisor at Atlanta Metro says. “It all comes down to what the student can do and what the student is capable of, I’m here for the students and every student comes to school with one goal, and that’s to graduate. I encourage students to do more research on taking online courses before they just register for an online course and don’t know what they are getting themselves into.”

The DL program at Atlanta Metro is designed to not only provide students with an excellent education but to also foster and encourage student participation in their online classes. It is designed to be carried out remotely by using electronic communication. Communication options include email, live chat rooms, and discussion boards etc.

Taking a class online means a student can learn material and do the work on their own time. It’s convenient for those students who have a busy schedule with work and family. These students may not have time to attend class on campus. Taking online courses can be less pressure for students to keep up with other students and their progress in the class. Online classes are also cheaper than traditional classes.

“I actually looked into taking classes online for next semester” says Emma Simmons, a freshman at Atlanta Metro. “I think it would be much easier for me, because I work a lot and I’m a full time mom, so I could take my classes online to keep me from having to come on campus four days a week instead I can go to work take care of my child and do my work once he goes to sleep.”

Online classes gives one flexibility. If a student is taking a class online, they don’t have to attend class every week for the desired amount of hours. Taking online classes gives a student the opportunity to do work on their time and complete their assignments in an adequate amount of time for them. There is student teacher interaction and the teachers provide the students with appropriate and timely feedback. The student must have access to the internet in order to complete the work assigned to them.

With Metro being one of many schools that offers DL as an option, it gives the students a variety of courses to choose from. Students have the opportunity to choose whether they want traditional courses, completely online courses, or hybrid courses which are courses that meet on campus for discussion but majority of the work is completed online. These options give the students control over their education.

“Online classes is a good idea” Brianna Desir, an English major at metro says. “I’m a hands on type of person, so I know online classes would benefit me. It would be hard to me to stay focused taking online classes, because I would know that I can stop whenever I want and do whatever I want. It wouldn’t be productive for me.”

Students at Metro taking advantage of the DL program are students of millions worldwide. Although the courses are online the students still have the opportunity to use the schools resources as needed. The students also have the opportunity to speak with instructors face to face at their convenience. Online classes may not be in the favor of every college students but they are an option.

DL programs can teach student’s time management. Online classes don’t meet on a daily basis as would those with traditional classes, so it requires one to have the ability to manage time. Taking online courses can teach time management because the assignments the students have to complete can be done on the pace and availability of the student.

“I think taking online courses are good for those who can manage their time well enough” Marcus Hyms, an online student at metro. “I have classes that I take online and I have classes that I have to attend on campus. I would say it is a little more work than those traditional classes because it’s kind of like I have to teach myself the material instead of my professor going through the material with me in class.”

DL provides access to learning when the source of information and learners are separated by time and distance. A student taking classes online has to learn without being in regular face to face contact with a teacher in the classroom. At undergraduate level DL usually means students engaging with learning material at home or work.

Students with scheduling or distance problems can benefit from taking online courses. Employees can also benefit from such programs because distance education can be more flexible in terms of time and can be delivered virtually anywhere.

“Distance Learning (DL) is an instructional delivery system that connects learners with educational resources.” The California Distance Learning Project (CDLP) defined on cdlponle.org. “DL provides educational access to learners not enrolled in educational intuitions and can augment the learning opportunities of current students. The implementation of DL is a process that uses available resources and will evolve to incorporate emerging technologies.”

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