Distance education
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Distance education is a method of teaching in which the students are not required to be physically present at a specific location during the term. Most often, regular mail is used to send written material, videos, audiotapes, and CD-ROM s to the student and to turn in the exercises; nowadays e-mail , the World Wide Web , and video conferencing over broadband network connections are used as well. Often students are required to come to meetings at regional offices on specific weekends, for example to take exams. Distance education is offered at all levels, but is most frequently an option for university-level studies.
Full time or part-time study is possible, but most students choose part-time study. Research study is possible as well.
Distance education is a newer term for correspondence courses, which arose from the need to provide schooling to students in remote, sparsely populated areas that could not support a school. Such courses are generally offered at the primary or secondary level, often with the students' parents supervising their education. While there are many "correspondence schools" that still offer a dull and lifeless form of DE, many colleges are now able to integrate dynamic learning that is interactive and engaging for the student.
In the world, there are many private and public, non-profit and for-profit institutions offering courses and degree programs through distance education. Students seeking degrees online from institutions of higher education are cautioned to ensure that the schools they are interested in possess proper accreditation.