Distance Learning
Mitchell Community College offers several distance learning opportunities for students including online, hybrid, and blended courses. Distance education is an educational process in which instruction (learner to learner interaction, instructor to student interaction, and learner to content interaction) occurs when students and instructors are not in the same location. These courses provide students with more flexibility than a traditional classroom setting.
Students are expected to:
- Communicate via Mitchell Community College Office 365 Email (Outlook) and follow appropriate netiquette
- Check their Mitchell Community College Email (Outlook)
- Have reliable access to the Internet
- Use Internet browsers effectively
- Create and save files in commonly used word processing program formats such as docx, PDF, rich text, etc.
- Upload files, images and videos
- Have access to course specific software
Students enrolled in online courses receive the same credit, must satisfy the same course prerequisites, experience the same course content, and are assessed the same tuition as traditional students. For online courses, course content is published within the College’s learning management system (LMS) and course communication is through the College’s LMS and Mitchell Community College Office 365 Email (Outlook). Some online classes may have an optional online orientation or an optional in-person orientation. Students may have to come to campus to purchase books, pay tuition and/or complete assessments. Instructors are available to students via email, telephone, or by scheduled appointments. For hybrid and/or blended courses, instructional delivery can be a combination of in-person sessions and online instruction. Specific requirements are posted in the schedule listing on Self-Service and on the course syllabus.
Note: Students who qualify to receive education benefits from the Department of Veteran Affairs and Financial Aid are required to attend an orientation session and communicate with their instructors at least once a week.
Online Course
An online course delivers 100% of instruction over the internet. Online courses may or may not require in-person or on-campus meetings for non-instructional purposes such as class orientation or proctored examinations (either on campus or at an approved proctor site). The online course content is delivered through the College’s learning management system (LMS). Online courses allow for both synchronous and asynchronous class time.
Hybrid or Blended Course
A hybrid or blended course is conducted partially in the classroom and partially online. Hybrid and blended courses allow the student to benefit from both online and in-person teaching. The online portion of hybrid and blended courses allows students to attend synchronous ”virtual” sessions via the Internet. In hybrid or blended courses, students may be required to attend in-person class meetings. In addition, some of the required meetings may be held online. The online course content for hybrid and blended courses is delivered through the College’s learning management system (LMS). A hybrid course is one in which at least half to as much as 99% of the course is delivered online. A blended course is one in which 1% to as much as half the course is delivered online.
Asynchronous/Synchronous
Asynchronous class sessions allow students to complete work on their own time within a certain timeframe. Course content and activities (example: lectures, quizzes, assignments, discussion forums) are delivered through the College’s LMS and most often include due dates.
Synchronous class sessions occur when both instructors and students are either in-person or online at the same time. These sessions take place on set schedules and within set timeframes to allow real-time interaction in lectures, discussions, presentations, and other class activities. Students may be expected to be online at specified times in order to participate in the course. These sessions can be described as “live” or “real-time” sessions.