You Say Tomato, I Say Tomato!

Frequently, the terms distance education and online learning are used interchangeably; however, there is a distinction between the two.

Distance Education
Quite simply, distance education refers to any type of instruction wherein students are enrolled at a distance from the faculty. The concept of distance education has been around for many years. Initially, distance education courses were called correspondence courses, using whatever technology was available at the time such as mail, telephone and television. Now, distance education is commonly delivered through audio, video, and computer technologies.

Online Learning
Online learning is one type of distance education. It is also sometimes referred to as Web-based Instruction since the utilization of the Web is the key characteristic. Learners are still situated at a distance from the faculty, however they are connected via the Internet. Features of online learning programs consist of the Internet, e-mail, discussion boards, chat rooms, streaming audio and video and other types of multimedia.