Student Services
Course Delivery
At NC State, Distance Education courses are offered and supported using various delivery formats. Some courses utilize more than one delivery format. The majority of courses are delivered via technologies such as the internet or webcasting. Students with access to the appropriate technology may access these courses from their homes or other locations. Such courses make use of asynchronous scheduling, which means that students do not have to access them at specified times. Occasionally a course may require visits to campus (or a remote location) for assignments or exams.
The course delivery mode for each course is indicated on the course details page. To find the course details page for your course, go to Courses; find your course listed under its semester or summer session and department; click on the title of the course to retrieve the course details page.
Internet
The fastest-growing segment of NC State's Distance Education courses is our internet courses, also called online or web-based courses. Many internet courses now include lecture videos and other media previously available via DVD or CD. Using online communication tools, students in these courses interact extensively with both the instructor and their peers. Assignments are most commonly submitted via email, fax or online, and tests are often administered via a proctor at a site convenient to the student or as a take-home exam. NC State provides a robust learning environment for online courses through learning management systems (LMS) including Blackboard Vista, Wolfware, and (in a pilot project) Moodle and through tools such as WebAssign and Elluminate.
Sample of a DE internet course I
PLEASE NOTE: If you have trouble viewing this example, please refer to our troubleshooting tips and requirements.
Sample of a DE internet course II
PLEASE NOTE: All Distance Education courses are identified with section numbers of 601 or higher. Some campus courses, labeled "web-based," are offered online, but are not considered Distance Education courses. These campus internet courses have section numbers of 599 or lower.
DVD
Effective Spring 2010, Distance Education classes will no longer be offered via DVD. Keeping with changing technologies, courses that were previously offered via DVD will now be offered online. These courses will use either Rich Media files that can be viewed online or MP4 files that can be viewed online or downloaded to a computer or portable media device (i.e.; iPod, smartphone). For questions, please contact the Distance Education Office at 919-515-9030.
NC-REN/Interactive Video-Conferencing
Interactive Video-Conferencing (IVC) connects two or more classrooms, in real time, through video technology. Learners and instructors can see and communicate with one another even though the classrooms are located far apart.
Face-to-Face
Some NC State Distance Education programs are offered in face-to-face, site-based format at locations remote from the NC State campus. Usually participation in such courses requires admission to a cohort of students, all of whom complete the same program together during the same time frame. These courses require attendance at exact dates and times.
Cable Television
A variety of NC State courses are made available on the Cooperating Raleigh Colleges (CRC) education channel on Time Warner Cable, channel 18, as a public service offered to cable subscribers in Apex, Cary, Franklinton, Fuquay-Varina, Garner, Holly Springs, Knightdale, Morrisville, Pine Level, Raleigh, Rolesville, Wake Forest, Wendell, Youngsville, and Zebulon, NC. All courses air initially during morning hours and repeat 12 hours later during afternoon/evening hours.
The Cable Schedule for each semester is available online.
In addition, please review our Basic Computer Requirements and Skills.
