National Distance Learning Week
This year, National Distance Learning Week (NDLW) is from November 6 to 10. NDLW was created to bring greater awareness to distance learning. At Montgomery College (MC), we want to recognize our leaders and faculty who are working together to give our students the best learning experience in their distance learning courses. Our online degrees have received numerous awards over the years, and many of our faculty have completed the Quality Matters (QM) program. The QM program is a national program that identifies online courses that have been reviewed and have passed the required standards to be recognized as a high-quality online course.
The reason distance learning has grown, especially here at MC, is because of the convenience it offers students from a scheduling standpoint. Distance education allows them to schedule classes and complete their study when they're working or when they're dealing with family issues. Distance learning offers flexibility in the students’ lives.
- MC has 29 fully online degreesnew window and certificates (17 degrees and 12 certificates)
- 532 online sections in 268 courses in Fall 2023
- 261 individual faculty in Fall 2023
- Students took 27,649 online course credits in Fall 2023, compared to 27,012 in Fall 2022, an increase of 5.8 percent
Students are invited to attend the events for the week to celebrate National Distance Learning Week.
Stop by for some distance learning trivia fun and earn some free giveaways.
- Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus, ST Atrium, 10:00 AM
- Germantown Campus, SA Atrium, 12:00 PM
- Rockville Campus, Campus Center, 2:00 PM
Course Modality Advising Session, 11:00 AM
Virtual Resume Writing Workshop, 12:00 PM
Ethical and Respectful Use of ChatGPT , 2:00 PM
In-person course formats offer the intimacy and familiarity of face-to-face learning and allow interaction among all those present.
This course format is the most flexible and easiest to implement, with one exception: training on-campus professors to make the shift to fully online classes. Because this has been done since the advent of online classes from campus-based institutions, many faculty have experience with doing this efficiently. Online classes offer all of the advantages of virtual education, including the ability to learn anytime, anywhere, and on any device. Self-paced study as well as the integration of virtual tools and online resources are just a few of the advantages. However, active learning with hands-on experiences are typically more difficult online, especially for students who learn best by doing.
Hybrid formats split time between on-campus and virtual environments. The hybrid format is not the same as the HyFlex format. Students attend on-campus classes at designated times and engage in virtual learning activities, which may be synchronous or asynchronous, at others. In this modality, coursework is intentionally designed to be delivered virtually for specific activities and in-person for others. For example, lectures are delivered via Zoom or other videoconferencing tools while learning activities, such as a labs/active learning projects, are delivered in-person.
The HyFlex (hybrid flexible) course format is designed to accommodate individual students’ preferences for in-person or online learning, and to approximate the in-person experience for those who chose the online option. Instructors must build a course that originates in the classroom and is broadcast for online learners, with open expectations as to how students will attend. Each class is held on campus but is also recorded for synchronous (live) and asynchronous (available when student is ready) delivery online. Essentially, the intent of HyFlex is to offer an equivalent experience regardless of selected modality of participation.
*Information taken from 4 Types of Education Modalities: On-Campus, Online, Hybrid and HyFlex (examsoft.com)new window
Montgomery College has students taking online classes from various states that include California, Hawaii, Ohio, Missouri, Texas, and Washington. View a map of our online studentsnew window!