Distance and Online Education

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Distance and Online Education offer courses in many disciplines throughout the year. Courses are delivered through various technologies and formats including interactive television, video conferencing, internet, intranet, video streaming technologies and combinations of these systems. Depending on the technology utilized, students participate in the class “live” or asynchronously through materials archived online.

Distance Education satisfies the needs of a diverse student population as near as the University of Maine and as far as the most remote international location. The program offers maximum flexibility, allowing students to plan courses around their demanding schedules. Technology brings previously inaccessible courses to many more students, facilitating degree completion for some and opening new learning pathways for others.

Interactive Television Courses (ITV)
ITV courses are broadcast real-time by faculty from the University of Maine campus to over 100 centers and sites across Maine. Students attending at these sites view the class on TV monitors and interact with the instructor and the other students using a toll-free classroom telephone.

Video Conference Courses
Using a computer, television signals can be compressed and sent through phone lines. Through television monitors, students interact with classmates throughout Maine and all over the world. Students see, hear, and speak with people anywhere in the world, creating a global classroom environment.

Online Courses
While the ITV and compressed video courses are available at sites and centers throughout Maine, the online and video streaming courses offer prospective students significant flexibility. Regardless of the time (or time zone) students may access courses at their own convenience. Students contemplating enrolling in an online course should always refer to the course web page to ensure that they meet all technical requirements.

Video Streaming Courses
University of Maine online courses are not simply text-based but deliver audio and video on-demand viewing. Audio and video files are delivered through “streaming” technologies which allow for immediate access. There is no waiting for the material to download, and the files do not use any storage space on student’s computer. Student contemplating enrolling in a course that utilizes video streaming should always refer to the course web page to ensure that they meet all technical requirements.
Students can obtain further information about specific courses at http://Learnonline.umaine.edu/
Direct questions and comments to (207)581-3143, toll free @ 1-877-947-HELP or email LearnOnline@umit.maine.edu.