General Resources

Distance, Off-Campus and Technology-Enhanced Courses

Because distance education courses may be taught in a variety of formats, the following explanations are provided to fully define what is or is not considered distance education. Listed below are the guidelines adopted by the Division of Continuing Education (DCE) to support, track and report distance learning activities for the University of Florida.

Distance Education

A "distance education course" is a course where students are located outside of Gainesville, Florida, and the professor and students are physically separated from each other for the majority of the course.

• At least 80% of a course -- including instructional content, individualized help and administrative support -- must be delivered at a distance.
• Up to two face-to-face meetings may be required at a specific time and location per term. For example, students might be required to come to Gainesville, or another specific location, for an orientation weekend and a final exam. If students may choose between locations for face-to-face locations (eg. different testing sites or regional meetings) then there is no limit to the number of these meetings per term, as long as 80% of the course is still delivered at a distance.
• Courses where all interaction is facilitated through the internet are considered distance education courses, assuming students outside of Gainesville, Florida are allowed to register for the course.
• Courses where content is delivered both electronically and face-to-face are defined as blended or hybrid courses. These types of courses may be considered distance learning courses if at least 80% of the course is delivered at a distance (see #1), and student have a choice of meeting locations (see #2).
• Courses offered through the Department of Independent & Correspondence Studies are considered distance education courses irregardless of where students are located.

Off-Campus Courses

An "off-campus course" is a UF course where instructors physically meet with students outside of Alachua County in order to facilitate the majority of the course. If there is a single physical location for class sessions, office hours, tutoring sessions, and/or discussion sections, the course can not be considered a distance education course.

Technology-Enhanced Courses

A technology-enhanced course uses differing technologies to help teach course materials. It might include (but is not limited to) a website, video streaming, multimedia materials, and/or video conferencing. Most distance education courses are technology enhanced, but not all technology enhanced courses are considered distance education.

More Info...

For more definitions of distance related concepts, please see the Glossary of Distance Education Terms.