How the Study Online Campus Works
- Just as they must prepare for delivery in a physical classroom, instructors delivering courses in an online environment must lay out their lesson plans for delivery online. Educational courses, whether in person or virtual, must meet certain goals in order to qualify for accreditation. To be certain that the online course meets these goals, instructors must carefully lay out their lesson plans before building the online course.
- With a lesson plan in place, instructors can build their courses to deliver the intended teachings. To maximize the effects of online campus learning, instructors use a host of tools ranging from online readings and traditional homework to online collaboration in virtual classrooms. Depending on the online campus software, instructors and students may have access to online readings in e-books, video lectures, one-on-one or group collaboration, private feedback from instructors and interactive real-time broadcasts similar to an actual classroom environment. Instructors may use any of the tools available to them, though not all instructors choose to use all available options. Depending on the professor's needs and the school requirements, instructors may even opt to establish a course start and end date, though online campuses are unique in that courses may be structured to begin at any time.
- While instructors build individual courses, educational administrators are charged with a more holistic view of the student's progress. In order to obtain a degree in any given subject, students must complete a designated number of courses related to that subject. To ensure students complete at least the minimum requirements, online campus administrators use the individual courses made available by instructors to build a comprehensive list of courses that students must take (and complete) to obtain a degree or diploma. Administrators also may choose to add additional requirements, perhaps including a designated number of general education requirements, electives or extracurricular work.
- To begin coursework at an online campus, students must typically complete an application and enrollment process similar to the ones used at physical institutions. Once accepted, students may meet with an adviser, usually available online via email or chat, to map out the coursework requirements. With enrollment and counseling complete, students may select from a list of available courses to begin their studies, much like a traditional educational environment.
- As students complete individual courses, software used by online campus administrators automatically tracks their progress. When students reach the required minimums for graduation, they may either apply for graduation or be automatically graduated (depending on the online campus configuration). Software used by online campus administrators track vital components like the student's grade point average, disciplinary records and transcripts.
