Types of distance education courses
* Correspondence conducted through regular mail
* Internet conducted either synchronously or asynchronously
* Telecourse/Broadcast, in which content is delivered via radio or television
* CD-ROM, in which the student interacts with computer content stored on a CD-ROM
* PocketPC/Mobile Learning where the student accesses course content stored on a mobile device or through a wireless server
Distance Education has traversed four to five 'generations' of technology in its history. These are print, audio/video broadcasting, audio/video teleconferencing, computer aided instruction, e-learning/ online-learning, computer broadcasting/webcasting etc. Yet the radio remains a very viable form, especially in the developing nations, because of its reach. In India the FM Channel is very popular and is being used by universities, to broadcast educational programs of variety on areas such as teacher education, rural development, programs in agriculture for farmers, science education, creative writing, mass communication, in addition to traditional courses in liberal arts, science and business administration. The increasing popularity of mp3 players, PDAs and Smart Phone has provided an additional medium for the distribution of distance education content, and some professors now allow students to listen or even watch video of a course as a Podcast [8]. Some colleges have been working with the U.S. military to distribute entire course content on a PDA to deployed personnel. [9]
In at least one instance, an online course has been run entirely in a 3D virtual world through the popular online community Second Life [10]. This approach has also been used in conjunction with on-campus class meetings, making the separation between distance and on-campus students increasingly insignificant.
In short then, though a range of technology presupposes a distance education 'inventory' it is technological appropriateness and connectivity, such as computer, or for that matter electrical connectivity that should be considered, when we think of the world as a whole, while fitting in technological applications to distance education.
Second Life has recently become one of the cutting-edge virtual classrooms for major colleges and universities, including Princeton, Rice University, University of Derby (UK), Vassar, the Open University (UK),[11]. In 2007 Second Life started to be used for foreign language tuition [12]. Both Second Life and real life language educators have begun to use the virtual world for language tuition. English (as a foreign language) has gained a presence through several schools, including the British Council, which has focused on the Teen Grid. Spain’s language and cultural institute “Instituto Cervantes” has an island on Second Life. A list of educational projects (including some language schools) in Second Life can be found on the SimTeach site.