Delivery of Courses

The courses available through NUDC institutions use a variety of delivery modes and materials to emphasize interaction and collaborative learning between faculty and students. All courses will have a study guide or syllabus which will guide you through the course and will refer to textbooks and other materials. The study guide moves you through the materials step by step and gives you the sequence of assignments and examinations.

Some courses will consist entirely of printed materials: a study guide and one or more textbooks. Other courses may have audiotapes or videotapes along with the printed materials. Some courses may supplement interaction with audiotele-conferences, voice mail, listservs, or computer conferencing. Others may have computer disks or a CD-ROM disk containing information and software programs. Several courses are delivered via the World Wide Web. Other possible Internet devices are: course cafés, virtual reality, threaded discussion lists, bulletin boards, and synchronous lecture/online messaging.

Your contact with your instructor may be via telephone calls, letters sent through the U.S. mail, e-mail messages, real-time electronic office hours, recorded phone messages (voice mail), or conference calls.

Many courses require you to have access to a videotape player, telephone, computer, a modem, Internet access, an e-mail address, and a Web browser.