1. Distance Education
1.1. Ko and Rossen (2017) describe as, "any form of learning that doesn't involve the traditional classroom setting."
1.1.1. It's different than online education due to the fact that classes could be held partly in the classroom and partly online (Ko and Rossen, 2016). Allen and Seaman (2016) explain that the majority of online students are taking distance learning courses.
1.1.1.1. Allen and Seaman (2016) go on to explain that distance learning courses are most often utilized with a combination of classroom and online schedule.
1.1.1.1.1. Smaller universities used to be more likely to offer distance learning courses, but lately due to high resource needs for online offerings they have been offering less courses (Allen and Seaman, 2016).
1.2. Commission on collegiate nursing education (CCNE) accreditation requires all distance learning students to have a clinical experience. Nursing faculty need to be involved in planning of distance courses. Distance learning courses are interweaved into the accreditation process for the nursing program for CCNE.
2. Online Education
2.1. Allen and Seaman (2016) describe as at least 80% of course content is online with typically no face to face meetings.
2.1.1. Online learning is similar to distance education in that it provides a web-based experience to students.
2.2. National League for Nursing (NLN) accreditation is similar to the CCNE accreditation as it requires distance or online courses to be included in the accreditation process. NLN expects experienced faculty to be part of the online course experience. NLN also explains that the online courses are held to the same standard as traditional on campus courses.
2.2.1. The NLN adheres to the Department of Education's regulations for online education.
3. Correspondence Course
3.1. A correspondence course is a course that is done primarily through mailed correspondence. It is self paced (LAVC).
3.1.1. Correspondence courses are similar to distance learning courses as they are considered in the range of distance learning. Course materials will be sent to the students via email, mail, etc.
3.1.1.1. Similar to Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) where students can enroll at anytime without a charge, and they can access the educational materials online (Ko and Rossen, 2016).
3.1.1.1.1. MOOC caused discourse within the online education community because of it's differences, and because they are not instructor led, but many students are enrolling in them.