There\’s a lot of educational jargon being thrown around these days and it\’s not easy to follow. When deciding what kind of online educational route you want to take it\’s important to make sure you know the difference between the major terminologies. Such as Distance Learning, Open Learning and eLearning.

Distance Learning is more geographically related. You can be at a physical distance away from the source material. You can also be at a temporal distance, which is just a fancy way of saying you don\’t have to be there at the time when the material is published. For example, if a teacher uploads a video you need to see, you don\’t have to necessarily view it right when they uploaded it. There are many mediums that can be approached with distance learning. Some common forms are video, print, television, audio and the internet.

Open Learning is different in that it focuses more on the individual learner and what works best for them. There is often more flexibility as to what pace, where and how they learn. Although it is mostly considered separate from Distance Learning, the two are often combined.

eLearning, like email, is essentially learning over the internet (like email is mail over the internet). It\’s a fairly easy concept to grasp: you can do this anytime and anywhere so long as you\’ve got a working internet connection. Both Distance Learning and Open Learning can, and often do, incorporate eLearning into their curriculum.

The best part about all these options is the freedom you have to learn in a way that’s most beneficial to you. Everyone learns at different speeds, and taking online college courses is a method of gaging your pace so that you end up getting the most out of your education.