In DE courses, ensuring regular effective instructor/student contact guarantees that the student receives the benefit of the instructor’s presence in the learning environment both as a provider of instructional information and as a facilitator of student learning. Faculty teaching Distance Education courses at Sacramento City College maintain regular effective contact with students using a combination of these methods:

Email	Individual email exchange between student and professor. Asynchronous communication.
Mailing Lists	Multi-party, multi-way email exchange between students and professor. Asynchronous communication. Also known as "listserv"
Distribution Lists	Multi-party, one-way email exchange from professor to students. Asynchronous communication.
Discussion Board	Threaded discussion boards. Communication between students and professor posted on the Web. Asynchronous communication.
Web Log or FAQ	Regular web posting of information by the professor for students. Professor makes regular announcements or submits answers to student questions to the entire class. Asynchronous communication. Pull technology.
Instant Message	Individual online exchange between student and professor. Synchronous communication.
Chat Room	Online exchange for a group of students and the professor. Synchronous communication.
Telephone	Individual phone calls between student and professor. Synchronous communication.
Videoconferencing	Individual video conferences between student and professor. Synchronous communication.
Onsite Orientation Sessions	Face-to-face interaction between students and professor onsite. Synchronous communication. Push technology.
Onsite Group Meetings	Face-to-face interaction between students and professor onsite. Synchronous communication.
Onsite Tests or Assessments	Face-to-face interaction between students and professor onsite. Synchronous communication.
Onsite Review Sessions	Face-to-face interaction between students and professor onsite. Synchronous communication.

Each distance education course has been through a separate review process to gain Curriculum Committee approval for the course to be offered through distance education. The official course outline of record for each course approved for DE specifies the type and minimum number of contacts a student can expect when enrolling in the course. Course outlines of record may be requested from the SCC Office of Instruction.

This page was last updated: Monday, November 24, 2008 at 2:19:50 PM