Forms of Distance Learning In Higher Education

In an effort to chart distance learning initiatives in the higher education sector I am developing a basic typology of the forms that such initiatives have taken. Here is an initial list as a starting point.

• Current Course-Based Distance Learning – In this approach an institution takes existing courses and creates online versions. This is often done as a convenient to current students.
• Current Course-Based Blended Learning – In this case current courses are revised so that at least some parts of the course are offered online. A common format might be to reduce the number of face-to-face meetings and replace those meeting with online engagement
• New Course-Based Distance Learning – Here the institution develops new online courses for a net addition to course offerings.
• Parallel Online Program – The institution creates an online version of a current program offered face-to-face. This is sometimes done to reach a new audience (for healthy programs) or to revive a struggling program (for programs with weak or declining enrollment).
• New Distance Learning Program – This entails a new degree program offered for the first time in a distance learning format.
• Pre-sold Distance Learning Program – In this form a new program in distance learning format would be created for an institution that pays in advance to offer the program to its employees.
• Distance Learning with Face-to-Face Emulation – A course or program that seeks to mimic the characteristics of a face-to-face experience. This is often done through use of live synchronous interaction (perhaps video feeds) and heavy borrowing of pedagogical approaches.
• Distance Learning with Alternate Metaphor – Here the program is organized by way of a model not commonly seen in face-to-face learning settings. For example, such an experience may be oriented around a game or simulation.
• cMOOCs – Massive Open Online Courses based on connectivist principles, including content that is aggregated, remixable, able to support future learning activities along with an emphasis on connecting learners to one another.
• xMOOCs – Massive Open Online Courses of a more traditional nature with features such as a specified syllabus, recorded lectures, self-assessments, and in some cases certificates.
• Distance Teaching – An effort to expand the labor pool by allowing instructional staff to work outside the campus. Note that distance teaching may involve students on campus or students studying at a distance as well.
• Networked Learning – A model in which students draw on a wide array of (typically online) resource materials and peers to accomplish their learning goals.
• Self-Directed Learning – An individually driven model where the learner determines what to learn and how to learn it, drawing on a wide and self-selected set of resource, only some of which might be digital or available at a distance.

Are there other forms or formats that should be added to this list?