What is Distance Learning

As university programs compete to retain and increase enrollment, online courses are being created to meet the demands of a rising population of students with preferences for self-paced learning. The 2015 Babson Survey Research Group report tracking online education in the United States shows 70.7% of active degree-granting institutions open to the public have some distance-learning options. In the same report, two- and four-year public institutions offering distance learning course were reported to have “very high” rates of offerings for distance learning, with both showing over 90% of enrolled students taking at least one online course. This chapter examines the need to gap between content and application in online learning through service-learning and outlines a process for implementing service-learning projects with emphasis on e-service-learning. As distance learning continues to grow, the need for innovative pedagogical methods will also grow, which makes service-learning an attractive strategy.