Home Learning Centers Handbook Glossary

Coordinators Handbook

Glossary of higher education and distance learning terms

Admission

Entry to a particular program or institution that is formally granted by the institution after a student meets set requirements.

Advisor/advising

Person/act of directing a student toward the course or courses necessary to achieve the student’s educational goal.

Asynchronous communication or interaction

Any act of exchanging information involving a delay between the sending and receiving of the message.

Associate’s degree

Degree program requiring 60+ hours of specified course work.

Bachelor’s or baccalaureate degree

The degree of bachelor of arts or bachelor of science, typically requiring 120 hours of specified course work.

Bursar

Campus office where student tuition and fee payments are made.

Campus

A specific geographic location of a college or university where on-site classes are offered. Many Indiana universities and colleges have campuses at more than one location.

Campus coordinator or ICN coordinator

The on-campus contact who provides help and support to students who have chosen it as their Home Institution.

Correspondence course

A print-based independent study course delivered through the US Mail.

Course description

Statement of what the course will cover.

Credit course

A class with specified learning goals which the student is required to meet in order to pass the course and that may be applied toward the fulfillment of degree requirements at a college or university.

Degree program

An organized sequence of classes that leads to the awarding of a college degree at the undergraduate or graduate level.

Delivery method

Means by which a course is made accessible to the distance student. Delivery methods include closed-circuit television at a receive site, two-way video conferencing, cable, videotape, the Internet, computer disk, or by mail.

Distance education

A formal learning activity which occurs when students and instructor are separated by geographic distance or by time, often supported by communications technology such as television, videotape, computers or mail.

Drop/withdrawal

Student option for not continuing enrollment in a course. Student receives a full or partial refund of tuition and fees if the drop or withdrawal is completed by a certain date near the beginning of the semester.

Electronic mail (email)

A system of exchanging messages by means of computers attached to a network.

Electronic mail account or email account

An authorization that allows the sending of electronic mail messages over a particular system, such as one college’s network.

Faculty

Instructors or professors of higher education course work. A group term: one college instructor or professor is “a member of the faculty.”

Fees/costs

Payment required for itemized services or materials related to higher education classes.

Final exam

Tests often given at the end of a course to assess mastery of course material.

Financial aid

Money available from various sources and under various conditions to students needing assistance to pay tuition and educational expenses. The term covers both grants and loans.

Graduate course

A credit course that may be applied to a graduate degree (that is, a master’s or other professional degree, usually requiring at least 30 hours of work beyond the bachelor’s degree).

Home institution (HI)

Where the student’s records are maintained and where he or she can pursue a degree or program of study.

Indiana College Network (ICN)

A service of Indiana’s colleges and universities working together through the Indiana Partnership for Statewide Education (IPSE) to bring courses to students near where they live or work.

Indiana Partnership for Statewide Education (IPSE)

A collaboration among Indiana’s colleges and universities to provide distance education opportunities to all Indiana citizens.

Indiana Higher Education Telecommunication System (IHETS)

A state-supported consortium of all higher education institutions in Indiana to operate and manage telecommunication networks and services.

IHETS Interactive

IHETS Interactive is built using Adobe's Web conferencing platform, Breeze Meeting. The system offers a robust suite of tools for real-time communication and collaboration, including two-way video and audio, text chat, application sharing, electronic whiteboard, annotated PowerPoint presentations, and simple polling.

Independent study

Courses which allow students to work independently at their own pace, usually with a time limit for completion, such as 6 months or one year.

Internet

The world-wide network of interconnections which allows computer users to exchange electronic mail and access host computers at a distance, including host computers providing sites on the Web (“WWW” or “World Wide Web”).

IPSE

(See Indiana Partnership for Statewide Education)

IPSE Member Institutions

The eight IPSE institutions are Ball State University, the Independent Colleges of Indiana, Indiana State University, Indiana University, Ivy Tech State College (a partner in the Community College of Indiana), Purdue University, the University of Southern Indiana, and Vincennes University (a partner in the Community College of Indiana).

IU interactive network (VIC network)

This delivery method, interactive video conferencing via Indiana University’s private Virtual Indiana Classroom video network, is available solely at Indiana University campuses. Specific IU campuses which will make a particular VIC course available are identified in the ICN Database of Courses.

Learning Center

A location either on a college campus or within the community where students can use equipment and obtain services needed to participate in distance education classes, including networked computers and fax machines.

Learning Center coordinator

Individual at a Learning Center who provides information about learning opportunities, access to equipment, instruction in its use, and help with course-related or program-related service needs, questions, and problems.

Library coordinator (also referred to as “distance education librarian”)

Librarian at a college or university who provides library services and resources to distance education students taking courses originating from that institution.

“Live” interaction

Capability for students to participate in classes offered at a distance using electronic technology (video or audio return communication for a video class or “chat” mode on the Internet).

Noncredit

A class contributing to personal or professional development rather than applying toward a college degree. Such classes typically meet once or several times rather than for an entire semester.

Originating Institution

The IPSE institution which plans, produces and delivers any specific course.

Origination Coordinator

The individual at the campus producing a video-based distance education course responsible for scheduling the course broadcast and authorizing sites to receive the course.

Partnership

(See Indiana Partnership for Statewide Education or IPSE)

Partnership course

A course which is either in The Indiana College Network Schedule of Distance Education Classes or in the database of distance education courses on the ICN Web site (www.icn.org) and which will transfer between two IPSE institutions.

Parallel course

Course that must be taken the same semester as another for full credit.

Prerequisite(s)

Requirement(s) necessary before a student can take a particular class.

Professional development

Courses offered to improve knowledge and skills in a specific professional area. For instance, nurses might take additional courses in health-related topics as professional development.

Receive Site

A location equipped to receive televised distance education courses delivered over the IHETS satellite network. Students can view and participate in televised classes at these locations. Most Learning Centers are also Receive Sites.

Registrar’s office

Campus office where student registration and records are compiled and maintained.

Registration

The act of enrolling in a specific course.

Student services center

A resource for ICN students and prospective students which offers counseling and help with course registration provided via an 800 number (1.800.ICN.8899). The first contact for most students and a marketing arm for ICN.

Syllabus

Outline of what material a specific course will cover, on what schedule, with what assignments; usually distributed at the first class of the semester (plural: syllabi).

Technology-assisted course

A technology-delivered independent study course.

TeleResponse

A special device developed by IHETS for the use of students taking courses via the satellite video network. It allows distance students to speak with the instructor in the studio and to be heard by classmates in the studio and at other receive sites.

Transferability

The extent to which a course taken from one campus may be accepted by another campus. Whether full or partial transfer of the credit is possible depends on such factors as whether the receiving campus offers an equivalent or similar course at comparable levels of academic expectation for learning. Academic advisors and campus coordinators have information about whether and how specific courses will transfer to their institutions and degree programs.

Transcript

Student record of grades, courses completed, and advancement toward a degree or toward the completion of a program.

Tuition

Payment required for enrollment in a course.

Two-way video conferencing

A delivery method where instructors can view students, students can view one another at different sites, and students can view the instructor, while being able to speak to one another without using a phone handset.

Undergraduate course

a credit course that may be applied to an undergraduate degree (that is, a two-year college degree, often referred to as an associate’s degree, or a four-year college degree, often referred to as a bachelor’s degree).

VIC

(See IU interactive network)

Web (WWW or World Wide Web)

An information system based on hypertext, in which you can follow links from one document to another. The millions of documents which make up the Web are located on host computers all over the world and can be accessed via the Internet.