Distance learning encompasses all forms of education that fall outside the traditional classroom based site specific model, including correspondence courses, online degrees, Telecourses (delivered via Radio or Television), and CD-Rom Based Learning.

• Today there are over 25,000 online courses offered in the United states alone, making up 76% of the world’s total online offerings.
• Canada is the world’s leader, per capita, for the number of online courses offered.
• Computer and business courses make up the mass majority of online courses offered world-wide.
• Most online courses and programs are offered only at the undergraduate level.
• Right now, there are approximately 3 million online students in the United States alone.

New technologies and increased access to technology have made online learning possible and practical. Some say online learning is the antithesis of traditional schooling - where students get up, travel to class, and participate in class for a required amount of hours. However, others simply see online learning a simple extension of traditional learning. Students still interact with the teacher, other students and the material, the difference is that they do so using some form of technology to correspond.