CDI relieves full schedule
by Mary Barrera, south news editor

    It’s difficult to fit school in when so many other things occupy your time. Like, oh, I don’t know … life.

   People have jobs; they have friends; they have sporting events. They have parents hounding them: “Clean your room; be back by 10; turn that down.” They have children hounding them: “I’m not hungry; I want some ice cream; he’s looking at me funny.” People have to go shopping, work out and watch their favorite show.

   Who has time for school?

   Fortunately, there is distance learning. Distance learning is a way you can earn credit for courses without attending a regularly scheduled class. This is good news for students who often miss class.

   I have completed six Computer Delivered Instruction (CDI) courses via the Internet, fulfilling all my government, history and English requirements. I am currently enrolled in three classes. By the time I graduate from TCC, half my hours will have been acquired on-line.

   I have worked out a schedule where I study my CDI courses in the evenings after dinner while I’ve got the laundry going and I’m trying to get the kids to go to bed.

   One real plus is that you can study any time you want to, wearing anything you want, and no one can see you. You get to stay in the privacy of your own home ... pajamas, bad hair and all.

   CDI courses are given over the Internet on the distance learning Web site. Each class has a virtual classroom where all the information pertaining to that class is located. Each student is given a distance learning E-mail account, and students can E-mail each other to form study groups or the instructor to ask questions.

   Instructors will post lessons that students can print and read at their leisure. Assignments can be anything: worksheets that need to be turned in by fax, Word documents that can be uploaded to the distance learning classroom site or E-mailed as an attachment to the instructor or a paragraph that needs to be posted on the discussion forum bulletin board.

   Generally, weekly assignments are given and turned in on a regular basis, so students who keep up shouldn’t have any trouble in the class. Disciplined students excel in distance learning classes. Quizzes, which are typically fill-in-the-blank, are often given on-line and are sometimes graded immediately depending on the instructor’s preferences.

   Most courses include required exams that must be taken in the testing center on one of the four campuses. The number of questions and format of the exams vary by class. You are usually given two days to take an exam, for example Monday and Tuesday, so students have an opportunity to decide when they will take it. The testing centers are open all day and into the evening for those who work during the day.

   Transcripts do not indicate the classes are distance learning. The CDI classes look exactly like on-campus classes on a transcript. The courses transfer to four-year colleges in the same way that on-campus courses do.

   During the fall and spring semesters, many classes are available through CDI, though they are available all year. Classes scheduled for spring 2003 include accounting, art appreciation, business, natural science, reporting, computer science, English, foreign language, math, PE, social science and speech.

   Competition for these classes is stiff. A couple of strategies for securing a CDI course are registering on the first day of early registration or checking after the first payment for the semester is due because students who do not pay on time are dropped from the course by the system.

   CDI courses are great for students who can’t attend a regularly scheduled class on campus. It’s just about the only way you can skip class and still make an A.