Message from Dr. Michael Mills, Vice President, Office of E-Learning, Innovation and Teaching Excellence
Online. Anytime. Anywhere. Blended or fully online. The Office of E-Learning, Innovation, and Teaching Excellence (ELITE) provides comprehensive services that empower students with skills that are essential to success in distance education or technology-enhanced courses. Fully online courses are taught entirely over the Internet. Students sign in to the course where they “meet” their instructor, access the syllabus and other course materials, participate in discussions, collaborate with other students, turn in assignments, and possibly even take quizzes and exams. Faculty teaching fully online courses rarely require students to come to campus, other than possibly to attend a course-specific orientation or to take proctored exams. Blended courses require regular, predetermined classroom attendance in addition to coursework that is conducted online. Both types of online courses provide students with flexibility and convenience. Some online courses allow for real time interaction through chats or the virtual classroom. If a course requires on-campus meetings, the information will be included in the section notes available from the class schedule, found online at www.montgomerycollege.edu/admissions-registration/search-the-class-schedule.html.
Online courses require the same prerequisites, admissions, and registration procedures as do on-campus courses. Online courses have the same learning objectives as those taught in a traditional format. Distance Education students have access to the same services as do on-campus students, including online or walk-in counseling and advising sessions, library and library databases, and learning centers on any campus.
Montgomery College now offers 22 fully online degrees and 14 fully online certificates. Visit the Fully Online Degrees webpage to learn more about these fully online degrees and certificates: www.montgomerycollege.edu/academics/online-learning/distance/fully-online-degrees.html. Some of our fully online degrees are also Z-degrees, which means students do not have to purchase textbooks and materials for the class. For additional information on our Z-degrees and Z-courses, visit www.montgomerycollege.edu/academics/mc-open/.
Can’t make it to a campus to attend classes? No problem! Students can complete their degrees from anywhere by simply logging into our easy-to-use online course environment. The online programs will follow the same curriculum as the traditional degree programs. The courses are taught by the College’s expert faculty who have been trained and certified in online quality assurance. Montgomery College’s online learners have the convenience of using the College’s e-resources to support their studies or can come to any of our campuses to use the physical academic support centers, library, advising services, and more.
Students new to online learning can take our online learning pre-assessment to determine if they are ready to take online courses. Students will be asked questions on topics about computer skills; motivation, organization and self-direction, and how they prefer to learn new information. The online learning pre-assessment is easy and informative. It takes about 10-15 minutes to complete. After completing the online pre-assessment, students will be given a list of resources that might be helpful to them. ELITE also has an online orientation that is available to help students learn more about distance education. The online self-assessment and orientation can be accessed by going to Online Learning website and clicking on How to Register and Prepare for Online Classes.
Students who have questions or need additional information can call 240-567-6000 or e-mail at dl@montgomerycollege.edu.
