What Is a Cyberschool?

Distance learning, online education, cyberschool—what do these terms mean? Some common words and phrases related to education, defined.

An educational course is defined in four ways by the nonprofit Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C):

1. A traditional course, using no online technology, has its content delivered orally and in writing.
2. A Web-facilitated course has less than 30 percent of its content delivered online. The course is essentially a face-to-face course that is facilitated using Web-based technology, such as a Web page to post the syllabus.
3. A blended/hybrid course has 30 to 79 percent of its content delivered online and blends online and face-to-face delivery. A substantial portion of the content is delivered online, typically in online discussions. It usually has some face-to-face meetings.
4. An online course, which has over 80 percent of its content delivered online, has no face-to-face meetings. Most or all of the content is delivered online.

Cyberschools deliver courses online only. All content is delivered via the Internet and no face-to-face meetings occur. They can include fully independent, self-paced courses or semester-long, teacher-led courses. They can include fragments of the learning process created by any person or group, anywhere, for any purpose.

Distance learning or distance education refers to a form of education that can occur, but that doesn’t necessarily occur, via the Internet. The U.S. Department of Education defines distance education as “a formal education process in which the student and instructor are not in the same place. Thus, instruction may be synchronous or asynchronous, and it may involve communication through the use of video, audio, or computer technologies, or by correspondence (which may include both written correspondence and the use of technology…).”

Electronic platform refers to the technology that makes the electronic delivery of education possible. It uses a wide array of enabling devices and telecommunications systems, including broadcast, satellite, cable television, radio, landline or mobile telephones, the PC, digital devices and the Internet.

Asynchronous learning is the “interaction between instructors and students [that] occurs intermittently with a time delay,” according to the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD).

Synchronous learning involves “real-time, instructor-led online learning [events] in which all participants are logged on at the same time and communicate directly with each other.”

Jones International University offers answers to frequently asked questions about how online education works.