Distance Learning

Use the instant message box below to send questions to the distance learning administrator.; Aiken Technical College offers courses in non-traditional formats, many using the internet, to meet the needs of today's students.
Hybrid Online Courses: Hybrid Online courses combine classroom instruction with the features of online courses described elsewhere on this page. Students usually have one or two required face-to-face course meetings per week, but complete a substantial amount of their coursework online using the internet.
Live Two-Way Video Courses: Live Two-Way Video is sometimes used to bring instruction to the ATC campus from other colleges. Students and instructors are able to see and hear one another during the live class sessions via picture and sound transmission to specially equipped classrooms. Many ATC instructors also teach courses in these classrooms simultaneously providing instruction to students at other colleges and high schools.
Live Tele-Classes: Live Tele-Classes are used to bring instruction to the ATC campus from other colleges via SCETV digital satellite transmission. Students meet regularly in a classroom that is equipped with a television set and a telephone. Students are able to participate in lectures and demonstrations as they are transmitted live from another college. With the telephone, students are able to ask questions directly of the instructor.
Online Courses: Online students participate in courses through the internet either with their home computers or with computers in labs on the ATC campus at times most convenient to their schedules. Courses usually begin during the first week of the term and end during the last week of the term and assignments are due periodically, just as they are in traditional courses. Most online courses require no on-campus meetings. Other online courses may require students to attend occasional on-campus meetings or to take proctored exams in the ATC Test Center. Students are encouraged to contact their instructor in advance about any on-campus attendance requirements. The state of South Carolina has developed a Centralized Online Course Database (COCD) that includes online course offerings from technical colleges throughout the state. You can access this searchable database by clicking on the button at the bottom right of this page.
Tele-Courses and Tele-Web Courses: Tele-Courses and Tele-Web Courses are comprised of videotaped lectures, demonstrations and dramatizations that students view in conjunction with readings from a textbook and a course guide. Students must have access to a television set and a VCR or DVD player to participate in these courses. When a tele-course includes a substantial amount of interaction with the instructor and classmates via the Internet, the course is referred to as a tele-web course. Students participate online with either their home computers or computers in labs on the ATC campus. Students purchase textbooks, course guides and instructions for submitting assignments when they purchase or rent the videotape/DVD series from the college bookstore. Although tele-courses and tele-web courses usually eliminate the requirement for on-campus meetings, students are strongly encouraged to contact their instructor in advance about any on-campus attendance requirements.
Web enhanced Courses: Many instructors teaching traditional face-to-face courses are enhancing them by using Blackboard or web pages to make additional materials available to students outside of class via the internet. Thus, these are sometimes called “web enhanced” courses.