Chapter 1 Definitions

1. Distance education is now often defined as institution-based, formal education where the learning group is separated, and where interactive telecommunications systems are used to connect learners, resources, and instructors. (Schlosser & Simonson, 2006, p. 1)
2. Distance can mean geographical distance, time distance, and possibly even intellectual distance.
3. Synchronous Distance Learning is satellite, compressed video, and fiber-optic systems are increasingly used for same-time, different-place education.
4. Asynchronous Distance Learning in other words, learners choose when and where to learn and when and where to access instructional materials. Recently, World Wide Web courses have been offered to learners anywhere they have access and whenever they choose.
5. Tele- means “at a distance,” so in its simplest form.
6. Telemedicine refers to medicine at a distance.
7. Telelaw refers to law at a distance.
8. Internet Protocol the rules used to send information over the Internet.
9. Diploma Mill has the following characteristics: no classrooms, untrained or nonexistent faculties, and unqualified administrators with profit as their primary motivation (Noble, Schneiderman, Herman, Agre, & Denning, 1998).
10. Remote Consultation is the most common telemedicine application and what most refer to when they use the term telemedicine. This application implies one health care provider seeking the advice of a professional colleague or subspecialist to resolve a patient’s problem.
11. Remote Monitoring is a longstanding application where the most common use is to access a patient’s vital signs at a distance using telecommunications technologies.
12. Remote Education is increasingly important as the geographically concentrated expertise of a medical unit is redistributed to isolated practicing professionals and professionals in training.