De La Salle University - Manila

Distance Courses

Distance courses that allow students to earn credits withouth the inconvenience and expense of commuting to class.

Students can apply, register, attend cases and interact with their professors and fellow students without ever setting foot on class. All this can now be done through a web browser from your home or office.

Online Courses Offered last 2nd term SY 2007-2008

• Humanistic Management - Prof. Ben Teehankee
• Operations Management - Prof. Tristan Macapanpan

No face to face meetings, student-faculty interaction through the web via MOODLE learning management system.

FAQs on Distance Learning

1. What is a distance education (DE) course?

In simple terms, a D E course is one where the teacher and the students do not meet face-to-face but interact mainly through the exchange of learning materials and learning outputs through the Internet, postal service or similar channels. In the case of DLSPS, the main channel of interaction will be the Web through the MOODLE learning management system. For this reason, the School's D E delivery mode can also be called "fully online".

2. Will there be a fixed and regular schedule for teacher and students to interact online?

No. The interaction will be through forum postings between teacher and students. Much like email, forum postings are referred to as asynchronous which means that they do not require that the sender and receiver of messages should be in front of the computer at the same time.
Typically, students in a D E program would go online to read and post in forums at least three times a week at their convenience based on a weekly assigned topic and reading list.

3. What about assignments, quizzes, and examinations?

Students will be given the assignments, quizzes and examinations online and will be required to submit them online. MOODLE has features that allow posting of submissions online. These submissions are graded and commented on by the professor and the results are seen by the student online.

4. Are the posted grades seen by everyone?

No. Unlike the yahoogroups where everyone can see all postings, only the student can see his/her performance.

5. How will students be evaluated?

Students will be evaluated on the basis of the required written course deliverables (forum postings and submission of assignments such as reaction papers). There will be RUBRICS that will form the basis for the evaluation ratings. Students should familiarize themselves with the RUBRICS and write their discussions and papers accordingly.

6. What would the student require to participate in a DE course?

The student should:

• be very familiar with using a Web browser and MS Office applications
• have convenient and fast Internet access (at least broadband at home)
• have the time to spend on average 6 hours a week in online work spread out through the week
• have the diligence and self-initiative to go through the course materials without any prompting from anyone

7. Can students learn as much from a distance course as compared to a traditional face-to-face course?

Research has shown that well-motivated students who are properly equipped can learn as much, if not more, from D E courses as compared to traditional courses. The reason is that the absence of face-to-face interaction is more than compensated by more in-depth and thoughtful discussions online integrated with the use of the various learning resources from the Internet. Also, the time and energy freed by a D E course from not having to travel to and from the School can be better used to focus on the learning activities in a class.

8. How can I get support if I have technical problems?

There is a MOODLE Learning Management System administrator that can be contacted through email or through a cellphone if the problem is urgent, The details may be found in the Main Menu sidebar in the homepage of the DLSPS Moodle LMS (http://www.dlsps-online.com).

9. Does the School plan to regularly offer DE courses? Will there be a DE MBA program in the future?

The School is embarking on a measured plan to increase the number of D E courses up to 16 in SY 2009-2010 and, hopefully, obtain CHED permission to offer a full D E MBA program by SY2010-2011.

10. How do I enroll in a DE course?

During the regular enrollment period, you may choose the D E course so poste. These courses carry an N in the course code instead of the customary M that other courses have.

11. What are the advantages of taking a DE course?

the student need not spend time and energy to go to class -the student may log in at his/her convenience and even go out of town without being absent, provided there is broadband Internet access where the student is going. - the student can think out fully the thoughts/ and or answers to the required deliverables. This makes for a better learning environment.

12. What are the challenges a DE student should be ready for?

finding the time to go online and work on the session requirements. Without any professor asking questions face-to-face, there may be a tendency by the student to procrastinate. -the continuous availability of internet access during the online session. The student may experience two types of disconnection: the student’s own Internet connection and/or the unavailability of the DLSPS Online server. The student may get frustrated and stop the session, breaking the momentum and/or trend of thought that he/she may have built up.

13. Are there other DE courses that I can learn from to give me a better idea of what to expect?

there are three professors who have been offering Blended D E courses (with face-to-face sessions). You may talk to students who have taken these courses of Dr. Teehankee, Prof. Villadolid, and Prof. Macapanpan to get an idea of how D E courses are run.