As part of our "Personal College" vision, Dowling College offers a variety of course delivery format options in an effort to better meet the diverse needs of our student learning community. Students may select the option of taking a traditional, blended, or on line course.

Traditional courses consist of typical face-to-face meetings for class sessions during the entire semester.

Blended (hybrid) courses require at least one-third of the contact hours to be offered on-site. Consistent with NYS Department of Education guidelines, any courses where the on line component represents between one-third and two-thirds of the mode of instruction are considered blended (hybrid courses). When this exceeds two-thirds, the course is considered on line.

Online courses may not have any face-to-face class sessions, but rather the majority, if not all, contact hours are conducted on the web using a Course Management System.

IMPORTANT NOTE: With the exception of Dowling College NYS Department of Education registered and approved Distance Education programs, students cannot earn greater than 50% of their total credits in on line courses. Unless otherwise noted, on line credits toward undergraduate programs are not to exceed 60 credits and on line credits toward graduate programs are not to exceed 12 credits.

Preparing for success in a blended or online course can be different than in a traditional course. Review the following general learning assessment questions to determine whether or not you have the necessary skills to be successful in a technology enhanced learning environment.

1. Can you generally accomplish the goals you set for yourself in a timely fashion?
2. Do you complete your work assignments, projects or homework by the duedate?
3. Are you highly motivated to do well in your courses?
4. Do you enjoy learning from other students?
5. Do you remember and recall most of what you read?
6. Are you comfortable asking questions of your instructor?
7. Do you have access to the required learning resources (computer with an internet connection)?
8. Have you mastered basic computer skills such as searching the net,sending email, and saving files?

If you answered yes to ALL of the questions above, then you will experience a high probability of success in a blended or online technology enhanced course. If you answered no to any of the above questions, then you may not be equipped with the necessary skills to be successful.