A Quick Overview

The Online Campus is the virtual campus of ASA College where instructors and students interact and learn from each other, using a computer with access to the Internet. Thanks to Blackboard Learn – one of the established and popular learning management system in higher education – interactions are made possible and accessing and submitting coursework are made easy. Online Campus Students may be located anywhere and still have access to ASA College resources and services just like those students who are in one of ASA College’s campuses in New York and Florida.

Remote Classes vs. Online Campus Classes

Because of the restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, traditional/on-campus classes were transformed into remote classes, except for some lab courses that inherently have activities that demand in-person attendance. Instead of going to an ASA College campus, most students are enrolled into remote classes, and, therefore, attend their classes weekly at the designated day(s) and time according to their class schedule for that semester, using video conferencing tools such as Blackboard Collaborate Ultra, Zoom Meetings, or Microsoft Teams virtually from any location.

Unlike remote classes, Online Campus classes do not require students and instructors to meet using a video conferencing tool, weekly, at designated day(s) and time. Instead, at the start of every week*, Online Campus students log in to Blackboard Learn and enter each Online Campus class they were enrolled to, and survey what must be studied, what is/are the topic(s) for the interactive activities they must participate in, and what assigned coursework must be fulfilled. Then, students must plan their week to determine when they can study, participate in the interactive activities, and fulfill all assigned coursework for that week. Online Campus classes demand from students a level of discipline to plan each week, and to follow through on that plan. Lectures in Online Campus classes come in various formats and various combinations: Reading assignments, presentations, videos, audio recordings, and a few others.

In students’ schedules, Online Campus classes are identified by an “OL” in the class’ section. For example, MAT110 OL-01 is an Online Campus class, whereas MAT110 M01 is a remote class.

How Do Online Campus Classes Work?

To learn how Online Campus classes work at ASA College, please click this link: http://onlinecampus.asa.edu/oc/tutorials-and-resources/how-do-online-classes-work/

The Distance Learning Department

The Distance Learning Department oversees online classes and online programs offered by the college, in the Online Campus. Specifically, the department is in charge of:

• For all classes, across all campuses, regardless of modality:
  • Administration of and providing support for users of the learning management system.
  • Copying of content from course to course, or from course template to course shell.
• Providing guidance to online faculty to make sure that courses align with Quality Matters Rubric for Higher Education, and that appropriate presentation and assessment techniques are used in the learning management system to achieve effective student engagement.
• Providing faculty training and internal certification in teaching online and using Blackboard Learn.
• Producing materials necessary for conducting student orientations about the Online Campus, and to familiarize online students on the essential functions of the learning management system.
• Guiding online students about registering for classes and attending to issues that may affect their registration.
• Monitoring and advising students taking classes in the Online Campus about their weekly participation.
• Review of online course offerings, online program offerings, and instructor assignments.

The Distance Learning Department is located at 1293 Broadway, One Herald Center, Room MH501 (5th Floor), New York, NY 10001.