Distance Education Program
Distance education is college instruction in which the instructor and student are separated by distance and communicate with the assistance of technology. These courses provide the same quality of Cypress College instruction, teach the same material, are transferable to most four-year baccalaureate institutions, and require the same fees as our traditional in-person classes.
To take a distance education course, students need access to a computer with an Internet connection and have a functioning email address. Students may also need to have a camera and microphone for synchronous Zoom courses. Distance education students must, at a minimum, be able to:
- Send and receive email with attachments
- Receive private email with attachments (no shared email accounts)
- Use a word processing program
- Save documents
- Navigate and search the Internet
- Install new software applications
- Due to testing environments, a student may need access to a working computer camera and microphone
Absences in a Distance Education course are accounted for by monitoring academic attendance or attendance at an academically-related activity. A student will be considered to be “present” in a course if there is evidence of weekly participation in an academically-related activity including, but not limited to, physically attending in-person sessions of a hybrid course, submitting an academic assignment, taking an exam, substantively participating in a course online discussion, study group, or other synchronous or asynchronous activity, or by initiating contact with the instructor in matters related to the course.
A student will be considered “absent” when there is no evidence of participation in an academically-related activity for the course for more than one week or if the student accumulates a consecutive or non-consecutive lack of academically-related activities of more than a week that is more than the number of times the class meets per week. For example, in a three-unit online class that would typically meet on campus three hours a week, one week’s worth of missed academically-related assignment(s) or activity(ies) could be grounds for dismissal. A student who has not submitted assignments or participated in an academically-related activity for one week may be dropped from the course. It is the responsibility of the instructor to define grounds for dismissal in the Distance Education course syllabus.
Class Options
In-Person: classes meet on campus
Fully online: courses have no in-person classroom instruction. All instruction is online through the campus learning management system Canvas.
Online: classes do not meet; work is done entirely online via Canvas
Zoom Live: classes meet online via Zoom at regularly scheduled meeting times
Course Offerings
The Cypress College Class Schedule includes detailed information regarding the distance education courses being offered each academic term, including prerequisites, fees, or other program requirements.
To enroll in a distance education course, students must follow the standard campus registration procedures for any Cypress College course.
Visit the Distance Education Program website for answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), specific hardware and software requirements, tips for student’s success and more: http://www.CypressCollege.edu/academics/DistanceEducation. For questions on how to use Canvas, students can get help once they've logged in by clicking on the (?) icon.