Modes of Study

North Seattle College (NSC) and all Seattle College District campuses offer both credit and non-credit courses that require few (if any) in-person, on-campus meetings. The following list defines the Modes of Study that are included in the broad category of e-Learning.

 Fully Online (F)

Some e-Learning courses are fully online. They use web-based tools and 100% of the instruction and interaction between instructor and student is done online.  These classes do not require campus visits so that they can be taken at a 'distance'. These courses, however, may involve optional in-person orientation meetings and exams that are proctored on campus or elsewhere with pre approval.  Classes require Internet access and may involve online discussion, submissions of assignments, instructor lectures or other delivery tools and grading of student work. Many online courses utilize LMS (Learning Management Systems) such as Canvas or ANGEL.  These are web based and require the student to login to their account.  Some classes utilize computer CD ROM or video streaming from the web as well. We share a few online courses with the other community colleges around the state. These "Washington Online" courses (denoted "WOL" in the quarterly schedule) often start earlier than other courses and require students to purchase their books online a week in advance.

Canvas  is the North Seattle e-Learning managed courseware systems that is in use by many instructors both e-Learning as well as on campus. NeLSC office provides tech support for the NSCC managed Canvas LMS. 
For other LMS or publisher web sites such Moodle, OWL, Pearson My Accounting Lab or others,  tech support is provided by the sponsor.  Please contact the "Help" located on the textbook site for tech issues as well as your instructor that can provide valuable support for their specific course.

Hybrid Classes (H) / Online Component (OC)

Hybrid courses displace some, but not all face-to face class times. Courses with an Online Component are also considered as Hybrids.  Theses courses are Fuel-Efficient classes that involve significant on-campus work as well as using online learning tools.  Most classes have at least one on-campus meeting per week along with online communication and content elements. The amount of in class time versus online time may vary from week to week.   

Evening Degree Hybrid Classes (H) /North Blend (NB)

Attend class on the first scheduled class day of the quarter. The course mode is Hybrid instruction.  Partly on campus, F2F (one night a week) with the rest of class time spent at the student’s convenience. This maximizes student success and participation (replacing a portion of campus meetings with online meetings in Canvas. This incorporates asynchronous participation to capture the words, contributions and coursework of all students.

The Evening Degree Program "H.E.A.D." and the "North Blend" gives students with work and personal obligations the opportunity to complete an AA or AB degree in two years by attending evening face to face sessions three nights a week with the rest of the time spent in online activities and traditional homework sessions.

Primarily Online (P) (This is also considered a hybrid course)

Primarily online hybrid classes are essentially on the Internet but are not completely online. They require a limited number of face to face campus meetings for orientation, testing, labs and/or review.  Primarily online courses can not be taken at a distance because of the required face-to-face meetings. 

Telecourse (OV) (Currently North Seattle does not offer any Telecourses)

North Seattle e-Learning courses that use videotapes, CD's, DVD's or other portable modalities of video/audio delivery to deliver the course content.  Limited or no face-to-face time with instructor.  The video media is professionally designed, and visually informative.  These courses may be delivered via streaming over the internet or there may also be an option to purchase the media in DVD format.  Some fully online courses may also use video media as a supplement to other learning tools.  It is important to note that Telecourses are considered to be asynchronous so can be viewed at the discretion of the student.  

Other courses incorporate visual lessons which may be videostreamed at any time over the Internet with a broadband connection (an option called "Video On Demand"). And other classes (also called "Teleweb" courses) use telecourse video series that are broadcast on SCCtv (Seattle Community College Comcast cable channel 28, Broadstripe cable channel 32 ). Some of these courses require several on-campus sessions, others require no campus meetings and/or utilize online instruction. The number of campus visits varies by course. 

Web Enhanced (WE)

This is an on campus course meeting face-to-face that does not replace any face-to-face seat time with any web-based tools.  A component of the course does require access to the web during non class room time. The e-Learning tools used and the time required are specific to the course.  

Optional (OP)

A course in which the student can choose to attend class on campus face-to-face or take the class using online course tools.  (both of the options are included within one item number). 

Other (OT)

A course that uses other modes of delivery that do not fit within the listed categories.

Self-Paced Modules (MOD)

All modular classes are self-paced and may be taken in any quarter. Students may take any number of course modules as desired (plan with advisor) and take longer than the usual one-year to complete the program if needed. Students will have the option of studying theory elsewhere. Students must practice the 'hands-on' procedures in the classroom with an instructor and quizzes/exams and competency check offs must be performed at school during designated times. Instructors, classrooms and equipment will be available according to a scheduled time frame of hours/days including some evening times. 

Combined Technologies (F/CD, V/CD Currently North Seattle does not offer any Video or CD delivered courses.)

A number of our classes combine more than one mode of distance learning such as the Online/Video classes mentioned above . Some distance learning classes utilize computer CD's with fully online instruction (F/CD); other classes combine videotaped lessons with computer CD tutorials (V/CD).