Completing your college education is a point and click away at Southeastern Technical College’s virtual campus. Online learning gives you the flexibility to take classes in an environment that works best for you: home, office, Internet café, or even during travel, business, or pleasure.
Distance Education Mission
Distance Education is flexible, high-quality teaching which offers alternative instructional delivery methods to help students reach academic competencies, develop critical thinking skills, increase communication proficiency, and reach their career goals; supports the lifelong learning needs of non-traditional students; meets the training needs of the business community through flexible scheduling, modern technology, and innovative instructional delivery methods; and focuses on demonstrable student learning outcomes using time-and-place-independent learning options to provide high-quality academic courses/programs to students when and where they want them.
Distance Learning Defined
Distance learning is defined as a formal educational process in which the majority of the instruction (interaction between students and instructors and among students) in a course occurs when students and instructors are not in the same place. Instruction may be synchronous or asynchronous. Distance learning instruction at Southeastern Technical College includes:
- OA Online Asynchronous — Course is taught fully online asynchronously with course content, activities and interactions occurring entirely online. This delivery method does not require students to be online at specific dates/times. A proctored event is required.
- OS Online Synchronous — Course is taught fully online synchronously with course content, activities and interactions occurring entirely online. This delivery method requires students to be online at specific dates/times during the term. Synchronous dates and times will be listed in the course schedule. A proctored event is required.
- Blended — Course is taught with the majority of the course content, activities and interactions occurring online (>50% but <100% online) but may require students to come on campus for specific labs, assignments, activities, or events. See the course schedule for the time and place of the class meetings.
Online Students
Completing your college education is a point and click away at Southeastern Technical College’s virtual campus. Online learning gives you the flexibility to take classes in an environment that works best for you: home, office, internet café, or even during travel—business or pleasure.
The content, assessments, and student learning outcomes of online courses are the same as those of their traditional counterparts. The primary difference is that online courses offer students an alternative form of course delivery that is more flexible and convenient than traditional classroom attendance. As a trade-off, however, online courses require a greater time commitment than traditionally delivered courses. Students who take online courses need strong skills in studying, time management, Internet navigation, and reading comprehension to be successful. Individual courses may require additional specific skills, such as proficiency in word processing. Following instructions, working independently, and submitting assignments by due dates are an important part of online learning. Students must have frequent access to a computer and a reliable Internet provider. Online learning may not be the right choice for all learners, but for those who meet the requirements, it is an exciting and viable alternative to traditional classes.
You can receive associate degrees, diplomas, and certificates online.
Online Proctored Events
In order to validate student identity for all online courses, students enrolled in online courses are required to complete one proctored event (a major exam, assignment, or presentation). The event will count a minimum of 20 percent of the course grade and will be reflected as such on the course syllabus.
The proctored event will be administered on separate days during the semester—once on the Vidalia campus and once on the Swainsboro campus. Students must attend one of the proctored sessions as scheduled on the Lesson Plan/Course Calendar. The event will be monitored by the instructor or another College employee. Students living farther than 75 miles from either campus who cannot come to Southeastern Tech for the event must secure an approved proctoring site. The site and the proctor must meet Southeastern Technical College’s requirements (instructor will provide more information and necessary forms if this is the case). Students arranging off-campus proctoring must take the event on one of the originally scheduled days. Students who do not complete the proctored event as scheduled must submit a valid documented excuse within three business days after the scheduled event. If the excuse is approved, students must make arrangements with the instructor to makeup/reschedule the missed event. The penalty and makeup instructions will be at the instructor’s discretion.
Students who do not complete the proctored event on the scheduled date and do not present a valid documented excuse within three business days of the scheduled event will be given a zero for the proctored event.
Students are not charged a proctoring fee when taking a proctored event at Southeastern Technical College or any other TCSG college. Students who choose to use an off-campus proctor may be assessed a proctoring fee by the proctoring site. In this instance, the student is responsible for payment.
Southeastern Technical College Privacy for Distance Education
Southeastern Technical College (STC) has a procedure for protecting the privacy of students enrolled in distance education courses or programs. Southeastern Tech also adheres to written procedures of the Georgia Virtual Technical Connection (GVTC) to protect the privacy of students who participate in distance learning activities.
Southeastern Technical College uses Blackboard Learn as its Learning Management System (LMS). Blackboard Learn provides students a secure logon environment into their virtual classroom. STC utilizes Multifactor Authentication (MFA) as an added layer of security used to verify an end user’s identity when they sign in to an application which includes Blackboard. Rather than just asking for a username and password, MFA requires one or more additional verification factors, which decreases the likelihood of a successful cyber-attack.
Students should not share their login credentials with others and are instructed to periodically change their password to maintain privacy.
National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA)
Southeastern Technical College participates in the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements.
Southeastern Technical College is a member of the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA) which authorizes colleges to enroll students in states other than Georgia in online courses. Southeastern Tech has been approved to participate in the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements. Southeastern Tech can only enroll students in online programs from states that are also members of NC-SARA. Please check the website, National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements, to see if your state is a member of NC-SARA.
Online Learning Contacts
Stephanie Moye, MSIS
Computer Information Systems Instructor
Blackboard Point of Contact
(912) 538-3161
smoye@southeasterntech.edu
Gina Robison, M.Ed.
Dean of Business Technologies and Human Services
Blackboard Point of Contact
(912) 538-3122
grobison@southeasterntech.edu
Sonya Wilson, MSED
Dean of Industrial & Environmental Technologies
Blackboard Point of Contact
(478) 289-2298
swilson@southeasterntech.edu
Students with adjunct instructors can email onlinelearning@southeasterntech.edu for assistance.
