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Kansas State University

Informational Videos

Learn more about distance education at K-State by watching the following videos about our programs, how distance education works at K-State, and what our alumni are saying about their experience at K-State.

What You Need To Know

More than ever before, education means opportunity. The dizzying pace of technological innovation and the demands of the global economy have reshaped the world we live in, presenting new realities while rewriting the rules for personal and professional success. Among these new rules and realities, one fact clearly stands out: the development of knowledge and skills is a crucial lifelong process that reaps lifelong benefits. Kansas State University is committed to helping you explore these new realities and navigate this process, fulfilling the promise of lifelong learning wherever you live.

A major focus of K-State's mission as the nation's first college to be designated a land-grant school is to bring research and educational opportunities to the people of Kansas as well as to learners the world over. It is in this spirit of innovative, flexible, and accessible higher education programming that K-State's Division of Continuing Education, also known as DCE, strives to bring degree-earning opportunities to your doorstep. At www.dce.k-state.edu, you can check out all the educational opportunities we offer.

I think it's great to be able to sit in the comfort of your own home at hours that you choose and still learn the same things people on campus learn. You don't have to deal with the day-to-day campus issues and you don't have to deal with students that may be 10 years younger than you, but you still have the opportunity to interact with top-class faculty members in real classes that are offered in the same way that they would be on campus. – Roger McHaney

Each semester, thousands of K-State distance education students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees as well as certificate programs—taking courses, interacting with other students and faculty, and enjoying access to K-State's libraries, labs, and myriad other resources without ever setting foot on campus.

Distance Education worked out well for my family and with my job. I wasn't going to be able to move somewhere to complete my education. The program has helped me to be a more knowledgeable person in my field, which allows me to offer the children and families I work with more than I would have prior to my education. – Janie, from Kansas, early childhood education program.

It was a great experience! Other universities should use K-State's program as a model. I wanted to be able to leverage my military training with my education, but I needed a program that offered flexibility. I was moving quite a bit for the military, and K-State's program provided the flexibility to complete the requirements I needed for my degree. – Allan, from Georgia, engineering management program.

Unlike many so-called virtual universities, K-State—established in 1863—offers its distance students all of the resources, credibility, and prestige of an accredited Big 12 institution of higher learning. Since 1986, K-State has ranked in the top 10 U.S. schools, and number one nationally among all state universities for producing Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, Goldwater, and Udall scholars, and the Division of Continuing Education has been a consistent winner of national and regional awards for its distance education programs. Few, if any, online universities can boast this sort of academic credibility. K-State distance degree and certificate programs are taught by the same faculty members, provide the same intellectual resources, and demand the same high level of academic rigor you would experience in a traditional classroom.

Everybody's heard of “internet degrees” or “mail-order degrees. ” But when you look at K-State's program, you see a lot of differences. K-State is a fully accredited university with an actual campus and real professors to interact with. – Tim, from Wisconsin, industrial/organizational psychology program.

The program at K-State has exemplary leadership. The support I received was amazing, whether it was through e-mail, phone, or snail mail. The staff was always available. Plus, I wanted a university with a good reputation and that was respected by others. At K-State, everything just fell into place. – Katie, from Texas, interdisciplinary social science program.

How exactly does the Division of Continuing Education bring K-State's learning experience to your doorstep? Well, you can complete most degree programs from start to finish through distance education, you can finish a degree you started at another university, or you can take advantage of 2+2 programs at community colleges throughout Kansas and the United States. K-State has developed partnerships with many local community colleges to offer programs that enable you to complete the first two years of your undergraduate degree at your local community college and then finish the rest through distance education offered by K-State and DCE. No matter which plan works best for you, Kansas State University can help you reach your educational goals.

I have the opportunity to teach students from around the United States, from around the world, and it's just incredible to hear their stories. I think that is the biggest kick I get out of this—that most of my students are what we call nontraditional students. They have families, they have jobs, they have the dog and the cat and 14 other things going on, but they have a dream. – Deborah Canter

One of the things about taking distance education that many people have concerns about is the fear of isolation, that is that you are out there on your own, in some respects, like a correspondence course. Recently, I had a student relate to me the fact that through distance education, they actually got to know their faculty member and know their classmates better than if they were on campus. Some of that may be just because of the maturity of the adult learner. The other aspect I think is pretty important is the ability to really develop relationships with your classmates and with your instructor. – Allen Featherstone

K-State's ability to give students so many higher education options hinges on its innovative use of educational media and state-of-the-art information technology for delivering programs. K-State primarily utilizes a variety of technology-driven options for delivering course content, promoting student interaction, and facilitating learning. These include: Telenet 2 sites across the state, CDs, DVDs, and podcasts. However, the real power tool in K-State technology toolbox is K-State Online—Kansas State University's online learning community and course website. K-State Online integrates an array of learning tools that professors can use to provide instruction, interaction, and an overall learning experience many feel rivals or even surpasses that of the traditional classroom.

I think K-State Online is the greatest thing since sliced bread, and I say that because I was teaching before it came around and have used it now, gosh, I don't know how many years it's been with us, but a long time. It delivers education in, I think, a very user-friendly way. It's not complicated to navigate. And because of that and all the different features that they have—different sites on the website where you can find information very easily, where you can communicate with your classmates, where you can communicate with the instructor, where you can check your grades—I mean, it's everything in one easy package, just sitting there at your desk. What a deal! – Deborah Canter

Among K-State Online's great features, you'll find the ability to download and watch your professor's lectures at your leisure. Just as if you're sitting in the classroom, you can hear and see your professor and benefit from his or her expertise. However, when you are watching a lecture on your computer with K-State Online, you can also pause the lecture to take notes, rewind it if you miss something, and stop in the middle if the phone rings, or if your daughter needs a snack. Another great feature of K-State Online is the electronic message board, on which threaded classroom discussions occur. These message board discussions are asynchronous, which means students can post messages as well as review and respond to classmates' messages at their leisure.

K-State Online has been a God-send for the faculty of K-State. I know the reason I'm saying this is because for a long time, I used my own self-developed online system. I had a website, I posted things, I tried to get students to go to chat rooms that I found out on the web and told them to go to. This was prior to the K-State Online system. Once this came along, things began to fall into place for my class and became much, much easier to use. – Roger McHaney

One Saturday morning, we were doing a chat room and it came up that one of our students was in North Carolina and was needing a train car-load of wheat. The individual was able to purchase a train car-load of wheat from another student in the class. And so then again individuals do have other careers, and a lot of times, they can use this in order to enhance their day-to-day performance. – Allen Featherstone

To check out the full array of K-State Online's impressive features and capabilities for yourself, go to online.ksu.edu and click on “Course Tour.” All of the state-of-the-art features of K-State Online may leave you wondering, “Can my computer and Internet connection handle K-State Online?” And, “Am I technical enough to use it?” Not to worry—K-State Online works very well over both broadband and dial-up Internet connections, and if you currently use the Internet to search for information, pay bills, or buy merchandise, you will experience the same level of success with K-State Online that you have with other websites that you visit each day.

I think many adult learners in particular are really paranoid the first time they take a distance class. I can sense that when they first e-mail me, and say, “Oh, I've never done this before. I'm not sure if I can do it.” But very quickly, that kind of anxiety wears off, at least with the students that I've dealt with. Communication is easier than you think, and you really aren't alone. – Deborah Canter

Kansas State University is committed to helping you and your community rise to meet the challenges presented by an increasingly global marketplace and an ever-changing world in which lifelong learning is not just a luxury, but a necessity. Visit us on the web and see for yourself how K-State is striving to bring higher education opportunities to you. For us, every community is a university town, and you can be a Wildcat wherever you live.

How to Take an Online Course

Since 1966, Kansas State University, in Manhattan, Kansas, has been a leader in distance education, with more awards in distance education than any other university, with students in every state and 20 different countries. And with thousands of adult learners enrolled each semester, K-State has a proven track record in academic success and online learning.

But how exactly does a person take a class online? You're probably wondering if it's complicated. Can your computer handle it? Will you get to interact with real people? Although every course is unique and your professor may use a variety of teaching tools and methods, here's what you need to remember about taking distance education classes: if you can surf the web on your computer, you can take courses from K-State! And you'll become part of a dynamic online learning community.

Let's spend a couple of minutes with Mary, who lives in Kansas, and Tracy, who lives in Oregon. They're both general business majors, and they're enrolled in the same course this semester—Management 366—through distance education. They use K-State Online, Kansas State University's online community and course website. Distance education students like Mary and Tracy use K-State Online to watch lectures, turn in assignments, work with their classmates, communicate with their instructors, and a lot more. When Mary logs onto K-State Online, on the homepage, she jumps right to her course organizer page, which lists all the classes she's currently taking. Mary clicks on Management 366 to go to the course homepage. As you can see, there's a welcome message and a new announcement from the instructor, highlighting upcoming events and alerting students to upcoming deadlines.

Take a look at the upper-left corner of the course homepage. The course, content, and collaboration buttons are the keys to taking the class. Everything you need is right there. Let's start with the course button. The course button drop-down menu lets you see important information such as the course information packet and the instructor's policies. And the calendar keeps you up-to-date on events in the course, so you'll always know what is going on. “My assignments” and the “grade book” are two sections students pay a lot of attention to. Mary has a couple of new assignments to work on, and she can easily check on how she is doing in the class.

Now let's look at the content section, which includes where most of the action is when you're taking a distance course from K-State. This is where the professor shares course material with students. Students can view presentations, download files, watch videos, or listen to audio. The professor can deliver a lecture, demonstrate concepts, or direct students to useful websites. The content section of K-State Online is very interactive and very user-friendly. The third major section, collaboration, is the icing on the cake. Sometimes distance education students worry that they'll be isolated—working away all alone, on their own computers. With K-State Online, nothing could be further from the truth. The features under the collaboration button let Mary and Tracy work together on projects, and they can e-mail their professor from any page at any time from this button at the top of every page. Instructors can schedule live chats with their students. The students can ask the instructor questions, discuss assignments, and learn from each other.

But how does testing work in distance education? Depending on the preferences of the instructor and the requirements of the course, tests may be administered in a variety of formats. Many distance education tests are given online. Basically, you just click through the questions and you can change your answers as you go. Before you submit your test, you can see a summary page. It's kind of like checking your order when you buy something online. As you can see, taking a distance education course from K-State is simple and straightforward. For more information on how you can achieve your educational goals, please visit K-State's Division of Continuing Education on the web or call us at 1-800-622-2KSU (2578). Get started today!