An online campus is a website that represents a college’s online course offerings and functions similar to those performed on a physical campus. It is a central hub for students to complete courses, access administrative information, and communicate with other students. It can also provide social functions and a sense of community.
An online campus is a website or group of websites that represents a college’s online course offerings and the means to complete those courses. Typically, the term online campus is used for the central site where a student can submit course-related work, chat with other students, and complete other functions similar to those performed on a physical campus. Lecture materials, lecture videos, and other information may be available on campus online. It is also common for students to access grades, course offerings, and other administrative information through this type of site.
In many ways, online universities often try to recreate physically located universities virtually. The term campus, in this case, is intended to make a comparison between the offerings of a physical university and an online university. Even though one can normally visit a university online from any computer, the use of the word campus helps to solidify the notion of the university as a limited institution rather than an amorphous group of social connections. People log in and hang out on campus regularly because they go to school, which also helps build a sense of community.
Functionally, an online campus is often the space in which courses are completed and delivered. Students can download and complete assignments on their own computers, but work is typically submitted to the university’s website online rather than via email or other communication devices. When students need access to special online materials, they are often located on this type of site as well. As such, the online campus is a central hub for all students attending the university.
Generally, certain administrative functions are also fulfilled on the online campus. Students can usually see what courses are available and also enroll in those courses. Admissions, technical assistance and other services may also be located on this site. The term campus is generally used for the set of functions available only to people already associated with the school, but as there is no formal definition for this term, some universities use it differently.
While most of the functions of an online campus are academic, there are sometimes social functions on this type of site as well. Students sometimes communicate directly with each other across campus or may be introduced through the same class, even if they never see each other face to face. Depending on the organization of the campus, this type of site can provide students with the friendship and camaraderie common on physical university campuses.
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