Distance Learning, also referred to as Distance Education, is the employment of alternative instructional delivery methods to extend programs and services to persons unable to attend college in the traditional manner. The Center for Instructional Innovation and Technology Services (CIITS) supports student learning through online, hybrid, web-assist and 2-way video course delivery. The PVAMU definitions of these courses are listed below.

An online-asynchronous course is a course delivered fully online. Instructors post all course content on eCourses. An online-asynchronous course may have mandatory F2F or synchronous sessions totaling no more than 15 percent. At PVAMU, online-asynchronous courses are identified by a three-character section number that starts with the letter Z (for example: Z01). Information about online student identity verification, privacy, and security can be found on the STUDENT IDENTITY VERIFICATION, PRIVACY, AND SECURITY IN THE ONLINE ENVIRONMENT page.
Online-Synchronous courses are delivered online with mandatory, scheduled, virtual class meetings. Instructors post all course content on eCourses, but the class is required to meet via web-conference at specific times and on specific days. At PVAMU, online-synchronous courses are identified by a three-character section number that starts with the letter Z (for example: Z01). Information about online student identity verification, privacy, and security can be found on the STUDENT IDENTITY VERIFICATION, PRIVACY, AND SECURITY IN THE ONLINE ENVIRONMENT page.
A hybrid course is a course in which a majority (more than 50 percent but less than 85 percent) of the planned instruction occurs when the students and instructor(s) are not in the same place. eCourses is used for the web-based elements of the course. At PVAMU, hybrid courses are identified by a three-character section number that starts with the letter Y (for example: Y01).
A web-assist course is traditional synchronous course that is supplemented with online content posted to eCourses. Instructors can post as much or as little content to eCourses as they choose. Students and instructors are required to meet in the location and at the date and time published in BANNER / PantherTracks.
A 2-way video course is a synchronous course that is delivered in two different physical locations simultaneously and linked by a live 2-way video connection