Your Guide to Remote and Online Learning

Registration for Summer and Fall 2025 classes begins this week! HACC offers courses in multiple formats to fit the needs of more students, including Remote and Online. Although online learning became much more popular after the COVID-19 pandemic, HACC has offered online courses since 2004. HACC even offers dozens of degree programs that are entirely online, including select associate degrees, certificates, and diplomas. 

This guide will introduce you to Remote and Online classes and the skills you should have before signing up for them.

Online Course Formats

There is a key difference between courses classified as “Remote” and those classified as “Online.” 

• Remote classes take place online, but there are still required class sessions (just like any on campus course) that meet over Zoom at the same time(s) each week. 

• Online classes, also called Virtual classes, are self-paced; there are no scheduled meetings. You are responsible for learning the course material through videos and readings and for meeting deadlines throughout the semester. 

Both Remote and Online classes are entirely online. With rare exceptions, you don’t have to visit a HACC campus to take exams.

However, there are several hybrid formats for students who need some facetime.

• Face-to-face & Remote classes typically hold some class meetings on campus and others online.

• Face-to-face & Online classes meet on campus at regular times, but require you to use online tools to complete assignments and engage with your classmates.

There are even hybrid Remote & Online classes. These classes regularly meet live on Zoom, but assignments are self-paced.

Are They Right for You?

Remote and Online classes eliminate barriers for many of HACC’s students. People with disabilities, caretaking responsibilities, travel obligations or inflexible jobs might have difficulty making it to campus for regularly scheduled class meetings. Part-time students often appreciate these formats more, too; heading to campus for only one class just doesn’t seem worth it. Remote and Online classes are more likely to contain adult learners and part-time students because of their built-in flexibility.

Of course, any HACC student can take Remote and Online classes, but it doesn’t mean that they should. Remote and Online classes demand just as many hours of work as face-to-face classes, and they also hold students to deadlines for assessments and assignments throughout the semester. The difference is that each online learner needs to take the initiative to fit their class work into their unique schedules. Good time management is vital to virtual learning.

Remote and Online classes also require independence from students. You should feel comfortable with basic technology if you want to take them, but you should also feel comfortable contacting the HACC or the D2L Help Desk in case you run into problems that you can’t solve. You also need to feel comfortable reaching out to your professor via email and meeting with them during their listed office hours if you have questions or concerns. Do you learn effectively with less structure, less supervision, and without the physical company of your classmates? You know yourself best.

Are you still unsure if Remote and Online classes are right for you? Take this quiz or access this sample course with “haccstudent” as the username and password.