E-Learning at SFRC

The SFRC Ecological Restoration MS degree is an online program.  Important reasons for this include improved student access and the growth in professional education.  Innovations in educational technology now allow the School of Forest Resources and Conservation (SFRC) to serve place-bound students in new ways that equal or better the traditional classroom setting. These innovations, known generally as e-learning, distance learning, or online learning, bring several advantages to the learning experience:

• Flexibility
• Reduced costs
• Access to more faculty
• Access to more “places”
• Networking
• Equal or better student satisfaction
• Comfort with technology

Courses are delivered online via the University of Florida E-Learning System (ELS); the students access this by logging on with their GatorLink user name and password.  Lectures are pre-recorded, and may include videotaped lectures, screen capture of the instructor’s computer, narrated PowerPoint lectures, and lectures showing a video of the instructor along with the accompanying PowerPoint slides.  Although these lectures are pre-recorded, the ELS course site allows for several kinds of student-instructor interaction, including discussions and email. See E-Learning System (ELS) for information about how to log on to your courses.  For some pointers on how to succeed at online learning, visit “Tips for Online Success."