- This month's FOCUS article has
helped open learners' eyes to what they should look for when searching for a distance
learning program, course, or degree program. But asking the right questions and making that
selection are only the initial steps. Once the learner is signed up and ready to go (which is
also a process,) there are learner competencies to be aware of that will help ensure a
successful learning experience. An article cited in this month's issue of CIT INFOBITS
provides a good start to learning about these competencies:

In "E-Learner Competencies" (LEARNING CIRCUITS, July 2002), P. Daniel Birch outlines
three major factors that influence an e-learner's success:

"management of the learning environment (self-directive competencies)"
"interaction with the learning content (metacognitive competencies)"
"interaction with virtual learning facilitators and classmates
(collaboration competencies)."

The complete article is available online at:
http://www.learningcircuits.org/2002/jul2002/birch.html (CIT INFOBITS, no 49 ISSN 1521-
9275, July 02, http://www.unc.edu/cit/infobits/)