Course Delivery Options
On-campus and distance learning options support you as a lifelong learner to advance in your workplace and achieve your goals. The method of course delivery and location are identified in the course description.
On-Campus Learning Methods SIAST offers on-campus instruction for many credit and non-credit courses. Check the course description for the campus location.
| SIAST offers a variety of courses on a part-time basis in a classroom setting. For full-time on-campus options, review Programs & Courses |
| An on-site lab is a course or component of a course that takes place at SIAST or other specified lab facilities where you will learn, practice, and demonstrate psychomotor skills and other critical competencies. |
Distance Learning Methods
SIAST offers many credit and non-credit courses through distance learning. In some instances, an entire program can be available through distance learning delivery methods. Other programs offer select courses. Courses offered through distance learning are identified in the course description.
| You will progress through the course materials (textbooks, videotapes, and/or course manuals) independently and may have telephone access to a course facilitator. You will write your exams at a testing site in (or near) your community. Use the course code to register; the CRN number is assigned by the registrar and is based on the location where you write the final test or exam. |
| Online learning is distance learning method that uses the Internet. You access course materials by logging into your course anytime and anywhere that is convenient for you. Based on your schedule, you can work for a few minutes or a few hours. You will have email and telephone access to an instructor. You can also communicate with the instructor and other students through chat groups and discussion rooms or through other conferencing and collaboration tools. Depending on the course, you may have to attend skill labs and/or clinical experiences where you will apply your newly acquired knowledge and skills. The online tool we use at SIAST is Blackboard. To gain an understanding of what a Blackboard course is like at SIAST, login to our Blackboard sample course - How to Change a Flat Tire. It does not provide you with the level of interactivity normally found in our online courses but gives you a peek into the interface. |
| Televised delivery uses a television network to provide information, formal education, and training at centres away from the instructor. The instructor teaches content through a televised mode. You can attend televised delivery courses at any SIAST campus or at a Regional College. You will view the lectures on a large screen television and participate in interactive phone-in sessions with the instructor and fellow students. |
Nursing Clinical Learning Methods
| Some home-study programs and courses have preceptored clinical requirements. You will work on a one-to-one basis with guidance from an experienced preceptor. Depending on the program/course, your preceptor will either be a volunteer nurse or physician. Your clinical experience may or may not be scheduled in (or near) your community. You will be in an unpaid student role during the clinical and will require time off work. |
| Some home-study programs and courses have preclinical seminar requirements. You will be introduced to new clinical intra-oral skills through lectures, preclinical labs and clinical experiences on-site at SIAST Wascana Campus (Regina). |
| Some distance-learning programs and courses have supervised clinical requirements held in Regina. Depending on the program/course, there may be an opportunity for you to attend a supervised clinical geographically closer to your community. You will be in an unpaid student role during the clinical and will require time off work. |
| Some home-study programs and courses have workplace clinical practicum requirements. You will be required to be employed as a chair-side dental assistant in a dental office (either as a paid or volunteer worker) for a specific number of days per week. You will work under the guidance of an experienced mentor to develop and refine the skills introduced in the pre-clinical seminars. |
