What makes teaching online unique is that when you teach online, you don't have to be some place to teach. You don't have to lug your briefcase full of papers or your laptop to a classroom, stand at a lectern, scribble on a chalkboard (or even use your high-tech, interactive classroom smart whiteboard), or grade papers in a stuffy room while your students take a test. You don't even have to sit in your office waiting for students to show up for conferences. You can hold office hours on weekends or at night after dinner. You can do all this while living in a small town in Wyoming or a big city like Bangkok, even if you're working for a college whose administrative offices are located in Florida or Dubai. You can attend an important conference in Hawaii on the same day that you teach your class in New Jersey, logging on from your laptop via the local wireless hot spot or your hotel rooms high- speed network. Or you may simply pull out your smartphone to quickly check on the latest postings, email, or text messages from students, using a mobile app for your course site or to access other resources.

Online learning offers more freedom for students as well. They can search online for courses using the internet, scouring their institutions or even the world for programs, classes, and instructors that fit their needs. Having found an appropriate course, they can enrol and register, shop for their books (whether hard copy or e-books), read articles, listen to lectures, submit their homework assignments, confer with their instructors, and access their final grades all online. They can assemble in virtual classrooms, joining other students from diverse geographical locales, forging bonds and friendships not possible in conventional classrooms.