Course Content

Guided Independent Study DE Courses

The Study Guide
The study guide is the means by and through which your instructor communicates with you as to how to proceed and complete the course. Your study guide contains information on all aspects of completing the course. It provides an ordered series of lessons (akin to lectures in an on-campus course), assignments, and exams that you will be asked to complete in a prescribed sequence. Within certain guidelines (described below and in your study guide), you may proceed at your own pace. The study guide will direct your reading, the ways in which the instructor wants you to express your understanding of the material, and will describe how to arrange for proctored exams.

You may download your course study guide from your ICON course site if you did not purchase a printed copy. Since the downloaded study guide resides on your computer, you can read it offline. Some course features may require an Internet connection, such as hyperlinks to media or external Web sites related to the course material, but, in most courses, all required course components are available to students without Internet access as well. In most GIS courses, it is possible to complete all course work without Internet access.

General Directions and Forms
Again, you may download the General Directions and Forms file for your course from your ICON course site if you did not purchase a printed copy of the study guide. When you enroll, you will be provided with (or directed online to) a schedule of Significant Deadline Dates, such as dates governing the last day to drop as well as deadlines for refunds. We urge you to pay careful attention to this schedule as you complete your course requirements. Some deadlines have important financial or academic implications.