How to Get Started 

Important Information

General Information

Saddleback Child Development and Educational Studies is proud to be one of very few community colleges to offer a complete online child development program. 

Our online courses are designed to allow students to make the most of their time without sacrificing quality education. 

All CDES courses are offered in an online format within every two year period.  Students may choose to use all online, all on campus, or a mixture of each to complete their course requirements.

Applying what is learned to real life settings is an integral part of our program and our online child development courses do involve child observations in a variety of activities so online students should be prepared to find early childhood settings near them to visit regularly during the duration of their courses.

How Online Classes Work

Instead of attending lectures on campus, online students attend "virtual" classrooms via the Internet. 

Saddleback CDES instructors use the Blackboard course development system that allows the instructor to post assignments, syllabi, and course outlines. In addition, the applications allow the use of several communication tools such as discussion boards, chat rooms and email. 

Some instructors require face-to-face meetings (most often a first day orientation or final exam), but many courses are completely online. Please refer to the Schedule of Classes for any special requirements.

Learning materials vary from class to class, but may include textbooks, video demonstrations, Power Point presentations, interactive lessons, and Web resources.

Learning activities may include writing papers, posting comments or essays to online discussion forums, completing individual or group projects, visiting children's settings for observations or participation and taking quizzes.

While students can choose when and where they work, there are usually deadlines for homework and exams.

Students interact with their instructor and classmates via web discussion forums, e-mail, chat sessions, and phone calls.