Teachers generally consider that dealing with classroom and outside resources, as well as troubleshooting equipment problems, is the role of technical support personnel rather than that of the teacher. There is a lack of consensus concerning instructional design issues. Some educators are interested in designing and developing interactive courseware, whereas others are only interested in technology, media production, assessment, or presentation and delivery. This makes it difficult to construct a professional development certificate which is responsive to the needs of an entire distance education team. Learner support systems, including site visitation and telephone mentoring, are considered to be very important.
Learners respond well to teacher-mediated distance education.
Distance education minimizes classroom management problems, but at the possible expense of including only those students who are already motivated and have mastered time management skills. The needs of bilingual students at the elementary school level must be addressed through telecommunications with Spanish-speaking classes in the United States, Mexico, or Spain. Though English is the language of the classroom, teachers do not wish these students to lose their familiarity with the language of their families, especially since they will most likely study Spanish in secondary school. In 1994, the graduate school of education at Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida recognized the growing importance of distance education.