The issues surrounding the development and delivery of web-based distance courses have implications for the instructor's attitudes towards teaching and learning, knowledge of and capabilities in using technology, the time required to develop a course, and the instructor's relationship with students. This support can involve instructional design support, technical support, and institutional support.
Distance education is student centered.
In order to take advantage of the possibilities for synchronous and asynchronous communication in web-based distance courses, instructors need to design and implement learning activities that integrate these interactive elements into the course. For some instructors, this focus on learner-centered activities and interactions involves a shift in attitude towards teaching methods and course design. This change is considered necessary in order to fully use the delivery mode's potential for interaction. It is argued that interaction can not be added to existing instructional design but it must be introduced and integrated, effectively changing the instructional design model. While this argument carries with it some weight, adopting a new instructional design and a new delivery mode can become a large and difficult development burden.