Students need to be fluid in interacting across distance to be effective, to prepare them for the 21st century. About 100 educators were at the University of Dayton conference, organized by the Institute for Pastoral Initiatives. Today's students, he said, can find 500 or 600 in much less time, but they only have the time to look at five or six. Dede uses eight methods in his own distance education class for educators. Virtual conferencing allows students in different locations to work together in real time, and threaded discussions on the Internet allow students in different locations to work together at different times.
Online sources allow students access to archival material and to Web-based learning sources.
In post-course evaluations, his students rank each of the media for effectiveness. The next technological tool on the horizon may be virtual reality, Dede predicted, driven by entertainment rather than educational potential. Not because of education, but because of Nintendo.