This cuts down the information overload on the lists considerably. Any community feeling vaporises once the technology collapses with students quickly becoming isolated and frustrated. Our technician is an excellent communicator and responds promptly to student difficulties. He can be paged or reached by email. Notes are placed on the web each Friday with hotlinks to relevant sites.
Students can then use email lists to complete their course discussions.
Initially, developing a list of key institutional players who would support the programme proved impossible. The development team soon learned not to take 'no' for an answer and to bypass key players if necessary. Information Technology departments are key players in the support of online delivery. The timing of the delivery of the Diploma course meant that IT support systems were not able to meet the needs of the programme. The time and new skills involved outweighed the need to get on with what teachers do best - teach.