For example, evening classes invite students in the nearest vicinity of a study centre and are regular events. They follow the pace of the course of study. There is empirical evidence that 30 minutes of travel time to meeting with the mentor in a study centre is a limit . Day schools and, even better, residential schools over a weekend or over a whole week are attractive to students who live far away from the centre. However, the compacted residential schools are singular events.
Students benefit most when they make their own choices for their individual mix.
Unfortunately these participants represent only a portion of the student body that we are responsible for. Some of the participants can only make use of either the one or the other form. So far, the elaboration of the mix of forms of tutorials was our answer to allow as many students as possible to take part in meetings with their mentors prior to their tests and examinations. We were challenged. In 1996 we started to experiment with virtual tutoring, at the same time that we were experiencing an international virtual seminar for professional development in distance education .