The second advantage is our relative sophistication in the use of these technologies to facilitate the learning process and to extend the reach of the educator and trainer. I'm not denying the gaps that exist in our knowledge and practice. To me, there is a continuum of educational practice and different ways to reach learners. I think we could contribute to the breakdown of the dichotomy by making a conscious effort to work with our colleagues and to share our experience and expertise with them as they incorporate new technologies into their teaching. I don't see us as being particularly on the vanguard of using technology in education.
Traditional classrooms have work stations and computers.
Schools on the south coast of Newfoundland with 35 students are tied into Internet as part of their science program. I think that we may lose some of our impact because we have not properly integrated some of the more interactive technologies. I'd go further and suggest that part of our problem is that, as a group that tends to see itself in the vanguard, we'd be hard pressed to say whether some of these new technologies are good, bad, or indifferent. I wonder if distance education now has the kind of legitimacy and parity to enable us to stop trying to define and redefine this business of distance education and see ourselves as educators. I think it was you, Erin, who spoke earlier about how closed our knowledge seems to be getting.