The chat room offers the advantage of immediate response and guidance from the teacher. If a discussion takes a wrong turn, the instructor can correct the student debate before wrong ideas are reinforced. A very real advantage to instant message chat classes is that timid students are more likely to participate and offer their contributions to the discussion, without the problem of being recognized by the class leader prior to input or being overwhelmed by more aggressive students, as in a classroom situation. There is a lot of value to direct student interaction, however, and distance learning doesn t have to forego the chance for students to meet in small groups face to face. Seminars can be scheduled at local facilities far removed from the main campus.
Students can interact with the instructor using a broad range of communication technologies.
At the simplest level, a speakerphone roundtable discussion allows students to meet and discuss current topics with their professor. More advanced technologies like speakerphone and Web-phone interactions can enhance the experience at very little cost. Of course, a projection monitor to allow large-screen viewing of the parties to the discussion can raise the price considerably. Support for students in distance learning meshes with the trend toward online access to libraries, databases and professional journals. Whereas in the past it was essential to have immediate access to a physical repository of research materials, now even resident campus students do most of their research from a dorm room computer terminal.