Technical literature abounds with information about telecommunications, the Internet, and video conferencing in such publications as Wired , On-Line Access , Connect , PC Computing , and TeleConference . Groups Another major influence on the development of distance education cultures comes from interactions within distance education associations, organizations, and conferences and other professional meetings. On an international scale, the International Council for Distance Education, for example, holds a conference every two years in different parts of the world. The Pennsylvania State University sponsored the first International Distance Education Conference in June 1994. Individuals Cultures of all kinds are created and communicated with and by colleagues, peers, friends, and relatives.
Some examples help to show how peer pressure is already at work in distance education cultures.
Also, there are proper ways of extracting messages when one wants to comment or reply. Peers penalize each other on-line when conventions are not observed. Status in a BBS can be gained by establishing oneself as an expert able to answer questions posted on-line and to answer them concisely. Long diatribes or emotional outbursts are considered inappropriate in this emerging culture. This culture, like most, grants higher status to members who spend the necessary time interacting with others in the culture and thus learning its mores.