It is no longer sufficient just to be a good specialist and an educator, you also have to have the ability to master the mediation, be a bit of a television producer, so to say. The students in the remote classroom can easily fall into the same role as the do every night, namely the role of the TV-viewer. It is very easy to just lean back in the chair and expect to be entertained, and not to contribute. The recipients do not have to feel any obligation to respond. In ordinary classrom situations this is very often the case.
Students are resistant to taking active part in the class.
The American anthropologist C.P. Kottak claims that the role of today's students is dominated by their role as TV-viewers. To create good distance education, the students must internalize another, more dialogue oriented role. They must get used to the idea that they have the opportunity to communicate directly to the teacher and other students at the other end. This situation is not created or stimulated by a teacher that has taken the role of a newsreporter with one way broadcasting. We are not used to the idea of being on the screen.