Distance learning: step by step

Introduction So you think you want to teach an online course? After four decades of teaching at the collegiate level, the authors have accumulated a multitude of experiences. Although the discipline of information systems has emerged as the major thrust of our academic expertise and teaching, mathematics, physical sciences, engineering, leadership, management, organizational development and behavior, and counseling psychology have also been contexts for teaching experiences. Earlier, different delivery systems were tried, starting with the traditional lecture/discussion method, moving to experiential learning techniques and case studies, and finally team teaching and distance education. These experiences included not only courses for all levels of undergraduate and graduate students in national and international scenarios, but also in teaching seminars to executives in government, business, and higher education.. Student learning objectives have driven the process, creating a learner-centered environment. If a new technology could motivate students to learn more effectively, it was used. If a new technique proved to be helpful, it was tried. If team teaching methods provided more points of view and stimulated discussion, we collaborated. However, for the online environment the situation changed dramatically. The startup time for such a venture was enormous. The obvious support of hardware, software and services (training) was needed to get the program off the ground. Not so obvious was the inclination, or disinclination, of faculty to participate in an online program. Most faculty have taught their students face-to-face for years and developed a style which fit their personalities and contributed to the learning experience, such as the following: * Use body language, voice inflection, etc. to emphasize comments, * Relate anecdotes and personal experiences in the workplace, * Meet with students informally before, during, and after class, * Work with student teams onsite in business environments, * Moderate guest lecturers with face-to-face discussion with students, * Take students on trips to other countries for international experiences, * Meet out of class with those students having difficulty with course material, * Discuss aspects of the course that might be difficult in writing, * Discuss personal/confidential student problems affecting course performance, * Promote team participation and team communication, and, * Coordinate team-teaching and other activities. The loss of some of these attributes from the traditional face-to-face environment was not fully expected by the authors prior to the change to the online scenario. Are you ready to lose them? Chat rooms and other tools can minimize the loss and provide an alternative for some of these attributes that do not require physical presence. But will the academic climate be the same? On the other hand, some apparent changes to an online methodology allow instructor and students to: * Use technology for more convenience (more flexible time schedule), * Emphasize content and not be distracted by personal issues, * Communicate more frequently through email and chat rooms, * Receive team and individual progress reports via email and chats, * Be free from a classroom-intensive schedule, * Use the lost classroom time to conduct more research and project work, * Place more of a burden on the student to comprehend the material, and, * Place a burden on the instructor to prepare a more structured course. Both of the above lists are not inclusive but merely show that reflection of the issues after the fact demonstrates that there is more to this transition from traditional to online teaching than is obvious. Before a model is introduced to describe the various scenarios of teaching and learning, which would enable the new or aspiring online teacher to approach such a commitment in a more comprehensive way, it is instructive to provide a brief overview of our journey from traditional to online (distance) teaching. …