Ask colleagues who have done distance education courses what their successes
and problems have been. It's important to build a network of people
who have taught with distance education technologies and who can serve
as mentors. Do your homework.
Avoid waiting until the last minute. Prepare far
in advance. This can't be emphasized enough. Professors say that this
is the one area that affects them the most. A person needs several months
to prepare a successful distance education course.
Learn what resources (libraries, online information, centers) are available
to you. Find out what the professional expertise of educational technologists
and instructional designers are. And then use
these resources.
Plan interactive techniques and encourage interaction.
Incorporate several kinds
of media into your presentations (pictures, video, audio, chat rooms,
electronic bulletin boards, e-mail). And then take the same materials
to your regular classroom when you're done.
Once you've developed your course, rehearse at least one of your classes
before it's taught.
Next,
learn more about developing course
components, by using a modular approach
