About Online Learning
Successful Online Characteristics
IL's Guide to Teaching Online
Online Communications
Online Instructional Strategies
Research & References
Contact Independent Learning

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Online courses, with asychronous communication, provide opportunties for students to reflect before participating in a discussion. Build in reflective discussion and or writing for the students to take the time to process what they have learned. This reflective writing can be accomplished through unit checkpoints throughout the course by asking the students questions through email or through discussion forums posted for the whole audience of learners.

Distance learning requires the artificial creation of the teaching-learning interaction that normally occurs socially with the instructor and students. This requires an instructor who is comfortable being a facilitator of learning rather than the sole 'sage on the stage'. The use of discussion boards for text messages create an asynchronous online community of peers rather than one source of expertise. This collaborative method strengthens the available resources worldwide to share observations, insights, and expertise from a collegial networking perspectivepromoting a culture of learning.