Microsoft Word Clipart

• A learning and teaching process when pupils and teachers are not together at the same place at the same time?
• A process of education enabled by modern communication tools?
• A virtual classroom for specific purposes?
• A thing as light and colourful as a butterfly, perhaps as fragile as well?
• A one-day-fly: just a fashion for one day or maybe some more?

DISTANCE ............. 
 Corel Draw Graphics

Tella Seppo says: "Ordinary physical school and virtual school may also complement each other, i.e. exist in a symbiosis. If we regard virtual school as a symbiotic extension of ordinary school, part of the activities of physical school may be moved to virtual school and carried out there with the aid of information and communication technologies." I agree with this and I am also convinced that a lot of activities, that are used at ordinary schools can be successful in distance teaching as well. On the other hand there are specific activities of distance learning (conferencing, chatting, on-line projects) that can make the ordinary classes more interesting or give pupils the opportunity to learn and practise in a different way. Perhaps teachers who are involved in distance education change in ordinary classes a bit: become tutors, don't teach so much and explain everything, but guide their pupils to find the rules and explanations themselves.

Besides allowing pupils and teachers more flexibility as far as time and place are concerned, there are other advantages of distance education when using computers and Internet tools. A great amount of information can be stored, updated, multiplied, transferred very quickly and in the cheapest way possible. Furthermore it can be processed in various ways, referred to later when necessary. "One of the greatest advantages of computers as tools in both teaching and data management is their ability to restore and transmit information quickly and accurately regardless of location or time." (Blystone). Being involved in the process of distance education also means for pupils that they must be active all the time, they are "forced" to do exercises, comment certain ideas, everybody can and must take his turn, there is no bell ringing to end the lesson, time does not run out for written discussion.

Pupils absent from ordinary classes because of illness, travelling, sportsmen, pupils educated at home. In almost all of these cases young people cannot be present in classes, but there can be some connection to the school and their classmates, not only to the tutor. "What is more important to the activity itself and to pedagogical networking is the social net, which provides the individuals involved with a feeling of community and makes them act for their own and each other's benefit. The net enables us to communicate with literally millions of people all around the world (social networking). However, the information and communications networks can be said to become learning environments only when the communication and activity via them become a unity, which supports and guides meaningful learning (Kauppi)." We can only imagine what it means to sick children who can see that they can perform at least some of the exercises.

Pupils and trained teachers are not enough, the regulations of the school system have to give basis for such education. Programs should be verified, final exams regulated and the financial structure set. The status of teachers is very important: they must have enough time, because such work means real commitment. Appropriate hardware and software, all the possible tools - this is the frame that enables more or less undisturbed work.

It should be attractive for all the ages, especially for primary school pupils, interactive, challenging. Teachers are used to adapt material to meet pupils' needs. User friendly material means short and clear instructions and explanations with enough support and confirmation.

After all the regulations done I would like to meet my pupils if possible. A face-to-face meeting means to me really a lot, perhaps I will be able to imagine the faces of the pupils when later preparing activities for them, feel them as human beings, not only e-mail addresses. But one cannot remember everything from one meeting and perhaps all the pupils will not be able to introduce themselves as they would like to. A written introduction will be necessary at the very beginning of the course, not only for the teacher to get to know the pupils, but also for all the pupils who will be in the group. Small pieces of information about pupils' likes and dislikes can help teachers to create tailor made exercises and the birthday dates give them opportunity to react personally with good wishes. Some kind of a lesson plan is prepared before the first meeting and introductions, but quite often something will be added or left out after the first contacts with pupils or later. There are so many things that cannot be predicted even on the basis of  the best research work: we must react to them when they appear.

I would put  pupils in groups if the group is big and encourage them to discuss a certain problem. But some of the pupils prefer pair - work. If pupils know each other, having read all the introductions, they will perhaps want to work together, but what if they do not. Sometimes it is a problem how to form groups - in ordinary classes, too. Working together does not only mean that each member of the group adds his/her piece to the mosaic of the shared goal, there must be something that holds these pieces together. This substance comes perhaps from the process of "digesting" the ideas of other members: comparing them to yours, putting them together, making something new on a higher level. I will encourage my pupils to ask questions and give challenges to the others, to respond to them and solve problems in this way - the way of active work in a group. I'm aware of the conflicts that might arise, but young people should learn to handle them and to compromise. Computers are of great help, because they enable quick communication, the same messages can be sent to various addresses (distribution lists), parts of messages can easily be quoted, conferencing and chat rooms - this is actually on line debating.

Learning a foreign language means trying to master the four skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing. How could this be done in this system, where reading and writing seem to be predominant? First of all course books should be chosen that have audio and video cassettes and activities for listening comprehension and listening and pronunciation practise. But this is not enough: teachers could record their questions, pupils their answers and send them by e-mail. For the time being such files are very big if not compressed, but I think tools are being developed to avoid this problem. Video conferencing is even more known than audio contacts, but both forms are very precious in developing speaking and organizing a real debate. But if we do not want just to say or wave "Hello", this conferencing has to be carefully prepared and moderated. This does not mean that teachers interfere too much, but Tella Seppo says: "Warmth, encouragement of interaction among participants and a facilitative approach towards co-operation is needed, but otherwise a clear and firm leadership encourages active participation in the conference,...". News groups or debate rooms and chat rooms are other possibilities to let pupils express their ideas, argue...

Pupils are advised to find the answers themselves all the time, but the key should be provided by teachers. Sometimes this means direct solutions or even better just some kind of help: a few examples, a chart with important expressions. Detailed comments on written assignments are possible if it is necessary - in individual messages. Commenting assignments without delay is a must for the teacher. It can be done as "a walk in between" contributions of different pupils, but no letter can remain unanswered. Very often teachers will have to feel when pupils need help and react to this. There is no body language in written communication, no non-verbal language. Primary school pupils could feel very lonely in front of their machines and the need for a trained home facilitator (parent, relative, friend) is very big. Such a tutor can be teacher's on-site "eyes and ears". An "odmor" list for pupils' discussions only would also be necessary. 

Sometimes it is very discouraging for the pupils if teachers correct their mistakes in front of everybody. So what to do? If there is a debate or chat, teachers can just repeat nearly the same sentence, but with the correct phrase, construction or word, pretending they agree or try to challenge. In most of the cases chats can be saved and later teachers can analyse them and prepare activities for the pupils to get rid of mistakes, for reinforcement, review and repetition. The same can be done with essays and other exercises. If there are special mistakes that occur by individual pupils, this is discussed only with these pupils in individual e-mails.

Devoted? Interested? Co-operative? Hardworking? Serious? Sure - there will be some of them like this. Having decided for such learning could mean be prepared to take more responsibility for it. Perhaps the way the teachers respond will be a challenge for them, or the results of the other pupils in the group will motivate them. The feeling that you simply must "perform" is a great obligation. But what should teachers do if pupils do not appear? I would contact them and their parents personally and try to discuss the problem.

Course discussions
Anthony  Kaye: Learning Together Apart 
Web pages:
ABOT (http://ismennt.is/abot/ )
Distance Learning Design Center (http://www.missouri.edu/~dldcwww/index.html)
Distance Learning... (http://www.caso.com/iu/articles/kerka01.html)
Distance Teaching (http://www.curtin.edu.au/curtin/dept/tlg/deguide/section-8.htm)
Education Index (http://www.educationindex.com/)
Jonie's Distance Learning Page (http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Haven/2386/distance.html#LINK)
Learning English on the Web (http://www.lang.uiuc.edu/r-li5/esl/)
MudDuck Technologies (http://www.madduck.com/)
Open Learning Australia (http://www.ola.edu.au/)
On-Line Courses (http://coyote.csusm.edu/cwis/Extended_Studies/online/online.html)
Selected Publications by Eric Johnson (http://www.dsu.edu/~johnsone/ericpubs.html)
Talk City EduCenter (http://www.talkcity.com/educenter/)
Virtual School (http://www.helsinki.fi/~tella/ole1.html)
What is Distance Learning (http://www.otan.dni.us/cdlp/distance/home.html)
ZD University (http://www.zdu.com/zdu/catalog/catalog.htm)

By Romana Ivačič