In June, U.S. News & World Report offered e-teachers three bits of advice. If they wanted to make money, they should provide practical courses that people could actually apply, such as business development classes. They would be more likely to attract students if they also had an offline presence to provide an air of legitimacy. And they should focus the online experience on education rather than pages of graphics for graphics' sake and lengthy videotaped lectures.

Someone else with advice for would-be Web instructors is Valorie Beer, author of The Web Learning Fieldbook. As a doctor of education, she sees several positive trends in Web-based learning. What she doesn't like to see are purportedly educational Web sites that are simply classroom binders stuck online. She also worries that the Internet could draw people away from real-world interactions, since she feels that people need the context and feedback provided by communities to learn.

In her Web Learning Fieldbook, published by Pfieffer, Beer uses previous research to provide a list of eight skills for successful Web instructors.

1. Since students lack the ability to follow and interpret visual cues over the Internet, instructors should use accurate language.



2. Educational experiences should focus on participatory learning and keep the lecturing brief.



3. To encourage participation, instructors should ask students questions and praise them for making contributions. Grades should be based on contributions as well as test scores.



4. Instructors should assign work that requires collaboration. For example, students could be required to contact experts or fellow students for information.



5. Instructors should make themselves accessible to students by scheduling online office hours.



6. Students should be directed to an online syllabus that includes lesson times and assignment due dates.



7. The content should be summarized frequently to help students make sure they're on the right track.



8. The class size should be kept between ten and 30 students. This is large enough to facilitate online collaboration, but small enough for instructors to keep posts between students from overwhelming online discussions.

Today's online seminar, of course, is a work in progress. Numerous, competing products are being developed to facilitate online instruction, and teachers are constantly updating their styles for the Web. With that said, the goal is the same as it's ever been: to help people gain skills and knowledge in an efficient manner from their own computers. If you're finding online instruction more difficult than you thought it would be, or you've never taught from a distance before and are preparing to take the plunge, try out some of techniques above. Hopefully, they'll spare you a little trial and a lot of error.

2002 Copyright, Aaron Emmel, Printed with Permission.

About the Author
Aaron Emmel is the music reviewer for afterfive magazine and President of the MeteorCity record label. Email him at aaron@meteorcity.com. His site is http://www.theunknownworlds.com.

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