A second key function of Internet-based teaching is to recognize the need for interaction between the teacher and the students. One of the most important items to consider is that instruction from a distance means that you cannot know immediately if the points that you raise in the lecture are being understood by the students. To know this, you will need to build interaction into your course in some fashion.

You will need to probe the students with questions related to the lecture to see how it is coming across. Without this probing, you will face a situation of relative silence. Distance based teaching is not that much different from the traditional classr oom. You will have many of the same features. One, there will be students in the back of the room who may not pay close attention, and will not ask any questions. Two, there will be one or two students who will ask all of the questions. Because of thi s, you will need to have each student reply to the teacher individually to determine if the instruction has been understood.

There are different methods in which you may interact with the students. I have undertaken two forms; using exercises at the end of the lectures, and using discussion groups.