Communication has an impact on the results of e-education

Many forms of face-to-face interaction and group communication in class, influence the results of the educational process.

Apart from affecting the motivation of the participants, communication between the participants of an educational process (students, instructor/mentor) also broadens the ways in which educational content can be presented. Without communication and group interaction it is hard to apply many contemporary learning methods related to the application of teaching methods which encourage problem solving and creativity, critical thinking and learning through experience.

Not all online instruction participants are independent or have the necessary foreknowledge in order to successfully master the content of courses exclusively online, without face-to-face contact with the instructor or mutual consultation and help of the other participants. Participants are often chosen based on an estimate of the participant’s potential to successfully participate in e-education.

In order to successfully master the content, the participants have to be provided with as quick and immediate feedback as possible about whether they are dealing with certain content the right way, whether they are doing the given exercise or practical assignment properly, whether they are forming their opinions or conclusions about certain content (e.g. case study) correctly etc. It is easiest and quickest to get this information from their instructor and the other participants of the course/instruction process.

Different forms of communication related to teaching methods and a more complete acquisition of educational content can be included into distance education. Here are some examples:
- class discussions about a certain subject (use: chat, discussion forums/newsgroups);
- repetition and reviews with questions and answers (use: chat, discussion forums/newsgroups);
- case studies (use: chat, discussion forums/newsgroups, e-mail, virtual worlds);
- practical problems with reports and reviews by other participants (use: discussion forums/newsgroups, e-mail, web pages);
- role play in order to be introduced to different situations or problems (use: chat, discussion forums/newsgroups, virtual worlds).

Tips & tricks: Consider which teaching objectives you can define, apart from memorizing the content (e.g. connecting, explaining, predicting, classifying, comparing or evaluating certain phenomena), and then plan what teaching methods and available forms of online communication and collaboration between the instructor and a group of participants you will use to realize the planned objectives.