Regardless of whether it is elementary school, high school, higher education or life-long learning, the educational process is more successful if the appropriate pedagogical, didactic and methodological principles are applied and observed .
Although in adult education, such as that of university students or company employees, it may seem that how education is conducted is less important in comparison to what the content of education is, we should bear in mind that it is exactly those categories of learners that face the need to master relatively large quantities of information and complex skills in short time, and that afterwards they have to apply them in solving specific problems, research and business practice. It is for that reason that with these groups of learners the principles of student-centred teaching should be applied as much as possible, as well as due attention paid to the application of other suitable pedagogical and didactic methods.
It is also necessary to pay attention about the readiness of the participants for e-education which is related to the evaluation of their computer literacy and skills necessary for the use of a computer in education, as well as to (self)assessment of needs and living circumstances which favour the participation in online education. In many cases it is useful to dedicate some time to acquiring knowledge and skills for participation in e-education.
Since distance education uses standardised, automated and usually insufficiently flexible systems for information presentation, interaction with the participants and knowledge evaluation, it is important to select and model effective methods of their application which avoid possible defects and difficulties in online instruction and emphasize comparative advantages in relation to traditional instruction and teaching.
It will probably not be very difficult for the instructors, lecturers, tutors and mentors with basic pedagogical education and are motivated to apply it, to design learner-centred and adapted types of online education. However, we recommend to those who did not previously acquire this knowledge, to start gradually studying books on pedagogy, attend courses on that topic at least from time to time, and use relevant Internet sources and other people’s experience in online instruction. In so doing, the opinions and evaluation of the participants and other online pedagogues should be taken into account, as these two groups can best evaluate the appropriateness and success of the materials.
Tips & tricks: Apart from the content provided by the CARNet reference centers web pages, find and study some of the books named and described on these pages, and research the recommended Internet sources on pedagogy and distance education. Also, make sure that you have a sufficient level of communication with the participants and constantly gather feedback from them about different aspects of online instruction/courses which you are delivering, and try to constantly upgrade the teaching methods that you use, as well as your skills in their use and communication with the participants.
