In Distance Education two approaches, teaching and tutoring, can lead to effective learning; both can mark the difference between teaching at a distance and teaching in a traditional classroom environment. In both the nature of teaching in a global system as well as the role of the tutor, who takes care of small groups, have distinct responsibilities in the task of involving the learners in interacting within the system. One of the keys for success in accomplishing interactivity is the ability of the instructor to see how students react to the instruction within the process. Learning technologies can overcome the need for interactivity that accompanies the shift from the classroom to traditional distance learning. Traditional distance learning is predominantly paper-based, perhaps supplemented by broadcasts and some tutor-group meetings. This situation creates what has been called the "loneliness of the long-distance learner", http://www.knowab.co.uk/nl1b.html. Using multimedia technologies, the learner has a greater opportunity to interact with the learning materials, but contact with other people is still absent. Using networked technologies, the learner can interact with the tutor and other learners. This creates a more effective learning situation through collaborative learning processes, and a more motivating learning experience. Moreover, teachers are responsible for responding to students' need to communicate their feelings and special motivations as well as to account for the difficulty of the learners to express their anxieties and fears. Creating and environment of direct relationship among instructors and students may facilitate interaction of the learner in three possible ways. The three types of interaction the students can achieve relate to: interaction with the content or subject matter of the instruction, interaction with the instructor and interaction with their peer learners. The possibility of interacting with the content allows the learner to construct knowledge by processing incoming information into previously stored cognitive structures. The resulting changes brought about through this process are manifest in the learner's understanding of the content and construction of new knowledge. Interaction of the learner with the instructor presupposes establishing a highly important link, both affective and instructional that will guide the student to access a most desirable degree of global involvement within the program. Effective communication with the instructor allows the student to interact with the content of instruction as well as organize information, assignments, evaluation or counseling. Teacher-learner interaction helps the learner take advantage of a more individualized type of instruction in which the instructor can respond to each of the different students in a particular way. The type of interaction that the learner can fulfill with other learners in a distance education course, as opposed to a traditional classroom course, is largely favorable for pedagogical reasons. The functionality of a group of distant students may be facilitated by using computer conferencing or recorded video technologies as regards the access to the content as well as for developing group strategies. Moreover, inter-learner interaction may add a motivational element and enhance the development of students' presentations.

A distance education system conducted by tutors, may make little use of real-time interaction. Students interact with the instructor who presents the content directly to an assigned student or group of students via writing, telephone or computer networks. This type of instruction can be more associated to traditional teaching since it is directed on a one-to-one basis. However the extent of tutoring systems is not as far reaching when compared to distance education courses delivered on a large scale.

Audiographics for tutoring,  http://www.ouh.nl./info%2Dalg%2Denglish%2Dresearch
%2Daudiographics/introduction.htm, may be described as a group session, in which several locations with one or more participants are connected with each other by means of telecommunication lines. In this project the major degree of interaction lies mainly in the communication carried out between learner and teacher and learner and context. In its technical sense, it usually means that a separate telephone conference is set up allowing people to communicate with each other at different locations, as well as a data conference via modems and telephone lines interconnecting computers at all locations. By means of these computers, all kinds of documents, written texts, and highly advanced computer applications are made and/or operated by different participants, and jointly checked and processed. The project has been carried out by the Open University in collaboration with PTT Telecom. The application of an Audiographics facility in this, was a support for the design of an innovative form of distance tutoring. Through a telephone conferencing system, individual students or student groups had access to an audio connection as well as a computer, by means of which they could exchange and process exercise books via network connections. The use of these tools resulted in an adjustment to the educational design of these courses, which meant that the tutorial sessions were prepared, planned and carried out according to a strict scheme. Interactivity among content, learner and instructor is accessible in WisView Audiographics Teleconferencing, http://www.uwex.edu/ics/wisview/about.htm. This project brings a new dimension to distance education, allowing instructors and students to view graphics on computer monitors while discussing the graphic material. Participants can be located at over twenty public sites established at University of Wisconsin institutions, or they can receive programs directly at their offices. Audiographics provides a flexible solution to meet the needs of adult learners. The expertise of university faculty can be brought to participants at widespread locations, allowing them to view text and graphics while participating in an audioconference with the instructor and other students. Students can take part in courses from any WisView public location. Or, individual sites can be set up on a course-by-course basis, allowing learners to participate from their work sites or offices anywhere in the world. WisView is operated by Instructional Communications Systems, a unit of the University of Wisconsin-Extension Continuing Education Division. The WisView audiographics system combines audio teleconferencing with computer graphics. Voice, text and graphics are delivered over standard telephone lines. This combination of technologies enhances interaction, allowing students to question or comment while viewing text and graphics. Graphics for each program are prepared by the instructor in advance. During class, the software sends all of the graphics to the sites automatically while the instructor is proceeding with the program. Participants at each site are able to view graphics simultaneously, and use graphics tablets or a mouse to make notations on the text and graphics during class. Classwork is shared at once, and all sites can see notations at once. As Dr. Mary Stoertz, Ohio University, a WisView instructor, points out: "It's fun, challenging, even exhilarating at times -- sitting in an office in Ohio and being able to teach professionals from around the country."