Along with the incorporation of technology into education, the role of instructors are radically changing, whether they teach in distance learning setting or in a traditional classroom. It is particularly apparent in a distance education environment because the delivery of instruction relies on technology, one form or another. In their book, Distance Education: A Systems View, Moore and Kearsley (1996) rightfully assert that "[i]n a traditional classroom teaching is an individual endeavor, whereas in distance education instructors usually work with a number of different people in the development and delivery of the course" (p.127). These people often include technical specialists, site coordinators, and in many cases, tutors who work more closely with distance learners. The collaboration between teachers and tutors are particularly crucial in assisting distance students to learn.

Teaching and tutoring, though different, are both ways of helping students acquire the knowledge and/or skills needed; teaching sets up the parameters of learning and direct learners toward the goals of the course while tutoring provides individualized instruction along the way. "Having tutors in distance education system," as Moore and Kearsley (1996) observes, "greatly improves student completion rates and achievement, although such outcomes depend on the nature of the course, the tutor, and the student" (147). The authors make such an assertion because tutors provide a link between the student and the instructor of the prepackaged course. As M. S. McIsaac (1998) remarks in her survey of research on distance learners, "[n]early one-fourth of the literature reviewed about students, calls for student-instructor interaction in order to decrease anxiety and increase motivation" (p.3). Tutors can function to fill the void distance learners often feel because of limited student-instructor interaction.

Interaction is much talked about in distance education. In general, there are three types of interaction: learner-content, learner-instructor, and learner-learner. A good distance education course should ideally provide all three types of interaction because people learn more effectively that way.

Learner-content interaction provides students with opportunities to "construct knowledge through a process of personally accommodating information into previously existing cognitive structures" (Moore and Kearsley, 1996, p. 128). Through this process of interacting with the subject matter, learners achieve changes in understanding of the subject. Having interacted with the content, the learner needs to interact with an expert figure who can provide counsel, support and encouragement in the learner's application of the subject matter to consolidate the process of knowledge construction. This learner-instructor interaction is often "regarded as essential by most learners and as highly desirable by most educators" (Moore and Kearsley, 1996, p. 129). In addition to the above forms of interaction, learner-learner interaction has been found to increase student (particularly younger ones) motivation as Moore and Kearseley reveals (p.131). All three forms of interaction could and should be incorporated in a distance education course because they provide assistance for learners at different stages of development. In other words, it is most desirable to use all three kinds of interaction when designing a distance education course, as one would find in a quick search on the Internet.

A well structured distance education course would provide opportunities of all three types of interaction. For example, University of Texas and Arizona State University both offer online courses that facilitate not only learner-content interaction, but also learner-instructor and learner-learner interaction. The distance education courses offered by University of Texas (http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/
~mframe/utsys/utsyscou.html) are developed by a team that employs videotapes, one- and two- way video, and the Internet. Learners can interact with instructors and other students through email and discussion forums. In addition to those that have been mentioned, Arizona State University uses text-based conferencing system such as FirstClass (http://seamonkey.ed.asu.edu/~mcisaac/
emc703) to facilitate learner-instructor and learner-learner interaction. In these courses, effective instruction and learning could be achieved more easily because all three types of interaction are utilized. If any one form is missing, the gulf between the learner and the teaching team's instructional objectives would be greatly increased.

Moore, M., & Kearsley, G. (1996). Distance education: A systems view. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.

Online

McIsaac, M. S. & Gunawardena, C. N. (1996). Research and technology in Distance education In D.H. Jonassen, ed. Handbook of research for educational communications and technology: a project of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology. 403-437. New York: Simon & Schuster Macmillan. http://seamonkey.ed.asu.edu/~mcisaac/dechapter/search2.htm  (July 13, 1998)

North Carolina State University. Teaching and Learning with Technologies at NC State. http://lts.ncsu.edu/guides/guidebook/index.html

Zepke, N., et al. (1998). Teaching Techniques for Adult Learning. http://www.wnp.ac.nz/onlinec/introcer/alpha/map.htm