What all tools do we have at our disposal for distance education? Well, as usual it depends a little on what you define as "distance education". I'll be using the typical, although incorrect, definition that implies distance education happens when teacher and class aren't geographically together.
Tools
1. Telephone (good for immediate oral communication) (calling someone to walk you through a complicated process that may require adjusting the directions on the fly)
2. Cameras/Video (good to see others from a distance, or to see things they want you to see)(having students take photographs of a project to send in and share with everyone)
3. Web quests (good for exploration and allowing students to work at their own pace)(create a web quest so that students search for information about a person in history, along the way they may find out about many other things as they read and look for info about the person)
4. Email/Blogs (good for communication without regard to time, allows for permanent record of text to review at any time)(sending directions as the teacher to all students at once, just like handing them a printout.)
5. Blackboard (good for managing files for a class and allowing for chatting and messaging)(can easily upload assignment to teacher)
6. Chat rooms/IM's (good for instant communication with many people)(5 students from different states can discuss the presidential election all at once and have an easy record of all the comments made)
7. Online readings/articles (good for research and finding out information)(Have students select and review an article about a particular topic)
Those are just a few I thought of, but it is late. I'm sure others will have many more cool tools to share.
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