ABSTRACT
The success of any student support system will depend critically on the staff of the institution and their development and support. Student support staff will bring existing perceptions and attitudes to their open and distance learning work. The didactic teaching methods used for the staff development of student support staff should address the issues of reflection and support. The methods used should be experiential, reflective and supportive. The role play activities are particularly useful, especially if recorded for playback and analysis. But role playing can be quite revealing and intimidating and needs a great deal of support. Members of staff exceeding their boundaries may become stressed and give inappropriate help; staff not working up to their boundaries may be ineffective and feel disempowered. For an online support skills exercise there is no substitute for an exercise that puts staff into a conferencing situation.
