ABSTRACT
Garrison (2000) described the need for ‘sustained real two-way communication’ (p 13) to be at the core of the educational experience, using methods and technologies that incorporate a collaborative approach to the learning transaction in distance education. Instructors have increasingly incorporated learning transactions in their courses by involving learners in threaded discussions, with the result that learners can create their own democratic public culture as deliberators. According to Romiszowski (1997), the most effective types of teaching-learning practices are ‘experiential exercises followed by interpersonal interaction in small groups…with facilitators to guide the group towards useful conclusions’ (p 33).
