ABSTRACT
Fortunately, these views have been challenged by practitioners’ observations that teaching at a distance, like all other forms of teaching, requires continuous reflection and learning by instructors as well as learners. Those directly involved suggest that on-going, peer-supported learning about effective distance teaching practice is more in keeping with the principle of respecting the individuality of the learning process; a principle widely espoused by distance educators (Lentell 1994; 1996; De Vries et al. 1995; Malnarich and Gunn 1996). This approach is in contrast to the model of faculty development in which instructors new to distance teaching are imprinted once and for all like a bar of mint rock.
