ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that greater acknowledgement should be given to the fact that most of what we know about teaching and learning is applicable in all learning environments, including online. The range of activities within the paradigm of the computer conference range from small- or large-group online discussions, online debates, and role-play/simulations. It argues that, given the nature of the medium, it is particularly productive to view online learning as examples of students' learning from experience. In many cases the predictions for growth are accompanied by claims that the technologies will lead to 'revolutions in learning' and those revolutions are often attributed to the particular information and communication technologies themselves. In contrast to the automation of transmission modes of learning, characteristic of e-lectures, other practitioners have seen the Internet not as a tool primarily for the dissemination of content but as one to facilitate communication between students, and between students and their teachers.
