Training sessions and workshops for using technology effectively should be based on sound design principles and a comprehensive framework that has been developed through research and practical experience. It is important to understand that instructors and trainers come to technology training with a passion for teaching and communicating. Instructing is, after all, their chosen profession. Their main goal as an instructor is to share their passion for their subject matter, their experience, as it relates to their subject matter, and at the same time encourage learners to share their experiences and explore and create their own knowledge — a partnership in learning.

This goal has not changed with the emergence of distance education. What has changed with the advent of technology and its incorporation into the educational setting is the way in which we all need to relook at the educational experience, in light of the various technologies and the new expanded environment.

Transferring teaching from the traditional classroom to the distance education “virtual classroom” isn’t an automatic process. It can only happen through skillful training and through rethinking the way in which materials are designed and presented.

(See article: Young, J. When Good Technology Means Bad Teaching. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Nov 12, 2004 , p A31)