Technological developments have equipped teacher and instructional designers with a variety of innovative tools to meet the acquired skills of the profession. Westera (1999) identifies three major factors that clear the way for these innovations: The convergence of classroom teaching and distance learning; The effective technology-push for addressing new ways of collaborative learning; and Changing student-tutor relationships.
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Traditionally, classroom teaching has been contrasted with distance education, but the ever-rising use of the computer and computer networks in education is changing this notion. Computer – mediated communication has both affected the teacher’s role in the classroom teaching and the social isolation of students in distance education. It offers a meeting point in cyberspace for anyone involved in the educational process and the need for social interaction within the setting of distance education. Classroom teaching and distant education are combining a new educational approach that combines the strengths of both practices. It addresses the individual needs within a collaborative context. Although primarily pushed by technological means for delivery and support, it represents an educational innovation that affects the pedagogical fundamentals of education and learning, supporting new ways of learning and creating a new educational frame of reference (Westera, 1999). The software available to deliver distance education becomes more and more simple and many programs can be handled without any training.