- Preface
- I. A new era
- • Globalization, the first sign of change
- • English - the new planetary language
- • A change in the scale of education
- II. Education and its context
- • Education and business
- • Education and the state
- III. The digital habit
- • The new digital culture
- • Digital projects
- • Time for assimilation
- IV. The extended school
- • Education at a critical moment
- • A definition of the extended school
- • Yesterday: concentrated knowledge
- • Today: knowledge disseminated
- • Tomorrow: knowledge connected
- V. New tools and old
- • Chalk and blackboard
- • The spinning globe
- • Microscopic life
- • Desk and work
- • The computer garden
- • Slides and liquid Crystal
- • Projectors and projections
- • Dry and digital copies
- VI. Digital transition
- • Continuing education
- • Cultural exchange
- • The mental switch
- • Critical thought
- • Internal communication
- • Educational frontier posts
- • Technological updating
- • Creativity and deregulation
- VII. Means and ends
- • Values for today and for always
- • Technocentrality and consumerism
- • Software in the public domain
- VIII. The digital library
- • Atoms versus bits
- • The dual book
- • Digital quality
- • Reading and writing
- • Text and hypertext
- • Consult and navigate
- IX. The home computer
- • A new piece of furniture or a new instrument?
- • Playthings and electronic toys
- • Robots for assembly
- • The silent printer
- • The community network
- X. New instruments of thought
- • Word processors, a new way of writing
- • A friendly mouse
- • More portable learning
- • Designing with computers
- • The golden link in communications: the modem
- • Electronic mail always arrives at its destination
- • Fax, a threatened species
- • WWW: three magic letters
- • Reliable and accessible data bases
- • Tables, abacus and spreadsheet
- • The Scanner, a bridge between two worlds
- • New interfaces and old keyboards
- • Presentation aids
- • So-called multimedia
- • Digital cameras without film
- • Digital videos in schools
- • Music for all
- XI. Presence and remote presence
- • Features of distance education
- • The three generations
- • Synchronous and asynchronous moments
- • Spaces for meeting
- • Classrooms open to the world
- • The advantages
- • New educational niches
- • A new type of teacher and student
- XII. Talents and handicaps
- • The right to communication
- • The obstacle of the keyboard
- • The obstacle of the screen
- • The expression of individual talent
- Conclusions
XI. PRESENCE AND REMOTE PRESENCE
A new type of teacher and student
Teachers taking part in remote education must fulfill various essential pre-requisites.
They will have to be fully familiar with all distance education technology. Teachers should be trained in the use of new technologies (basically electronic mail and videoconferencing). This training will be continuous given the constantly changing demands of distance education and the new opportunities offered by the rapid renewal of technologies.
Their homes and workplaces should be well equipped. Quality education requires teachers' homes to be supplied with standard computer and communications equipment. This equipment must be updated periodically.
New digital habits must be acquired. The process of transition from a predominantly analog classroom academic world to a digital and virtual world is slow. Teachers should eliminate printed information wherever possible, replacing paper by bits. They must become accustomed to establishing a daily routine for electronic correspondence with students and colleagues, and develop new criteria for converting remote learning into a creative environment of continuous dialog.
Remote students must be provided with tutorial care. Remote education brings together participants in a very special, intense and cordial way. Teachers will have more time free to discuss matters with each of their students and colleagues over networks and via videoconferences.
The foregoing is also valid for students themselves. Remote students will receive all the training needed to operate with computers and the networks with ease, and with practice will learn to participate to greater advantage in videoconferences. One of the most notable advantages of distance education is the permanent connection between student and teacher over the digital system. Students can thus be evaluated on a more regular basis. Such an evaluation includes the correction at a distance of work and projects. Some exams may also be taken in the form of personal interviews using videoconferencing.
