Seven Principles of Effective Distance Learning or Knowledge Sharing

When designing the pedagogy for Distance Learning in any field, the technical field in particular, we need to answer two fundamental questions:
1. Pedagogy
2. Will that pedagogy work over the internet using a variety of internet based training delivery techniques?
To answer these questions, let us use "SEVEN PRINCIPLES OF DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE PEDAGOGY" by "Chickering and Gamson":

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PR#	PRINCIPLE	TECHNOLOGY AS LEVER	TOOLS FOR LEARNING & EVALUATION (EXAMPLES ONLY)
P1:	Encouragement of contact between learners and faculty. Frequent student-faculty contact in and out of the classroom is most important factor to motivate and involve the learners in the learning process.	Asynchronous means of Communication allows for greater contact between allows greater contact between faculty and learners with the varying schedules. Learner faculty contact can also be enhanced by synchronous means such as Chat Forum, Video conferencing or WebEx session.	E-mail; whiteboard; chat forum; WebEx; E-Workspace (e.g. Huddle Workspace); Twitter; Skype; etc.
P2:	Develop Reciprocity and cooperation among learners. Good learning, like good work, is collaborative in a social way and not competitive as learning now is done in isolated way	Since learners are at extensive geographical distance and time between them, so the enhanced interaction between them is possible using internet tools, television, WIFI, etc. to create a sense of community, both for intra and intra student community communication.	Chat forums; instant messaging; Skype; Yahoo Messenger; Blog sites with widgets; E-Notepad or E-Notebook; SharePoint Service viz. That of Microsoft; E-Discussion Groups; WIFI; WebEx; Free Storage sites like Picassa (for illustrations, images, visuals of related to learning projects, etc.); ScribD (to maintain documents viz. dissertation and research papers, etc.
P3:	Use Active Learning Techniques. Learning is not a spectators’ sport; therefore, it is not a competitive activity and should not be a competitive activity. Learners must discuss what they are learning, reflect upon the concept learnt, relate it to their past experience to understand how the learning can be applied in activities at present and the future in order to improve their life and concerned activities.	Learners to use tools to become more active learners. Viz. Searching the internet for more information; Use simulation games and activities available at various sites. Simulations, that can replace dangerous and expensive experiment like in the field of engineering, medicine, geology, oceanography, aviation, etc. Can be taught through simulation, which can be more interactive and therefore more effective learning procedure for the learners.	Online Edutainment games; Interactive tools found in the form of video and presentation preparation sites; video conference and V-sat sessions with the facilitators; WebEx; Television, V-Sat; Learning Management Systems (LMS); Free Case Studies sites; Free Research sites for data collection and analysis; Simulation or Avatar viz. For speech and accent learning sites
P4:	Give Prompt Feedback. Through feedback the facilitators or teachers help the learners have achieved in their objective of learning and applying the concepts or they need to focus on certain concepts or aspects of learning. It is pertinent that during the learning sessions too, learners need frequent opportunities to apply concepts learnt and receive immediate feedback on it.	Computer programmes can be used to assess the learners online and give them immediate feedback with a complete report on how effective the learning experience has been for each learner.	Skype; Yahoo Messenger; WebEx, videoconferencing; Online tutorial; quizzes, Case studies with feedback; Online assessment and self assessment tools.
P5:	Emphasize time on task. Time + Energy = Learning. Allocating realistic time lines for effective learning. This can also help both the learner and the facilitator to know whether they are progressing within the learning time schedule	Using new technologies to allow learners to learn when they are ready without having to travel or work at unusual times due to geographical and time diversities.	Facilitators need to formulate flexible and intuitive course design for the learners at different locations. Schedule should have appropriate timelines drawn according to the availability of the learners. Facilitators can use online monitoring tools such as Skype, Yahoo Messenger, WebEx or video conference for personalized approach at the time of reinforcement of learning.
P6:	Communicate high expectations. Facilitators should let the learners be aware of what they expect the learner to achieve at the end of a learning session (The learning objective)	Many Learners are motivated to learn more effectively, when they will they are appreciated by the facilitators and that their learning in the form of a report, case study, and research paper will be recognized and published. It becomes the facilitator’s or the teacher’s responsibility to remove any mind block that the learner may experience due to the fact that other learners to be aware of how much and how well the learner has progressed on the learning roadmap. Facilitators also need to see that the learners do not set too high a learning goal for themselves to impress other learners. Facilitators have to reiterate regularly that it is collaborative form of learning and not a competitive one.	Online web tools for training content creation (Creation of LMS); Skype; Yahoo Messenger; Group-Discussions through forums as in LinkedIn; Publishing in Blogs, SharePoint, etc; use of Wiki etc. WebEx, video-conferencing, V-Sat facilities, etc.
P7:	Respect diverse talent and ways of learning. Many roads may lead to learning the same concept. Different learners bring different talents and patterns of learning. Therefore, learners should not be compelled one specific pattern of learning, instead, should be given opportunity to show their way of learning and the facilitator should document the different patterns of learning used by the learners.	New technologies can provide learners with multiple ways of learning a concept and they should have the freedom to pick the one that suits them. This will bring more flexibility in learning a concept and enable the learner learn within the time-schedule.	”Personalisable” online environment such as provided by LMS, Moodle, E-Workspace such as Huddle Workspace; are a small variety of content media that provide interactive means of learning with learners choosing his/her way of learning a concept. [NOTE: There is tremendous scope of coming up with a Complementary Learning Portal supporting learning any skill from elementary to professional level in viz. BFSI, Retail, IT, ITES domains