Passage Four
Online distance education creates a virtual learning community where face-to- face contact with classmates and faculty member(s) is either limited or non-existent. Interactions between members of the virtual community are through e-mails, postings on list serve and bulletin boards, all of which are primarily written communication. For students who are better at expressing themselves orally, this is an adjustment. Frequency of feedback in a virtual learning community is greater than classroom based interactions because exchanges are not restricted by time and space. Students have to learn to manage this increased flow of electronic messaging. Siegle reports that the optimal number of students in a virtual classroom is 8-12 students. More students than this makes it difficult to manage, while fewer students is not conducive to meaningful dialogue. Students also have to develop an understanding of the "etiquette" inherent in electronic messages. Unless faculty members provide specific guidelines for communication in a virtual environment, many students, particularly students with learning disabilities, may find this to be frustrating. An oft cited example, is expecting e-mail inquiries to be answered instantaneously.
Interestingly, the belief that one is completely anonymous in a virtual learning environment is quickly exposed when students have to share all relevant communication in written form. Students have to learn to be comfortable exchanging personal information in writing, knowing that this becomes a documented record for the entire class to see. Most importantly, students have to learn to actively post questions and inquiries in the appropriate dialogue box because without non-verbal cues and other tacit communications, faculty are unable to react to those students who may be feeling lost or overwhelmed.

In a virtual learning community, ____________ .