13.6 :-? Tea to Thomas' intro

13.6.1 :-? Cynthia

Distance education courses do not allow for the "pedagogical potential of self-organized working groups" (Peters, 1998, p. 58). Inhis book, "Learning and Teaching in Distance Education," Otto Peters points out that "Unfortunately, this form of dialogue is rarelyfound, mainly because of a lack of time available for it, but also because distance-teaching universities fail to see the pedagogicalpotential of self-organized working groups. They do not regard them as being as important as they in fact are." Peters explains thatthese informal (face-to-face) dialogues increase self-confirmation and self-knowledge as well as decrease self-doubt and feelings of inadequacy.

The written word hinders a student's ability to "speak freely" and express difficulties because whatever he or she says "online" isrecorded for all to read and re-read. In a face-to-face working group, students feel more free to express exactly what they think.Body language (including smiles) and intonation can express far more than the printed word alone.