Among students--Barriers to overcome

The impact of the distance ed environment on student-to-student transactions seems to depend quite directly on the computer experience and confidence of the individuals involved. Novices may have trouble avoiding the pitfalls of terseness or skewed implications in their comments on others' work, while experts are usually comfortable exchanging thoughts and feelings with peers. And as in traditional settings, the general maturity level of students is the main determiner of their peer interactions. With the less mature students who are unsure of both their technical expertise and writerly status, gaps of silence are common where we think there should be useful peer interchange. This area of on-line pedagogy, especially in distance education, needs further attention by practitioners and researchers.