Ken Leek and his newly found tips

The following are quotes from the article and under each quote is the tip I took from it and the extended notes from the professors.

"Did you find any difference between the
preparation time required for your distance education
v. traditional classes?
Yes [203]
No [14]
If yes, please describe:
* More time needed, especially up front [154]
* Less time [6]
* Never Measured [1]
* Other [13]"

TIP: Keep track of time for prep and try, if at all possible, to get an hourly compensation for at least the initial set up. Don't take an assignment that doesn't understand how much work up front is needed.

"I held my “office hour” in the distance
learning classroom with the camera and mike on
for 30 minutes before each class and up to
another 30 minutes after each class. I also drove
to the remote site three times and transmitted
back to the normal sending site. (b) No difference
from any other class."

TIP: Do what this person did. Great idea.

"Very little technical support. This has been, by
far, the major shortcoming/frustration with the
program. The support consists mostly of everyone
involved technologically (vendor, telephone
company, etc.) blaming everyone else for problems
when the system goes down. Repairs, if
any do take place, seem to take forever."

TIP: If at all possible, learn how to be the expert on this side of the coin. Relying on others for this type of stuff would be a major bummer. However, being that I am exceedingly naive about this area of proficiency myself, it's probably a whole lot easier said than done. If that's the case, I would find the guy who is the overlord of technical issues and try to butter him up. Bribes, dates with your sister or you dressed as your sister, tickets to Star Trek conventions, etc.