Designing Distance Training Courses

The use of ICT to activate distance education courses has made it possible to create new ways of training, certainly more efficiently and potentially more effectively. Internet, and in particular the World Wide Web, is becoming a learning space which is used increasingly in several educational contexts from secondary schools to post graduate courses. Learners can choose to take training modules and, in some cases, entire programs through the Net; the on line environment may be the only possibility to acquire knowledge on some topics for students who do not have the opportunity to attend traditional classes; besides the communicative power of Internet tools can allow the activation of new ways of teaching/learning. As the number of on line learners is increasing, it is crucial for training centres and institutions to create effective on-line learning environments according to the specific needs of each learner. Distance education programs, while reaching many students who may not otherwise have been able to take school courses, can be more destructive than constructive if improperly designed and delivered. In fact, a lot of aspects have to be taken into account to project and activate a good distance course: effective presentation of contents, consideration of individual differences of users, adoption of several models according to educational objectives, and so on.