Research Using Tutors in a DE Environment
A study done in German examined how students felt while in a DE course using a tutor. Students who had just written contact and no verbal contact with a tutor formed certain perceptions about their tutors and were more tense in the DE situation than those who experience the tutors in other ways, such as being able to see them and to hear them. Tutoring over just e-mail would bring different results as compared to tutoring over the DDN. Students are more comfortable and can ask questions when they have them instead of waiting for a written response. The personal nature of the tutoring experience makes a difference on the outcome of the tutoring.