Journal of Information Systems Education, Vol.

19(2)

Online Education Forum: Part Two - Teaching Online

Versus Teaching Conventionally

Charlene A. Dykman, Ph.D.

Charles K. Davis, Ph.D.
Management and Marketing Department
Cameron School of Business, University of St. Thomas
Houston, Texas 77006-4696
cadykman@stthom.edu ckdavis@stthom.edu
ABSTRACT

This is the second in a series of three papers about online pedagogy and educational practice as part of the JISE “Online
Education Forum.” This paper deals with the question: How is teaching online different from conventional teaching? By
comparing these differences along several dimensions, a set of recommended practices for online teaching emerges. This
article examines issues such as online course organization and planning, teaching guidelines and constraints, relationships
between students and teacher, lectures versus tutorials, and assessment of student performance. A transition is underway. The
same networking and computing technology that has revolutionized global commerce, and many other facets of modern life, is
now being targeted at education. Partnering the Internet with modern course management systems makes it possible for
universities to offer online coursework on a global basis. The critical task that lies ahead is to create and disseminate curricula
of high quality online that students can embrace and educators can sustain. The overall objective of JISE’s Online Education
Forum is to examine the realities of college and university online teaching, and the processes of education using today’s
information technologies. The issues and insights discussed in this forum will provide educators with important tools and the
understanding needed to embrace the world of online education.

Keywords: Information Systems Education, Distance Education, Educational Assessment, Online Course Design, Distance
Learning, Online Education.

1. INTRODUCTION paper straightforward, others who are less experienced will

find them very useful. As universities move ahead with
1.1 Online Opportunity online education initiatives, the ideas presented here will
Students and faculty are increasingly turning to online help to avoid the disruptive and costly problem of numerous
education and the Internet to supplement, or even replace, faculty members trying to discover for themselves how best
traditional approaches to classroom teaching (Alavi and to approach online teaching.
Leidner, 2001; Altbach, Gumport, and Johnstone, 2001;
Hanna, Glowacki-Dudka, and Conceicao-Runlee, 2000; 1.2 Potential Pitfalls
Palloff and Pratt, 2001). Advancements in computer and There are pitfalls in online education for the student and for
communications technologies, the Internet, and online the teacher. When there is a failure to communicate
education are attractive and powerful new tools for teaching expectations and the student is not doing what the teacher
and learning. Some say that these technologies have the intends, the situation can deteriorate without either party
potential to revolutionize higher education with increased realizing that there is a problem until it is too late.
access to educational services for students and a wider reach Regardless of who is at fault, well-meaning individuals can
in the educational marketplace for academic institutions fall into this trap. In a conventional classroom, there are
(Hollenbeck, Zinkhan, and French, 2005; Medlin, Vannoy, ample face-to-face opportunities to reinforce expectations
and Dave, 2004). and clarify misunderstandings. And students can easily
While opportunities to utilize online facilities for check with other students for clarification of what they do
teaching and learning have been available for years, not understand. In an electronic classroom, these contacts are
universities have too often shown a reluctance to engage in not so easily made (Conaway, Easton, and Schmidt, 2005).
the development and use of these technologies. While The teacher must strive to assure that expectations are clear
pockets of expertise exist in many faculties, the and misunderstandings are minimized. Avoiding pitfalls
entrepreneurial adoption of online teaching methods in requires careful planning and detailed structuring of every
higher education has unfortunately been limited (Fox, aspect of the online course in advance. Exactly who does
Anderson, and Rainie, 2005; Spellings, 2006). As a result, what, when, and how it is to be done, must be concisely and
while some readers may find the topics presented in this clearly specified within the design constraints imposed by

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guidelines and systems limitations for given online teaching expected to do them (Bocchi, Eastman, and Swift, 2004).
technologies. This is most easily achieved by modularizing the course into
blocks of assignments and deliverables organized by topic.
1.3 Need for Coaching Call these ‘units of instruction,’ or ‘chapters of a course,’ or
Teaching well online is really very different from teaching in whatever. They are called ‘units’ here. Usually, it is
a conventional classroom (Abbott, 2005; Wong et al., 2006). constructive to organize an online course into such units
Professors must be prepared to communicate differently and specifying readings, assignments, and deliverables that are to
to assert control appropriately in an online medium. They be done during a specific time period, usually weekly or
also need to learn to cultivate and sustain relationships with perhaps bi-weekly. Following a regular modular structure
their students online, which can be a time consuming, even throughout an online course helps to establish and sustain the
tedious, process but which is also a critical part of online pace of the course and makes it easier for students to keep
teaching effectiveness. A competent teacher could learn how track of what is due and when.
to do all of this ‘on the job,’ but the likelihood of failing with Generally, a unit of instruction includes specific learning
several highly visible online classes through trial-and-error objectives for that individual unit, reading assignments, other
makes that idea very risky at best. learning exercises as appropriate, a written ‘lecture’ (or
essay) on that unit’s subject matter, and discussion questions
1.4 Overview to be answered online by students during the assigned time
This paper focuses on a comparison of online teaching and period for doing that unit. All of this takes a lot of careful
conventional teaching, resulting in a set of recommended thought to plan each of the units included in a course. It
practices. Essentially, it deals with the mechanics of teaching requires detailed preparation in advance to make the course
online, including course organization and planning, teaching clear, consistent, and understandable for the students from
guidelines and constraints, mentoring relationships, online the beginning.
tutorials, assessment of student performance, and course
evaluation. 2.3 Establishing Expectations
Experience with online coursework for most students is
2. COURSE ORGANIZATION AND PLANNING probably nonexistent or, at best, uneven. If they have taken
online courses before, they may not have had good
2.1 Careful Organization experiences with them because all of this is very new and the
The first critical step in the process of teaching online is the pitfalls here are very real (Brown and Liedholm, 2002;
detailed organization and planning of the online course Helmi, Haynes, and Maun, 2000). Typically, students do not
(Coppola, Hiltz, and Rotter, 2002; Karuppan and Karuppan, know what to expect or even how to behave in an online
1999). This goes beyond what one would expect to do as a course setting. So, the professor must tell them what to do,
teacher in a conventional course, far more than just choosing how to interact, and what is expected of them. This is best
a textbook and developing a typical syllabus, for example done in writing at the beginning of the course. Simply
(Chizmar and Walbert, 1999). It includes detailed planning specifying assignments and deliverables is not enough. This
for every individual part of a course, including developing means that the professor must know from the beginning what
specific objectives overall and for each instructional unit of he or she expects from students. When students ask for
the course, specifying reading and other assignments in clarifications through email or in chat rooms, the professor
detail, and describing specific deliverables. Many online will be able to give well-thought-out, consistent answers.
courses include specific focused discussion questions for Expectations need to be communicated to the entire group in
each unit, all developed before the course starts. In addition a consistent way. Trouble results when one-on-one professor
to these content focused dimensions, teachers must also to student interpretations are made and others in the class do
document expectations for student performance and to not receive the same information and understanding. Without
decide how the teacher expects students to interact with him this careful preparation, confusion will result. Careful,
or her, and with other students, through the online media consistent communication of expectations and detailed
used for the course. Theoretically speaking, faculty are course documentation at the beginning are mandatory
supposed to do this kind of detailed ‘prep’ for every class, prerequisites for effective online teaching.
including conventional ones. But, in the real world,
professors generally know their subject matter well and, 3. COURSE DESIGN CONSTRAINTS
aside from spicing up a lecture with some new material
every now and then, they do not do all of this detailed 3.1 Reusability
preparation before offering most classes. They do it as Online courses are not really designed to be offered just
needed as a class unfolds week by week during a semester. once. In a conventional course setting, a teacher may deliver
And for the most part, that works fine. a class one way one semester and a completely different way
the next, and maybe a third way after that. The overhead
2.2 Comprehensive Planning involved in setting up an online course means that too much
However, this ‘adjusting it as you go’ approach does not change is not practical with online classes. Once a class is
work with online teaching. It will only confuse and prepared, it can be offered repeatedly (even by different
discourage the students, and they will lose motivation. In an instructors) simply by reloading a fresh, new copy of the
online course, learners need to know exactly what is course into the online course management system and
expected, when deliverables are due, and how they are opening it to a new group of learners. The reusability of such

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courses is an important aspect of online education. It means 3.4 Faculty Role

that these courses have the potential to become valuable Facilitators also assure that course designs meet specific
intellectual property (Kennedy, 2002). And that value is requirements for inclusion in a given university’s online
based upon the design of the course as well as its content. curriculum. This is where things can get really tricky.
This realization heightens the need to increase focus upon Professors, who typically have a strong sense of academic
and attention to online course design. freedom, enter into a situation in which a facilitator, who has
no responsibility for teaching courses and who does not
3.2 Look and Feel know the subject matter content, will be significantly
Online courses can be configured in many different ways. involved in designing the courses that professors will teach.
There is a temptation for course designers to develop courses This is a really different paradigm for course development,
based upon whatever mood or fashion might apply at the and it may be difficult for some more traditional professors
time of development. The problem is that online courses are to accept. Furthermore, an online course is subject to review
actually imbedded in software; at least, that is how these in a way that a course delivered in a traditional classroom is
courses appear to the students who are the primary users of not. Administrators or other faculty with access to the system
this kind of courseware. It has been well established that a can review any online course at any time and evaluate any
consistent ‘look and feel’ makes the experience of using aspect of it.
software much easier and less threatening or confusing for
users. If students must relearn a new online course structure 3.5 Uneasy Professorate
for every course, that detracts from the content of the course So, the adoption of this technology poses some serious new
and impedes the process of learning. Online courses need realities and constraints on how professors operate. There is
consistent design, organization, and structure across the a loss of control in course design and a potential visibility to
various units in a single course and the various courses in a outsiders that will ultimately make many in the professorate
curriculum. That way, students can concentrate on learning uneasy with online education, even after they learn to
and demonstrating mastery of content, rather than manage the technology (Allen and Seaman, 2003; Schell,
continually adapting to changing course designs or variations 2004). How to implement online education in the face of
in courseware functionality or operability. these realities is a complex question. For the time being,
Commercial courseware (such as Blackboard, WebCT, faculty must accept that there is a rising tide here that will
Sakai, or Desire2Learn) imposes some structure by virtue of sweep away complications and eventually float everyone’s
its innate organization as a software package, but such boat.
courseware also provides the course designer with the
flexibility to change the look and feel of different online 4. ONLINE GUIDELINES
courses arbitrarily. It is this kind of inconsistency that should
be avoided in course design in order to give the students a 4.1 Basic Principles
consistent look and feel in the courseware that they Faculty members need to understand ahead of time what to
experience. expect in teaching online, what to look for, and how they are
most likely to succeed (Cook, 2000; Evans, 2001; Jones and
3.3 Facilitator Role Kelley, 2003). Sending a professor into an online classroom
The need for a consistent framework for online courses poses without specific guidelines for operating there can be very
a real challenge for universities. Ideally, all of the online problematic. Some of what follows is common sense for
coursework offered by a given university should have one dealing with students in any classroom setting, but these
prescribed look and feel. The distinction that emerges here is principles are amplified strongly in the online situation for
that between a ‘course designer’ and a ‘content specialist.’ several key reasons. First, an online class is more like a
Conventional professors perform both roles, but this will series of individual tutorials than a normal group situation.
change (Bruckman, 2002; Gillette, 1999; Jones and Kelley, Communications are inherently and mostly one-on-one.
2003; Porter, Griffiths, and Hedberg, 2003). Many Second, there is a significant status differential between the
universities are beginning to employ teams of specialists in online student and the instructor, just as in a conventional
educational technology who perform supporting roles for the classroom. Many online students are uncomfortable and tend
online education function, such as training faculty to use to resist personal contacts through the online system or via
course management systems or providing help desk support emails. Differences in command of written English or in
for online students with problems. Another new role writing skills among the students can complicate this issue.
emerging here is that of ‘online course facilitator.’ These Third, it is difficult for an instructor to judge workload levels
individuals help faculty with online course design. They in an online course. There is a real tendency to overload the
advise the faculty, who are viewed as the ‘content students with work to make sure that an online course, which
specialists,’ about design guidelines and standards to be used is potentially visible to other faculty and administrators, has
for their online courses. The objective is to utilize the skills a level of content and rigor equivalent to a comparable
and experience of the online course facilitators to help the conventional course. The opposite of this is that the students
teachers develop courses that are consistent with the best can easily overestimate the level of effort that is appropriate
current practices for online education. for a given assignment and may spend much more time and
energy on an assignment than intended by the instructor.
Perfectly good students can ‘burn out’ and be lost this way.

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4.2 Communication stick to the original plans and work through any problems
To manage these issues, a professor must take the initiative that arise within that context.
and communicate early with each student in an online class
(Arbaugh, 2001). This takes a lot of effort, but it is not 5. STUDENT-TEACHER RELATIONSHIPS
enough just to broadcast messages to the whole group
periodically. The primary way students begin to feel 5.1 Impersonal Environment
comfortable communicating with the professor online is by Teaching at a distance adds a degree of complexity to the
responding to that professor’s direct inquiries. And the relationships between students and teachers (Coppola, Hiltz,
professor must be the proactive, positive, and supportive and Rotter, 2002). The problem is that one has to press hard
agent in this link (Conaway, Easton, and Schmidt, 2005). A to overcome the impersonal nature of the machinery that
systematic plan for contacts is needed here based upon a makes up the online medium. Without facial expressions or
specific schedule. Once trust has been built and there is a body language or much human contact, these relationships
comfort level established, then the online flow of ideas can can be difficult to develop at best. The online system tends to
follow (Hiltz and Turoff, 2002). Structured, regular be rigid and inflexible with minimal feedback, unless the
communication is a basic principle behind teaching online. parties involved strive to overcome its limitations (Bocchi,
Friendliness, diligence, and empathy all play a role with Eastman, and Swift, 2004; Littleton, Phil, and Whitelock,
students. 2004).
It is also critical in this environment for a teacher to be
dependable in dealings with students. Commitments must be 5.2 Mentoring Learners
kept. Agreements must be fulfilled. Failure to keep Hopefully in the future, increased speed and enhanced
commitments will destroy the levels of trust previously capability of online teaching technologies to include quality
attained with students. Forgetfulness is, therefore, a serious video and teleconferencing will help to alleviate some of
weakness in online teaching. This means the instructor must these limitations. In the meantime, the development of
pursue a real quest for excellence in the electronic classroom relationships as a mixture of mentoring and cyber pen pal
by building relationships with individual students and can be very worthwhile and rewarding for both the
keeping track of commitments. It is hard work teaching individual students and the professor (Abbott, 2005;
online, especially in the beginning when this process is Arbaugh, 2000; Conaway, Easton, and Schmidt, 2005;
unfamiliar. Students expect quick response online. If they Hirschheim, 2005). Obviously, if an instructor has a large
raise a question in a conventional classroom, they usually get online class, mentoring all of the learners is a daunting task.
the answer right then. Everyone in the class hears the But focusing on the quality of the interaction and trying to
question and the answer, plus any clarification that follows. relate to the students as individuals, instead of the quantity of
It is not so easy in an online class using asynchronous media contacts, can make this workable. For example, an instructor
like bulletin boards and chat rooms. A dogged commitment can schedule specific times each week to respond to
is essential for success. students’ questions and issues. This works perfectly well as
long as students know in advance that that is the way the
4.3 Consistency instructor primarily intends to interact with them.
It is difficult to change an online course in mid-stream. Once
the students have studied the course syllabus, reviewed the 5.3 Interrelationships Among Learners
requirements for the various deliverables in the course, and Many online students tend to be older, and they frequently
internalized everything the professor has prepared for them, have experiences that are relevant to the content of an online
it is not easy to change any of these. For example, in a course being taught. They bring to the virtual classroom a
traditional class, an instructor might decide to allow students level of practical understanding that is interesting to the other
to retake an exam or may want to add an additional reading students, a ‘real world’ perspective that tends to be
to the course schedule, or revisit a difficult topic while refreshing and stimulating. Some learners are very high
dropping some lesser topic, or ask students to do an ranking leaders in their professions and they could never
additional assignment, or change assignment due dates, or afford to take the time from their work to pursue a degree in
whatever. This is easily done. But, in the online course, the conventional manner. Having several of these individuals
students invest a lot of time and energy trying to understand in an online class can really help the dynamics of the
what is going to be required of them in the course. They do interactions among students, particularly the dialog in the
not handle change very well. The instructor, too, invests a lot online classroom. They should be encouraged to take a
in trying to make sure that everyone understands everything. leadership role. Students sometimes feel that they are
Often students enroll in online courses because they need the learning more from interacting with fellow students than
flexibility to help handle work or personal commitments. from other aspects of an online course.
They analyze the course requirements at the beginning,
perhaps doing assignments or reading early when their time 5.4 Student Visibility
permits. Changing the course in any way in these situations Interestingly, there is no real awareness in these online
is not well received. interactions as to anyone’s race or creed or even actual
Trying to change anything once student expectations are physical location, unless an individual happens to mention
in place is confusing. Too often, there are students who miss these things directly. Students might be in a wheelchair or in
the changes altogether or misunderstand what is intended. a prison somewhere or on an Indian reservation in Arizona.
When contemplating change, it is almost always better to They could be living anywhere in the world. All of that is

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irrelevant to the intellectual process that occurs in an online 6.2 Individual Tutorials
classroom. Students might be going through a divorce or There are two basic approaches that can be followed and a
nursing a terminally ill relative, or they themselves might be lot depends upon how many students are in a given online
ill. Yet, often nothing in these interactions would indicate class (Cook, 2000). The first approach is the ‘sink or swim’
any of that. The focus is on academics, and these other model. Students receive minimal teacher contact and
factors mostly do not even show up in the mix. A teacher support. Sometimes, this is all that an instructor can do,
gets to know his or her students very well in this especially in a large online class. But this is certainly not
environment and yet, at the same time, not necessarily well optimal. The second approach is the ‘individual tutorial
at all. It is all rather amazing, actually. model.’ If students are really to learn in an electronic
classroom, then this is the approach that makes the most
5.5 One-on-One Coaching sense. What the experienced online teacher comes to realize
Much of what happens in an online course can happen is that an online course is really an organized framework for
outside of a course management system in private emails or what becomes mostly individual tutorials involving the
via other media (Bowman, 2003; Dearstyne, 2007; Phoha, teacher and each student in the class (Littleton, Phil, and
1999). For example, online collaboration tools such as wikis Whitelock, 2004). Some students require less than others, but
or blogs may be utilized to supplement communications, or personal involvement is a hallmark of online education under
instructors might choose to use various free voice-over-IP this model.
telephone services (such as Skype) in conjunction with an
online course to further enhance communications with and 7. ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT PERFORMANCE
among students (Chawner and Lewis, 2006; Mindel and
Verma, 2006). Once they are comfortable communicating 7.1 Lack of Control
with their professors in these ways, students tend to interact Every course should conclude with the fair and equitable
more often and more informally than they would in person. evaluation of each student’s performance. With online
This poses a problem for the instructor because much of teaching, the options for assessment are unfortunately
what comes up during these private discussions is relevant limited (Bowman, 2003; Dhamija, Heller, and Hoffman,
and should be communicated to the entire class. So in 1999; Grandzol, 2004). One can evaluate the weekly
fairness, a balance is needed here to make sure that all the postings for evidence of mastery of the assigned readings; or
students get the same information as much as possible. This perhaps assign term papers or case studies to be analyzed; or
is an area in which the professor must be especially diligent. give conventional examinations online. Students can be
The bottom line, however, is that teachers who work with the asked to watch videos and develop reports about what they
students and build relationships with them online find have seen, or even participate in simulations of chemistry
themselves coaching most of the students individually experiments or economic systems, or whatever, online.
through the online course. Teaching online is therefore a lot There are plenty of activities that can be graded. But among
more work than one might think. many online instructors, the issue of most concern in
evaluation is the perceived lack of control due to the
6. TUTORIALS VS. LECTURES remoteness of their students.

6.1 Unit Assignments 7.2 Questions of Authorship

Online instruction operates at a slower pace over longer For example, online testing tools and banks of test questions
periods of time. What is covered in three hours of university are easily available and are often integrated with course
lecture and discussion in a conventional class setting takes a management systems. But ultimately, the question becomes
week to do in an online class. This is because each student one of who is actually on the other end of the line during test
completes assignments at his or her own pace and within his taking. Or who actually wrote the term papers or the reports;
or her own schedule within the weekly format for typical or who really did the simulated experiments. Even if
units of work assigned. A unit generally includes a ‘lecture’ electronic fingerprints or retinal scans verify that the
which is a focused essay of several thousand words that appropriate student is present to take an exam, how does the
introduces a particular topic (or set of topics) and sets the instructor know if someone else is not also there helping to
stage for subsequent readings, discussions, and other answer the questions? Having students congregate physically
assignments. ‘Discussions’ are usually asynchronous dialogs in one central location to take exams for an online course
posted in an online forum (like a chat room) that is would certainly alleviate these concerns, but this is only
accessible to all students enrolled in the course. This workable if the students are in the same geographic area. In
discussion forum is based upon a series of questions that are many cases, congregating is simply not feasible.
included in each unit for the students to answer online. The
discussion questions relate to the readings and other 7.3 Sense of Comfort
assignments included in each unit. They require students to For the conventional instructor, then, this problem of online
analyze and integrate the readings, and to post and discuss assessment can be a serious stumbling block. Eventually,
their answers online with the professor and in dialogs with perhaps, technology may solve this problem through facial
other students. For each unit, these activities are generally to recognition software or something similar. But that is not
be completed within the context of one week’s work. going to happen in a cost effective way any time soon. In the
meantime, professors must gain a sense of comfort with this
process. Nothing is foolproof, but over the course of a

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semester interacting with students, reviewing their postings 9.2 Realistic Perspective
in the discussion forum, and jousting with them intellectually Faculty also need a realistic view of successes and failures in
can give the teacher adequate assurance to approach the issue an online educational environment. A degree of failure is a
of student assessment with confidence. The keys here are real possibility especially for those who are new to online
developing a trusting relationship with the students as much teaching. And, if a course does not turn out as intended, a
as possible and focusing objectively upon the course professor certainly has other options, namely to return to the
deliverables in the assessment process, not the students. conventional classroom and forget about teaching online.
Not every conventional course turns out the way the
8. CREDENTIALING VS. EDUCATING instructor would have wanted, and instructors do not usually
leave teaching because of that. Conventional teaching is a
8.1 Professional Preparation calling and a craft that one grows and develops, and teaching
A university education serves both as a standard of online is the same. To be successful, it too must be nurtured
excellence in educational achievement and as a professional and developed over time by dedicated instructors.
credential. Many of the best jobs are only open to those with
appropriate university degrees. This credentialing function 10. CONCLUSION
has important ramifications for online education. The online
educational process must be built upon principles of trust and Teaching online is very complex. It is complicated by the
good faith between an online teacher and students. An need to adapt what has been a highly social process, that of
assumed honor code underlies the whole process. This is educating students in a traditional school and classroom
because there is really no way to know who is actually on the setting, to an online computerized setting with limited social
other end of an online interaction, or for that matter who is interaction. The biggest challenge for online educators is to
really taking an online course. make this adaptation work effectively.
When a teacher first contemplates teaching online, it is
8.2 Certifications very attractive to focus on the obvious flexibility that online
That means that this system can be corrupted. If we were teaching provides, such as not having to be in a classroom at
only talking about education, then a student who did this scheduled times during each week or not even needing to
would ultimately only cheat himself or herself. But come to campus to teach. The uninitiated often think that
professional credentialing is a different matter altogether. As teaching online will be much easier than teaching in the
long as credentialing is part of the equation, it may be conventional classroom setting. That is a very dangerous
difficult for online education to gain real traction with the point of view to bring into the online classroom. Over the
professions that require a college education for admission. longer term as an instructor gains expertise with online
However, online education is going to become more and education, the process of teaching online becomes easier,
more mainstream. And there will be increasing pressure for more comfortable and rewarding. But in the beginning, it is
its acceptance as a credential on a par with traditional foreign, uncertain, and much more difficult than teaching in
education. The eventual solution is likely to be unbundling the familiar conventional classroom. With preparation and
education and admission to the professions by requiring practice, teaching online can be a very effective medium for
routine post graduation exams to individually certify each higher education. The key question becomes how best to
student’s educational achievements and readiness to enter achieve quality education in the online classroom, which is
almost every career. the subject of the next article in this series.
9. COURSE EVALUATION AND QUALITY 11. REFERENCES
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 Journal of Information Systems Education, Vol. 19(2)

Wong, A. F., Choon-Lang, Q., Divaharan, S., Woon-Chia, education in Latin America. She formerly held management
L., Peer, J., and Williams, M. D. (2006), “Singapore or analyst positions with Pullman Incorporated, Republic
Students' and Teachers' Perceptions of Computer- Bank Texas, Houston Baptist University and Georgia
Supported Project Work Classroom Learning Southern University.
Environments.” Journal of Research on Technology in
Education, Vol. 38(4), pp. 449-479. Charles K. Davis is Professor of Management and
Information Systems at the
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES University of St. Thomas in
Houston. He received a Ph.D. in
Charlene A. Dykman is Professor of Management and Management Information Systems
Information Systems at the from the University of Houston,
University of St. Thomas in an MBA in Management from
Houston, TX. She received a PhD Columbia University, an MAT
and an MBA in Management from Harvard University, and a
Information Systems from the BS from Oklahoma State
University of Houston, an MA University. Professor Davis is an
from Michigan State University, authority on the business use of
and a BA from Saginaw Valley information systems and
University. Professor Dykman is technologies. He has held technical and managerial positions
an authority on distance education with Deloitte and Touche, Occidental Petroleum, Chase
and managing virtual teams. She Manhattan Bank, and IBM. Dr. Davis is a Fulbright Senior
was recently a Fulbright Fellow Specialist and has taught at the Universidad Tecnologica de
with the Cuidad Del Saber in Panama where she lectured Panama, the University of Limerick in Ireland, and the
and conducted research on aspects of Internet-based Universidad Del Valle in Guatemala.

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