The Internet makes us simultaneously more connected and more isolated. The use of mail, weblogs, shared workspaces, online conferences and other collaborative tools often means that we have less face to face contact than ever before. And online activities still don't do explicitly and efficiently what even a brief face to face contact provides--broader context, body language, casual conversation, and other social capital building and information cues.

Designing Collaborative E-learning For Results in Learning Circuits discusses strategies for "building connection, interactivity, and relationships via online learning:"

The proposed e-learning solution had to maintain the high-touch level of the face-to-face seminar within the constraints imposed by the physical separation of the participants and the technologies used to connect them. A redesign converted the lunch seminar into six 75-minute synchronous online sessions delivered over VisionCast (a version of Microsoft LiveMeeting provided by Premiere Conferencing) and a phone conference.

The following design elements were incorporated into the program:

• numerous case examples from participants and their co-workers
• a team project that asked participants to apply new tactics and strategies to
• a real case example, which was provided by senior management
• senior executives joined the course at the beginning and end to reinforce its importance to the company, as well as to critique work and motivate employees to integrate what they learned into their daily practice
• extensive use of interactive features, such as polling and breakout sessions
• an assessment tool and a survey designed specifically to generate rich profiles of each participant from which they could learn about themselves and their co-workers. The resulting data was woven throughout the course to connect theory with practical reality.

The redesign proved successful in overcoming the constraints of physical separation and the limitations of distance learning technology. In the most recent cohort to complete the redesigned conflict management program, 100 percent of the participants rated it as “valuable to highly valuable.” In addition, 100 percent of the participants found that the course helped them recognize and deal with their own and others' conflict styles. Participants cited scheduling flexibility as an obvious advantage, but they also valued the interactive communication tools that were built into the program design. One participant said, “I am the last person normally to be impressed with computer technology, but I have to admit the technology was extremely impressive and effective.”

They suggest factors to keep in mind:

• Manage expectations
• Make synchronous sessions highly interactive
• Use learner-generated data
• Collaborative projects should focus on application
• Monitor progress with a learning director
• Include closure and next steps.

The article includes issues that should be on anyone's list when outlining a successful distance learning strategy.