Distributed Learning Environments: Pedagogy, implementation, and the early adopter

The widespread interest in network-based learning – partially spurred by the 1993 introduction of the World-Wide Web – has instigated an examination of the underlying structures and assumptions in K-12 and higher education concerning what constitutes sound instruction, and the role that distributed learning environments play in such educational endeavors. What is emerging from such interests is a recognition that traditional teaching practices are often at odds with those to which the new media lend themselves. The result is often a state of cognitive dissonance in which the teachers and students struggle to bring old knowledge to bear on new situations. In a recently released report entitled Technology and the New Professional Teacher: Preparing for the 21st Century Classroom (1997), the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) offered the following: