With each decade the face of education has changed to reflect the current trends in education. The policy initiatives of each president, governor, community leader and parent have been aimed at transforming children’s learning environments into the ideal situation. While these initiatives may never succeed to meet every child’s needs the combined result of their work has created an environment where education can now be tailored to meet the needs of every child through online schools.

A teacher starting in the development of a Web-based learning experience would best be served if they knew characteristics of the students enrolled in their class. In instructional design terms these are known as entry level characteristics and consist of information, such as, general information, specific characteristics, and learning styles. Research has shown that knowing these characteristics prior to delivering the class can help the instructor tailor their material to the learner and increase learning outcomes.

Distance Learning has its challenges and one of them is engendering quality interaction. Experts in the fields of cognitive psychology and learning theory stress that interaction is vital to the learning process. But how does an educator attempting to deliver a Distance Learning course work effective and resonant interaction in the online format?