Many teachers using e-learning in their teaching have developed skills as they needed them, by experimenting with their courses to find out what works for them and for their students.

Manu is already a knowledgeable, enthusiastic and flexible teacher. Here’s what he has found he needed to be able to do as an online teacher:

I needed to transfer my interpersonal skills of connecting with each student individually into the online environment. One of the unique aspects of e-learning is the possibility for students to take part in asynchronous discussions, discussions which take place over a period of time, with people making contributions whenever they choose. I needed to develop skills of e moderating: managing and guiding the discussion so that participants learn to work and reflect with peers they may not ever meet in person.

Course developers or educational designers have specific skills and knowledge to apply to e-learning:

When I’m designing courses I need to integrate e-learning in ways which take advantage of the possibilities offered by the technology. For example:

• Most traditional teaching is linear. Students all start at the beginning at the same time and work through to the end in the same steps. But the best e-learning allows students more choice in choosing pathways to meet their goals. I need to use my instructional design skills to allow different forms of course navigation and assessment, while at the same time providing guidance to learners.
• The online environment provides some great tools for communication with and between students. They allow me to set up very effective collaborative learning activites - but I've found that the sorts of activities that are effective in a face-to-face situation don't work quite the same way online, so they need to be redesigned.