Student Interaction with Subject Matter Experts
This type of interaction often involves a student and a professor, or possibly students and a professor; but could involve student(s) and a tutor, or student(s) and a mentor.
It is optimal if this type of interaction can be available according to student needs and time schedules. This may well ideally correspond to availability of professor or tutor 24X7, or at least frequently each day. This can greatly increase the workload of a professor or tutor, especially if special software tools are not available to compensate for frequent student attempts at communication (commonly through e-mail and file transfer).
The online environment can allow professors to post newly relevant course information quickly and broadly, using e-mail, message boards, threaded discussion, or WWW sites to which attention is called.
Also, the online environment can increase the possibility that an expert outside of the scope of the institution of students can interact with the students, through e-mail, threaded discussion, chat, or special online presentations.