I will be the first to admit I was a distance education skeptic. I was well aware that many students--and many instructors--are capable of sitting before a computer screen for hour after boring hour, but this fact did not convince me that an online environment would be a good choice for graduate education. 　

　　 I was particularly skeptical of the possibility that an online class, of whatever size, could effectively create what educators call a "community of learners". That is, a classroom environment in which students learn from each other as well as the instructor, and the class as a whole becomes a great deal more than the sum of its parts. I knew I could teach course content online, but could there be a true community of learners in a virtual classroom? 　

　　 I learned the answers to these questions in 1997, when I taught my first online course. What I found is that with the right use of the right technology, a virtual class can feel as real as a face-to-face, on-campus class. And the learning that goes on can be just as deep. 　

　　 One online course I taught was LIS 406: Youth Services Librarianship, for students interested in working with young people in schools or public libraries. The real-time sessions of the class met every Wednesday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Of 22 students, 15 were off campus, in locations ranging from the Chicago suburbs to the Virgin Islands. Seven on-campus students logged in from their homes or from computer labs. During these sessions, we used two-way text chat, which allows students to contribute to class discussions or speak to each other; one-way audio, which allows the instructor to speak to the group via RealAudio; and scanned images and text for students to view. 　

　　 When LIS 406 met for its last class, I experienced the mix of feelings that comes at the end of a course gone well. Of course there was the large sigh of relief that accompanies the completion of any lengthy task. But there was also the small twinge of sadness that comes with the end of something unique. The final class is the last time any of us, teacher or student, will be a member of this particular learning community is a community that developed its own rhythm, its own etiquette, and its own dynamics. LIS 406, however "virtual", felt completely real. 　

　　 In considering the rapid increase of distance education courses, I am reminded of the old saying about fire: it's a good servant but a bad master. So, too, is technology. Beginning my first online course, I worried that the teaching would be edged out by the technology, leaving a course full of bells and whistles but empty of substance. This is the worst thing that can happen when technology is the master. When technology is the servant, however, it is simply a means to an educational end. 　

　　 If schools always keep an eye on the important learning outcomes, computer technology will let them deliver the kind of online courses needed by the growing numbers of distance education students. 　

(516 words)