Communication in Distance Education

*What is the best way to communicate with distance education students? Through video or text?*

I feel that communicating with distance education students should be both visual and text. It is important to show examples or other students work through video. I know personally, I do better when I actually see someone work a problem or demonstrate how to complete a task. So, I feel that students can get a lot out of watching a video of class. It does not matter whether they are watching it live (when it is being taped) or if they watch it on their own time. The important thing is that the option to watch a video of the class is made available. I also think it is important to provide your distance education students the lecture notes, Power Points, or other materials you may use in class. I am also a person who likes to have printed out materials in front of me in order to study. I like to highlight or make notes on the printed papers. Providing the distance education students with the option to print the materials gives them another option in studying. Both of these options is providing all students with different learning styles a chance to learn.