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This article explores the similarities and differences between Canadian and Australian university teachers’ face-to-face and online teaching approaches and philosophies. It presents perspectives on teaching face-to-face and online in two comparable Canadian and Australian universities, both of which offer instruction in these two modes. The key research question was to determine if moving from face-to-face instruction to on-line teaching results in new teaching approaches or in a creative blend of those developed within each teaching modality. Qualitative data were collected using an open-ended survey, which asked participants for their thoughts on their face-to-face (f2f) and online teaching experiences. Quantitative data were collected using the “Teaching Perspectives Inventory,” which assessed participants’ teaching approaches and philosophies in terms of their beliefs, intentions, and actions. The authors’ conclusions address the issue of assisting teachers to successfully make the transition from traditional teacher-centred to newly emerging learner-centred teaching approaches in distributed classrooms.

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Her teaching and research areas include distance education and models of facilitation in higher education.

This paper describes a study of how one small group of graduate students coped with the stresses of learning at a distance over the course of the three to five years in which they were enrolled in their program of study. The study used a model of transition to examine how their coping responses changed as they moved into, through, and out of their program. It also assessed the students' perceptions of the "adult student friendliness" of the educational institution offering the program. The findings portrayed a "roller coaster ride" for these online students, whose somewhat limited initial coping strategies eventually became more adaptive. The findings suggested that adult educators who teach in online programs might benefit from looking to the field of transition counselling for help in addressing their students’ coping needs, as well as to the attributes of online communication as a way of maximizing support services for these students.