I learned that synchous and asynchronous meetings should be used for different purposes. Each has advantages and disadvantages depending on what the goal is for that particular meeting.  I also find it quite interesting that asynchronous meetings do seem to have an advantage in promoting a deeper intellectual engagement by fostering dialogue and more in depth dialogue among the students themselves.  i find that a partucularly useful tool.  

It is important for students to have evidence of your  competence in the subject matter in order for you to project and effective online authority, and a good way to do this is to post a short biography of yourself listing your educational credentials, achievements, and professional experience.  It is equally important to establish a relationshp with your students individually, and the most effective way to do that is to have the students post their own personal biography as a first assighnment.  

I've learned that in order to be successful at online delivery of course information, the course needs to be struictured and the students and instructor must be familiar with the course management system delivery platform (CMS).  The instructor needs to be familiar not only with course content, but must also be able to handle technical issues regarding computer hardware and software issues that will be encountered.  There also needs to be readily accessable technical support beyond what the instructor might be able to provide in real time.