When you do not have the opportunity to speak in a lecture to your students about the "pearls" they should take from the lesson they are on, scaffolding becomes your means to make sure these ideas are conveyed.    

I have many scaffolding tools I have collected over the years with teaching Billing and Coding online, which, I must admit, at one time, I never thought possible.  I still would like to see pass rates of online classes compared to on ground classes just to satisfy my own curiosity.

It is important to not limit your tool of use for this scaffolding, some may be a document, some may be a video, some may even be a URL with directions to explore for more information.  I feel many instructors are using scaffolding already and not identifying it as such.  It is important that instructors really look at the vast amount of work they do on a daily basis and take credit for it.

For example, today is New Year's Day and I am writing this blog while fielding phone calls from students in a panic over their grades, which posted yesterday.  This isn't scaffolding, of course, however, it is still unpaid work!  LOL!