Amy, Very good point. While participation in online postsecondary instruction rapidly increases with institutions and students, acceptance is still not universal. The technologies and procedures are still in their infancy with many improvements yet to be implemented. One of those areas for improvement, as you identified, is the ability for the instructor to maintain a robust presence in the online classroom. Some A/V platforms are currently being used, and they help, but the majority of instructor presence in the virtual classroom is often provided through text-based forums. Thank you for your insights. Dr. S. David Vaillancourt