Teaching and learning strategies must be appropriate for the content and the student audience. Strategies should flow from and be consistent with what is known about student needs and characteristics, course objectives, and the online environment. In other words, development should be founded upon outcomes of the analyze and design phases of the instructional-design process, not upon enthusiasm for technology. Thus, instructors and designers must distinguish between what they can do and what they should do.

Regardless of how it is implemented, online teaching and learning should incorporate certain key strategies:

• Building community
• Engaging students interactively
• Employing appropriate technologies
• Utilizing advanced organizers

These essential strategies are discussed further in the following sections.