The Conceptual Framework of the Research

The conceptual framework of the research is based on four main elements: teacher-training, distance-teaching, academic disciplines and three dimensions of: representation of data, organisation and management of teaching and different types of interaction.

Teacher-training is based on different approaches to the training process (Zeichner, 1983; Feiman-Nemser, 1990a; 1990b). Teachers' professional knowledge is constructed from a number of components (Shulman, 1986a; 1987). A teacher, who becomes a teacher-educator in the college, undergoes a process of transition from a novice to an expert (Kolb, 1984; Bruner, 1996; Sternberg, 1997). However in the transition to distance-teaching the teacher again becomes a novice and needs to consolidate new teaching modes.

The teacher is a very professional person and the area that the teacher teaches is a well-defined discipline, which plays an important part in higher education (Yliuoki, 2000). Teaching the knowledge structure of the different disciplines is a pre-condition for the comprehension of the substance of those disciplines (Schwab, 1964a). It is therefore imperative that teaching should focus on the knowledge structure of the areas of knowledge and not just on the contents that they contain (Olson, 2007). In the transition to distance-teaching the teacher needs to adapt the principles of the discipline's teaching methods to the characteristics of the new teaching environment.

Research studies (Anderson & Ronnkvist, 1999; Mioduser, 2006) indicate that the number of teachers leading the innovative use of computerisation is not large and few teachers have introduced the use of the computer into teaching and learning. Additionally, according to Law et al. (2008) the extent of influence of information and communication technology in teacher-training depends on the pedagogic perceptions of the teacher-training students; these perceptions are formed during their training in teacher-training institutes, but few teachers are able to integrate technology in their teaching without seeing models of such teaching, experiencing it and imitating it (Flick & Bell, 2000). This is because pre-service teachers' experience serves as a significant basis for the ways in which they think and act as teachers (Korthagen, 2001).

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Moreover, teachers' perceptions and attitudes regarding computers and regarding their roles in computer-assisted teaching and learning influence the ways in which they use the computer in the education system (Bruder, 1992). This means that it is very important to enable practice of distance-teaching during the training of pre-service teacher-training students.

The concept of knowledge has changed its status, instead of expressing possession it now expresses accessibility. It is no longer important what a person knows, but rather to what extent that person knows how to reach the required knowledge, how to navigate within it and how to be helped by it

(Simon,1982; Harvey, 1989; Harasim, 1993; McLuham 1965) through the use of Internet language in a structure of concepts and content and this influences the manner of writing, the presentation of the information and the manner in which it read and absorbed (Lowe and Hall,1998; Hang, 2002; Man, 2002). Teaching is multi-faceted and presents many options that range over a continuum from fixed and focused organisation of teaching to flexible and open teaching. In teacher-focused teaching the teachers place themselves at the centre and see the main part of their role as the transmission of knowledge. The teacher focuses on providing teaching and the contents that he/she teaches (Cuban, 1984; Withall, 1985; Lindblom-Ylänne et al, 2006). This contrasts with learner-focused teaching in which the learner is placed at the centre (Cuban, 1984; 1990). This choice of focus in teaching has implications for other characteristics such as: teaching presence (Anderson et al., 2001; Garrison and Anderson, 2004), the construction of knowledge according to the constructivist approach to teaching based on the theory of Piaget (1970) and the use of formative or summative assessment (Scriven, 1967) through computerised assessment (Thron, 2000; Lynch, 2002; Killion, 2002).

These dimensions are likely/need to provide a response to the learning of the adult learner (Knowles, 1984a, 1984b; Cercone, 2008). Moreover, the students are characterised by different learning styles so that the teaching methods may be more effective for certain people and ineffective for others (Felder & Silverman, 1993).

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The virtual communication tools offer different options for data representation and for the creation of communications than traditional teaching and the teacher is required to redefine teaching modes in this new space. Paulsen (1995) suggested a list of functions that the learning forum instructor should fulfil and categorised them according to areas of responsibility. He determined a hierarchy of importance for each function in a category. In contrast Berge and Collins (1995) related to the functions of the forum instructors on the net from the instructor's point of view and categorised them into four areas: organizational, cognitive, social and technical. Additional important tools are: e-mail (Mabriot, 2005), presentations (Gomez et al., 2008) and digital portfolios (Lynch, 2002). In addition the familiarity with or lack of knowledge and the use or lack of use of computerised tools distinguishes between teachers with 'digital literacy' (Lanham, 1995; Gilster, 1997; Inoue, Naito & Koshizuka, 1997; Pool, 1997). Teachers are characterised in the area of organisation of information along a continuum between conservative and creative.

Virtual tools enable different interactions ranging along a continuum between a few channels of interaction to multiple channels. As noted interaction is one of the most significant components of the learning process in general (Vygotsky, 1978) and it is one of the foundation stones in the on-line learning process in particular (Moore, 1989; Rekkedal & Qvist, 2003; Anderson, 2003). The different possible interaction types are: Learner-instructor interaction (Moore and Kearsley, 1996; La Monica, 2001; Lynch, 2002; Mabrito, 2005); learner- learner interaction - this interaction leads to collaborative learning and dialogue between students (Slavin, 1990; Kagan, 1992). Combination of the three dimensions: organisation of information, organisation and management of teaching and the different types of interaction in a dialogue with technology form the two types of perceptions: computer-literacy and computer users.

This study was performed within a post-positivist paradigm. The research focused on one teacher-training college in Israel according to a qualitative research approach using a case study (Creswell, 1998; Yin, 2003). The research was conducted through an inductive process (Goetz & LeCome, 1984) emphasizing comprehension of the phenomenon through a close-up

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Distance Teaching

Teacher- Training

Teaching Dimensions Academic

Disciplines

view of the words and actions of the studied population (Patton, 1990). Validation was achieved through triangulation of findings from the different research tools.

Figure 1:

The Conceptual Framework of the Research

The figure above clearly shows the four components of this thesis. The conjunction between these components creates the gap in knowledge represented by the circle at the centre. A new pedagogy has grown to fill this gap, formed from the four models of teaching modes associated with specific disciplines and creating a typology of teaching modes.

New Pedagogy Teaching Modes corresponding to Academic Disciplines Typology

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