• The VIA Video Teleconferencing System was used to give weekly courses. Among the different features of this tool was a virtual whiteboard, the ActivBoard, which facilitated the exchange of information during the course. My students could follow along step-by-step as I used an optical marker to solve programming problems and exercises exactly as I would use a whiteboard in a classroom. In addition to this feature, the equation, drawing and text editors gave the whiteboard's virtual version a distinct advantage over its less technical classroom cousin. The ActivBoard also allowed external files to be housed and viewed. Finally, the true beauty of this tool was that I could record everything in a .pdf document which could be accessed by students on the college's network.
• Distance access to the server at the Collège de Bois-de-Boulogne and document sharing on DECclic permitted the distribution and submission of documents and homework.
• DECclic was also invaluable for sommative and formative evaluation and for chat. Students contacted me using DECclic's message function or by e-mail outside of class hours. DECclic was also useful when students wanted to share an exercise that was too big to put on the VIA platform. The students could send it to me on the DECclic message function where I could then debug and return it.

How would you describe the experience?

Fantastic! I give my course in more or less the same manner as I did before, but I find that the students are more focused on what I'm presenting. I frequently encourage them to participate by asking a question, by expressing their own point of view, by discussing a problem that they are having, by responding to a survey, or by using the application sharing feature to present their own solution or problem, etc. I sometimes get the feeling that I'm team teaching with them. Even during the breaks, they remain on line and use the table which I open to facilitate social exchanges.

Students can take the course from the computer laboratory of their own college or from home and are only required to be present for exams. They can meet with a teacher at either of the colleges, if that seems to be required, and I have office hours at night through the VIA platform. Although it is not mandatory, at the start of a session everyone is present, some in pajamas and others with a cup of coffee at hand. Gradually, those that have understood either help the others or leave the session.

What are the advantages that you have seen?

The competitive spirit that is in the physical classroom evolves into a much more cooperative atmosphere in the virtual environment where each participant receives more visibility. A face-to-face encounter between the students of the two schools indicated that a real team spirit had developed among them even though they had met only in the virtual world. The students seemed to have known each other for quite a while, and no cliques had formed, a phenomenon which is quite common among traditional groups.