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I enjoyed Dale Salwak¡¯s thoughtful and thought-provoking article about his experience of teaching an online course (¡°From chalkface to interface¡±, Feature, 13 February). It¡¯s worth noting, however, that he was not teaching a?massive open online course. First, it wasn¡¯t open; and second, with 35 students, it was more a micro online course.

There are two take-home messages from his experiment. First, if the effort of engaging and retaining 33 of his 35 students left Salwak ¡°emotionally and intellectually drained¡±, how much more effort would be needed for a successful Mooc? And second, if?you are lucky enough to teach a course comprising only 35 students, don¡¯t fritter away the opportunity by substituting face-to-face teaching for technology.

Tim Birkhead
University of Sheffield