For many institutions of distance education, offering the volume of courses and course sections required necessitates a centralized curriculum. Indeed, many administrators of distance learning tend to prefer the centralized curriculum model for its ability to unify the educational experiences of students. A pleasant byproduct of the centralized curriculum is the additional control afforded to the administration by the model.

However, the risk in a centralized curriculum is the tendency toward an algorithmic approach to curriculum and instruction. While this could be perceived as the logical progression of a centralized curriculum, distance learning institutions to an even greater degree than traditional education institutions cannot afford an algorithmic approach to curriculum and instruction as there is a significant propensity inherent in this approach to lose or diminish the art and humanity of education. To remove the human aspect from an online course would certainly result in diminished enrollment and subsequent financial implications for the institution. The art and humanity of curriculum development must be balanced with the necessary mechanics of curriculum design.

It is noticeably more difficult to project a sense of humanity in an online environment. It is not, however, impossible; it simply requires different techniques. From the curricular vantage point, these techniques include creating materials that promote significant learner and instructor interaction. These materials must be artfully created with the online setting, instructor, and student in mind if a sense of humanity is to be preserved. They cannot be mechanistically produced using an algorithmic approach.

In tandem with this type of curricular development, online instructors must master the art of written communication since most interaction between instructors and students in an online setting is in written form. To do this requires balancing the need to communicate clearly and succinctly with the need to use an appropriate number and type of words so as not to appear abrupt and uncaring. In all cases, the use of colloquialism, cliché, jargon, and an instant messaging style of shorthand language should be avoided in favor of academic language. The goal of this balance is a conversational style of writing using appropriate academic language to communicate required information with a sense of warmth and feeling. Instructors who master this balance are a joy to their students and a boon to the institutions at which they serve.

Thus, while a centralized curriculum may seem to naturally lead to an algorithmic approach, institutions of distance education must be aware of this propensity and take steps to avoid it. The methodology of curriculum development cannot be reduced to a mechanistic or algorithmic approach. Concurrently, instructors must learn techniques of written communication to retain a sense of caring and humanity in their online classrooms. Combined, these actions produce an environment that connects students and facilitates their learning.