70

‪Online university tutoring combines tradition and modernity through the association of old educational practice with recent communication tools, hence the hybridity that characterises it. This hybridity also stems from the fact that online tutoring and face-to-face tutoring are sometimes offered alternately so that students feel less isolated, know their tutors better and get to know each other. On the other hand, the current trend of offering an increasing number of online university courses is likely to alter the tutorial relationship, which is based on the attention paid to others and is underpinned by human accompaniment. These critical points are discussed in the text in support of research carried out on these issues. In doing so, researchers are also called upon to mobilise rather innovative systemic and mixed research protocols to explore the broad spectrum of interactions likely to be implemented by stakeholders involved in such devices. The Vygotskyian reference, particularly to the notion of mediation, is also examined at the end of this summary note.‪