Changing Roles in the Online World

As a traditional instructor and a lover of face to face interaction, I was skeptical when I started the ONTL certificate program. It wasn't that I didn't believe online technology tools weren't valuable in education, because I do. It wasn't that I didn't love the web world, because I do. And it certainly isn't because I'm intimidated or wary of technology, because I'm not. Technology has been a part of my professional life for a long time. So, what is it? It’s the loneliness of always being in the print, text, surfing world. So, this brings me to the importance of embracing and understanding your changing role as an online instructor.

In order to be effective online you must release some of the preconceived notions of the f2f world. There are unique skills educators must gain to give online students a well organized and executed learning experience. One of the most important is learning to be an online facilitator of your students learning. Being responsive to discussion posts and Socratic in your questioning are critical to developing your online pedagogical skills. I didn't fully understand this until now.

As a F2F "sage" I could shoot from the hip and engage in witty banter often with little forthought or planning. Not so in my new online world. Clear and precise planning, online content management, site organization, constructive feedback posts, mediating difficult student-student exchanges without the ability to use facial expressions, :( these are the new skills I need! Community building at its best. Yes, changing roles, familiar yet new. And then, there's HTML:

I can do this! (I wrote that line with HTML code...really.)

As I move forward in the course, I will become more comfortable with my new role and online environment. It's a little intimidating at times, but also quite exciting.