The role of the teacher in elearning

“Is there any body out there?”

The role of the teacher in elearning appears to be shadowed by the central role that is now being played by the learner. Within a traditional context this would not have been the case. The teacher’s position was dominant as the source of all knowledge, and that knowledge was dispensed at his or her own will. The student’s function was largely passive.

Within the elearning environment, this norm seems to have been upended. Within a social constructivist approach, students are now responsible for their own learning. Through interaction and collaboration with other learners, a student is required to construct knowledge through active involvement with other learners and the wider online community (Rovai, 2003). Learners are responsible for taking new information and integrating this knowledge with previous experience. The teacher now has the role of mentor, coach and facilitator, assisting learners in navigating the new environment.

However, it is clear that despite the best intentions and careful planning, learner and teacher may become disconnected. How can this be avoided?

The answer lies within the control of both the learner and the teacher. It is not an issue of “blame”, but may be rather a failure on the part of the learner to appreciate that he is in a new learning environment, and a failure on the part of the teacher to maintain certain of the old style pedagogies in the new setting. 

Let us consider first the role that the learner needs to play in assisting the teacher in finding his or her role. Communication is necessary and simply being online does not insure this. The learner needs to take charge and feel empowered to do so. However the dynamics of online communication are different. Learners may feel more vulnerable as they tentatively present academic argument in the public forum than they would feel in direct verbal conversation. Furthermore, Ham and Davey (2005) found that the asynchronous nature of online learning demotivated learners. They observed that “traditional face-to-face group dynamics still tended to be the yardstick by which the value of the teaching-learning experience was judged, and online pedagogies were by many valued only in proportion to how well they seemed to reproduce or simulate an equivalent face-to-face experience, rather than as a qualitatively different form in itself.” Part of learner education needs to be a reevaluation of these criteria and a conscious embracing of a new style of teacher and teaching.

From the teacher’s perspective, the ease of accessibility of online learning should not be compromised by indifferent delivery and feedback. The strength of traditional (i.e. face-to-face, synchronous) teaching is that student motivation is maintained more successfully through the interpersonal relationship that is more easily developed between student and teacher. Within an elearning environment a blended programme would ensure crucial stages of motivation building through synchronous sessions were included, with a constructivist approach used in collaborative asynchronous threaded discussions and emails.

In conclusion, I suggest that many principles that have governed traditional education are able to be transferred, and should be carried into elearning education. Teachers in their elearning role are faced with different learners requiring extensive interaction and opportunities for collaboration with other learners and their teacher. A teaching presence stimulating dialogue, outlining and prompting course direction and cognitive demands, synthesizing information, is still required. Teachers may benefit by considering their existent pedagogy and adapting it within models such as ASSURE (Analyse the learner, State the learning objectives, select the methods, media and materials to be used in the classroom, Utilise the chosen media and materials, Require learner participation, Evaluate and revise the learning material) (Fennema, 2003, p. 244).

I also suggest that teachers may have abdicated their role as expert in their subject, and too readily taken on the roles of guide and supporter. They may no longer be “the final word” on an issue, but they still have an academic voice that holds sway with their learners and provides learners with an academic base against which to foil further opinion. Utilizing Collins’s cognitive apprenticeship theory (Collins, Brown, & Newman, 1989) where the focus is on "learning-through-guided experience" (Collins et al., 1989, p.457), students may be assisted by the teacher “master” in acquiring an "integrated set of cognitive and metacognitive skills through processes of observation and guided and supported practice" (Collins et al., 1989, p. 481).

It is interesting to note that researchers have found that online teaching is a more lengthy process than face-to-face. This is because of the considerably greater time it may take to “moderate and sustain discussion both with the group and with individuals” (Ham & Davey, 2005). However, it is this communicative relationship that is able to exist between teachers and students, and students and students, that is critical in the teaching process, not just being technologically interactive.

Reference List

Collins, A., Brown, J. S., & Newman, S. E. (1989). Cognitive apprenticeship: Teaching the crafts of reading, writing, and mathematics. In L. Resnick (Ed.), Knowing, learning, and instruction: Essays in honor of Robert Glaser. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Fennema, B. (2003). Preparing faculty members to teach in the e-learning environment. In S.Reisman, S. (Ed.), Electronic Learning Communities. Connecticut: Information Age Publishing.

Ham, V. & Davey, R. (2005). Our first time: two higher education tutors reflect on becoming a 'virtual teacher'. false Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 42 (3), 257-264.

Johnston, S. (2010). Teacher transformation with elearning experiences: A case for addressing personal practical theories in academic development. In C.H.Steel, M.J.Keppell, P.Gerbic & Housego (Eds.), Curriculum, technology & transformation for an unknown future. Proceedings ascilite Sydney 2010 (pp. 463-468).

http://ascilite.org.au/conferences/sydney10/procs/Johnston-concise.pdf

Murphy, K., Mahoney, S., Chen, C.Y., Mendoza-Diaz, N. & Yang, X. (2005). A Constructivist Model of Mentoring, Coaching, and Facilitating Online Discussions. Distance Education, 26 (3), 341-366.

Rovai, A. (2003). A constructivist approach to online college learning. Internet and Higher Education, 7 (2), 79-93.