DEVELOPMENT OF EFFECTIVE EDUCATORSNecessary skills needed by effective distance learning professionals.

Ben Sullens

CUR532 – Melinda Medina

March 30, 2015

ONLINE EDUCATION V. OTHER FORMAL METHODS OF LEARNING Online education is similar to any other formal education:

learners’ needs are assessed; content is negotiated or prescribed; learning activities are

orchestrated; and learning is assessed. (Anderson, 2004)

SELECT IMPORTANT SKILLS FOR ONLINE EDUCATORSUnderstanding the Educators Role

Building an Online Community

Palloff and Pratt (2011) discuss in their book various key points that define an excellent online instructor, almost every point is around what the online educators role is in the classroom, online or otherwise.

Community is also a key aspect of an online classroom. Palloff and Pratt (2011) quote Brook and Oliver (2003), “social phenomenon of community may be put to good use in the support of online learning. This is well supported by … the role of social interaction in the construction on knowledge.”

THREE ROLES OF EFFECTIVE ONLINE TEACHERS Anderson, Rourke, Archer, and Garrison (2001) described

three roles that a teacher accomplishes in the process of creating a effective online teaching presence. First, is the design and organization of the learning experience that

takes place before the establishment of the learning community and during its operation (Anderson, 2004).

Second, teaching involves devising and implementing activities to encourage discourse between and among students, between the teacher and the student, and between individual students and groups of students and content resources (Anderson, 2002).

Third, the teaching role goes beyond that of moderating the learning experiences when the teacher adds subject matter expertise through a variety of forms of direct instruction (Anderson, 2004)

DEVELOPMENT OF A FACULTY'S ROLE The development of an online educator is similar to the

route taken by traditional educators. The process includes Getting to know the school Learning the basics on online instruction Refining details of the educators field Developing the educator as a leader (Palloff and Pratt, 2011)

COMMUNITY

Classrooms that have a sense of community thrive. In online and distance classrooms, you lose the ability to create community in the physical sense. Thing an online educator can do to build a community in their virtual spaces by developing an online presence as soon as possible in the course (Palloff & Platt, 2011).

CREATING A COMMUNITY

Charalambos, Michalinos, and Chamberlain (2004) describe what they believe to be the common characteristics of the learning community, which include a common sense of responsibility among participants toward

assigned tasks and their peers; joint vision and control of the community equally shared among members;

a safe environment where opinions can be freely shared and questions asked without fear of retribution;

structural dependence that establishes the need to interact and share resources;

and mutual support among members and subgroups.

TYPES OF PRESENCE IN AN ONLINE COMMUNITY Cognitive presence

Development of an environment that supports the development and growth of critical thinking skills

Social presence “…establishment of a supportive environment such that students

feel the necessary degree of comfort and safety to express their ideas in a collaborative context (Anderson, 2004).”

Teaching presence “…teaching presence is delegated to or assumed by students as

they contribute their own skills and knowledge to the developing learning community (Anderson, 2004).”

HOW CAN AN EDUCATOR LEARN TO DEVELOP COMMUNITY With online education, you lose the face to face

interaction and everything that comes with a physical classroom. This loss does not mean educators lose the ability to create connections. It can be something as simple as an email or private message to something as complex as a becoming a mentor to a student online or off.

The most important learning that can happen in creating community, is experiencing the educator role and what needs to happen for a successful classroom community.

SUMMARY

Teaching in an online context can be an invigorating experience for both the student and the teacher. Online educators can look towards their students and build experiences for them to bridge new ideas and existing concepts.

It’s up to the students to bring their own backgrounds into the mix and build on their own experiences to learn and grow.

REFERENCES

Anderson. T.. (2004). Teaching in an Online Learning Context. Theory and Practice of Online Learning, 1(1), 273-294. Athabasca University.

Charalambos, V., Michalinos, Z., & Chamberlain, R. (2004). The design of online learning communities: Critical issues. Educational Media International, 41(2), 135–143

Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2011). The Excellent Online Instructor: Strategies for Professional Development . New York, NY: Wiley.