Teachers
First, be aware that the level of scrutiny of online teachers appears to much higher than for those working solely in the face-to-face environment. The credibility of online learning has been questioned from academic and from socialization perspectives. Some educators would maintain that the online environment for teaching and learning is just not equal to the face-to-face one, and really never will be.
Certainly, there is a need for solid, research-based documentation, however the general feeling now among online and non-online educators is that Online and eLearning options do far more to help students gain greater academic achievement than just to provide greater access and opportunity for learning.
Online teaching, when done well, can address more of the individual needs and learning styles of online students. Repeatedly, online students report that the work is harder AND that they feel they get more personal attention from their teachers. Naturally, that attention level is something teachers need to consider as they look at the work scope for online teaching. There are ways to minimize the intensity of email information and requests from students all hours of the day all days of the week. Those will be discussed later.
It is true that there can be some "socialization" fallout for students who do all of their education online. The growing online home school population at the K-12 level has some good practices in this area that could serve as an example for the public online school community: arrange for appropriate times for students to meet for academic work projects and for pure socialization (roller-skating, movies, etc.) It is widely known that home school parents use these extra activities in their education plan as well (i.e. seeing the physics aspects of roller-skating, and going to see a new movie and writing a review.)
Aside from the scrutiny that online education is facing across the nation, there is a usual process for the development and delivery of online material to students. That process has been identified by a number of online schools, researchers, and others interested in Online Teaching Best Practice. The process below is a cycle, one that can inform the teacher about the essential components of effective online teaching.
There are different roles in the production and delivery of online courses. You may just write...be the author of classes and not deliver them online. OR, you may do both. Each task requires considerable time, since you first must write the course material AND anticipate what students will want to know prior to launching the class. That sort of planning takes a lot of time, since you do not want to make any changes in the site after it begins; those sorts of changes are what drive students crazy.
The Distance Education Teaching Process Cycle...Constructing the Online Lesson
Material in this section of the K-12 Online Teaching Resource will focus on the PROCESS of working with and through the following categories of online instructional components. This process is the Distance Ed Teaching Process Cycle:
- PRODUCE content and resources based upon curricular standards and quality;
- Where does your Content come from? (Previous face-to-face material; textbooks; another teacher; online resource)
- Which standards do you need to follow?
- Who can help you with planning and constructing?
- How does your plan fit with the "articulation" needs across the grade levels? Does the "concept" fit with what was taught before and what will be taught next?
- Other questions?
- FACILITATE the delivery of that content through useful and understandable Web interfaces, efficient navigation, meaningful learning objects, appropriate pacing and sequencing, and seamless online learning environments;
- What does the INTERFACE look like? Who runs it? Is it supported?
- What navigation is possible? Can everyone, even those with Special Needs, access your lesson/class?
- ENGAGE learners through a variety of modes of Web-based and other online communication techniques to optimize learning that addresses the wide variety of student learning styles;
- What are some ways that you will "talk" with students online AND encourage their online "talking?"
- Are there special multi-media tools you need to make your topic/lesson "come alive?"
- Will you need help making your topic/lesson "happen" the way you want online?
- ASSESS and encourage student learning responsibility and content mastery and completion, based upon adopted and communicated rubrics and standards;
- How will you get what you need/what from students that you can grade...assess?
- How do you assess student online work? Presence...time logged on, and contribution?
- What requirements are there in your school and/or district for assessing student work and class participation?
- RESPOND to student needs through personal and group communication to meet student expectations for involvement that encourages high achievement and course completion.
- How will you answer questions...and in what mode will you respond, to students, parents, administrators, and the community.
- How will you keep this "cycle" of instructional process going. How can you be DYNAMIC in this cyber, Distance Education environment?
This is an ever-moving cycle, and online teachers find that concentrating on just one of the categories above is not sufficient. Work on and in these Cycle Categories happens every day in a given twenty-four hour period for an online teacher, who must understand that if students can do this work anytime, anywhere, at any pace, then the teacher will be expected to be available on the same terms.
