Different Roles for Online Facilitators
Why do you feel it is important for an online facilitator to wear four "pairs of shoes"?
Kevin,
That is true, there could be restrictions on the instructor regarding what they know and how much they share. When you answer a student's question, you have provided them with a resource they will want to use so they continually to come to you for answers.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
The only exception here is any possible limitation by the institution.
Cynthia,
You may be the only person the student connects to at your institution. You don't have to know all of the answers, just where to find them. It connects that student even more to you with trust
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
The four "pairs of shoes" that an online facilitator must wear are to be an curriculum instructor who provides subject matter expertise, a course manager, social director, and technical assistant. It is important as an online facilitator to support all of these roles so that the students will have guidance throughout the course. As the first line of support, the instructors facilitation skills are essential for the success of the student and to provide an exemplary student experience.
Molly,
I am sure you do! It can be so overwhelming. Try this. Create a discussion board that you required students to post their questions first before they email you. If another student answers the questions professionally and right, they get participation points. If a student emails you first, say you must post your question to the discussion board first. They will get in the habit and it will reduce your email. Of course you have to monitor it to make sure misinformation isn't given but this will work. This technique came from a middle school f2f teacher who used the rule "ask 3 before me" I just adapted it to online.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I teach both traditional classes as well as online classes, and I always feel like I have so many more questions with my online students. Students don't have anyone else to ask (as many of them don't know their "friends" in the class), and typically don't contact tech support or another resource first, so I, or the online instructor, tends to get all the questions! Often times, I feel like the instructor, the advisor, tech support, etc. I have found if you can answer the students questions before they enter the classroom with announcements and the organization of the course, it cuts down on many emails!
MARIE,
How lucky are you to have that support? You make a great point Marie, you need to find someone you can talk to regarding teaching online. It may be a discussion board, blog, or a on ground group but it does help. Just answering these questions in this forum helps me teaching online. Also, ask students what made them successful in the course at the end of the course then use that to help your students and to help you improve your course.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
MARIE,
I agree. I also that analogy also. I will tell students that if they had been my employee I would have fired them due to lack of engagement. Grades are earned, I don't give them and students don't just get them. It does help students put activities in the class in perspective.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Hello Marjorie,
I agree with you as well. It’s not easy teaching online; especially for a newbie. I have been teaching online for three years. When I first started, I wanted to throw in the towels. Today, my employer has so many resources for instructors. We have roundtable meeting every week to vent, collaborate and provide suggestions regarding the course, students, materials, ect.
Marie
Hello Dr. Kelly,
As online instructors, we must have a laser like attitude and take ownership of the classroom. Therefore, wearing four pairs of shoes should be the norm. I look at it from a business prospective. I am the CEO of my class and the reward is my student’s passing and graduating.
Marie
Yvette,
Smart move! We as educators have to stimulate the conversation and model good responses.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Yvette,
That is true. You may want to create a contingency plan that will help someone transition to what you are teaching.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Yvette,
It can be difficult when you are switching shoes so often. Remember for many of our online students, you are their only contact with the institution.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Yes, that is a good one to add! I find that I do this all the time, especially in foundational courses where the students may not be familiar with the discussion board activity and feel like they don't know what to say or what comments to make to encourage dialogue to continue. Often, it's easier to say "Good job" without adding much else. I also like to throw a wrench into the discussion to shake things up and get more dialogue going. Thanks for sharing.
I agree that is a great strategy. In most cases, they don't need anyone outside of you, the instructor, however there are always those situations when an instructor may fall ill or have an emergency that prevents them from actively participating for a period of time or from communicating with students. So that students are not left feeling like no one is responding or they are being ignored, it would be helpful if there was a backup person to reach out to in case of an unforeseen circumstance. Thanks for sharing that point!
I think it is important for an online facilitator to wear four "pairs of shoes" because as an online facilitator, there are different responsibilities involved. As stated in some of the other responses to this thread, I often use the term wearing different "hats" as well. In both the online and on-ground environments, I find myself wearing the different hats on a regular basis. There are moments where I have on my 'educator' hat and I am providing instruction or teaching material. Within that, you may serve as a 'SME or subject matter expert'. In addition, we also serve as a 'mentor' or cheerleader for our students. This often occurs in the individual emails when a student communicates a challenge and you provide encouragement. Also, we serve as guides and 'social managers' by encouraging participation and interaction within the blogs, threads, discussion boards and student lounge. Finally, as the training stated, we also serve as 'technical support' on a basic level, by doing things like resetting assignments and tests and providing basic support to help them navigate the LMS. Obviously, for anything major, I refer them to the actual Help Desk, but it's critical to our students' success that we can take off one hat and quickly apply another to help them in different ways as they deal with different types of challenges.
Linda,
That is so true. You have to provide that feedback promptly to make sure students haven't misinterpreted information critical for their success. It is your job to engage, correct, and encourage students to take their learning and make it "authentic" regarding real world use.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
It is important that the instructor know the materials they are teaching, but it is also important to correct students when they have misinterpreted information. A facilitator must always encourage students to achieve their learning goals through positive feedback and in some instances ask students to apply their own personal knowledge of a situation to enhance and improve their depth of learning. A facilitator must also evaluate a student's performance and suggest ways of improving their learning skills. Being able to troubleshoot minor technical problems can also become part of the role of a facilitator. If you are unable to help the student, there should be a phone number or location they can go to for assistance.
Mischel,
I like that term "one stop shop". It really does best describe our roles as facilitators. We may be the only person they have contact with from the institution.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
