The Role of Teachers in Online Learning (or what will they do now we got all these computers?)

When looking at online learning we often focus on what technology can do to support the learners. We oftenly forget that learners are not the only ones present in the classroom but that there's teachers there as well. In a world that's going online more every day it's important not to forget about the people that have been teaching us for hundreds of years.

Luckily enough not everyone is forgetting about the teachers. Anderson (2008) in her book discusses the role teachers can play in online learning environments. This role is based on a model that views learning in an online learning environment as a combination of social presence, cognitive presence and teaching presence. Designing this teaching presence is the role of the teacher. This activity has 3 parts, organizing the experience, designing the activities and going beyond merely moderating but providing subject-matter expertise. The hard part for teaching within an online environment for teachers will be balancing between being content-providers and being facilitators, the discussion about which role teachers should have is still ongoing and is one I look forward to having.

Anderson, T. (2008). Teaching in an Online Learning Context. In T. Anderson (Ed.), The Theory And Practice Of Online Learning (2nd ed., pp. 343-365). Edmonton: Athabasca University Press.