Becoming an Online Instructor
Self-reflection
It’s kind of difficult not to try to
write in first person, but this “self-reflection” is in first person. I needed to answer the questions below to organize
my thoughts and try to visualize what my next step in my professional
practicum and development will be.
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After considering the effect of one’s presence in online
courses and teaching, one needs to reflect on how to adapt F2F instruction
activities to an online scenario. But going beyond this simple reflection
activity I am not part of, how can one
answer the following questions to fully become an online instructor?
Ø
How comfortable are you with transitioning to become an online
instructor?
Being honest, as an ELT instructor I feel quite
comfortable when thinking that I can become an online instructor in language
learning. I just don’t feel comfortable, but also excited and willing to
take the risk. Excitement is another kind of feeling that is going through my
self. I feel excited about thinking that I can be dealing with a new way of
learning than simply being in a classroom with pupils. Trying to connect to
students via online learning scenarios is something I have been visualizing for
a long time. Education is evolving, and we are heading for hybrid and blended
learning environments. I just want to feel what this is all about to help
students learn and develop themselves satisfactorily in this new trend in
education.
Excitement –indeed- is part of the cornerstone of what
is driving my professional life at this point. However, my willingness to try a
different route as a language professional is part of my learning and
professional goals. Now I feel ready to take the next step in my professional
development by experiencing and finding new ways to assist students in their
building of their language knowledge via a different but effective way of
learning, -online-. Scholars have been discussing the pros and cons of online
education for a while, and they do believe it is the “new” way of learning.
Ø
Do you feel confident transitioning to become an online
instructor?
I do feel confident transitioning to find myself turned
into an online instructor. The way in which my last five years of training has
been superb! I began being a neophyte in using technology for education and now
I am at the doors of experiencing a new world of teaching. My former experience
has also helped me to visualize my teaching in the years to come: Using all
possible digital means to help learners become confident and autonomous in
their own learning.
Working on hybrid learning empirically for a couple of
years made me mature professionally and had me read extensively on better ways of
using technology in education. Now, with the proper and unique guidance
provided by Laureate Education on its Faculty Platform, and the new experiences
for the acquisition of new knowledge, I feel quite confident in becoming an
online instructor. Although there are “new things” to learn, the first step
into changing learning scenarios is one’s readiness and predisposition.
Ø
How do you feel you have the necessary skills to be an online
instructor?
Instead of inherent skills for an online teacher, I
prefer to think of necessary competencies
to teach in hybrid, blended learning, or online contexts. A skill seems to be
something innate and that I already have, but a competency is something that
needs to be learned, developed, nourished, and finally polished. As an amateur
online instructor I am certain that I am working on my social, teaching, and
cognitive presence in the ELT blended learning we are currently running at the
university. Learning by doing is indeed a great way of living what one is
learning.
As a consequence of this “learning-by-doing” mode, the
acquisition of new competencies –unique for online teaching- is a goal in
itself and motivation to complete one’s cycle in transitioning to become an
online instructor. Once these new online teaching competencies are polished,
one is ready to step into the online teaching scenario and perform confidently.
Ø
Are there any skills or concepts related to instructing online
that you would like to learn?
A competency that I am looking forward to learning is
how can a F2F course syllabus is moved or transformed into an online syllabus.
I am excited about the fact that one can become an online course developer on
learning platforms such as Moodle, Blackboard, and the like. Perhaps, even a
simple learning platform like Google Sites can be turned into an effective LMS
with great doses of social, teaching, and cognitive presence for both
instructors and students.
To sum up, although I am just answering these questions
out of my experience, the sense of confidence needed to become an online
instructor is a key element to take the risk of experiencing online education.
Our world is moving us towards hybrid, blended learning, and online learning
and teaching scenarios. We instructors have to be prepared for the change and
to develop ourselves professionally in this new trend in education.
E To fully develop and comprehend this teaching issue,
it’s advisable to research and expand these areas:
1
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Teaching
comfort in online scenarios
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2
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What it takes
to become an online instructor
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3
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Competencies in
online teaching
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4
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The literature
for online hybrid / blended education
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5
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Transforming
the F2F syllabi into online learning
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Professor
Jonathan
Acuña-Solano
ELT
Instructor & Trainer based in Costa Rica
Freelance ELT Consultant four OUP in Central America
For
further comments or suggestions, reach me at:
@jonacuso –
Twitter
Other blogs and sites I often write for my students at
the university are:
Get a cope of "Becoming an Online Instructor by Jonathan Acuña" here.
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