The
role of the 21st Century teacher is changing. As flipped classrooms and blended learning
environments become more prevalent, teachers must adapt to a new role that
requires a greater degree of precision in written communication and creative
approaches to individualized learning. To prepare myself for teaching in online and
blended learning environments, I will need to adjust several aspects of my
instructional methodology.
While “many core elements and practices in successful ‘brick and
mortar’ teaching are also present in the blended and online environment,”
online teachers must take a step beyond and engage their students, determine
student strengths and weakness, accommodate for learning disabilities and differentiate instruction all without ever meeting students face
to face. Online teachers must not expect
that the technology in itself will keep online learners engaged. The online teacher’s role includes creating
or selecting engaging content and tasks that move students “beyond the mere
acquisition of information into the development of critical thinkers and
learners.” As an online teacher, I will
need to know how to create online discussions using Learning Management Systems
AND know how to design discussion questions and feedback that get students
analyzing, evaluating, creating and engaging in intelligent online debate. From my practice in brick and mortar schools,
I know that the skills needed to create, select and promote online discussions
of this kind will take years to develop.
Writing learning objectives and assessments for an online
environment will be significantly different than in a typical face to face
learning environment. I will need to
rethink the types of tasks that students can do and how to measure student
learning. When the entire Internet is at
student fingertips, fact-based questions seem useless as an assessment. Project based learning using 21st
Century tools seems much more fitting.
Asking students to synthesize and create is more appropriate in this
environment than asking students to recall or understand.
Online teachers must also infer student learning styles and
learning disabilities through student communication. I will have to remain alert to nuances of
language and read between the lines. In
a brick and mortar school, I often pick up on body language and
intonation. These clues will be lacking
in written communication. I will need to
pay close attention to word choice and even spelling. Then I will need to ask carefully worded
questions in order to investigate the need for accommodations and
differentiation. Student – Teacher email
dialogue could provide clues about student comprehension, but it will take time
and experience to develop an intuition able to identify those students most at
risk. An excellent resource for an
online teacher would be a “red flag” list that alerts one to the types of
comments that would likely require intervention.
As
an online teacher, I will also need to improve and expand on my communication
skills in order to best support student learning. I will need to be very precise in my written
communication and be aware of how my words can be interpreted. In addition, I will need to increase my
familiarity with video conferencing tools and research best practices in online
communication. As a frequent participant
in webinars such “Making Digital Curricula Meaningful” provided by Education
Week, I will be able to discern what can go
well and what can go wrong in a synchronous web-mediated lesson. This information will help me to learn from
other’s mistakes and avoid common pitfalls.
I will also need to keep abreast of current trends in online education
via websites like Edutopia and Ted Talks on Education.
While learning to teach in an
online environment is a daunting task, it is necessary to engage 21st
Century learners and prepare them to be successful in the jobs of tomorrow.
Note: All quotes are from LEC Text Module 2,
Online and Blended Learning: History and Concepts
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