Ensuring Teacher Presence
Perhaps the greatest challenge I have had, and continue to face, is the premise that Distributed Learning equals teacher as marker and student/ teacher ratios of 200:1. It is to this that I have frequently needed to introduce the tenets of the Community of Inquiry Framework, (Garrison, Anderson, and Archer (2000) in that successful online learning environments need to have an interaction of three critical elements: Social Presence, Cognitive Presence, and Teacher Presence. Terry Anderson also breaks down Teacher Presence into three important components; design and organization, facilitating discourse, and direct instruction. These same elements are found in both online and F2F environments. The Hanover Research Council also supports the importance of the interaction of the three presences in online environments as well as points out that smaller class size is optimal in establishing these presences. So, given the very credible and tested research available, why is there such reluctance to break away from the model that is mostly asynchronous, teacher as marker, and large class size? I believe that the answer lies in the same area that affects many educational questions, that is, Best Practice can be costly.
So who would be best suited to help solve this issue? This question would really necessitate using a diverse team made up of practitioners in online learning, the online school administration, students taking online courses, a Consultant in the area of technology and learning, and representation from senior management. It would make sense to include the teachers working in online environments to present their view and findings relevant to successful or best practice in ensuring student success. It is not very difficult to find research stating that building relationships between the teacher and their students, and between students themselves is not critical to the learning equation. This evidence can be given credence by the experiences of the teachers. Students would be able to express what makes online learning engaging and desirable for them. Their perspectives on how they like to learn would be valuable in looking at supporting best practice. The Consultant would be able to support the teachers by providing the research covering an array of studies on this topic and possibly networking with outside experts in the field that could contribute their thoughts and experience. Of course, the team would need to have someone from Senior Management on it to provide the outlook of the District and the policies and parameters of funding and supporting this type of learning situation. It would be this person that would provide the interface between practice and the system hierarchy. This leaves the school administrator with the dubious honor of chairing or leading the team. I see this person as best suited to bridge the gap between the teachers’ and students’ realities and the needs and requirements of management. With this team working together, the potential for moving toward a student-centered approach to online learning would be significant. Could this happen in your school/District?
References
University of Athabasca. (2015). Community of Inquiry. Retrieved 16 November, 2015, from https://coi.athabascau.ca/coi-model/
Anderson, T. .E.T. .A.L. (2004). Teaching in an Online Learning Context. In Anderson, T (Ed), Theory and Practice of Online Learning (pp. ). Athabasca: AUPress. Retrieved 16 November, 2015 from http://cde.athabascau.ca/online_book/ch11.html
Hanover institute, . (2009). Best Practices in Online Teaching Strategies. Retrieved 16 November, 2015, from www.hanoverresearch.com
Perhaps the greatest challenge I have had, and continue to face, is the premise that Distributed Learning equals teacher as marker and student/ teacher ratios of 200:1. It is to this that I have frequently needed to introduce the tenets of the Community of Inquiry Framework, (Garrison, Anderson, and Archer (2000) in that successful online learning environments need to have an interaction of three critical elements: Social Presence, Cognitive Presence, and Teacher Presence. Terry Anderson also breaks down Teacher Presence into three important components; design and organization, facilitating discourse, and direct instruction. These same elements are found in both online and F2F environments. The Hanover Research Council also supports the importance of the interaction of the three presences in online environments as well as points out that smaller class size is optimal in establishing these presences. So, given the very credible and tested research available, why is there such reluctance to break away from the model that is mostly asynchronous, teacher as marker, and large class size? I believe that the answer lies in the same area that affects many educational questions, that is, Best Practice can be costly.
So who would be best suited to help solve this issue? This question would really necessitate using a diverse team made up of practitioners in online learning, the online school administration, students taking online courses, a Consultant in the area of technology and learning, and representation from senior management. It would make sense to include the teachers working in online environments to present their view and findings relevant to successful or best practice in ensuring student success. It is not very difficult to find research stating that building relationships between the teacher and their students, and between students themselves is not critical to the learning equation. This evidence can be given credence by the experiences of the teachers. Students would be able to express what makes online learning engaging and desirable for them. Their perspectives on how they like to learn would be valuable in looking at supporting best practice. The Consultant would be able to support the teachers by providing the research covering an array of studies on this topic and possibly networking with outside experts in the field that could contribute their thoughts and experience. Of course, the team would need to have someone from Senior Management on it to provide the outlook of the District and the policies and parameters of funding and supporting this type of learning situation. It would be this person that would provide the interface between practice and the system hierarchy. This leaves the school administrator with the dubious honor of chairing or leading the team. I see this person as best suited to bridge the gap between the teachers’ and students’ realities and the needs and requirements of management. With this team working together, the potential for moving toward a student-centered approach to online learning would be significant. Could this happen in your school/District?
References
University of Athabasca. (2015). Community of Inquiry. Retrieved 16 November, 2015, from https://coi.athabascau.ca/coi-model/
Anderson, T. .E.T. .A.L. (2004). Teaching in an Online Learning Context. In Anderson, T (Ed), Theory and Practice of Online Learning (pp. ). Athabasca: AUPress. Retrieved 16 November, 2015 from http://cde.athabascau.ca/online_book/ch11.html
Hanover institute, . (2009). Best Practices in Online Teaching Strategies. Retrieved 16 November, 2015, from www.hanoverresearch.com