The importance of technology skills to effective online teaching
While I agree that "An interest in pedagogy should come first, technology second" (Ko & Rossen, p. 16), I do not agree that a "very basic familiarity with computers and the Internet will more than suffice" when it comes to online teaching. I have watched too many classroom teachers, afraid to integrate technology into their classrooms or to utilize the features of grading software, all of whom have a "very basic familiarity with computers and the Internet." I can't imagine putting these same teachers into a situation where they had to teach online. Most of them would have no idea where to begin and no confidence in their ability to teach under such circumstances.
My theory is that a basic familiarity with computers combined with an interest in learning more about technology and a confidence in one's ability to learn more is more descriptive of what is needed, along with expertise in the subject area of course, to become a decent online teacher. Ko and Rossen would seem to contradict themselves in their second chapter when they write that "No one knows everything, not even your computer support personnel. Even in a high-tech world, you have to do a little homework of your own to stay on top of new developments" (p. 33). This would imply personal responsibility for an online teacher to learn what's needed when it comes to technology.
The frustrations of working with computer tools one isn't familiar with or feeling helpless when the technology isn't behaving as you expected will surely impact the effectiveness of the teaching of the subject matter. Ignorance of the variety of resources available both online and within an institution when it comes to technology would also be stumbling blocks to successful online teaching.
An interesting document located at www.sreb.org/programs/EdTech/pubs/PDF/Essential_Principles.pdf discusses important qualities for online teaching, one of which includes being able to troubleshoot student technical problems. Surely, this is yet another reason more than basic tech skills are necessary to be a successful online teacher. Read this article. It's full of interesting thoughts.
posted by Sarah M. Freking @ 9:35 PM
2 Comments:
I was glad to see your critical thinking on this statement. I wrote a long post in Dave's blog on the same topic, so I won't rant on again here, but I did so appreciate your emphasis on personal responsibility to learn what's needed to do the job. What's happening in our industry (online education) is an emerging consensus on just "what's needed." Although many folks get upset by the idea of more standards, I believe developing standards for online teachers is where we currently are in online education. Once that is complete, we'll begin to see the introduction of those standards in teacher education programs that will begin to offer certifications and endorsements in online teaching (this is in the k12 area). In higher ed, I think we have a longer road to haul, due to the historical nature of the institution. For example, a math professor typically comes into higher ed with little, if any, prior teaching experience. His training has been on content. Although the university will support that professor with some professional development, that math professor will never learn as much about pedagogy/andragogy as someone who has gone through a teacher certification program in math.
This is an interesting point of view. You say that you do not believe that basic computer skill is enough to teach an online class. I have to disagree with you that it is possible to teach an online class with basic computer knowledge. However, the class will not be as effective with a pasted copy of a syllabus and assignments. It is possible to run a class on minimal knowledge it just won't be as effective as it could be. I agree with Ko adn Rossen that it is up to the teacher to keep as up to date as he or she wants to be. The better a teacher wants his/her online class to be the more that the teacher will be willing to learn to get to that desired level. The University of Maryland, College Park has information and links for teachers wanting to utilize technology at http://www.wam.umd.edu/~mlhall/teaching.html.
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