Different Roles for Online Facilitators
Why do you feel it is important for an online facilitator to wear four "pairs of shoes"?
Online facilitators have an important role to play to their students. Wearing four pairs of shoes: instructor, social director, program manager, and technical assistant is important because you are the students "one stop shop." You are there as the instructor to guide them and provide resources that enable the students to complete assignments. As the social director, you are there to guide meaningful discussions by allowing students to interact with each other. The program manager component ensures that the facilitator knows the course content and can guild the students through the course materials. As the technical assistant, the facilitator must be comfortable navigating through the course. All of these roles are a key function in the students success in the course.
Rakisha,
You are right. In the online environment, you may be the only person they connect to from the institution. It is important not to know everything, but to know where to direct students to reliable information.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson,
It is important for the facilitator to take on the roles of instructor, social director, program manager and technical assistant. In the instructor role we provide information and problem solving strategies for the assignments. I always try and associate the new material with something they can readily relate to in their everyday life.
As the social director, we have to have to encourage student to student interaction. I always tell them that their classmates are their first career networking opportunities.
As a program director, we are responsible for the organization and administrative duties of the course. Making sure grades are posted on time, content is presented in a logical manner, etc. All of this is important to keeping the course moving forward.
As the Technical Assistant, we need to be able to guide the students through the use of the LMS and often the software needed to complete the assignments.
As noted in previous comments we really are their main point of contact at our schools. And even when they ask questions we may not be able to answer fully, we should be able to direct them to resources that can. (I have sent many a student to Technical support when their LMS issues are beyond my scope.)
Anthony,
Another great post. It may be more important that you know where to send students when they need help as you are their first point of contact.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I feel that it is important for an online facilitator to wear different pairs of shoes because that is the nature of the position. There are different aspects of the online facilitator that involve classroom management, counseling, communication, and education along with other roles to encourage participation, promote motivation, maintain community and model expected conduct.
The four different shoes are program manager, social director, technical assistant and instructor. It is important for the online instructor to be all at the same time because she/he is the only one the students know. Students may approach the instructor for different reasons and it can be quite strange (if not embarrassing) if the instructor tells the student "I don't know because I am not the program director". The students expect complete help from the online instructor.
Kelly,
I think wearing four pair of shoes is fitting as the shoe does depend on what you are doing. If you are in the instructional shoes (I like to think of them as a gym shoe), you are actively engaged and moving around a lot to ensure everything is working well. The social director shoe is more of a casual everyday shoe, where engagement is important but you want the engagement of others to wear the causal shoe and walk with you on a steady pace in the neighborhood. The shoe of the program director is the fancy or shiny shoe for the professional, the behind the scene things with those of stature to ensure everything is done or all resources are received and finally the technological assistant shoe should be sandals, as most issues require that calm demeanor resolving the tech issues.
Philemon,
Nice comments! That is so true, we may not know the answer but we have to make sure we know where to find the answers.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Patricia,
You make such great points. It is important that we as instructors play a supporting role in the learning process and we have do address a variety of issues that are unique to that one individual.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Michael,
I love your analogy of the different types of shoes that match my analogy. There are different looks of the instructor the student may or may not see. We don't have to be experts in each field, we just have to be aware.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
You are correct about all of these aspects being important. Another aspect that is vital to being a program manager is being a good listener and understanding what to do with the information you receive.
Ty,
That is true. Good educators should be good listeners. I think we don't discuss that trait enough. It also gives you a chance to wade through what is true and what isn't. Good post.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
As a facilitator, many roles are required for success. Students need instruction for the materials so, the role of a good instructor is important. Online learning is very difficult as it can be very isolating. The role of a social director is important to let students know they are not alone and can reach out to other students in their same situation. Facilitators also have to manage the program and make sure everyone is following the rules so they can be successful. As with any program that involves technology, the faciliator will need to assist students with technology issues and guide them through steps on how to navigate through the course information.
Lisa,
If you think about it, a facilitator has many roles regardless of the delivery. As a facilitator, we try to provide what each student needs to learn. Technology does make this much more manageable.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
As online facilitators, it is necessary for us to wear four "pairs of shoes" because we are basically the students' first point of contact in the online classroom. As such, we play a crucial role in helping them to be successful in the online environment.
The four pairs of shoes we must wear are instructor, social director, program manager, and technical assistant. As instructor, we guide the students and share our knowledge to help them to reach the course objectives. As the social director, we engage them in meaningful discussions within the forum and aid in interactions between students. The program manager role ensures that the facilitator knows the course content and can manage the classroom and guide the students successfully to completion of the course. As the technical assistant, the facilitator is expected to be able to assist the student with any technical issues that may arise in the process of trying to complete assignments, access the course and using technical tools. Students generally reach out to the facilitator before contacting the school's help desk.
As a facilitator we have a responsibility to use what we can to aid in student learning. Many of our students are adult learners who have not been to school in a while. We may or may not know who is in that situation. The adult learners may need extra help in navigating through the course. Our "shoes" would depend on what we are trying to accomplish with our class keeping in mind the different levels of comfort the students have with the technology and the learning environment. With some we may have to be the social director to encourage that collaboration among peers as an example because this is a new way of learning for some.
Another role is to be able to motivate students. Sometimes this motivation is in the form of communication pointing out obvious errors.
You have to be very tactfull when using this type of communication and you must be careful not to embariss the student.
The struggle for many students in an online environment can be the frustration of "not knowing what to do next". The facilitator is instrumental in course success. He/she has to be the academic stability of the program, the mediator at times, and the person responsible to move the course in a positive direction for all students. At times, he/she may even be a technical adviser. A learner usually looks towards the facilitator to solve all problems relating to the course. many things can not be changed but it is up to the instructor to deal with several issues in online learning
To prevent the students form going off on tangents and provide a direction for the ones that are confused on the subject. Facilitator’s also should engage the students with thought provoking questions to help promote research and interest.
