I feel its important to function in these roles because each is a part of a whole. It's like putting on a play. You have a lot of behind the scenes people. But the audience(student)in this case only sees the actors. But the play begins when you arrrive. There are valets, ushers, ticket takers, concessions, etc. All that goes into the play. In our case, the four roles contribute to the course.
Mark,
You are so right. Student success does depend on your role with each student. In the online environment, you become the go to person for the student. You don't have to know everything, you just have to know where to find it.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Sean,
I love your statement "parts of a whole". You are right. It takes a variety of skills to provide a complete online experience. You also have to know who to go to as you can't do it all but you do have the information!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I agree that we wear more than four shoes. Another shoe is good listener. Because many online students are non-traditional, they have a lot going on in their lives. We need to honor and affirm the value of everything they do -- not just see them as our students. One way to do that is to deeply "listen" to what they have to say in their assignments, posts, and e-mails.
As online facilitators we need to wear four (or more) shoes to meet the needs of our students. Or rather than four separate shoes do we really need "all-terrain" shoes? I draw this analogy from the field of multilingual education. Ofelia Garcia (2009) suggests that rather than think of learning a new language as attaining native-like proficiency in that second language, we should instead think of being bilingual as more than knowing two languages well; we should think of it as the ability to move "along communicative ridges and craters created by multiple conditions dealing with individuals, societies, contexts, and language practices" (p. 54). Her conceptualization of bilingualism is dynamic and I think that is how we should think of our roles -- as being responsible for meeting not just the needs of our students as individuals, but as members of particular social contexts and an ever-changing society. Learning is a dynamic process. Teaching is, as well. All of our roles overlap and are needed more so in some situations than others.
Cathy,
That is a great addition to the shoe collection! You do have to make sure we listen to everything that means reading everything!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Cathy,
I LOVE this! What great way of looking at it. This is going part of my research comments. We do need to make sure we communicate in a variety of ways using a variety of techniques.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Yes, 4 pairs of shoes is important. We have to be the one person who holds the class together by managing, facilitating and evaluating. It is essential for and instructor to help the students get as much as they can out of the course.
Greg,
You are right and you may be the one contact the students have to the institution.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Jason,
Please don't just post a link without introducing it.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
It is important for an online facilitator to wear four "pair of shoes" because it is beneficial for the student. The text states, "as a facilitator you help students to be responsible for their own learning by guiding them through the content." With that in mind, the students are less likely of being successful in the course without the facilitator.
Samuel Bufkin
Samuel,
Success for a student is directly related to the facilitator. That facilitator takes on so many roles, and as that facilitator you have to be prepared.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
By wearing four pairs of shoes, the gap between online education and F2F learning can be brought closer to a certain degree. Enhancing the technology and different ways of communication to guide them to students missing link toward the knowledge.
Instructors must fill many roles in order to be a successful facilitator. They must be prepared to perform multiple tasks in order to foster student learning.
With the complexity of an online course and differences from a traditional classroom, facilitators most certainly must assume the four roles of instructor, social director, program manager, and technical assistant to ensure quality learning by students. Duties go well outside of the traditional instructor role.
The social director is extremely important since instructors don’t have face-to-face, personal contact with students. I have found this to be a huge barrier with online courses as compared to ground classrooms. Facilitators must find ways to engage students in the class and encourage participation by creating activities to allow students and instructors to get to know each other and connect. Also, facilitators want to create excitement and interest in discussion forums to promote participation, which, in turn, promotes learning. Facilitators even sometimes find themselves to be social workers/therapists for students.
As the program manager, facilitators should be experts in their LMS to design their course and assist students in navigating the LMS. It also includes assisting students with time management with the online course as many students may have not taken an online course and may feel challenged with figuring out when to make time for school in their busy schedules. I have found time management issues to be one of the biggest barriers for online students.
Facilitators must also be experts in the technology used to facilitate the class. They will want to use a wide variety of technology tools and be extremely comfortable using them so they can also instruct students how to use them. This all leads to the best possible learning experience for the students. Facilitators must keep up with the technology changes and advances and take advantage of them.
As a facilitator I have to understand that my students have more than one focus. I have to understand their needs beyond the classroom. The other day a fifth pair of shoes were added. Loneliness. I contacted a student about an incomplete assignment and she asked if I had a moment to talk. For the next 20 minutes she expressed everything on her mind about what she was doing and why she was doing it. Often students need that “ear†that friends and family do not share because they are not a part of the industry.
Elin,
True and you are the first line representing the university. You don't have to know everything, just who to ask!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Julie Ann,
That is true but don't you think all good teachers feel that way? I like that you used "successful facilitator" that is indeed true.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Angela,
We do have quite a bit of responsibility but that comes with the online territory. Isolation is the barrier and we are the ones to break that barrier down.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
