== Teacher's Role and Responsibility ==
The traditional role of a teacher is based on behaviour where the teacher is in control of learning material and how the student learns. This role is challenged in an e-Learning classroom as the situation teachers find themselves in is quite different, however the principles and responsibilities involved in traditional education are transferable into an e-Learning environment.
A teacher in an online classroom is faced with a different type of student, one which requires interaction and collaboration with other learners, content and information sources as a result of their existence in the Information Age. These students call for information from around the world, and immediate feedback on their work. They are known as lifelong learners as the skills they acquire means that they are continuously challenging and searching for information. (Reisman ed. 2003, 240)
Teachers in online environments are unable to be assessed in the same way that traditional teachers are. A teacher’s presence is evaluated in a conventional classroom, however in terms of e-Learning, the teaching presence is considered.
Teaching presence refers to “what a teacher does to create a community of inquiry that includes both cognitive and social presence.�? (Garrison and Anderson 2003, 66) The three major elements of teaching presence in an online classroom are design, facilitation of discourse and direction of instruction in order to realise meaningful and worthwhile learning outcomes. (Garrison and Anderson 2003, 66)
Teachers in online classrooms primarily need to understand distance education and how it differs from conventional methods. These people are required to be subject matter experts, education designers, social facilitators and teachers in an online environment. (Garrison and Anderson 2003, 67)
It is imperative that online teachers understand that in these environments the relationship between teacher and student is complementary. Without this relationship, students are unable to benefit completely from their learning environment.
With new environments, such as e-Learning classrooms, comes a range of new technological skills. Teachers need to be aware of and comfortable with both the technologies involved in an online classroom and the skills necessary to operate them. This is necessary as the online teacher must be able to provide students with the skills to effectively communicate from a distance.
The teacher’s use of the online classroom aims to improve student retention by ensuring more involvement in the learning process and community. (Garrison and Anderson 2003, 66)
The online teacher must also use the environment in order to analyse skills and nominate performance criteria to judge achievement on. This is an important responsibility for the teacher as online achievement is difficult to assess, predominantly because of the newness of the environment. (Reisman ed. 2003, 242)
The most challenging role and responsibility of the online teacher is to provide a creative and interesting learning environment. Teachers use student-oriented Learning Management Systems to oversee their classroom as they are able to continually adjust to societal changes.
Teachers base their classroom agendas on models such as ASSURE, which requires the teacher to Analyse the learner, State the learning objectives, Select the methods, media and materials to be used in the classroom, Utilise the chosen media and materials, Require learner participation, and Evaluate and revise the learning material. (Reisman ed. 2003, 244) This model allows careful planning of the learning environment and ensures interaction and collaboration play a major role in the learning process.
=== References ===
Garrison, D. and Anderson, T. 2003. E-Learning in the 21st Century. London: Routledge Falmer. ISBN 0415263468
Reisman, S. ed. 2003. Electronic Learning Communities. Connecticut: Information Age Publishing. ISBN 1931576963
=== Contributors ===
Stephanie Dodgson 09:53, 27 Oct 2005 (EST)
