The Virtual Classroom – The Teacher

In online and computerbased learning more emphasis than usual is put on the learner and the role he or she plays in acheiving goals set, such as coming to understand a body of subject matter or mastering a set of skills and procedures (Ryan et al, 2000).

The internet can provide ’non-linear’ learning environments that are rich in different media forms and interactive in a variety of ways. Such environments can be an exiting and worthwhile challange for the versatile learner who has ’learnt how to learn’. However for many learners thay can also be sources of confusion and anxiety. Educators need to follow a dual strategy: providing some environments that are carefully designed to support a variety of styles, strategies and approaches, while ensuring effective learning takes place as well as supporting students in becoming reflectively aware, skilled learners, who can cope with less structured and supportive enviornments (Ryan et al 2000).

Probably the most significant change that is coming along is that teachers will no longer be the prime source of teaching content.

The teacher still have a role to play in the virtual classroom. The teachers are using new technology and therefore new approaches. Lectures are carried out using video conferancing (Syncronously) or recorded on video for repeat transmissions or for students to play back in their own time (asyncronously).

Ryan et al (2000) have developed several advantages the online teaching can have for the teacher:

• after initial investment, preparation time is reduced

• the chores of marking and administration are minimized

• staff meetings and administion-related queries from students are minimized by the judicious ose of e-,ail and electronic buleting boards

• creating and adapting online materials may produce materials for multiple use and, potentially, for national and international distribution

• teaching staff may acquire new teaching and research related skills – information and instructional design, web publishing, general internet and digital archive searching skills, evaluation methodologies, team working, digital teaching.

In a technology-based teaching environment the teacher is still a leader and a person of knowlege, guiding students from initial practical IT skills to the more advanced platform students need to succeed. The teacher has a responsibility to educate students about internet ethics, internet crime and security of personal data Khine and Fisher (2003).

References

Ryan, S. Scott, B. Freeman, F. Patel, D. (2000) The Virtual University, The Internet and Resource-Based Learning. Kogan Page, London

Khine, M, S. Fisher, D. (2003) Technology-Rich Learning Environments, A Future Perspective. World Scientific, London

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Kjetil Joa 18:30, 27 Oct 2005 (EST)