Presentation to the NUVHS Charter School and Online Teachers on the roles of the online educator.

1. Role Change: The Ever
Changing Role of the Online
Instructor
Cynthia Sistek-Chandler,
Associate Professor, National University
Hoppy Chandler, Educator,
iHigh Virtual Academy,
San Diego Unified School District

2. Introductions
Cynthia Sistek-Chandler, Ed D
http://bit.ly/18VDiiU
cchandler@nu.edu
Mr. Hoppy Chandler
hoppyc1@netscape.net

3. Online education should be built on
a highly interactive model, one that
promotes social presence, helps
establish relationships among all
stakeholders, and encourages the
creation of a learning community.
(Sistek-Chandler & Serdyukov, 2012)

4. Role Change
The focus of this presentation and subsequent
paper is focused on the roles of an online
educator.
Based on definitions by Stephen Downes (2010)
and T. C. Smith (2005), there are a myriad of
roles and responsibilities for the online
educator.

5. Key Points
 Brief Demographics in Online Learning (US and
Worldwide)
 Four Roles (Downes, 2012)
 Theoretical Framework and Categorization of
Online Educator's Roles
 Research
 Activity: Best Practices in Online Facilitation

6. FTF versus Online versus
Blended
 Teaching face-to-face and teaching online are both
teaching, but they are qualitatively different. In
comparison, driving a car and riding a motorcycle are
both forms of transportation, but they have enough
differences to warrant additional training and
preparation when switching from one to the other. The
same is true when faculty move from the traditional
classroom to the online classroom.
 Commonalities, unique attributes, differences?

7. FTF versus Online versus
Blended
What are unique attributes,
commonalities, what are the
distinct differences?

8. Blended Versus Online

9. Teacher Forecast by 2015
http://www.edudemic.com/2013/0
5/how-many-teachers-will-we-
need-by-2015/

10. Online Students
 Number of Online students
 K12 (2000) 45,000 students
 2010, 4 million- formal online learning
 Since 2010, Pre-K through 12 online
population growth 43 percent
 Higher Education (Half of all Post-secondary
students will take at least one online course
in their college experience by 2014).

12. Online Educators Projections K12
http://www.onlineschools.com/in-
focus/k-12-blended-learning.html
Online and Blended Learning: A Survey of Policy and Practice of K-12 Schools
Around the World, International Association for K-12 Online Learning,
November 2011

13. Online Education Higher Ed
Over 6.7 million students were taking at
least one online course during the fall
2011.
Thirty-two percent of higher education
students now take at least one course
online.
Babson Survey Research Group & the College Board U.S.

14. Agency for Standards iNacol
International Association for
K12 Online Learning
Online instructors
 Keeping Pace with K-12 Online and Blended Learning
(2012)
 Held to standards through quality assurance measures
 Pedagogical strength and hold professional
qualifications

15. Quality Online Teaching
http://vimeo.com/channels/qualityonline
teaching
 Key Points
Discussion Board
Synchronous Discussion

16. What are the roles of the
Online Instructor?

17. Four Roles (Downes, 2010)
1.Instructor
2. Social Director
3. Program Manager
4. Technician

18. Four Roles (Downes)
1. Instructor
2.Social Director
3. Program Manager
4. Technician

19. Four Roles (Downes)
1. Instructor
2. Social Director
3.Program
Manager
4. Technician

20. Four Roles (Downes)
1. Instructor
2. Social Director
3. Program Manager
4.Technician

21. Attributes of an
Online Instructor
Smith (2005) identifies and describes 51 competencies
needed by online instructors, among them:
 Create a warm and inviting atmosphere that promotes the
development of a sense of community among participants
 Develop reciprocity and cooperation among students
 Develop relationships
 Encourage contacts between students and faculty
 Mandate participation. Step in and set limits if participation
wanes or if the conversation is headed in the wrong direction
 Model good participation
 Teach students about online learning
 Most of all have fun and open yourself to learning as much
from your students as they will learn from one another and
from you!

22. How the Roles are Changing?
 Reliance on content quality and
updating of resources
 Instructional designer, the instructor
in many cases needs to be able to
curate content from a variety of
sources.
 Facilitation skills
 Planned Synchronous Discussions
 Building your flat classroom with
Global Connections

23. Purveyor of Content
Online Facilitator
Online Orchestral Director
 The online instructor orchestrates more than assessment of
student work, they masterfully coordinate, curate, construct,
and create the experience between instructor and student,
student to student, student to text, and student to community.
 Virtual Choir by Eric Whitacre, Water
Nighthttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3rRaL-Czxw

24. 5 Roles (Sistek-Chandler & Chandler, 2013)
1. Orchestral Director
2. Psycho-Social Director
1. Empathy and cultural understanding
2. Relationship development
3. Understand the basis of social division (Stuart,
2013)
3. Online Instructor Co-Learner (Bull, 2013)
4. Coach (Bull, 2013 and Bray, 2002)
5. Mentor of Applied Learning and Knowledge
Construction

25. What Works in
Online Education?
Knowledge Construction

26. Online Community of Inquiry
Relationships
(Research Serdyukov & Sistek-Chandler, 2012)
 85% of respondents believe that relationships in the class affect
the outcome of student learning.
 67% agree online learning promotes relationships in the class,
while 31% disagree; this reflects previous opinions of the
social/asocial character of this educational format.
 88% believe online classes should be personalized in the way that
students develop more personal relationships in the class with the
peers and with the instructor;
 86% believe instructors need to establish empathy, emotions, and
personal relationships in an online class. This is an important
recommendation for practicing online educators.

27. Points to Remember about the
Online Instructional Role
 Social Emotional Environment
 Role of Relationships
 Move from Impersonal to more Personal
 Interactivity is the Key
 Communication needs to be clear and concise

28. Teacher Roles in the Blended
Classroom (e2020)
 Monitor
 Coach
 Mentor
 Teach

29. How are you going to encourage
engagement, deep learning, and
interactivity?
1. One technique to try
2. A second
3. A third

30. COI Model Communication
(Rourke, Anderson, Garrison, & Archer, 2001).

31. Online education should be built on
a highly interactive model, one that
promotes social presence, helps
establish relationships among all
stakeholders, and encourages the
creation of a learning community.
(Sistek-Chandler & Serdyukov, 2012)

32. References
 Babson Research Group and the College Board (2012). Changing Course: Ten Years of Tracking
Online Education in the United
Stateshttp://sloanconsortium.org/publications/survey/changing_course_2012
 Barbour, M.K., Brown, R., Waters, L.H., Hoey, R., Hunt, J., Kennedy, K., Ounsworth, C.,
Powell, A., & Trimm, T., iNACOL,Online and Blended Learning: A Survey of Policy and
Practice of K-12 Schools Around the World, International Association for K-12 Online
Learning, November 2011.
 Bull, B. (June 3, 2013). Higher Ed Teaching Strategies Newsletter/Blog. Magna
Publications,http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/eight-roles-of-an-effective-online-
teacher/
 Christensen, C.M., Horn, M. B. & Johnson, C. W. Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change
the Way the World Learns, (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008), 91.
 Downes, S. (2012). http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephen-downes/the-role-of-the-
educator_b_790937.html
 e2020, Role of Online and Blended Instructor.
 Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000). Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer
conferencing in higher education. The Internet and Higher Education, 2(2-3), 87-105. pdf Full Text
 Sistek-Chandler, C. M. & Serdyukov, P. (2012). Online Learning, Less Personal, More Social? Published
Abstract, WCCE, 2013.
 Smith, T. C., “Fifty-One Competencies for Online Instruction”, Journal of Educators Online, (2)2, (2005)