Online Teaching Competencies
According to Cyrs (cite by
Richards, Dooley, & Linder, 2004), areas of competence important for
teaching at a distance include (p. 100):
1.
Course planning and organization
2.
Verbal and nonverbal presentation skills
3.
Collaborative teamwork
4.
Questioning strategies
5.
Subject matter expertise
6.
Involving students and coordinating their
activities at field sites
7.
Knowledge of basic learning theory
8.
Knowledge of the distance learning field
9.
Design of study guides
10. Graphic design
and visual thinking
These skills and competencies help build rapport
between the teacher and student, vital to effective learning and motivation.
Principles that were successful in the traditional classroom “must now be
modified to facilitate effective online learning” (Richards et al., p. 100).
In order to provide high quality instruction in
online learning, online course instructors should hold a certain set of beliefs
about learning. The North American Council for Online Learning (Watson, 2007)
reports, “many students in the 21st century don’t think of technology as
something separate from daily life, and perhaps online learning should not be
thought of as separate from the teaching and learning that goes on in schools
every day” (p. 9).
To continue, the authors of the NACOL report
assert, “as the nature of learning (and working) changes due to the explosion
of available information via the Internet and new ways of managing and
accessing information, the focus of education must continue to evolve from
passing along information to students to helping students be better thinkers
and learners” (p. 11). Online learning has brought about the term “learning
coach” suggesting teachers are to guide, support, and encourage the learner and
help facilitate in the learning process.
According to Watson, four core competencies online teachers should enhance
through professional development are provided below (p. 13):
1. Teachers must develop heightened communication
skills, particularly in written communication. In many programs, teachers and
students are communicating primarily through email, discussion board postings,
and other texts; therefore, teachers must “recognize the tone of their writing
and pay attention to the nuances of words.”
2.
In asynchronous programs, time management skills
are critical for teachers (and students) because they can be online at any
time.
3.
In synchronous programs, teacher planning is an
issue as lectures must have a multimedia component that requires much more
planning for than is usual for traditional classrooms.
4. If teachers have students with disabilities, they
must know how to adapt course content and instruction to meet these students’
needs. Reaching visually impaired, hearing impaired, or learning-disabled
students online can be quite different than in a physical classroom.
Many teacher competencies apply to both
face-to-face and online teaching. However, for those teaching online, a
professional development plan should incorporate needed online learning skills.
Source: Online Teaching
Presentation On Building Competencies for Online Teaching and Learning
1. ION Professional eLearning Programmes
3. Preparing Teachers to Teach Online
4. Competency Gaps for Professional Development (Common for all)
5. COVID-19 and Online Teaching: Roles and Competencies of (Distance) Online Teachers
6. Integrating Technology with Bloom's Taxonomy (Arizona State Uni: Teach Online)
7. What Really is the Cone of Experience
8. Edgar Dale's Cone of Experience (Technology and Beyond)
9. Assessing Faculty Competencies to Teach Online: A Review
10. 21st Century Teacher Competencies
11. Technology for 21st Century Teachers
12. Role of ICT in Higher Education in 21st Century
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