No more pep rallies in the gym. No more fire drills. No more cafeteria lunches. When people learn that I teach online courses, their first question is “How is teaching online different from being in the classroom?” The biggest difference is in my role as a teacher. In the traditional classroom, my role was more of Information Deliverer. As a teacher of online courses, I now think of myself as Student Success Coach.
In the traditional classroom, my role was mainly that of Information Deliverer. In a typical school day, I spent ¼ of the day creating lessons and ¾ of the day delivering them. If I was lucky enough to have a few minutes left over at the end of each class, I was able to work with students individually, but even then, I was never able to reach them all. I never felt completely successful at balancing the responsibilities of creating engaging lessons and spending my time working individually with students.
At Advanced Academics, engaging lessons and activities are already created and available to students. As a Student Success Coach, instead of Information Deliverer, I’m able to spend my time focusing on individual students and monitoring their progress. Since I don’t have to keep thirty students on the same chapter in a textbook, I’m able to stop students when they have trouble. If an assignment is not completed satisfactorily, I have the opportunity to re-teach the concepts, and the student has the opportunity to rework the assignment.
Also, as Student Success Coach, I’m able to provide personalized communication with students about their educational progress. I communicate daily with students about specific concepts and issues through e-mail. I work continuously with individuals in our instructional chat room as they need help. And with the reporting capabilities of our platform, I have a myriad of ways to help me identify those who need intervention. I’m able to spend hours each day personally calling students to help them stay motivated or to help them get back on track.
So, besides being able to take a bathroom break when I want, the main difference that I’ve experienced in teaching online courses is the shift in my role. Teaching online courses allows me to focus completely on what I’m trained for and what I love—to experience that “light bulb” moment with students, one at a time.
Posted By:
Julie McDonald
English Instructor
Advanced Academics, Inc.
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1 comment:
You couldn't describe your job any better! You are a true facilitator of learning for each individual student. By reaching out to each one, individual students get the one on one feel even if you really have many more students.
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