An Authentic Approach

While telecommunications and telematics have been available in schools and universities for decades, the speed of adoption of the Internet into general use has been unprecedented. This has placed a great deal of pressure on university teachers to re-evaluate their roles in the light of new teaching and learning opportunities. The Internet has opened up possibilities beyond the simple acquisition of information, and has created teaching and learning challenges that many teachers feel ill-equipped to meet. This chapter examines the impact of the Internet on the teacher’s role and explores the types of skills and strategies that teachers will need to be effective and efficient in online learning environments. The professional development needs for the new role of online teacher will be discussed within the context of a Graduate Certificate in Online Teaching and Learning designed to encapsulate authentic approaches to learning. 284 Herrington & Oliver Copyright © 2006, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited. Introduction The widespread adoption of the Internet in education has created new challenges for all stakeholders in the teaching and learning process, but particular challenges exist for the university teacher. In this climate of Web proliferation, professional development becomes critical, where universities must make significant investments, not only in technology infrastructure, but also in staff development (Bates, 2000). Professional development for university teachers needs to address a widespread inertia often caused by a top-down approach to the adoption of technologies in universities (McNaught & Kennedy, 2000). Those academics who feel comfortable working with technology in online environments are rare, and there is generally little transference of expertise to their colleagues (Bennett, Priest & Macpherson, 1999), a situation compounded by an increasing number of sessional and part-time teachers (Van Dusen, 1997). Other reasons for the resistance to technology amongst university staff include: lack of experience or confidence in using technology, caution about methodologies teachers regard as unproven, and a belief that computer-based options threaten the human interaction teachers value in face-to-face teaching (Cremer, 2001; Sparrow, Herrington & Herrington, 2000). In particular, the speed of adoption of the Internet in higher education has caught many teachers unaware and unprepared to face the challenges required to succeed. The Internet and the Changing Role of the University Teacher The use of the Internet has risen three times more quickly than any comparable development (Economist, 1999) such as radio, the personal computer and television. All these technologies have affected our daily lives and access to information, news, and entertainment. But not all technologies have successfully made the transition from general use to educational use. In 1992, Strommen and Lincoln (1992) claimed that: “The technological changes that have swept through society at large have left the educational system largely unchanged” (paragraph 3), and prior to the widespread adoption of the Internet, this comment was an accurate reflection of the general lack of use of technologies in schools and universities at that time. For example, Cuban (2001) has pointed out that many technologies adopted with enthusiasm for classroom use have not survived there, such as radio in the 1920s, film projectors in the 1930s, and instructional television in the 1950s. Professional Development for the Online Teacher 285 Copyright © 2006, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited. However, while those technologies have impacted only minimally on education practice, the Internet is positioned to dramatically affect the way we teach and learn. The process has been predicted by Pittinsky (2002) to be “a fundamentally transformed way of delivering and supporting the instructional process in higher education” (p. 2). Already, it has provided educators with a powerful tool to create effective and immersive learning environments (Jonassen & Reeves, 1996), and to provide efficient and collaborative means of communication for students with their teachers, and with each other (Jonassen, 1995). Despite controversial claims that the Internet could be “the ultimate isolating technology that further reduces our participation in communities” (Nie & Erbring, 2000, p. 19), it is well placed to provide opportunities for cooperation and communication that never existed with previous technologies. While the promise of the Internet is exciting to educators, as with any new innovation, it requires a substantial rethinking of traditional approaches and roles. The rapid uptake of the technology has meant that school and university administrators are no longer content to allow the early adopters set the pace of change within their institutions. Online delivery has captured the imaginations of these administrators, who see the potential of computer-based and resourcebased learning to provide low-cost teaching in times of cutbacks and reduced budgets and as a means to provide less teacher-dependent modes of learning. With much at stake in terms of strategic positioning in the marketplace, the online delivery of units and courses has now become central to universities’ strategic planning. Arguably, the momentum to use the Internet has become a top-down, policy-driven push, rather than a bottom-up diffusion of good educational innovation and practice. These trends have understandably left many university teachers uncertain and confused about their own role as teachers in an online learning environment. Many feel threatened by the move to change the traditional modes of delivery where, at present, they have a crucial and well-established role. They are threatened by the prospect of increased student numbers and workloads, while they themselves are coming to terms with the new role required of them as they teach online. What is the role of the university teacher in the age of online learning? New Roles for the Teacher Research derived from new learning theory is clearly showing that online delivery is no more a threat to teachers than teaching machines were in 1968, exemplified by Keller in his ironically titled article, “Goodbye teacher ...” 286 Herrington & Oliver Copyright © 2006, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited. (Keller, 1968). Thirty years on, the role the teacher plays is still critically important to the success of student learning (Palloff & Pratt, 1999; Willis & Dickinson, 1997). However, if the traditional role of the university teacher is simply transferred to the online learning environment, an exciting opportunity will be missed. A crucial aspect of effective online learning may hold the key to the changing role of the university teacher. Wade (1994) pointed out that the promotion of learner autonomy means increased responsibility for the student which, if it is to succeed, requires “a strong framework of support and guidance for the student from the outset” (p. 13). The process of redefining and developing the crucial role of the teacher in student learning is one where the teacher provides coaching and scaffolding support as a central and important pedagogical element, and as an alternative to didactic forms of teaching.