ELT article published by Prof. Jonathan Acua at http://reflective-online-teaching.blogspot.

com/

The Role of the Instructors in VLEs Its Biggest Challenges

When reflecting on the biggest challenges of a F2F teacher transitioning to an online environment, several issues people my mind trying to make room to be considered and explained. Many of these ideas focus on the issue of getting out of ones comfort F2F teaching zone, which is an encouraging step in an instructors professional life and development, and a worthwhile one by the way. To be able to smoothly transitione from F2F to online teaching, three essential issues need to be taken care of: course readiness, LMS (platform) understanding, and instructors role.

When it comes to course readiness, an online course differs from one that is taught F2F. To begin with, the course instructor needs to carefully redesign its content, objectives, and delivery to suit a VLE. For instance, the course material needs to be ready from day 1 on, so students can explore it as a way to familiarize themselves with the course platform or LMS. But as material needs to be ready from the very beginning, the design of assessment tools is essential as well. The way students are graded or assessed in F2F environments cannot not coincide 100% with an

ELT article published by Prof. Jonathan Acua at http://reflective-online-teaching.blogspot.com/

online course evaluation. For instance, rubrics for online projects need to be also ready before the course actually gets ready for kick-off. In conclusion, all these ingredients guarantee the achievement of the course learning objectives by ones pupils.

To ensure the achievement of course objectives, the instructor also needs to understand the use and scope of the course LMS or learning platform. Depending on what kind of LMS is being provided by the institution one works for, it is imperative that the teacher knows the nuts and volts of its use. Understanding how this learning platform works can give the instructor ways of solving technical problems s/he can face as well as his/her students. A set of tutorials or manuals have to be ready to ensure one can provide the right and timely assistance to pupils or colleagues in need. And in case the platform crashes down (for whatever reason), having a Plan B is a must. Plan B can simply be the allocation of course content and information (videos, vodcasts, podcasts, audio files, docx, PPTs, pdfs, prezis, and the like) in alternative web services to be retrieved when needed by either instructors or learners. To sum up, because technology can fail, preventing the worse that could actually happen can help the teacher and student to complete their educational tasks.

Comprehending that technology is an issue to always consider, understanding the instructors role in VLEs is way too crucial, too. Because the planning of the course is something that has been done beforehand, the teacher becomes the facilitator for student learning. The usual role teachers impersonate in F2F instruction -the one of the tester or evaluator- is no longer the one that has to be embodied. As facilitators one turns into the timely feedback provider who can trigger even better results in ones pupils than the ones students previously thought of before. But this triggering of great learning-outcomes accomplishment is also

ELT article published by Prof. Jonathan Acua at http://reflective-online-teaching.blogspot.com/

characterized by the instructors availability for his/her learners. To conclude, to comprehend ones role in online teaching means that one becomes the student learning supporter, the one who can provide timely feedback when needed to ensure learning.

There are indeed other challenges one has to face as an online instructor, which were not listed here. However, understanding that challenges do exist can help online instructors-to-be to mitigate any frustration and dismay before they actually take place. Understanding that technology does fail at times and that instructors need to be prepared to provide assistance can also guarantee that teachers can find a practical way out to continue with the course chronogram and deadlines.

To fully develop and comprehend this teaching issue, its advisable to research and expand these areas:

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Getting ready to teach in online classrooms The importance of course readiness in VLEs Scope and uses of learning platforms Transitioning from F2F teaching to VLEs Student assessment in VLEs

ELT article published by Prof. Jonathan Acua at http://reflective-online-teaching.blogspot.com/

Professor Jonathan Acua-Solano ELT Instructor, Course Designer & Teacher Trainer based in Costa Rica IATEFL Member and NCTE Affiliate Resource Teacher at CCCN Senior ELT Professor at Universidad Latina Freelance ELT Consultant four OUP in Central America For further comments or suggestions, reach me at: @jonacuso Twitter jonacuso@gmail.com Gmail Other blogs and sites I often write for my students at the university are: 1. Pronunciation 1 3. Pronunciation 2 2. Readding Skills 1 4. Computering Applications in Education