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The 5 Most Significant Responsibilities of the Online Facilitator

1.       Differentiate- Know the students

Create opportunities for getting to know the students: their interests, their learning preferences, their past experiences in traditional school and online environments, their tech savvy. Make the course personal for students in a way that is difficult to do in a traditional classroom.

2.       Set the tone- Ease tension by making a good first impression

Make the first experiences students have with the course positive. Send an introductory email that gives students a clear picture of expectations and requirements for the course, but personalize the first email and module so students get to know you as a person. Make sure they are aware that you are available any time.

3.       Be available- Provide feedback and respond promptly to concerns

Do what you say you’ll do. When a student sends a question, answer it as soon as possible. Check many times per day. Provide feedback as immediately as possible. Make sure the feedback is specific and helps the student understand how to improve and what to continue doing.

4.       Know the content- Be an expert in the information

Be well-versed in the content prior to class beginning and have a variety of professional contacts and information to access in case a question comes up that you cannot answer. Online classes offer students to opportunity to learn from anyone. Give the impression that you are the BEST person for students to learn from by knowing more than the person who may be teaching the traditional course.

5.       Be a good teacher- Utilize the best of traditional pedagogy, but adapt for an online environment

Use time-honored techniques from teaching in a regular classroom (see above), but also adapt to the online environment by trouble-shooting things like technology glitches and ethical issues. Utilize opportunities that online learning gives students and teachers that traditional classrooms would not be able to benefit from (such as asynchronous communication, videos, Skyping, etc.)