Before starting to teach an online course, it is important to be certain that you have the ability to do it. It might seem quite easy at first – you don’t have to be anywhere specific and you don’t have to be online at a certain time either. But you do have to have the availability to spend a couple of hours online everyday, in order to read what the students discussed and provide them with feedback (ideally in less than 24 hours). The ability to solve problems and work well in difficult situations is a quality that you should have as an online trainer. Patience and the desire to interact with learners day after day also matters. And there’s the obvious feature: being able to cope with technology on a daily basis, which includes good typing skills.
It is recommended that before starting to teach online you actually goes through the experience of being an e-learning student. It’s even better to use the same platform for both learning and teaching: this way, you will be more prepared to solve technical issues or help students. By studying online yourself, you will be more careful with the directions, the organization of materials, feedback and deadlines. Consequently, you will be able to provide a more pleasant experience to the students. Additionally, by trying out several online courses, you will be able to discover your own style of teaching. Some trainers are more passive through the course, while others like to be 100% in the virtual classroom. Either way, finding the style that suits you best will reflect in the experience of the students.
Interactivity is crucial to the online environment, so, as a trainer, you should make sure that the course has this feature. Trainees should interact with each other (through discussions and group work), as well as with the teacher (who gives prompt feedback). It is not enough to just hand out information to the students, you have to show them how to use it. When deciding the communication methods of the online course, you should consider both synchronous and asynchronous methods. The synchronous methods (e.g. live chat, conference) are spontaneous and they happen in real time, but they’re quite difficult to schedule, due to time difference or availability. Asynchronous methods, on the other hand, are more reflective (e.g. forums, wikis, emails, essays) and time consuming, but they’re also very flexible. Ideally, a course would contain both methods, so that everyone can participate in one way or another. For example, chats can be used for Q&A sessions, while forums can be used for discussions.
The step between traditional and online training is not irrelevant. Even experienced classroom teachers might encounter problems in this rather new environment, as all the process and methods are so different. Some tricks that work as attention-grabbers in the classroom will probably have little or no effect online. It is more difficult to retain the attention of participants in an online class, so extra-effort should be invested in good design, creative content and continuous interaction.
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