Role of the Instructor.

This week, I had to think about the role of the instructor in a DE course and below you can find my entry for this topic. What I have learned most this week is that I am not yet used to the DE process. We are more than halfway done with summer courses and I just discover how much I need to learn about APA . I did not give much time to that part of my studies. The readings have been so copious, APA lost in the battle of time. Comments from a professor in another class while useful are coming late in the game and I suddenly realized that in a F2F situation, I would have talked to the professor ahead of time and checked with other students to get some input on what I was writing. How can I shift my thinking and get the same feedback in DE?
The role of the instructor in a Distance Education course is multifaceted and not in isolation. The concept of the instructor being the only expert for the course is deconstructed. The expertise of the instructor works in unison with the expertise of the tech team (Program designer, production specialist, tech support …) An effective interaction between these different members of the “online Team” is essential for a successful course. Daniel and Marqui (1988) challenge the distance educators to “get the mixture right” when discussing the various forms of interactions between the learners and the teacher. Only with a well balance team aiming at getting their mixture right can we hope for a course with strong pedagogy and learner satisfaction.
The lead instructor must have a clear sense of the methodology he/she wants to use to achieve the desired outcome. Once the outcome of the course is defined and the steps outlines, the technology is adapted to it. The technology used must be part of the overall pedagogy. Anderson (2003) states that the main responsibility of distance educators is to “ insure that the modes of interaction that we practice maximize the attainment of all legitimate educational objectives.” Thus both instructor and tech team need to measure and reflect upon the methods used to deliver the content.
The instructor in DE must have much more empathy than the F2F instructor, it is in fact the only way the instructor can motivate students and support their studies. Moore-Kearsley (p136) remind us that DE instructors the “ability to sense their student’s personalities, even when filtered through technologically transmitted communications.”
The lead instructor must also direct and support the other instructors in the management of the course and in the interactions between instructors and students. The supervision of students and groups progress is also an important part of the instructor’s work. In fact the instructor resembles a referee kicking the ball back into the field when it goes past the sidelines. The instructor must be vigilant to the moves of the players/students to keep the course going and the purpose of the class achieved.
The role of the DE instructor is much more comprehensive than for the F2F teacher, it is also much more under the microscope. Teacher accountability is at a high level.
References

Anderson, T. (2003). Modes of interaction in distance education: Recent developments
And research questions. In M. G Moore & W. G. Anderson (Eds.), Handbook of
Distance education (pp. 129-144). Mahway, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates,
Publishers. (Reserved Reading).