E-LEARNING DAILY NEWS November, 2009 By Marco Freitas, Maria Lurdes Martins & Teresa Fernandes The role of online tutor
A reflection about tutor´s role, the purpose of using certain techniques and the way students are supported by a variety of strategies or media. The choice of a strategy may vary according to:
I N D E X
The skills and profile of the students; The environment; The alternatives available; The curriculum that is being taught.
Tutor’s perception……………………..page 2 Why the forum ?........................ page 3 What is role-playing?..................page 4 What about online? …………………..page 5 Role-play strengths…………………….page 6 Role-play weaknesses…………………page 7 References…………………………………page 8
Editorial Teaching online can be exciting, yet the teacher has responsibilities towards students, such as to know which tools and techniques may pursue the learning objectives. The teacher should combine technological innovation with quality content to give students the best learning experience available online. Besides applying these techniques, he should provide alternative solutions too. Otherwise, bored students may drop out of online classes while pleading for richer and more engaging online learning experiences. Given the demand for online learning, the online technologies number is increasing almost every week. So, the teacher has to be aware of the best educational method or technique to apply. According to Paulsen, “online techniques are characterized by retrieval from online resources”. The most efficiently teaching methods are:
One-online techniques;
One-to-one techniques;
One-to-many techniques;
Many-to-many techniques.
We believe that forum and role-playing are educational techniques that may fulfill several students’ pedagogical interests.
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The tutor’s perception
In order to build working relationships with students, a variety of media can be selected providing quality in the tutor´s intervention. Quality in tutor’s intervention attempt to:
Building confidence: asynchronous contact through email or forums can be helpful.
Fitting individual needs: many teachers emphasize the importance of synchronous contact as a mean to refine their support to students, increasing interactivity and dialogue.
Focusing in online assignments: in online education, many students share their daily schedule with family, jobs and commitments, following a self-paced learning.
Though tasks are brought to the whole group at the same time, some strategies can become a complement to asynchronous forums, debates or discussions, such as audio or video conference or Second Life.
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We focused our attention on two many-to-many techniques: forum and role play.
Why the forum?
Our say
The forum online is an online discussion that, from a technological point of view, is a web application. Students participating in online forums cultivate social bonds and interest groups for a topic. Discussion forums are probably the most used platforms for online communication and community development. A discussion forum is primarily a text based mode of communication where someone will post a start to a thread and people will respond to that thread.
about the educational use of the forum:
Benefits:
allowing students reflection on other students point of view, themes, interests, learning objects; sharing feedback with the group (either from tutor or students); being supported by the group and within the group; sharing contents, opinions, assignments to maximum students; allowing students to review their posts and read them later; providing time to think before answering; a flexible way to work; always available and accessible; a media that can answer to individual needs and previous experiences and skills; an enormous “thinking tool” where students have a place of their own.
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The use of photos near the post messages help to link faces with ideas and individuals. The lack of posts or an overwhelming number of messages can inhibit or discourage students to participate. Discussions may not be focusing on tutor’s instructions. An overwhelming number of messages means some redundancy, most of the times. More difficult organizing information, especially when forums are very interactive. Can improve teacher’s workload, in online courses. As an asynchronous communication tool, messages can take too long to be answered (hours or days), depending on tutor’s characteristics.
In role-playing exercises, the student takes the role of a person or even of some phenomena and studies the impacts and/or the effects of an issue. The objectives of a role playing scenario are to expose students to different viewpoints or ways of thinking about a situation, expand their ability to resolve situations, and provide experience within a given context.
Types of Role-Playing exercises Individual Role-Playing Exercises:
What is role -playing?
Role playing, a derivative of a sociodrama, is a method for exploring the issues involved in complex social situations. It may be used for the training of professionals or in a classroom for the understanding of literature, history, and even science. (Blatner; 2002)
The students research and write about or present the issue being studied in a format appropriate to the character they've been assigned: a letter to the editor, or a report to the board of a corporation. The challenge for these exercises is for the student to "get into character", to accept and work in the role that they've been assigned, especially if their character is very different from them. Interactive Role-Playing Exercise It is required that the participants build a consensus by a certain deadline (perhaps the ultimate challenge in problem-solving), and arguments can build within originally collaborative projects, often as a natural and often healthy part of the process. More unusual exercises include scripted interactive demonstrations and introductory projects in which groups of students work out a character's perspective on a topic and then present it in character. In http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/role playing/
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What about online?
Types of online role-playing Asynchronous Online Role-Playing The roles can be given out ahead of time if the students need to research the given role, or can be impromptu. A set time is allowed for students to act out their roles. The instructor coordinates the students role playing activity
Synchronous Online Role-Playing Students are given a certain amount of time to post to an asynchronous discussion forum concerning their roles part in the discussion. Students are required to post a certain number of times at a minimum and in addition should accommodate the needs of the discussion as outlined in some form of rubric or lesson requirement given out prior to starting the activity. The instructor coordinates the discussion and directs questions at particular roles as appropriate.
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Role-playing strenghts
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Role-playing weak nesses
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REFERENCES Bender, T. (2005); “Role playing in online education: A teaching tool to enhance student engagement and sustained learning”. Retrieved from http://innovateonline.info/pdf/vol1_issue4/Role_Playing_in_Online_Education__A_Teaching_Tool_to_Enhance_Student_Engagement_and_Sustained_Learning.pdf . Berge Z. (2006); “The Role of the Online Instructor/Facilitator”. Retrieved from: http://www.emoderators.com/moderators/teach_online.html. Blatner, A. (2005); “ROLE PLAYING IN EDUCATION”. Retrieved from http://www.blatner.com/adam/pdntbk/rlplayedu.htm. Bonnet,C. (2000); “The relevance of role-playing in environmental education”. Retrieved from http://www.iubs.org/cbe/pdf/bonnet.pdf. Funaro G. and Montell F.(1999); “Pedagogical Roles and Implementation Guidelines for Online Communication Tools”. Retrieved from: http://www.aln.org/publications/magazine/v3n2/funaro.asp. Line Kolås and Arvid Staupe (2004); “Implementing delivery methods by using pedagogical design patterns” - Department of Computer and Information Science. Retrieved from http://www2.tisip.no/E-LEN/papers/EDMEDIA04/SymposiaNTNU.pdf. Site “Starting point” Retrieved from http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/roleplaying/.
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