From paper to screen: Teachers and students onsite and online.

A review of

The Theory and Practice of Online Teaching and Learning. A Guide for Academic Professionals. Routledge Education free books. Taylor & Francis Group. New York. Pp. 60.

Reviewed by Noseda Ma. Inés and Vota Silvana

      What kind of teacher are you, or do you want to be? What is different when teaching online? Is it possible to sustain the traditional methodology or is it necessary to change it all? To what extent virtual students perceive themselves as participants in their learning process? Have you got enough reliable technological support? These aspects among others are meaningfully described in this Routledge Education free book along with a set of excerpts from various expertise authors who explore significant features of online education scopes. If you are one of those who is interested in becoming an online teacher, this is a useful and innovative first reading choice. The book is structured in six easy- to- read chapters and bring essential tips to teachers who want to improve online skills. As the title suggests, it proposes a guide of theoretical principles, tips and advice to apply toward an effective practice within online learning. In Chapter one from Teaching Online: A Practical Guide, Susan Ko (2010), Director of Faculty Development and Instructional Technology at CUNY SPS, gives tips to instructors who struggle with the idea of teaching online. She focuses on paying particular attention to communicational frames through the screen, where the instructor is more a facilitator than a moderator. Options such as load challenging assignments, leading to discussions at fora in the campus are also highlighted. At the same time, emoticons might be used if properly, avoiding misinterpretation and considering cultural uses. A video or audio is mandatory, “to relieve that burden of text” (p.8).  Like teachers, student’s roles are different too. They may post at any time of day, taking an active part in collaborative tasks and exploring online system as an attractive medium due to the ability to communicate instantly. “It is people-oriented people who make better online instructors” (p 19),  states the writer in an elegant manner. Teachers can observe, track and review students learning process but an important dimension to bear in mind is that interest in teaching should come first, technology second, so there is no need to become perfectly skilled in software.

       Chapter 2, by Marjorie Vai and Kristen Sosulski (2011), authors of Essentials of Online Course Design. A Standard-Based Guide, runs through the basics of an online course and address questions such as how the timing of online teaching and learning differs from the timing of onsite teaching and learning. For that, useful time-saving tips are given. Moreover, the immigrants concept is addressed to teachers who are not born digital, inviting them to adapt and try modern technologies. Besides, the writers emphasize Prensky’s (2001) ideas and 21st Century learners profile:

            Today learners think and process information fundamentally differently from their   predecessors...we can say with certainty that their thinking patterns have changed...our learners today are all “native speakers” of the digital language of computers, video games and the internet (Prensky, 2001, para.14) 

Last, and to facilitate student’s learning via campus, the organization of the website should mirror that of the book. Many tools to manage synchronous and asynchronous teaching are described in detail, ensuring the equality of onsite and online experience both in content and challenge.

      Throughout chapter 3 Gilly Salmon (2012), from University of W Australia,  in  E-tivities: the key to Active Online Learning, 2nd edition,   explores the  e-tivities, a usual name for activities online. It provides a framework and variety for individuals and groups. The writer analyses the roles of the participants through their practice and experiences.

      The fourth chapter by Barbara Means (2014), Marianne Bakia, and Robert Murphy, Learning Online: What Research Tells Us about Weather, When and How  deals with blended education, Massive Open Online Courses, MOOCs,  that are a kind of self-paced learning trendy in the discussion nowadays. The experts layout a system to classify online teaching methods within four categories: Context, Design, Implementation and Outcome.

      In Chapter 5, Allison Littlejohn and Chris Pegler (2013), in Reusing Open Resources: Learning in Open Networks for Work, Life and Education, the authors assertively emphasize the notion that learning opportunities increase when using Open Educational Courses, OERs, a mainstream in online practice. Changes toward data use and reuse have arisen in all societies and levels of OERs are explored.  From consumerism to a more active part, from a learner to a resource creator, the resources have spread to formal and informal contexts of work, life and education.

      In Chapter 6, Diana Laurillard (2012), in Teaching as a Design Science: Building Pedagogical Patterns for Learning and Technology explores the relationship between technology and education, whereas technology has to be placed as service of education: “we cannot challenge the technology to serve the needs of education until we know what we want from it...until then we risk continuing to be technology-led’ (p.60). The challenging 21st Century requires teachers embedded in creativity and collaborative work, and in its pursuit, education itself becomes a design science.

      Routledge FreeBooks are determined and crucial when illustrating the main concerns and challenges of teaching and learning experience. A great achievement of publishers group when compiling the six aforementioned appealing research works in this guide for academic professionals. However, the reviewers suggest going to the original source for deeper and particular understanding. A link provides cost and purchasing options, however, the reader would know that some books are out of print.

      Last but not least, it worth mentioning that the book would be of high interest to creative, proactive and discomfort teachers, learners and educational organizations who are eager to explore the principles of the online educational paradigm of the era.  The book moves into questions of theory and teaching online and explores alternatives in online teaching as it continues to grow.

  

References

Routledge Education, (n/d), The Theory and Practice of Online Teaching and Learning: A Guide for Academic Professionals. New York: Taylor & Francis Group. Pp. 60.