eTutoring

"We will need to keep in mind that as we change from a culture of 'needing to know' to one of 'wanting to know' that education today cannot just be fixed with technology. Online or elearning must be seen as another tool in the box of the tutor/lecturer for it to be successful" Joint Information Systems Committee December 2002

There is some evidence emerging from the United States that where Universities offer both a traditional campus based course and an equivalent elearning course the students are opting for the elearning version because of better tutor support! Why is this? Perhaps its the different mind set of the tutors: the traditional lecturer has a "catch-me if you can" approach to remedial support whereas the mind-set is totally different when teaching online.

eTutors are essential to online learning and are appreciated by their learners. eLearning by itself is very impersonal and non-engaging and the etutor adds that "human-face" to the online materials. The students have more confidence knowing that there is an "expert" on hand and this, in turn, leads to higher completion and retention rates. However, it should not be underestimated that there is often an additional cost, usually in time, when switching to teaching online. New competencies will have to be learnt and new working practices will have to be developed if etutoring is to be a success.

New Competencies for etutors

eTutor competencies cover a broad range of possible etutoring activities of which only a sub-set are likely to be required in a particular instance. The roles required of etutors vary enormously depending on the design and application of the overall learning programme to which the tutor contributes and on the hardware and software tools available to support etutoring.

The following areas of general expertise are assumed as prerequisites and provide a basis for the competencies:

• a good all round knowledge of the subject-matter of the course
• the background pedagogy that underpins the course
• a good understanding of the limits and limitations of the information and communications technology
• a closer working and sharing relationship with the learner
• provide learners with "positive" support and "positive" encouragement
• a role of mentor/counsellor as well as academic advisor

Changing the Roles of Tutor and Learner

eLearning, as opposed to face-to-face teaching, has several new role changes for the tutor and the learner namely:

• changing the location and timing as to where and when the learning takes place
• increasing the variety of teaching and learning models to facilitate different learning styles
• skill upgrading to accommodate synchronous communications using tools, such as video conferencing and live chat, to support collaborative learning
• skill upgrading to facilitate asynchronous communication using email and discussion boards with group activities which may be etutor led, moderated or observed.

Various models of online learning and etutoring exist in the same way as for face-to-face learning and tutoring. These models are distinguished by their underlying assumptions about learning and teaching in terms of:

• who should decide what is to be learned
• the power to define what counts as value in learning
• the economic assumptions about who should pay and what constitutes value for money

The themes of:

• instructivism (teacher-centred)
• behaviourism (focusing on behavioural changes rather than mental activities)
• constructivism (assuming that the learner constructs mental models to make sense of the world)
• communities of practice (where learning is seen to take place in communities, through social participation)

are all seen in current online learning models. It is important for the etutor to be aware of the models or themes underlying the courses or programmes on which they are tutoring, as they affect the expectations of the etutor's contribution.

 

Richard Mobbs, May, 2005